How To Overcome The Negative Impact Of Dissociative Out-group On Consumers' Brand Attitude

Over years,due to the widening disparities between the advantaged and disadvantaged groups in society,concerns related to the issue of promoting intergroup equality are evident in the increasingly socially conscious marketplace.Based on the assumption that consumers will think positively of brands for their support of social issues that mostly concerned by the public,many brands have begun to take a stand on such issue by containing various social groups in their marketing communication strategies(i.e.,advertisement)to show a more socially egalitarian or diversified brand image.However,from the perspective of consumers,many instances of brands' advertisements in promoting intergroup equality exist dissociative out-group—a type of social group that consumers avoid being associated with and that often causes negative impact on consumers' brand attitudes.Therefore,how to overcome the negative impact of dissociative out-group can be a very important question for brand managers who have adopted issue of intergroup equality in their marketing strategies.This dissertation aims to explore this question.Specifically,through the lens of advantaged and disadvantaged groups,this dissertation provides novel perspectives regarding how consumers negative attitudes toward brand presented with dissociative out-group can be enhanced.In general,this dissertation consists of two research.In the first research,this dissertation focuses on the perspective of advantaged groups by examining the role of feeling of pride on consumers' attitudes toward brand associated with dissociative out-group.Results from four studies shows that the type of pride that consumers experience differentially influence consumers' attitudes toward brand associated with dissociative out-group.Consumers who feel authentic pride,compared with those who feel hubristic pride,tend to evaluate brand associated with dissociative out-group more favorably.This effect is driven by the different level of egalitarian concern for members of dissociative out-group elicited by the feeling of these two types of pride.The second research looks at the perspective of disadvantaged groups,and investigates the influence of social exclusion on consumers' preferences for brand presented an appeal that mixes both in-group and dissociative out-group.A series of four studies reveal that following the experience of social exclusion,consumers tend to respond either positively or negatively toward brands mixed with in-group and dissociative out-group,depending on the way they interpret why the exclusion happens.When social exclusion occurs at a group-based account,relative to social exclusion occurs at an individual-based account,consumers tend to have more preference for brand associated with both in-group and dissociative out-group.This is because a group-based account(vs.an individual-based account)leads to more interpretation of the exclusion as a result of intergroup bias,which motivates consumers to reduce such bias by emphasizing the importance of appreciating social group diversity.Consequently,they will seek for the affirmation of the appreciation of social group diversity in their subsequent brand choices,which in our case,brand mixed with in-group and dissociative out-group.In sum,the findings of this dissertation offer novel insights for existing literature on brands' social issue marketing,dissociative out-group,pride and social exclusion.It also provides important managerial implications for marketers who have adopted the issue of intergroup inequality in their marketing strategies.