The Effects of Brand Familiarity and Consumer Value – Brand Symbolism (In)Congruity on Taste Perception

Abstract

This study examines how both familiar brands and the fit or misfit between consumer values and brand symbolism can affect consumers’ perceived taste of food products. Our aim is to contribute to food consumption research in three ways. First, we propose and test a novel framework combining these two explanations for consumers’ brand-induced food taste perception. Hence, our study extends Allen et al.’s (2008) important work (to be introduced below) by explicitly paying attention to brand familiarity effects together with the (in)congruity effects. Second, only few studies have focused on the relationship between brand equity and grocery products (Anselmsson et al. 2007: 402). Third, we also advance the more general understanding of the physiological aspects of product experiences that have started to fascinate academics recently (Peck and Childers 2003). Next, theoretical arguments for both of the explanations are presented.