COO

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How Do Reference Groups Influence Self-Brand
Connections among Chinese Consumers?
Yujie Wei
a
& Chunling Yu
b
a
Department of Marketing and Real Estate, Richards College of Business, University of West
Georgia
b
Department of Marketing, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University,
Beijing
Published online: 08 Mar 2013.
To cite this article: Yujie Wei & Chunling Yu (2012) How Do Reference Groups Influence Self-Brand Connections among
Chinese Consumers?, Journal of Advertising, 41:2, 39-54, DOI: 10.2753/JOA0091-3367410203
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/JOA0091-3367410203
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2. Journal of Advertising, vol. 41, no. 2 (Summer 2012), pp. 39–53.
© 2012 American Academy of Advertising. All rights reserved. Permissions: www.copyright.com
ISSN 0091-3367 (print)/ISSN 1557-7805 (online)
DOI: 10.2753/JOA0091-3367410203
Coca-Cola was dismayed at an unexpected sales drop in China
after one of its nationally televised commercials featured a
famous pop singer as a celebrity endorser (Du, Yu, and Zhao
2009). A little research revealed that male Chinese consumers
decided to boycott Coca-Cola because the pop singer’s androgy-
nous image—though popular among female consumers, who
mimicked her masculine hairstyle and clothing—annoyed
men. To avoid any possibility that they would be perceived
as fans, men stopped drinking Coke to dissociate themselves
from her fan base. This event clearly illustrates the impact of
advertising on consumer self–brand connections: Using the
singer as a spokesperson for Coke improved the self–brand
connections among her fans, but severed those connections
for men who disliked the singer. Coca-Cola thus took on new
meaning for men, as it became associated with androgyny,
the celebrity, and her fans—a highly visible social subgroup.
The self–brand connection (SBC) refers to the psychological
association a person develops with a brand. High SBC means
that consumers feel a strong connection with a brand, whereas
low SBC implies a weak connection. Advertising helps build
SBC by serving as an instrument of meaning transfer from
the brand to the consumer (Elliott and Wattanasuwan 1998;
McCracken 1986, 1989). A successful meaning transfer in
turn helps consumers identify themselves with the brand
and “put[s] them to work in the construction of their no-
tions of the self and the world” (McCracken 1989, p. 314).
Self-congruity theory suggests that consumers prefer brands
whose images closely correspond with their own self-concepts
(e.g., Childers and Rao 1992). A higher degree of congruence
between a consumer’s self-concept and the brand image then
leads to more positive emotional (e.g., love, pride, joy) and
cognitive responses toward the ad, as well as heightened pur-
chase intentions (see, e.g., Chang 2008; Mehta 1999). That
is, advertising appeals that are congruent with viewers’ self-
concepts are more persuasive than are incongruent appeals in
terms of advertising effectiveness (Agrawal and Maheswaran
2005; Hong and Zinkhan 1995).
Beyond advertising, SBC may be subject to the influence of
other people or reference groups (Escalas and Bettman 2003,
2005; Sirgy 1982; Swaminathan, Page, and Gürhan-Canli
2007; White and Dahl 2006). Consumer–brand connections
likely involve three reference groups: member groups; aspi-
ration groups, whom consumers aspire to be like; and dis-
sociative groups, whom they want to avoid. Because people
generally agree on some aspects of a brand’s meaning (Escalas
and Bettman 2005), consumers who buy a specific brand per-
ceive themselves as similar to others who consume that same
brand, but different from those who own a competing brand
(Escalas and Bettman 2003, 2005). Furthermore, consumers
exhibit differing levels of susceptibility to reference group
Yujie Wei (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is an associate professor
of marketing, Department of Marketing and Real Estate, Richards
College of Business, University of West Georgia.
Chunling Yu (Ph.D., Tsinghua University) is an associate professor
of marketing, Department of Marketing, School of Economics and
Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing.
This paper was jointly funded by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (no. 70772018) and the Chinese Ministry of
Education (no. 08JZD0019). Both authors contributed equally; their
names are listed alphabetically.
How Do Reference Groups Influence Self–Brand Connections
Among Chinese Consumers?
Implications for Advertising
Yujie Wei and Chunling Yu
ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the influence of reference groups on self–brand connections among Chinese consum-
ers and the implications for advertising in China. Reference groups include the in-group (member group) and out-groups
(aspiration, dissociative, and neutral). Two studies test five hypotheses involving both Chinese and foreign brands. The
results indicate that Chinese consumers report higher self–brand connections for Chinese brands in member and aspiration
group settings, but higher connections with foreign brands in a dissociative group setting. Furthermore, individualism/
collectivism moderates the influence of reference groups on this connection. For brands with images congruent with the
in-group, compared with more individualistic consumers, more collectivist consumers exhibit stronger self–brand con-
nections with Chinese brands than with foreign brands. For brands with images congruent with the dissociative group,
compared with more collectivist consumers, more individualistic consumers report stronger self–brand connections with
foreign brands than with Chinese brands. These results have critical implications for advertising in China.
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3. 40 The Journal of Advertising
influences, depending on their age, gender, ethnic background,
and social relations (see, e.g., Childers and Rao 1992; Escalas
and Bettman 2005; Martin, Wentzel, and Tomczak 2008;
Wooten and Reed 2004). For example, compared with those
of U.S. consumers, the brand attitudes of Thai consumers tend
to depend more on their familial groups (parents, uncles, and
aunts) than peer groups (coworkers, friends, and neighbors).
Hispanic consumers’ perceptions of reference group influence
vary according to the extent of their ethnic identification in
the United States (Webster and Faircloth 1994).
In research into recent advertisements in the Chinese
market, we have found that both Chinese and foreign brands
can leverage the influence of reference groups in advertising.
Typically, slogans encapsulate different reference groups, which
may enhance consumer–brand connections. For example, the
South Korean Samsung Corporation has applied such strate-
gies in advertisements across different stages of its entry into
China. In the initial stages (1997–2004), Samsung tried to
build a strong connection between its brands and Chinese
consumers by adopting an in-group effect slogan: “Samsung,
striving to be a firm liked by the Chinese people and con-
tributing to Chinese society.” By 2004, Samsung had earned
a “most respectable company” award in China, and with this
greater acceptance among Chinese consumers, it switched to
a new advertising message: “Own me, and you will own the
world.” With this aspiration group effect, Samsung appeals
to Chinese consumers who want more global recognition for
their accomplishments.
In accordance with these examples, this study pursues three
main research objectives. First, we investigate the impact of
reference groups on SBC among Chinese consumers. Although
research has demonstrated the significant influence of refer-
ence groups on SBC among Westerners (see, e.g., Escalas and
Bettman 2003, 2005; White and Dahl 2006, 2007), who tend
to represent individualist cultures (Hofstede 1980, 2001), we
question whether current theoretical and empirical findings
about interrelationships between reference group influence and
SBC transfer perfectly from Western to non-Western cultural
contexts. Second, we examine the potential moderating effect
of individualism and collectivism for reference group influences
on SBC. Third, with regard to brand origin, or the brand’s
country of origin, we consider how SBC varies for Chinese and
foreign brands, which may have implications for international
advertisers (Zhou, Yang, and Hui 2010).
Our study contributes to advertising literature in two ways.
First, to the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to
deal with reference group influences on self–brand connections
from an advertising perspective. Thus, our findings enrich
existing literature regarding advertising, reference group influ-
ences, and SBC. Second, in a global environment, our findings
can help Westerners understand Chinese consumers’ attitudes
toward foreign brands and advertisements, and provide prac-
tical implications for international advertisers that hope to
cross changing cultural barriers and ensure acceptance of their
advertisements by Chinese consumers, as well as establish ap-
propriate positioning for their brands in China.
ADVERTISING AND SELF–BRAND
CONNECTIONS
Research based on social identity theory indicates that consum-
ers purchase brands in part to construct their self-concepts and,
in so doing, form self–brand connections (Escalas and Bettman
2005; Sirgy 1982). Generally, people are more interested in
developing stronger connections with particular brands that
can define and help them create their self-concepts (Sirgy 1982;
Sprott, Czellar, and Spangenberg 2009). Advertising research
on consumer product and service branding increasingly ad-
dresses the connections between consumers and brands as a
key issue, because self-concept measures can provide richer
insights about how people think and feel about themselves
and how they react to advertising and the advertised brand
(Chang 2008; Elliott and Wattanasuwan 1998; Mehta 1999).
Advertising can provide both existing and newly introduced
goods with new meanings that consumers can adopt to build
their own identities (McCracken 1986). To transfer mean-
ings this way, advertising brings “the consumer good and a
representation of the culturally constituted world together
within the frame of a particular advertisement” (McCracken
1986, p. 74), usually by employing visual images and verbal
materials. Congruence between the self-concept and the brand
image depends on viewers’ evaluations of themselves and the
advertised brand (Mehta 1999).
Moreover, consumer–brand connections form at both in-
dividual and group levels (Swaminathan, Page, and Gürhan-
Canli 2007). Thus, a U.S. consumer’s connection with a foreign
brand, such as Mercedes, may reflect a desire to express an
individual-level, unique identity (e.g., self-concept connec-
tion), but a relationship with a local brand (e.g., Ford) may
be based on a group-level, patriotic, national identity (e.g.,
country-of-origin connection). Dong and Tian find that Chi-
nese consumers tend to “infuse Western brands with meaning,
rendering them politically useful in articulating a reaction to
the West and realizing imaginings of the future Chinese na-
tion” (2009, p. 505). In this sense, SBC depends not only on
brand and self-identity, but also on the opinions of reference
groups that are important to an individual consumer.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
AND HYPOTHESES
Social Identity Theory
Social identity theory (Reed 2002; Sirgy 1982; Turner 1982)
proposes that identity consists of two components: personal
(i.e., individual sense of self) and social (i.e., groups to which
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4. Summer 2012 41
the person belongs). Social identity is a self-concept derived
from perceived membership in social groups (Tajfel 1986), and
the identification process specifically pertains to a role relation-
ship with the referent group (Reed 2002). Group membership
constitutes a vital part of self-concept, because people often
define their sense of self in terms of “we” rather than “I,” and
are therefore motivated to comply with group norms (Bearden
and Etzel 1982; Turner and Oakes 1986). Group membership
helps create an in-group and self-categorization, such that
people are motivated to differentiate their in-group from a
comparison out-group on some valued dimension (Brown
2000). Strong in-group favoritism also may drive people to
seek positive distinctiveness for their in-group, at the expense
of the out-group (Tajfel and Turner 1979).
Social identity theory further postulates that different
social contexts trigger a person to think, feel, and act on the
basis of personal, family, or national levels of the self (Kleine,
Kleine, and Kernan 1993). To achieve various purposes, a
person may favor a particular in-group that seems central
to his or her self-definition and provides a meaningful com-
parison. If the surrounding context changes, the person may
shift to another self-identity and identify more strongly with
this newly activated identity to act as a group member rather
than as an individual (e.g., Tajfel 1986). In summary, social
identity theory suggests that situational factors activate par-
ticular components of identity, which then influence a person’s
cognition, affect, and behavior (Lam et al. 2010; Markus and
Kitayama 1991).
Researchers in turn use social identity theory to explain
reference group influences on self–brand connections (see,
e.g., Escalas and Bettman 2003; Swaminathan, Page, and
Gürhan-Canli 2007; White and Dahl 2007). Reference groups
have direct impacts on brand attitude and choices (Duhachek,
Zhang, and Krishnan 2007; Sirgy 1982; Wooten and Reed
2004). When a consumer “endorses” a brand by using it dur-
ing interactions with reference groups, that person signals a
desire to be associated with the kind of other people whom
he or she perceives as also consuming that brand (Grubb and
Hupp 1968; Lam et al. 2010). Reed (2002) suggests that if
the portrayal of an athletic shoe in an advertisement shows its
wearer receiving accolades from significant others or relevant
reference groups, perceptions of potential external positive
reinforcement should drive consumers to purchase that shoe.
Therefore, a reference group provides an important source of
brand meaning to consumers, including a sense of how other
people may view them, which influences their brand evalua-
tions and SBC (Escalas and Bettman 2003, 2005).
Reference groups consist of two categories: in-groups and
out-groups (White and Dahl 2006). The in-group, or member
group, refers to a group to which the consumer belongs. A
brand image consistent with the in-group can lead to higher
SBC (Escalas and Bettman 2003). However, the influence of
groups on SBC may also depend on the brand’s country of
origin (COO). The brand’s COO represents a group-level vari-
able and is particularly meaningful as a means to differentiate
in-group from out-group members (Swaminathan, Page, and
Gürhan-Canli 2007). In an advertising setting, COO effects
occur automatically and contribute to product evaluations
without consumers’ intention or control (Liu and Johnson
2005). For example, highly ethnocentric Chinese consumers
overestimate the quality of Chinese products and underesti-
mate that of imported products (Balabanis and Diamantopou-
los 2004). Consumer ethnocentrism derives from the sense of
cultural openness, patriotism, conservatism, and collectivism
of different countries (Lee, Hong, and Lee 2003; Sharma,
Shimp, and Shin 1995); in recent years, China has experienced
a strong wave of nationalism, largely in response to nationwide
educational programs on patriotism and people’s growing
interest in traditional Confucian doctrines (Dong and Tian
2009; Economist 2007; Wang and Lin 2009). The situational
priming of China itself may thus increase Chinese consumers’
ethnocentrism, as reflected in ethnocentric attitudes toward
foreign brands and advertisements (Pham 2008).
On the basis of the social identity theory and previous
research pertaining to the effects of consumer ethnocentrism
and reference groups, we therefore hypothesize that a brand’s
COO information can activate Chinese consumers’ in-group
favoritism, such that they prefer Chinese brands to foreign
brands, even if both brands’ images are congruent with the
in-group image.
Hypothesis 1: For brands with an image that is congruent
with the member group, among Chinese consumers, the Chinese
brand will have higher self–brand connections than will the
foreign brand.
Out-groups refer to groups to which a person does not
belong and consist of three versions: aspirational, neutral, and
dissociative. An aspirational group is one to which a person
wishes to belong—perhaps an occupation such as college pro-
fessors, an ethnic group, a gender group, certain age groups,
or even nationality groups. If a social group is considered
aspirational by most people of the society, the group likely
becomes a societal referent, represented by many things, in-
cluding brands (Aaker, Brumbaugh, and Grier 2000; Grier
and Deshpande 2001).
As a result of recent economic growth in China, many
people seek well-known brands to distinguish themselves
from other social groups or classes (Hung, Gu, and Tse 2005;
Lin 2001). In particular, higher-priced, name brands function
as symbols and demonstrate social distance between different
groups in China (Li and Su 2007). Status appeals are there-
fore common in advertisements for luxury goods in China,
such as automobiles, which highlight images of modernity,
affluence, and social achievement. Recent research shows that
Chinese consumers tend to buy domestic brands (e.g., Wang
and Wang 2007; Zhuang et al. 2008), for three main reasons.
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5. 42 The Journal of Advertising
First, intensive patriotic education and chronic identification
with a conservative, traditional culture have increased their
ethnocentrism, so Chinese consumers use their consumption
of domestic brands as an outlet for collective expression that
symbolizes a sense of belonging to a national community
(Wang and Wang 2007; Zhao and Belk 2008).
Second, Chinese enterprises are increasingly competitive
with global players (Roberts et al. 2004; Zeng and Williamson
2003), and have undertaken a series of acquisitions of global
brands (e.g., Chinese PC producer Lenovo’s acquisition of
the PC branch of IBM; the automaker Geely’s acquisition of
Volvo). Thus, Chinese consumers have gained more confidence
in domestic products and believe domestic brands are equal to
or even better than their foreign counterparts (Chan, Cui, and
Zhou 2009). The prevalence of “international-level” quality
standards and prestigious certifications, including ISO 9000,
among Chinese manufacturers has further increased local
consumers’ preference for domestic brands.
Third, along with quality improvements, Chinese enter­
prises invest heavily in their brands in both domestic and global
markets (Zhou, Yang, and Hui 2010). The central government
has provided significant support for domestic enterprises to re-
juvenate traditional brands and create and nurture new brands.
Domestic firms have learned from their foreign counterparts
how to manage and promote brands effectively (Chan, Cui, and
Zhou 2009; Zhou, Yang, and Hui 2010). In addition, they can
more easily take advantage of the favorable Chinese business
environment and are willing to spend significant revenues
promoting brands through complicated campaigns and pro-
grams. These campaigns, which fuse distinct Chinese cultural
elements with appropriate public sentiments, have attracted
many Chinese consumers to domestic brands. Metersbonwe,
created in 1995 as a local casual wear apparel line, became the
largest apparel brand in the country in 2006, mainly through
its application of modern branding techniques. Its well-known
slogans (e.g., “Be Different!” and “Be a New Chinese Brand!”)
have appealed to millions of young consumers.
Following this discussion, we postulate that Chinese con-
sumers who aspire to be members of higher social status groups
demonstrate higher SBC with Chinese rather than foreign
brands. We further suggest that the influence of this aspira-
tional group on Chinese consumers’ SBC with domestic brands
should be similar to the influence of an in-group. Thus:
Hypothesis 2: For brands with images that are congruent
with an aspirational group, for Chinese consumers, a Chinese
brand will have higher self–brand connections than will the
foreign brand.
When a person wants to avoid a group, however, that
group is dissociative (Englis and Soloman 1995; White and
Dahl 2007). Dissociative groups have negative influences on
SBC, consumer evaluations, and choices (Aaker, Brumbaugh,
and Grier 2000; Grier and Deshpande 2001; White and Dahl
2006). According to social identity theory, and as exemplified
in our opening Coca-Cola example, consumers refuse to iden-
tify with brands congruent with dissociative groups, because
doing so may harm their self-image (Kleine, Kleine, and Ker-
nan 1993; Wooten and Reed 2004). Therefore, we posit that
in any dissociative condition, Chinese consumers will avoid
all brands, but they are expected to be somewhat less likely
to avoid foreign brands. This prediction again is based on
three key premises. First, at the individual–brand relationship
level, social balance theory suggests that consumers attempt to
maintain consistency among a triad of linked attitudes (Heider
1958), such that when evaluating an advertisement and brand,
any inconsistency drives negative ad evaluations and motivates
a change in attitudes toward both the brand and the ad (Rus-
sell and Stern 2006). Therefore, when evaluating domestic and
foreign brands associated with out-groups, Chinese consumers
should not want to associate with either type of brand, so they
can maintain a consistent self-concept.
Second, at a social and group level, brands are powerful
cultural symbols that Chinese consumers use for social purposes
(Chan, Cui, and Zhou 2009). According to Lam et al. (2010),
in new brand introductions, consumers’ evaluations depend
more on sociopsychological value than on functional utility.
Because Chinese brands offer more sociopsychological value for
them, Chinese consumers should avoid Chinese brands more
so than foreign brands, congruent with out-group influences,
because these consumers use domestic brands mainly for goal-
related tasks, such as building social relationships, maintain-
ing distance from out-groups, and ensuring similarity with
in-groups. In contrast, because foreign brands are not tools
for meeting self-related goals among Chinese consumers, they
should be less likely to work to disconnect themselves from
foreign brands. Therefore, driven by self-presentation needs,
Chinese consumers may avoid impressions that are likely to
provoke negative evaluations by target audiences or create
impressions that could be challenged, disapproved, or even
unjustified (Duhachek, Zhang, and Krishan 2007; Wooten
and Reed 2004; Zhou and Wong 2008).
Third, our prediction that Chinese consumers are less likely
to avoid foreign brands is consistent with social comparison
theory. Brown (2000) suggests that people are selective in their
choice of comparison out-group, and they tend to compare
their in-group with other out-groups to form attitudes toward
brands that offer images that are congruent with different out-
groups. Social identity theory further suggests that in-group
bias should be stronger toward similar rather than dissimilar
out-groups (Cadinu and Reggiori 2002). For Chinese consum-
ers, an out-group that identifies with Chinese brands consists
of their own countrymen, which is more similar to them than
an out-group that identifies with foreign brands, which could
include foreigners and other Chinese. Thus, it seems reasonable
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6. Summer 2012 43
to predict that Chinese consumers display stronger in-group
bias toward domestic brands than toward foreign brands con-
nected with out-groups.
Accordingly, we argue that brands that are congruent with
dissociative out-groups pose both individual-level identity
threats and the risk of social disapproval for Chinese consum-
ers. In a dissociative setting, Chinese consumers avoid both
domestic and foreign brands so that they can seek individual
benefits (consistency), pursue the fulfillment of personal goals
(self-concept), and engage in a protective style of self-presen-
tation to gain approval and social acceptance. They should be
less likely to avoid foreign brands, however, because in-group
bias and the effect of social comparison are diminished.
Hypothesis 3: For brands with images that are congruent
with dissociative groups, among Chinese consumers, the foreign
brand will have higher self–brand connections than will the
Chinese brand.
STUDY 1
Design
In Study 1, we examine how reference groups (member, as-
piration, and dissociative) influence self–brand connections
using a 4 (group type: member, aspiration, dissociative, and
neutral groups) × 2 (brand origin: Chinese versus foreign
brands) mixed-model design (with group type as the between-
subjects variable and brand origin as the within-subjects vari-
able). Neutral groups control for experimental confounding
effects that may arise from the research design. We assigned
the participants randomly to one of the four reference group
conditions.
Participants
One hundred and twenty (49 men, 71 women) participants
from a major Chinese university in Beijing completed ques-
tionnaires pertaining to their brand selections. Each participant
received RMB5 (US$.80) for their participation. However,
incomplete or improper responses prompted us to eliminate
23 participants from the data (10 did not list their reference
group, 3 listed Chinese brands as foreign brands, and 10 did
not answer the SBC questions), leaving a total of 97 partici-
pants (41% men, with an average age of 20.3 years).
Questionnaire
The questionnaire was prepared in Chinese. A Chinese trans-
lation of the seven-item SBC scale was backtranslated into
English by three Chinese scholars, all of whom teach at a
major Chinese university and speak both languages fluently.
The translated version of the SBC scale was compared with its
original version by a group of five scholars and seven students
who were not involved in the research. They confirmed that
the items in the translated version were similar to or had the
same meaning as the original items in the SBC scale.
Stimulus Brands
In a pretest designed to select advertised brands in China
that would be meaningful to the participant population, 30
students from the same university listed up to five Chinese
brands and five foreign brands for each of four product cat-
egories (i.e., clothes, cars, cell phones, and toothpaste), in a
procedure adapted from Escalas and Bettman’s (2005) work.
These four product categories reflect four choice criteria,
namely, they (1) include both publicly and privately used prod-
ucts, (2) are advertised products in China, (3) are frequently
used by consumers to express self-concepts, and (4) offer both
Chinese and foreign brands in the Chinese market. Clothes
and cell phones are publicly used products that reflect the
preferences and personal tastes of the owner, so they express
self-concepts. Toothpaste traditionally is a private product
in Western countries, but users generally demonstrate stable
preferences for toothpaste brands, and our pretest showed that
many participants used toothpaste brands to express their
self-identity. Finally, a growing number of Chinese families
buy cars for their personal use; car sales reached 18 million in
2010, meaning China has become the largest car market in the
world. This sales increase is prompting dramatic increases in
the number of car advertisements for both Chinese and foreign
brands, and consumers are familiar with most brands. To mini-
mize any confounding effects, when selecting the brands, we
also attempted to ensure that the Chinese and foreign brands
were relatively similar in terms of their visibility, sales, and
market share.
From approximately 600 candidate brands, we chose the
top 12 Chinese and foreign brands, based on separate rank-
ings of their Chinese and foreign identity, for the main study
(see Table 1). All selected brands had attained relatively high
visibility in the Chinese market and were frequently used by
consumers to represent their self-concepts.
Procedure and Measures
The participants were randomly assigned to one of the four ref-
erence group situations—in-group, aspiration, dissociative, or
neutral. In each condition, participants identified an in-group
(to which they belonged), an aspiration group (to which they
did not belong but wanted to join), a dissociative group (with
which they did not want to be associated), or a neutral group
(to which they did not belong, but neither wanted to avoid nor
join), as appropriate. Next, they answered questions regarding
the degree to which they belonged to this identified reference
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7. 44 The Journal of Advertising
group; these questions served as manipulation checks. Subse-
quently, participants selected two brands (one Chinese and one
foreign) whose brand images were congruent with their chosen
reference groups from among the pools of 12 Chinese and 12
foreign brands, preselected for the four product categories.
If participants did not feel comfortable with the preselected
brands, they could list their own brands, but no one did so,
and all participants chose from the pools (see Table 2). Im-
mediately following the brand choice, the participants rated
their SBC for each brand separately. Finally, the questionnaire
gathered demographic information, including gender and age.
The entire procedure took approximately 30 minutes.
Self–Brand Connection Measures
To measure SBC, we used seven items (anchored by 1 = strongly
disagree and 7 = strongly agree), averaged to form one SBC
score per participant per brand (α = .91) (see Table 3).
Manipulation Checks
We used the three-item scale by Escalas and Bettman (2005)
for the manipulation checks for in-group membership (“I con-
sider myself this type of person,” “I belong to this group,” and
“I fit in with this group of people,” anchored by 1 = strongly
disagree and 7 = strongly agree; α = .88). The measures of
fit with the aspiration, dissociative, and neutral groups relied
on the average of two, seven-point scale items: “I look up to
this type of person” and “I wish I could become a member of
this group,” again anchored by 1 (strongly disagree) and 7
(strongly agree; α = .89).
Results
Manipulation Checks
We first consolidated the data from all the groups and com-
pared the degree to which participants belonged to the group
to which they had been assigned. The results indicated that
participants of the member group believed they belonged to
the member group significantly more than to the out-group,
Min-group
= 6.46, Mout-group
= 2.90, F(1, 95) = 164.08, p < .001.
Then we compared the degree to which participants in the
three out-groups belonged to their group and found signifi-
cant differences, F(2, 68) = 52.87, p < .001. Furthermore,
Tukey’s HSD post hoc tests revealed that any two groups ex-
hibited significant differences at the .05 level (Maspiration
= 4.16,
Mneutral
= 2.76, Mdissociative
= 1.52, p < .05).
Hypotheses Tests
An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on the mea-
sure of SBC. We found a significant interaction effect of refer-
ence group type by brand origin on SBC for both Chinese and
foreign brands, F(3, 93) = 53.47, p < .001. Brand origin and
group type also had significant main effects, F(1, 93) = 51.79,
p < .001; F(3, 93) = 93.35, p < .001, respectively.
As suggested by H1, Chinese brands provided higher SBC
than foreign brands in a member group setting, MChinese
= 5.33,
Mforeign
= 4.07; a priori contrast F(1, 93) = 126.47, p < .001.
Similarly, in support of H2, Chinese consumers exhib-
ited higher SBC for Chinese brands in an aspirational
group, MChinese
= 5.78, Mforeign
= 4.77; a priori contrast,
F(1, 93) = 78.58, p < .001. As we predicted in H3, Chinese
brands achieved weaker SBC than foreign brands in a disso-
ciative group setting, MChinese
= 1.79, Mforeign
= 2.40; a priori
contrast F(1, 93) = 23.19, p < .001. Compared with foreign
brands, Chinese brands indicated almost equal SBC in the
neutral group setting, MChinese
= 3.71, Mforeign
= 3.69; a priori
contrast, F(1, 93) = .04, p = .845. We summarize these results
in Table 4 and Figure 1.
Discussion
The findings from Study 1 indicate a significant impact of ref-
erence groups on Chinese consumers’ SBC for both Chinese and
foreign brands. As we predicted, Chinese consumers reported
higher SBC for Chinese brands in an in-group setting (H1),
confirming the in-group influence on SBC among Chinese
consumers. We also predicted that Chinese consumers aspiring
to join a group would have higher SBC with a Chinese brand
than with a foreign brand (H2); the support for this hypothesis
TABLE 1
Study 1: Brands Used in Experiments (by Product Category, Brand Origin)
Clothes Cars Cell phones Toothpaste
Chinese brands Baleno
Yishion
Septwolves
Chery QQ
Xiali
Red Flag
Lenovo
Amoi
Haier
Zhong Hua
Blue Sky
Nice
Foreign brands Pierre Cardin
Jack Jones
Louis Vuitton
Mercedes-Benz
BMW
Volvo
Nokia
Samsung
Sony Ericsson
Colgate
Crest
LG Bamboo Salt
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8. Summer 2012 45
indicated that Chinese brands were more appealing to them.
These results are in line with Chang’s (2008) findings that
Chinese participants rate products with Chinese, as opposed
to English, brand names higher in terms of brand friendliness,
brand trust, SBC, and brand liking. Foreign brands achieved
higher SBC than Chinese brands in the dissociative group set-
ting (H3); that is, Chinese people were more likely to avoid
Chinese brands associated with a dissociative group.
STUDY 2
Study 2 explored the potential moderating impact of individ-
ualism–collectivism on the reference group’s influence on SBC.
Cultural theories suggest that cultural orientation shapes self-
concepts, which then guide people’s behavior (e.g., Hofstede
2001). An emerging emphasis in research into reference group
influences considers individualism and collectivism, or inde-
pendent and interdependent self-construals, rather than self-
concepts in general (e.g., Earley and Gibson 1998; White and
Dahl 2007). China represents a typical collectivist country, in
which consumers’ selves tend to be shaped more by in-groups
than other factors (Hofstede 1980, 2001). Unlike the Western
self, the self in Chinese culture reflects social relationships and
roles (Earley and Gibson 1998). Therefore, we consider it both
interesting and beneficial to investigate the moderating effect
of individualism and collectivism on the reference group influ-
ence on SBC, which arises from the need to choose between
foreign and Chinese brands in the Chinese market.
Moderating Effects of Individualism and Collectivism
The concept of individualism–collectivism refers to the range
of social connectedness people experience (Earley and Gibson
1998), which entails both the nature of group memberships
and the number of in-groups to which a person belongs
(Triandis 1994). Collectivists belong to many in-groups, view
group membership as stable and long-term, and define the self
by their successful in-group memberships (Earley and Gibson
1998). In contrast, individualists belong to fewer in-groups
and adopt them only if the in-groups are instrumental for at-
taining desired outcomes, such that their sense of self does not
depend on in-group memberships. Furthermore, individual-
ists and collectivists differ in the scope and intensity of their
conformity with in-groups: Individualists operate according
to self-interest, whereas collectivists may pursue self-interests
but first give priority to the group.
Researchers have confirmed that individualistic and col-
lectivistic tendencies appear in any given culture at different
levels of analysis or situations (e.g., Triandis 1995); therefore,
the construct is bidimensional (i.e., individualism and col-
lectivism rather than individualism versus collectivism), and
an individualist may display collectivistic behavior in a given
situation, just as a collectivist may act individualistically.
Brown (2000) suggests that group attitudes that involve
group contexts and in-group bias should be investigated along
TABLE 2
Study 1: Examples of Reference Groups and Brands Listed by Participants
Reference group
type Groups listed Chinese brands Foreign brands
Member Young people Yishion LG Bamboo Salt
College students Lenovo Sony Ericsson
Males Septwolves Mercedes-Benz
Aspirational Government officials Red Flag Nokia
CEOs and managers Lenovo Pierre Cardin
University professors Zhong Hua Colgate
Dissociative Females Amoi Samsung
Part-timers Nice Colgate
Peddlers Xiali Louis Vuitton
Neutral Lawyers Septwolves BMW
Clerks Blue Sky Nokia
Internet experts Chery QQ LG Bamboo Salt
TABLE 3
Self–Brand Connection Scale Items
1. This brand reflects who I am.
2. I can identify with this brand.
3. I feel a personal connection to this brand.
4. I use this brand to communicate who I am to other people.
5. I think this brand helps me become the type of person I want to
be.
6. I consider this brand to be “me” (it reflects who I consider myself
to be or the way that I want to present myself to others).
7. This brand suits me well.
Sources: Escalas and Bettman (2003, 2005).
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9. 46 The Journal of Advertising
this dimension. Escalas and Bettman (2005) also find that
consumer self-construals moderate reference group influences
on SBC among Asian, Hispanic, and white consumers in the
United States. Generally, Chinese people view themselves as
collectivistic and strongly embedded in their surrounding so-
cial context (Hofstede and Bond 1988; Jacobs and Gao 1995;
Triandis and Gelfand 1998), though Ho and Chiu (1994)
also find that both individualism and collectivism operate in
Chinese society. A study of Generation X in mainland China
illustrates that these young people are bicultural (Zhang
2009). Therefore, we predict that the basic effects postulated
in our hypotheses from Study 1 are moderated by consumer
individualism or collectivism. Specifically, in an in-group
situation, collectivism should enhance reference group influ-
ences on SBC for Chinese brands, because Chinese consumers,
similar to interdependent Asian consumers in North America,
should be more likely to use brands whose images are congru-
ent with in-groups, to establish their psychological association
with these groups (Escalas and Bettman 2005). In contrast,
even if foreign brands’ images are congruent with in-groups,
the reference group influence on SBC toward foreign brands
should be weaker, because collectivist Chinese consumers tend
to conform (Earley and Gibson 1998). Collectivism should also
activate a sense of ethnocentrism among Chinese consumers,
who then feel obligated to favor domestic brands and maintain
a distance from foreign brands because of their “foreignness”
TABLE 4
Study 1: Means (Standard Deviations) of SBC by Brand Origin and Group Type
Member
group
Aspirational
group
Dissociative
group
Neutral
group
(as control)
Chinese brand 5.33***
(.92)
(n = 26)
5.78***
(.70)
(n = 25)
1.79***
(.73)
(n = 20)
3.71
(.53)
(n = 26)
Foreign brand 4.07
(1.02)
(n = 26)
4.77***
(.56)
(n = 25)
2.40***
(.69)
(n = 20)
3.69
(.54)
(n = 26)
Total 4.70
(.89)
(n = 26)
5.27
(.56)
(n = 25)
2.09
(.67)
(n = 20)
3.70
(.52)
(n = 26)
Notes: SBC = self–brand connections.
A comparison of each reference group to the neutral control group focused on brand origin. In each row, means marked *** are
significantly different, compared with the mean of the neutral group.
*** Significant at the p < .001 level.
FIGURE 1
Study 1: Self–Brand Connections as a Function of Reference Group, Brand Origin
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10. Summer 2012 47
(Zhou, Yang, and Hui 2010). Because collectivism should
mitigate reference group influences on SBC for foreign brands
in in-group contexts, we posit:
Hypothesis 4: The effect of in-groups from H1, where the in-
group influence leads to higher SBC for Chinese brands compared
with foreign brands, will be more pronounced for collectivist
compared with individualistic consumers.
However, in a dissociative group condition, in which
group membership and goals are subordinate, Chinese con-
sumers are not required to conform to any group norms or
show loyalty to the out-group. Therefore, individualism and
collectivism should work in opposite ways, just as in the
in-group condition. On the one hand, collectivism should
strengthen the needs to avoid dissociative groups and stay
away from brands embraced by dissociative groups. On the
other hand, individualism should strengthen the needs of
Chinese consumers, particularly individualist ones, to pursue
their own self-interests. Escalas and Bettman (2005) find that
the negative effect of out-group brand associations on SBC
is stronger for independent (individualistic) consumers than
for interdependent (collectivistic) consumers, because the
independent consumers have stronger needs to differentiate
themselves from out-groups. Our prediction follows this rea-
soning, but we further predict that the moderating effects of
individualism and collectivism work differently for domestic
versus foreign brands. That is, the degree to which Chinese
consumers avoid dissociative brands should differ, such that
there is a stronger negative effect of dissociative brand associa-
tions on SBC toward domestic brands, because the domestic
brands are more identity based and pose more of a threat to
the group identity of consumers. A weaker negative effect on
SBC toward foreign brands is likely, because foreign brands are
more capable of differentiating Chinese consumers from their
groups, particularly among individualistic Chinese consum-
ers. Thus, we hypothesize that individualism and collectivism
strengthen the negative effects of dissociative group influences
on SBC toward domestic brands, but mitigate this negative
effect on SBC toward foreign brands.
Hypothesis 5: The effect of dissociative groups in H3, where
dissociative influence leads to lower SBC for Chinese brands
compared with foreign brands among Chinese consumers, will
be more pronounced for individualist compared with collectivist
consumers.
Design
In Study 2, we examined the moderating effect of individual-
ism and collectivism on the influence of reference groups on
SBC with Chinese and foreign brands. This study therefore
featured a 2 (in-group versus out-group) × 2 (Chinese versus
foreign brands) × 2 (collectivism versus individualism) mixed
design, with brand origin and individualism–collectivism as
the between-subjects variables and reference group type as the
within-subjects variable.
Participants
For this study, we recruited 198 participants from the same
university in Beijing that we used in Study 1. Each participant
received RMB5 (US$.80) for their participation. Eighteen
participants were eliminated from the data (6 did not answer
the manipulation check questions, and 12 did not answer the
SBC questions). The data from the remaining 180 respondents
(45% men; age = 20.2 years) provide the input for the analysis.
Using median splits, we divided the participants into high and
low collectivism and individualism groups (5.44 versus 5.29;
the two medians are close, suggesting that young people in
China are bicultural, in line with Zhang [2009]). Participants
high in collectivism and low in individualism were considered
more collectivistic; those high in individualism and low in
collectivism were considered more individualistic. This pro-
cedure is the same as that employed in previous research (see,
e.g., Escalas and Bettman 2005; Zhang 2009). Ninety-four
participants who earned consistently high or low scores on
both scales were eliminated from the data set, leaving a total
of 86 participants (41.9% men; age = 20.03 years), with 44
collectivists and 42 individualists.
Procedure and Measures
We adapted the study procedure from Escalas and Bettman
(2005) and White and Dahl (2007). We first randomly as-
signed participants to two groups: Chinese brand or foreign
brand. Respondents in each group listed one in-group (“you
are a member of the group”) and one out-group (“you are not
a member of the group”), and indicated the degree to which
they related to both groups, as manipulation checks. For
example, many participants listed “college students” as their
in-group, and some participants listed “blue-collar workers”
as their out-group. Then, participants in the Chinese brand
group listed two Chinese brands, whereas those in the foreign
brand group listed two foreign brands, with the requirement
that the brands’ images be consistent with the corresponding
in-group and out-group. They also completed a series of scale
questions pertaining to SBC and individualism–collectivism,
and provided demographic information, such as age and
gender. Finally, the participants were debriefed, thanked,
and dismissed. The entire procedure took approximately 30
minutes.
Self–Brand Connection Measures
The same SBC measures from Study 1 measured self–brand
connections, again anchored at “strongly disagree” and
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11. 48 The Journal of Advertising
“strongly agree.” The seven items were averaged to form one
SBC score per participant per brand (α = .88).
Individualism–Collectivism Measures
Participants completed the entire scale provided by Triandis
and Gelfand (1998) for individualism (eight items, α = .69)
and collectivism (eight items, α = .73).
Manipulation Checks
The degree to which the participant believed he or she belonged
to each group was assessed using the average of three items,
with the same scale that was used in Study 1 (α = .86).
Results
Manipulation Checks
Participants believed they belonged to the in-group sig-
nificantly more than to the out-group, Min-group
= 4.01,
Mout‑group
= 1.73, F(1, 84) = 48.41, p < .001.
Hypotheses Tests
In H4 and H5, we proposed a three-way interaction of
individualism–collectivism, reference group, and brand
origin. To test this, we used a general linear model, with
individualism–collectivism, group type, and brand origin as
the independent variables. The dependent variable was SBC.
We found a significant individualism–collectivism × group
type × brand origin interaction, F(1, 82) = 32.17, p < .001,
suggesting support for H4 and H5. The results show that the
collectivists only had high SBC for Chinese brands used by
the in-group, with equally low SBC for foreign brands used
by the in-group and both Chinese and foreign brands used by
the out-group. Specifically, the collectivists exhibited higher
SBC toward Chinese than foreign brands congruent with the
in-group, t(82) = 10.41, p < .001; higher SBC toward Chinese
brands congruent with the in-group than Chinese brands con-
gruent with the dissociative groups, t(82) = 13.58, p < .001;
and higher SBC toward Chinese than foreign brands congruent
with the dissociative groups, t(82) = 9.84, p < .001. The in-
dividualists exhibited lower SBC toward Chinese than foreign
brands congruent with the dissociative group, t(82) = –3.17,
p < .01; lower SBC toward Chinese brands congruent with
the dissociative group than Chinese brands congruent with
the in-group, t(82) = –3.34, p < .01; and lower SBC toward
Chinese than foreign brands congruent with the in-group,
t(82) = –3.42, p < .01. We summarize these results in Table 5
and depict them graphically in Figure 2.
Discussion
The results of Study 2 supported our prediction that
individualism–collectivism moderates the influence of the
reference group on consumers’ self–brand connections. The
moderating effect seems more significant in the in-group situ-
ations, in which a Chinese brand activates the collectivism of
Chinese consumers and enhances the in-group influence on
SBC (H1). Thus, collectivists only have high SBC for Chinese
brands used by their in-group, and they exhibit low SBC for
foreign brands used by the in-group. In a dissociative group
situation, the moderating effect of individualism–collectivism
also seems significant but moderate, in that individual-
ism induces a higher SBC for foreign brands than Chinese
brands. The positive effect of collectivism, more pronounced
in in-group conditions than individualism is, suggests that
Chinese consumers continue to be greatly influenced by the
type of collectivism endorsed by Confucianism. This finding
is consistent with previous research. Traditionally, Chinese
TABLE 5
Study 2: Means (Standard Deviations) of SBC by Brand Origin and Collectivism/Individualism
In-group Out-group
Collectivist Individualist Collectivist Individualist
Chinese brand 6.25
(.74)
(n = 24)
4.18
(.96)
(n = 22)
3.08
(.65)
(n = 24)
3.35
(.60)
(n = 22)
Foreign brand 3.15
(1.18)
(n = 20)
4.35
(1.27)
(n = 20)
3.27
(.75)
(n = 20)
4.02
(.77)
(n = 20)
Total 4.84
(1.38)
(n = 44)
4.26
(1.10)
(n = 42)
3.17
(.70)
(n = 44)
3.67
(.76)
(n = 42)
Note: SBC = self–brand connections.
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FIGURE 2
Study 2: Self–Brand Connections Across Group Type by Individualism–Collectivism
consumers have held strong collectivist values, placing great
emphasis on group consensus. Loyalty within a small group
instead of extended groups is very important and prioritized.
Therefore, Chinese consumers are more likely to stick with
the brands that their reference group accepts and are less
likely to deviate from in-group norms (Uncles, Wang, and
Kwok 2010; Yau 1988). In summary, collectivism enhances
SBC with in-group brands, but not with dissociative group
brands. As Earley and Gibson concluded, “a collectivist’s
pursuit of in-group goals may well represent ‘selfish’ interests
to the degree that a person views in-group interests as his/her
own” (1998, p. 296).
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Drawing on social identity theory, in Study 1, we tested the
reference group influence on consumer self–brand connections
with Chinese and foreign brands. All three hypotheses receive
support; a reference group influence on SBC exists among Chi-
nese consumers. In Study 2, we explored the moderating effect
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13. 50 The Journal of Advertising
of individualism–collectivism on the reference group’s influ-
ence on SBC. Our finding of support for H4 and H5 confirms
that individualism–collectivism has a moderating effect.
This research makes two major theoretical contributions to
advertising literature. First, our results provide some empiri-
cal evidence that reference groups influence the meaning of a
brand for consumers and their SBC with advertised brands.
Our findings support the use of an SBC approach in advertis-
ing, such that advertisers should realize how SBC forms and
evolves in different cultures, as well as which factors contribute
to stronger connections with domestic or foreign brands. We
thus extend advertising research to a new theoretical context
that may enable researchers to explore the influence of refer-
ence groups on advertising effectiveness. Second, we build
on prior reference group research by incorporating individ-
ualism–collectivism and investigating its moderating effect.
Our findings provide meaningful insights into the interplay
between individualism–collectivism and reference groups, as
well as their impact on consumer attitudes. Advertisers should
integrate reference groups into their advertising strategies,
as well as note consumers’ general levels of individualism–
collectivism when developing advertisements for consumers
in different cultures.
Our findings provide several managerial implications for
both domestic and international advertisers. First, as brand
equity based on symbolic values and cultural meanings be-
comes ever more important, advertisers need to try to integrate
reference group influences into their brand positioning, adver-
tising message strategies, and images. Specifically, to induce
in-group effects among targeted consumers, advertisers should
emphasize the group interests and brand preferences, preferably
accompanied by images of in-group or aspirational group mem-
bers. They should avoid using images of dissociative members.
International advertisers should use distinct Chinese cultural
elements in their messages, such as family-oriented values,
the color red (which symbolizes happiness), and images of the
Great Wall (which symbolizes China’s unity). Such messages
and images can help reduce the “otherness” of the advertised
foreign brands while also fostering positive SBC toward them
(Wang and Wang 2007). In addition, international advertisers
should avoid using any language or controversial images that
may be interpreted by Chinese consumers as disrespectful to
Chinese culture or the nation, because it could result in resent-
ment and even boycotts against brands (Dong and Tian 2009).
For example, Nippon’s dragon ads, published in International
Advertising in 2004, invited strong criticism from those who
believed that the dragon image, a national totem in China,
had been used disrespectfully. The incident greatly harmed
Nippon’s brand image among Chinese consumers.
Second, in designing advertising campaigns, advertisers,
and international advertisers in particular, should develop a
differentiated understanding of Chinese consumers’ collectivis-
tic sentiments, and then pursue programs and communication
that help encourage and even promote collectivism, even as
they acknowledge individual needs. Advertisers should at-
tempt to employ more collectivism, group consensus appeals,
and representations of consensual, family-oriented cultural
traditions (Lin 2001). In addition, in planning an advertising
campaign, international advertisers might take advantage of
some traditional Chinese occasions, such as festivals (e.g., the
Spring Festival, equal to Christmas in the West). Because
Chinese consumers tend to use expensive gifts to help build
interpersonal relationships and fulfill filial duties to their
parents and relatives during such holidays, advertisements
designed for and published on those occasions that incorporate
Chinese cultural values should be more persuasive to Chinese
buyers. They can also help establish self–brand connections
with the advertised brands.
Third, advertisers should adopt different strategies when
targeting individualist and collectivist groups, highlighting
the differentiated brand benefits that reflect unique symbolic
values and meanings. For collectivists, advertising that em-
phasizes in-group identity and Chinese cultural values, such
as conformity with family preferences, is appropriate (Cheng
1994); for individualists who have grown up in a freer market
system and have been exposed to Western influences, advertis-
ing that focuses on uniqueness and personal values may be more
effective (Lin 2001; Zhang and Shavitt 2003). Furthermore,
advertisements aimed at collectivists should highlight the lo-
cal production or Chinese style of their brands, whereas those
for individualists should concentrate on the foreign origin or
global style of their brands. To maximize SBC with foreign
brands in China, advertisers might consider brand localization
in the country, which can reduce or minimize unfavorable
brand COO effects (Zhuang et al. 2008). For example, foreign
brands might adopt Chinese names when first introduced to
China, which can induce greater preference by consumers who
misperceive the brands as local (Chang 2008).
Several limitations of this study also provide directions for
further research. First, although we tested reference group
influences in three contexts (member, aspirational, and dis-
sociative) in Study 1, we included only in-group and dissocia-
tive group contexts in Study 2. Therefore, we could not test
the moderating effects of individualism–collectivism for the
influences of aspirational group on SBC. These potential effects
are worth further investigation. Second, we used China as our
research setting; additional research should test our proposed
model in other cultural contexts, such as India, Brazil, Korea,
Japan, and Russia—that is, other countries traditionally
considered collectivistic. The applicability of our model to
those countries may help scholars better understand various
conceptualizations of SBC in advertising. Third, this study
pertains to the self–brand connection and its implications for
advertising, but the experiments did not feature a typical ad-
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14. Summer 2012 51
vertising context. In both studies, we required that all Chinese
and foreign brands listed by participants must be advertised
brands in the Chinese market. Further research should repli-
cate our study in a realistic advertising environment. Fourth,
additional research should measure the impact of advertising
appeals that are consistent with different reference groups on
SBC and test for potential moderating effects on the reference
group influence.
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