Assessing The Effects Of Product VS Country Image And Hedonic VS Utilitarian Messaging On Brand Attitude

This study aims to analyze the most effective strategy to obtain the most favorable brand attitude when promoting a brand. It examines the effectiveness of a product or country image, as well as the hedonistic and utilitarian message towards the brand attitude of a product. This study also includes the moderating effect of brand sustainability to observe the effect of a good or bad sustainability image on the brand attitude of a product. This study uses an experimental approach using a fictitious Swiss chocolate brand with either a hedonistic or utilitarian-focused message, followed by a display of a country or product image, as well as a sustainability report using the Chocolate Scorecard as a template. The participants are then given a set of four bipolar items before and after the sustainability report to rate the brand attitude of the product. The results show a non-significant relationship between hedonistic and utilitarian messages towards brand attitude, while it shows a significant relationship between country and product image towards brand attitude. The results also show that a sustainable label shows a similar positive impact towards brand attitude, while a non-sustainable label has a more adverse impact on product image compared to country image.