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| An Exploratory Study on the Causes and Effects of Corporate Customer Associations |
| XIE Yi,PENG Siqing |
| 1. University of International Business & Economics, Beijing,China;
2. Peking University, Beijing,China |
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Abstract Based on corporate association theory and associative network theory, this study proposes the concept of corporate customer associations (CCA), which is defined as a customer’s knowledge about various aspects of a company’s typical customer groups. Through a series of qualitative and quantitative studies, this research first verifies the ubiquity of corporate customer associations and its importance as a key component of corporate associations. Then, key antecedents of CCA and its consequences in consumer behaviors as well as potential moderators are identified. A comprehensive conceptual model is developed. Research findings suggest that several industrial-level, corporate-level and individual-level factors have impact on the development of CCA. In addition, CCA plays an important role in determining the nature of consumers’ relationship with the target company and how they evaluate products. These findings enrich our understanding about consumers’ mindset.
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Received: 30 March 2011
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2013, Vol. 10 
