The Strive For The Authentic Brand Experience

The strive for the authenticbrand experienceHow an identity-based authenticitymodel can increase trustAPRIL 2021, GERMANY

The strive for the authentic brand experience Contents03 Preface04 Management Summary07 Authenticity increases Brand Trust09 Brand authenticity as an identity-based social construct10 Conceptual Framework of identity-based brand authenticity11 Scale development and validation24 Conclusion26 Managerial implications27 About the Study28 About the Authors29 Endnotes02

The strive for the authentic brand experience PrefacePrefaceThe rise of brand authenticityOn a consumers’ longingfor the authentic:“Consumers havethe feeling thatauthenticity hasbeen withheld. Theynow require it back.”In uncertain times, characterizedby a global pandemic, poverty,inequality, youth unemploymentand climate change, people feel aloss of available identity anchorsand a loss of orientation. In thiscontext, they face the challengeof finding points of reference fortheir own identity construction.To meet this challenge and todevelop a sense of continuity andbelonging, people are increasinglylooking for authenticity intheir daily lives. Authenticityconveys a sense of genuineness,truthfulness and satisfies afundamental human aspiration.The use of authentic brandscombines inner satisfaction withthe external expression of one’sown self.A growing importance of nonmaterialistic attributes alsoincreases the appreciation ofauthenticity. This does not seemto occur as a fad, but rather as anattempt by consumers to changethe socio-cultural characteristicsof consumption.03More and more, people havethe feeling that companies havedeprived them of what is trueand authentic. Now they aredemanding brands that satisfythe awakening longing for theauthentic.Millennials are driving this societaltrend; 40% of those polled by theDeloitte Millennial Survey believethe goal of businesses should beto ‘improve society’. They assignauthentic brands at-tributes suchas morality and accountability.This is seriously worth pondering.Millennials already make up 40%of all consumers, influencingabout 40 billion in annual sales.

The strive for the authentic brand experience Management SummaryManagementSummaryThe consumers’ faith in brands isdeclining, and with it the stabilityof the brand attachment.1 Thebrand attachment as a centralperformance indicator of brandmanagement plays a key role forbrand success: as a result of allbrand management activities,it results in concrete customerbehavior such as the purchasedecision, increased willingnessto pay or a recommendationintention.2 The brand trustherein is the decisive factor inestablishing and maintaining thebrand-customer relationship.3However, the great importanceof brand trust is currentlycolliding with a loss of trustacross institutions.4 In timesof banking and financial crisis,fraud scandals and tax evasion byglobal corporations, consumersincreasingly see their trustabused.5A cross-industry loss ofbrand trust is the result. Thisdevelopment leads to challengeswithin the brand managementpractice and immediatelyincreases the research interestin the construct of brandauthenticity recognized inacademia and business practiceas a central lever for buildingbrand trust. This was the startingpoint for our quest to identify andempirically validate the drivers ofbrand authenticity.When we analyze the buildingblocks of authenticity, wedistinguish between twodimensions: the integrity level of acompany consisting of an integralpoint of reference, behavioralcontinuity over time andcoherence across touchpoints,and the level of originality of thebrand identity.Kleine-Kalmer, 2015, p. 571Burmann et al., 2018, p. 412Burmann et al., 2015, p. 59; Hegner, 2012, p. 523Deloitte Millenial Survey, 2019; Bialek, 20194Doyle, 2016; Fendel and Frenkel, 2009; IMF, 2010; Macho and Schaal, 2017;Merten, 2015; Schieritz, 2016; Simon, 2017; U.S. House of Representatives, 20155 04

The strive for the authentic brand experience Management SummaryKEEP YOUR PROMISESTAY TRUE TO YOURSELFVALUE YOUR HERITAGEThe Authentic Top 10s three commitmentsAuthenticity can neither be copied nor permanently faked. Just declaring that one’s own brand is authentic canhave the opposite effect. If the rhetoric of a brand does not correspond to the actual brand experience, thebrand loses its authenticity. Brand authenticity is not only promoted, it is lived every day and at all brand touchpoints. At its core, this requires a relationship between word and deed.Walk the talk0103Approaching authenticity from itssociological roots, it describes thecongruence between the existenceof a profound brand identity andan actual brand behavior that canreally and comprehensively beexplained through this identity.Keep your promiseValue your heritage“Reliably keeping our promises.”“Stay consistently good for decades.”The Most Authentic brandsconvey a feeling of reliability. Nopromises are made which cannotbe kept. No matter the brandidentity, whether they focus onquality leadership, innovation orunique design. Authentic brandswalk the talk.Authentic brands are coherentat any specific point in time andcontinuously managed over time.Knowing what they stand for andvaluing their heritage, authenticbrands are consistent for yearsin their promise and appearance.That does not mean they don’tchange, but staying true to theirinner core: they’ve proven thatover the years.The consumer with theirsubjective ideas and expectationssearches for authenticity, whichthey see confirmed when theyassume that the brand actsaccording to an inner compassand avoids opportunisticalignment with trends.Authenticity thus shows theperceived coherence betweenself-portrayal, behavior andidentity, which is constituted bythe determinants of originalityand integrity.We find, that the most authenticbrands stick to three major rules:0502Stay true to yourself“Do not bend and remain true toourself - even as the brand expands.”Finding and preserving the brandcore is what the most authenticbrands master. This holds true dayto day, on any brand touchpoint.Authentic brands stand out,especially when neglecting shortterm economic goals to stay trueto themselves without followingany trend.

The strive for the authentic brand experience Management SummaryThe most authentic brands master this rules and they do that for a good reason: Authentic behavior increasesbehavioral and economic performance indicators, with a highly significant impact on brand trust, purchaseintention and the overall brand image.Figure 1 Effects on consumer behaviorBrand ImageBrandAuthenticityBrand TrustPurchase Intention“Brand authenticity shows highly significant impacton brand trust, image and purchase intention.”6Adomeit, 2020606

The strive for the authentic brand experience Authenticity increases Brand TrustAuthenticityincreases Brand TrustBrand parity and a cross-institutional loss of trustMany markets today arecharacterized by a hyper-realitycreated by brands, in whichconsumers are confronted withillusory worlds that stage theunreal as reality. At the sametime, however, attitudes towardsa brand and purchasing decisionsincreasingly depend on the extentto which an offer is perceived asgenuine by the potential buyer.In this situation, the consumerstrust in the brand is becoming themost important factor for buildingstrong brands. And the trustconsumers have in a brand is seenas the most important factor forthe future viability ofthe respective brand.The great importance of brandtrust collides with the loss oftrust across sectors. One strategyagainst this loss of trust is seenin the authenticity of brands.Authentic brands differentiatethemselves credibly, createpreferences and contributesignificantly to a stable brandcustomer relationship.Adomeit, 2020707A crisis of the similarWhat do you standfor?A general uncertainty anddecreasing willingness totrust meets uniform brandcommunication and propositions.In the consumers’ perception, theinterchangeability of brands, calledbrand parity, is increasing.The high competitive pressurein global markets and rapidimitation cycles have led to anin-creasing interchangeability ofthe functional and non-functionalattributes. Despite an unendingarray of variations in supermarketsand mass merchandisers, thedifferences between brands aretypically not significant enough forany single brand to stand out.Today, 815,589 trademarksregistered in Germany aloneare available for consumers tochoose from. The number of newtrademark registrations per yearrose from 59,849 in 2012 to 73,633in 2019 and is fostering brandinflation. Increasing complexity inthe purchasing process, decreasingbrand loyalty and brand trustare the result of the flood ofbrands with interchangeablecharacteristics and promise.Brands are suffering from a crisisof the similar.The crisis of the similar is theresult of similar strategies, similarinvestments, similar understanding of consumer needs, andsimilar business models across theindustry, demonstrating a strongfocus on outside-in orientation.Brands tend to be reactive toconsumer behavior instead ofpredicting changes in consumers’underlying attitudes andconfidently deliver what the brand,inside-out, really stands for.In order to still be included in theconsumers’ consideration set,strong brands have to claim newpositioning fields. In the future, it willbe less a matter of communicatingunique brand promises than ofcredibly standing for a unequivocalbrand purpose and actuallydelivering on that purpose. Brandauthenticity will thus become adecisive bottleneck factor.7

The strive for the authentic brand experience Authenticity increases Brand TrustBrand Authenticity accounts forof the brand trust92%The Relevance of Brand AuthenticityAuthenticity increasestrust“Brand authenticityincreasessocioeconomic KPIssuch as brand trust,purchase intentionand loyalty.”08Trust and emotional closenessmoderated by trust are moreimportant than functionalperformance and individualityof the brand. By influencing thewillingness to buy, the willingnessto pay and the willingnessto recommend the brand,the monetary brand value oftrustworthy brands increases.Brand authenticity createstrust. The importance ofbrand authenticity for branddifferentiation is thereforegrowing continuously. The highinterchangeability of manybrands reduces their credibility.Brand authenticity, as a factorupstream of trust, becomes a“guarantor” for the “authenticity”of the brand promise and justifiesthe building of trust.The high relevance of authenticityfor modern brand managementresults, in addition to its trustbuilding function, from thegrowing social call for authenticity.Consumers demand brands thatoffer an original story, a clearidentity and a sincere commitmentto their own promises.