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| Research on Relationship among Imitation Strategy, Perceived Similarity and Brand Evaluation |
| ZHANG Jing，DU Mingfei |
| Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China |
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Abstract Based on cognitive psychology theory and information processing theory, this paper explores the link among imitation strategy, perceived similarity and brand evaluation, as well as the moderating roles of consumer characteristics and purchase environment characteristics by adopting simulation experimental method. The study reveals the following findings. Firstly, imitation strategy can induce positive brand evaluation by generating perceived similarity between copycat brand and successful leader brand. Besides, feature imitation can make consumers perceive higher degree of similarity than theme imitation, while the impact of perceived similarity upon brand evaluation for theme imitation is higher than that of feature imitation. Secondly, for the theme imitation strategy, consumers with imagery processing mode/in featural mindset perceive higher similarity than consumers with analytical processing mode/in relational mindset, while the differences for feature imitation are not significant. Thirdly, in the case of non leader brand presence or unfamiliar purchase environment, the positive impact of perceived similarity upon brand evaluation becomes stronger.
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Received: 03 May 2017
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