Advertising consumer empowerment strategies : an investigation of key mechanisms and success contingencies

Consumer Empowerment Strategies (i.e. the democratization of internal innovation processes to consumers; CES) are growingly popular but the failure rate of the resulting new "consumer-driven" products is sobering. Marketing communication is an important lever for the adoption of new products, but theoretical and managerial knowledge about CES advertising remains scarce. Through a series of experiments, qualitative data and expert interviews, four essays investigate how to effectively advertise CES. An exploratory study first reveals that the brand audience advertising responses to “consumer-driven” claims depend (positively or negatively) on a multitude of aspects expected or signaled in marketing communication. The second essay demonstrates the signaling value of brand process transparency in inferring brand integrity because such signal credibly increases perceived empowerment. The third essay shows how and when an attractive or expert the winning consumer-inventor can challenge perceived empowerment and other advertising responses. The fourth essay examines how and why CES advertising can benefit brands suffering from poor consumer relationships in highly complex industries. By providing an in-depth understanding of the brand audiences’ responses to CES advertising, psychological mechanisms and success contingencies, this research contributes to both innovation and persuasion literatures. It also provides managers with guidance for developing more integrated innovation and advertising strategies.(ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 202