Young Chinese consumers' brand perception; the role of mianzi as moderator

• Author: Muhammad Asim Nawaz,Rao Muhammad Rashid,Qurat ul Ain Rashid,Sadia Akhtar
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1930
• Published date: 01 November 2019
• Date: 01 November 2019

ACADEMIC PAPER

Young Chinese consumers' brand perception; the role of mianzi

as moderator

Rao Muhammad Rashid

1

|Qurat ul Ain Rashid

2

|Muhammad Asim Nawaz

3

|Sadia Akhtar

1

1

School of Management, Hefei University of

Technology, Hefei, China

2

School of Public Affairs, University of Science

and Technology of China, Hefei, China

3

School of Management, University of Science

and Technology, Hefei, China

Correspondence

Qurat ul Ain Rashid, School of Public Affairs,

University of Science and Technology of China,

96, Jinzhai Road, Hefei 230026, Anhui, China.

Email: ainni16@mail.ustc.edu.cn

The basic purpose of this study was to investigate the role of exposure and past expe-

rience on consumers' brand perception, as mediated by three variables (perceived qual-

ity, brand recall, and satisfaction) and moderated by mianzi. Using data collected from a

survey of 331 customers, brand perception models for two diverse kinds of products

(high and low involvement) were tested. SmartPLS structural equation modeling was

applied to produce models for both types of products. Exposure and experience signif-

icantly influences brand perception in different product categories, which suggests that

customers perceive both high and low involvement. Our study also established that

mianzi has a significant moderating role in high‐involvement product category. Ulti-

mately, the findings suggest significant differences in the brand perception of product

types with respect to mianzi and the mediational role of perceived quality and satisfac-

tion, providing a structure for future research on brand perception.

1|INTRODUCTION

As customers are progressively introduced to several types of commu-

nication in marketing, current studies focus on the significance of

brand perception (Keller, 1993; Keller, 2009). In this study, we investi-

gate the consumer's brand perception in two different product catego-

ries: high‐involvement consumer electronics (smartphones) and low‐

involvement consumer care products (shampoo) by following Keller's

approach. The significance of brand perception in the eyes of scholars

and managers is undeniable. What is less clear, however, is what even-

tually leads to the development of customers being capable of posi-

tively perceiving brands, and what eventually leads them to purchase

and repurchase these brands.

There is a significant amount of literature on how customers com-

municate with brands in different ways and using a range of customs.

Specifically, convergent and healthy findings show that brand percep-

tion is associated with the consumer's experience with and exposure

to a product or brand (Baumann, Hamin, & Chong, 2015; Shapiro &

Krishnan, 2001; Warlop, Ratneshwar, & VAN Osselaer, 2005). Expo-

sure and experience are both associated with consumers' interaction

with a product or brand (Baumann et al., 2015; Brakus, Schmitt, &

Zarantonello, 2009). Usually, we denote exposure as advertising expo-

sure, which is viewed as a kind of “indirect exposure”(Baumann et al.,

2015; Delgado‐Ballester, Navarro, & Sicilia, 2012). On the other hand,

an experience is associated with consumer's real usage of products

and brands (Brakus et al., 2009); consumers' previous positive experi-

ence with a brand leads them to have a better perception of that

brand (Delgado‐Ballester et al., 2012). We build our study on the basis

of earlier studies, for example Park, Mothersbaugh, and Feick (1994),

Korchia (2006), and Baumann et al. (2015), which made a difference

among awareness and familiarity directing that “exposure and experi-

ence”does not have an effect on consumers' correspondingly. Accord-

ing to Selnes (1986), consumers can develop their product knowledge

through both searching and experience, constructs that have been

referred to as “brand awareness of exposure”(Baumann et al., 2015;

Delgado‐Ballester et al., 2012), and improved familiarity can lead to

a positive perception of a brand (Heckler, Keller, Houston, & Avery,

2014). As a driver of this research, exposure does not just relate to

“advertising exposure,”but also to the notion that “incidental expo-

sure to features of the everyday environment can influence product

evaluation and choice”(Berger & Fitzsimons, 2008).

In this empirical study, we propose a novel viewpoint to describe

brand perception. As a general outline for this study, we suggest that

role of mianzi in young Chinese customers' exposure to and past expe-

rience of a product or brand will affect their perception, and that these

affiliations determine the connection with the particular product type.

Received: 16 January 2019 Accepted: 23 February 2019

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1930

J Public Affairs. 2019;19:e1930.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1930

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of11