Rebranding of stereotypical food brands

How Nordic consumers perceive the product rebranding and its impact on brand equity

MASTER THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 ECTS PROGRAM OF STUDY: International Marketing AUTHORS: Jesse Hannelius & Joel Pettersson JÖNKÖPING: Spring 2021

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Master Thesis in Business Administration

Title: Rebranding of stereotypical food brands – How Nordic consumers perceive the product

rebranding and its impact on brand equity

Authors: Jesse Hannelius & Joel Pettersson

Tutor: Adele Berndt

Date: 2021-05-24

Key terms: Product rebranding, food brands, stereotypes, brand equity, perceived rebranding,

consumer, Nordics

Abstract

Background and Purpose: The process of rebranding requires a lot of consideration and analysis

in order to be successful. In 2020, a rebranding movement of stereotypical brands began in the

USA, and the effects also transpired to the Nordics, leading to multiple brands in the food industry

initiating a rapid rebranding process. However, due to its complex nature and the balancing act

between different stakeholders, it raised the question whether rebranding was necessary from a

business perspective. The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumers perceive the

rebranding's of stereotypical brands, whether they regard it as a necessary move for the companies,

and how it affected brand equity.

Method: In order to successfully achieve our purpose, a qualitative research design was

implemented through an interpretivist and exploratory research design. Data collection was

conducted through ten semi-structured interviews and analyzed through a thematic analysis

enabling us to expand a presented framework.

Conclusion: Our research identified the rebranding of stereotypical brands as a highly complex

process, where the consumers perceive rebranding in various ways and where brand equity is

impacted in multiple ways. Rebranding affects brand awareness, brand associations and brand

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loyalty. In addition, we identified that on many occasions, the negative effects of rebranding on

brand equity are stronger than the positive effects. We also observed that although acknowledging

the potential issues with stereotypical brands, consumers might not care about it in the end. Overall,

we argue that listening to one’s own consumers and extensively analyzing the pros and cons of

rebranding is the optimal approach for companies to successfully rebrand.

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Preface

This master’s thesis was written in the spring of 2021 at Jönköping University as a final project of

our studies in International Marketing. It has been a long, exciting and fun journey filled with

multiple obstacles to overcome. To overcome these obstacles, we have received support in the best

possible way from several inspiring people and we would like to take this opportunity to thank

them properly.

First of all, we would like to thank our brilliant supervisor, Adele Berndt. Thank you for your

guidance during this long and challenging journey. Your advice and support has been invaluable

for us and for the results of this research. You have encouraged us to critical thinking and aided us

in overcoming obstacles in the writing process.

We would also like to thank the students in our seminar group, taking the time to read our study

repeatedly to then provide valuable feedback, which has enabled our work to continue and

hopefully ensuring a high-quality report. We appreciate your transparency and constructive

criticism.

Furthermore, we want to thank the interview participants who were ready to sacrifice their valuable

time by taking part in our study, contributing to interesting and novel insights on our chosen topic.

Without you, this would not have been possible.

Last but not least we would like to thank Café Rio and Café taste of Beirut, for providing us with

marvelous sandwiches and delicious coffee whenever needed. It has proven to be valuable

nourishment during the academic work, when the long days turned into nights.

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1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 7

1.1 PROBLEMATIZATION ................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.2 PURPOSE & RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 10 1.3 DELIMITATIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 1.4 CONTRIBUTION ...................................................................................................................................................... 11 1.5 KEY WORDS .......................................................................................................................................................... 11

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................................. 12

2.1 CORPORATE REBRANDING ........................................................................................................................................ 12 2.2 PRODUCT REBRANDING ........................................................................................................................................... 15 2.3 STEREOTYPICAL BRANDS .......................................................................................................................................... 17 2.4 BRAND EQUITY ...................................................................................................................................................... 17

2.4.1 Brand Awareness ....................................................................................................................................... 19 2.4.2 Brand Association ...................................................................................................................................... 20 2.4.3 Brand loyalty ............................................................................................................................................. 21 2.4.4 Perceived quality ....................................................................................................................................... 22

2.5 BRAND PERCEPTION ............................................................................................................................................... 22 2.6 PROPOSED FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................................................................... 23

3.METHOD ......................................................................................................................................................... 24

3.1 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY ........................................................................................................................................... 24 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................................................................................. 25 3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH ............................................................................................................................................. 26 3.4 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................................... 26 3.5 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION ..................................................................................................................................... 27

3.5.1 Qualitative Interview ................................................................................................................................. 27 3.5.2 Chosen companies ..................................................................................................................................... 28 3.5.3 Interview guide .......................................................................................................................................... 31 3.5.4 Selection of participants ............................................................................................................................ 32 3.5.6 Transcriptions ............................................................................................................................................ 34

3.6. DATA ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................................... 35 3.7. ETHICS ................................................................................................................................................................ 38 3.8 RESEARCH QUALITY ................................................................................................................................................ 39

4. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................ 41 4.1 AWARENESS ......................................................................................................................................................... 41

4.1.1 Brand awareness ....................................................................................................................................... 41 4.1.2 Awareness of stereotypical factors ........................................................................................................... 42 4.1.3 Awareness of reasons for rebranding ....................................................................................................... 45 4.1.4 Rebranding awareness .............................................................................................................................. 48

4.2 ASSOCIATIONS ...................................................................................................................................................... 50 4.2.1 Corporate associations .............................................................................................................................. 50 4.2.2 Product associations .................................................................................................................................. 54 4.2.3 Package associations ................................................................................................................................ 56 4.2.4 Emotions .................................................................................................................................................... 57 4.2.5 Visual and verbal cues ............................................................................................................................... 59

4.3 LOYALTY .............................................................................................................................................................. 61 4.3.1 Drivers ....................................................................................................................................................... 62 4.3.2 Damagers .................................................................................................................................................. 64

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4.3.3. Attitudes ................................................................................................................................................... 67 4.4 ELABORATED FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................................................... 71

5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................................. 73

5.1 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................................ 73 5.2 THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 76 5.3 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 77 5.4 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ......................................................................................................................... 78

6. REFERENCE LIST .............................................................................................................................................. 80

APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................................................... 90

APPENDIX A – REACTIONS TO REBRANDING ON SOCIAL MEDIA. ............................................................................................. 90 APPENDIX B - INTERVIEW GUIDE ..................................................................................................................................... 92 APPENDIX C – SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................................................................ 96 APPENDIX D - PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET .............................................................................................................. 98 APPENDIX E – THEMES AND CODES ................................................................................................................................. 99

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1. Introduction

This chapter aims at introducing the topic the authors focus on. The chapter starts with an

introduction to rebranding, continuing with problematizing the issue, followed by a presentation

of the purpose and research questions, ending with delimitations and the contribution of this

study.

Throughout history, several questionable rebrandings within big companies have taken place, such

as Pepsi, GAP and Tropicana, costing the companies a lot in financial resources (Hardy, 2013).

However, rebranding is a part of an organizations' evolution over time, consisting of multiple tools

and techniques that enable new brand perceptions, such as changing a brand’s name, symbol,

slogan, logo or anything that could be considered as a steppingstone towards building and

maintaining brand equity (Muzellec & Lambkin, 2006). One reason for rebranding, are incentives

to portray a changed core business by fitting the brand with a more adequate name or logo,

matching the core businesses and what the company offers to its customers. Some examples of

such a rebranding are Starbucks, formerly known as Starbucks Coffee, Apple, formerly known as

Apple Computers, and Tesla, formerly known as Tesla Motors. What these companies all have in

common, is a move from a product-specific name to a name enabling one to offer a broader product

range under one umbrella (Hafner, 2019). Rebranding is also relevant when the ownership

structure of a company changes due to mergers and acquisitions, when the corporate strategy

changes or when changes can be observed in the external environment (Muzellec & Lambkin,

2006).

When brands pursue a rebranding strategy, the process is complex and requires extensive internal

and external analysis in order not to harm the perception of the original brand. There are multiple

mistakes that can be made when implementing a rebranding, such as inabilities to form a

connection between the original brand and the new brand (Merrilees & Miller, 2008; Miller et al.,

2014), leading to confusion among customers (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003; Collange & Bonache,

2015).

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Although rebranding is perceived as a natural part of many organizations, a changed pattern on the

rebranding front could be observed last year. At the end of May of 2020, discussions regarding

racism in the USA flared up, leading to heated debates against racism. American corporations were

not excluded from the public’s demand on change, resulting in multiple companies changing their

stereotypical names and logos (McEvoy, 2020). Among these companies were the NFL team

Washington Redskins, Aunt Jemima’s syrup and pancakes, Eskimo Pie ice cream and Uncle Ben’s

(Ward & Wiley, 2020). Although these companies mainly rebranded themselves due to the internal

situation in the USA, the effects transcended across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe and the Nordics.

In addition to the rebranding of international brands such as Uncle Ben’s, affecting the brand in

the Nordics, Finland and Sweden were affected by national brands rapidly making statements of

changing their brands or reconsidering their old brand’s perceptions associated with their logos

and names. In Finland, this was mainly observed in the food industry. The ice cream producer

Pingviini, changed their famous product from Eskimo to “Pingviini Puikko”, translated into

Penguin Stick. According to the company, they wanted to follow the global movement transcended

from the USA and respect the native people of Greenland and Canada (Yle, 2020a). Another

example was the dairy manufacturer Valio and their Turkish yoghurt, with a depiction of a Turkish

man wearing a stereotypical hat. Valio decided to re-design the logo and remove the hat (Yle,

2020b). A third example was Fazer’s Geisha chocolate, which was perceived by some as

stereotypical. Fazer responded to these claims and stated that they would re-evaluate the name of

the brand. To this date, no information regarding the brand name has been published by Fazer

(Erma, 2020).

The Swedish market was neither unaffected by the events in the USA, impacting multiple

industries. Affected by the statement by the American football team Washington Redskins

rebranding themselves, led to the hockey team Frölunda Indians deciding to change their name

and logotype displaying a stereotypical image of a native American. This led to discussions and

dissatisfied fans, indicating that rebranding can raise a lot of emotions and engagement among

people (Abrahamsson et al., 2020). Additionally, the Swedish food industry was affected as well,

resulting in negative attention for Triumf Glass and their ice cream “Sitting Bull” displaying a

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native American (Gustafsson, 2020). The company stated that they might either change the name

or appearance of the packaging or stop selling it entirely (Ronge, 2020). However, Triumf Glass

has not yet taken any actions, despite previous promises, resulting in the product remaining the

same (TT Nyhetsbyrån, 2020).

1.1 Problematization

Although stereotypical brands are perceived as a big issue in the USA, we argue that the situation

might be different in other parts of the world. The rebranding occurring in the USA was highly

pressured by the public and their demand for change. Furthermore, the media in the USA was

quick to act on this topic, writing articles about “racist brands” in the USA, for example CNN

talking about “racist mascots” (Alcorn, 2020) or Forbes talking about “racist names and

packaging” (McEvoy, 2020). However, similar public nor media discourse was observed regarding

the Nordic brands, but still lead to multiple companies rebranding or considering rebranding. In

some cases, it appeared like a few persons reaching out to the companies on social media,

questioning their stereotypical brands, was enough for the companies to make public statements

regarding rebranding (Kajuutti, 2020). Additonally, it is interesting to observe that this rebranding

movement was mainly impacting the food industry, providing multiple cases of rebranding that

can be investigated and analyzed.

Some might regard rebranding of stereotypical brands as a quick fix to potential public criticism.

However, due to the complexity and the potential dangers such as the weakening of customer brand

perceptions associated with the rebranding process, it is important to take the customers' views

into account. Without careful analysis of the customer’s perceptions and opinions, rebranding can

lead to a weaker brand (Muzellec, 2003; Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003; Collange & Bonache, 2015,

Todor, 2014). Although the rebranding of Nordic brands to match the American standards was fed

by the public discourse, there is no indication that it was neither necessary nor successful for

companies. The success of these rebranding initiatives can further be questioned when observing

how people reacted to the announcements by the companies regarding rebranding for example on

social media (See Appendix A)

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Politics and stereotypes aside, from a marketing perspective, these rebranding initiatives can also

be questioned. In many cases, the original brand name and logo has been a part of the consumers

life for decades, earning a strong position in the consumers mindset and most likely a strong brand

awareness among Nordic consumers. Therefore, a rebranding as such can have the potential of

impacting the brand value negatively as well as alienating some consumers. This is particularly

interesting in the case of rebranding campaigns happening in 2020, which many seemed to be of

an ad-hoc character purely done in accordance with the policies in USA.

1.2 Purpose & Research Questions

The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumers perceive the occurred and considered

rebranding's of stereotypical brands, whether they regard it as a necessary move for the companies

to take, and how it affects brand equity. By both assessing rebranded companies in Finland and

Sweden, we will achieve a broader perspective on whether national brands are required to follow

an “international standard”, or should the brands mainly analyze the local markets where they

currently exist and the consumers opinions on these markets, leading to the following research

questions:

How is brand equity among consumers affected by the rebranding or potential rebranding?

How does the consumer perceive the rebranding initiatives by companies within the food industry?

1.3 Delimitations

Since we want to assess the contemporary movement in rebranding, we will limit ourselves to

rebranded companies or companies that considered rebranding during 2020, caused by the

aftermath of what happened in the USA. A further limitation is to only focus on the Finnish and

Swedish markets. Connected to this, since rebranding has mostly impacted brands in the food

industry, we will therefore limit ourselves to only focusing on this industry. This will also enable

a more thorough analysis on this particular industry and leave room for further investigation of

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other industries in the future. We are also aware of the potential that this topic can be considered

as controversial by some readers. We therefore want to disclose that the aim of this research is to

purely focus on a marketing aspect, excluding politics from the discussion.

1.4 Contribution

The contribution of this study can be essential for companies that lie in between decisions whether

to rebrand themselves regarding stereotypical images, names and assumptions. Or to what degree

companies should instead analyze local markets to see if the potential rebranding is worth it in

terms of what it can cost economically but also in terms of brand equity.

1.5 Key words

Stereotypes: “Oversimplified and generalized set of beliefs about the characteristics of a social

group” (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995, p. 13)

Stereotypical brand: A brand that incorporates stereotypical factors of e.g., ethnicities and

genders (Avery, 2012; Merskin, 2001; Åkestam, 2018).

Brand equity: A range of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol

(Aaker, 1991).

Rebranding: Either corporate or product related, where a change in name, logo or slogan is

done in order to differentiate a brand from competitors or where a new identity requires a change

of the brand elements (Muzellec et al., 2003; Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003).

Brand awareness: The consumers’ capability to identify or recognize a brand (Rossiter & Percy,

1987).

Brand association: Refers to the meaning of the brand for the consumer, and these associations

can come from a wide range of sources and vary regarding their favorability, strength and

uniqueness (Keller, 1993).

Brand loyalty: The attachment that a consumer has to a certain brand (Aaker, 1991).

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2. Theoretical Framework

In this chapter a literature review will take place, discussing impactful research that serve as a

basis for this thesis. We will start with presenting the research within rebranding, both from a

corporate- and product related perspective. Followed up by a review on literature in brand equity,

divided into three subtopics: brand awareness, brand associations and brand loyalty ending with

a review of brand perception. The chapter will conclude with a proposed framework, illustrating

how the theoretical aspects are relevant for this paper.

2.1 Corporate rebranding

Corporate rebranding has received attention over the past two decades (Muzellec et al., 2003;

Stuart & Muzellec, 2004; Daly & Moloney, 2004; Merrilees, 2005; Gotsi & Andriopolous, 2007),

with some often-occurring themes that will be discussed in this section of the thesis.

Research on the topic began in the early 21st century, when Muzellec et al. (2003) observed that

there is a lack of academic research into corporate rebranding, although being a popular topic in

business literature. The authors described the process of corporate rebranding as a model

consisting of four stages “repositioning, renaming, redesigning, relaunching (communicating the

new brand), each of which must be carefully undertaken by the organization.” (Muzellec et al.,

2003 p. 34). Seeing corporate rebranding as a sequential model, Daly and Moloney (2004), created

a framework for rebranding through name change, starting with an analysis of what to maintain in

a brand and what to neutralize, moving on to planning the rebranding to external and internal

stakeholders as well as a final evaluation of the success of the rebranding (Daly & Moloney, 2004).

A similar framework was created by Merrilees (2005), who proposed that rebranding consists of

three parts, visioning how the rebranded brand should look, making sure that all stakeholders are

committed to change and ensuring that communication of the rebranded identity will happen

efficiently to all stakeholders (Merrilees, 2005).

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Merrilees and Miller (2008) identified six principles that companies have to take into account when

rebranding. These principles are to maintain the corporate image of the past and balance it with

the rebranded identity, maintain peripheral ques of the old brand, shift from an old segment for the

brand to one fitting the revised identity, invest in internal rebranding, integrate all elements of the

marketing mix and finally, invest in promoting the rebranded brand to stakeholders (Merrilees &

Miller, 2008). Miller et al. (2014) identified six factors functioned as enablers for successful

rebranding. These included strong leadership, connecting the old values with the new ones, internal

as well as external coordination and communication and an integration of marketing activities

(Miller et al., 2014).

Gotsi and Andriopolous (2007) highlighted pitfalls in rebranding. The authors presented four

typical issues that need to be taken into account. The first pitfall was the creation of a gap between

the original brand equity, leading to disconnections. The second pitfall discussed how companies

are unable to evaluate which stakeholder group is the most important when considering a

rebranding. The third pitfall was having an emphasis on brand names, logos or slogans but not

investing enough in making the employees engaged in the rebranded image. The final pitfall was

how multiple clashing internal identities might affect how the rebranding is perceived by

employees (Gotsi & Andriopolous, 2007).

Muzellec and Lambkin (2006) identified that both a reflection of a new identity and/or the creation

of a new image for the brand, is executed through internal and external processes. The internal

aspect requires employees to embrace the change with open arms in order to aid the external

stakeholders to accept the changed identity (Muzellec & Lambkin, 2006). Internal and external

struggles have also been researched by Lee (2013). The author presented three tensions that might

occur while rebranding. The first one being a struggle of balancing the new image with the old

identity, in other words, what are things that should be included or excluded in the new image. The

second tension occurs when trying to balance different stakeholders views of rebranding for

example employees vs. customers. Similarly, situations occur where external stakeholders are

enraged by rebranding and do not perceive it as an important thing to do. The final tension occurs

when marketing campaigns do not align with the organization's internal identity (Lee, 2013). The

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success of rebranding is heavily impacted by the commitment of companies to understand and

balance the opinions and preferences of different stakeholder groups, those being both internal and

external (Aspara et al., 2014; Tarnovskaya & Biedenbach, 2018).

Muzellec and Lambkin (2008) illustrated a connection between the image of a corporate brand and

its product brands and that these two entities affect the perception of each other in both good and

bad. The authors aimed at separating these two from each other through corporate rebranding,

where the product branding only affects the consumers while the corporate branding affects other

stakeholders such as the general public, and media. For the consumer aspect, the product brands

aim at separating associations towards the corporate brand (Muzellec & Lambkin, 2008). A

successful rebranding will portray an improved organization for the stakeholders, however, the

rebranding needs to reflect the changed values in an organization and will not succeed if values

and image are not aligned (Stuart & Muzellec, 2004). Adding to this, the authors divided

rebranding initiatives into two separate categories, revolutionary and evolutionary. Revolutionary

rebranding occurs when multiple elements get rebranded simultaneously such as names, logos and

slogans while evolutionary rebranding focuses on more subtle rebranding of elements happening

over time (Stuart & Muzellec, 2004).

This chapter has aimed at discussing the most impactful research within corporate rebranding, in

order to provide the reader with knowledge of the major themes within the field. From the literature

presented, some conclusions can be drawn concerning corporate rebranding. First, research

highlights the importance of balancing a rebranded corporate identity with the old one. Secondly,

there needs to be an efficient implementation and common understanding of the rebranding process

throughout the whole organization. Thirdly, a balancing act needs to be performed between

stakeholders in order to fully succeed in corporate rebranding.

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2.2 Product rebranding

In addition to corporate rebranding, some research on individual product rebranding’s has been

conducted (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003; Collange & Bonache, 2015; Subhadip & Soumya, 2015;

Marques et al., 2020).

Collange and Bonache (2015) investigated how product rebranding is perceived by the consumers

and what affects both the negative and positive perceptions of rebranding. The authors identified

that rebranding of product brands is faced by consumers with reservation, where either negative

or neutral opinions of rebranded products were identified among a majority of consumers post-

rebranding. Furthermore, consumers face rebranding with surprise when not understanding why

the product is rebranded, react negatively in forms of anger and sadness to change as well as

negative attitudes towards the brand. A factor mitigating the negative effects caused by change, is

trust towards the company (Collange & Bonache, 2015). The risks of alienating customers were

already presented by Kaikati & Kaikati (2003). The authors described how a rebranding should

not be done just in order to follow the crowd, instead, an analysis of one’s own customers and their

thoughts need to be taken into consideration. Otherwise, a loss of money and a loss of customers

can be the end result. This is particularly true in the food industry where national brands follow

the trends set out by international conglomerates (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003). Rebranding can appear

as an ideal way to change the image but can also lead to the exact opposite. If not researched and

motivated thoroughly, customers will feel lost (Todor, 2014).

Subhadip and Soumya (2015) studied how rebranding affects brand equity. The consumer might

perceive the rebranding of a well-known brand negatively. The negative impacts of rebranding

were affecting awareness, associations and perceived quality. However, loyalty towards the brand

remained the same post-rebranding (Subhadip & Soumya, 2015). When comparing the brand

equity before rebranding with brand equity post-rebranding, in some instances the brand equity

remains the same. This was the outcome of the study by Marques et al. (2020), investigating how

store brands were perceived in terms of brand equity after rebranding. Although not impacting

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brand equity drastically, the rebranded brand was still associated with its previous image pre-

rebranding (Marques et al., 2020).

When performing a literature review on product rebranding, we realized that there is major

underrepresentation in research. This was also something that some of the authors within product

rebranding concluded (Collange & Bonache, 2015; Subhadip & Soumya, 2015; Marques et al.,

2020). Based on the four articles within product rebranding, two themes have been discussed,

consumers reaction to rebranding and some research on the impact of rebranding on brand equity.

Suffice to say, this is a research area requiring extensive additional research in order to draw strong

conclusions.

Table 1 - Summary of rebranding literature

Authors Major themes Findings Muzellec et al., 2003 Stages of rebranding Rebranding consists of four stages: repositioning,

renaming, redesigning and relaunching. Daly & Moloney, 2004 Stages of rebranding

through name change What to maintain/neutralize in a brand, plan rebranding to internal/external stakeholders, evaluate rebranding

Merrilees, 2005 Stages of rebranding Visioning rebranding, stakeholder commitment, communicate rebranded identity.

Merrilees & Miller, 2008

Considerations when rebranding

Maintain/balance old identity with new, maintain peripheral ques, shift to new segment, internal rebranding, integrate to marketing, communicate to stakeholders.

Miller et al., 2014 Success of rebranding Leadership, maintain ques, internal/external communication, communication & integration of marketing.

Gotsi & Andriopolous, 2007

Pitfalls in rebranding Gap between old and new brand equity, evaluation of stakeholder groups, employee's engagement in rebranding

Muzellec & Lambkin, 2006

External & internal stakeholders

Internal stakeholders need to embrace change, external stakeholders need to accept new identity.

Lee, 2013 Pitfalls in rebranding What to maintain/neutralize in new identity, which stakeholder group to prioritize, misalignment of marketing campaigns

Muzellec & Lambkin, 2008

Separation of corporate & product image

Consumer’s view of corporate and product brand different

Stuart & Muzellec, 2004 Scale of rebranding Evolutionary vs. revolutionary rebranding Collange & Bonache, 2015

Positive & negative perceptions of rebranding

Rebranding faced with reservation; consumers react negatively when not understanding reason for rebranding.

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Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003 Necessity of rebranding Necessity of rebranding should be based upon one’s own customers perceptions.

Todor, 2014 Process of rebranding Rebranding requires extensive research to make successful.

Subhadip & Soumya, 2015

Rebranding and brand equity

Rebranding perceived with reservation. Loyalty mitigates negative perceptions of rebranding.

Marques et al., 2020 Rebranding and brand equity

Rebranding does not affect brand equity; associations remain to old image.

2.3 Stereotypical brands

Stereotypes can be characterized by “oversimplified and generalized set of beliefs about the

characteristics of a social group” (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995, p. 13). A prominent aspect of the

stereotyping process is the allocation of group characteristics to a certain individual of that group,

based only on the group membership (Kolbl et al., 2019). The concept of stereotypes can therefore

be applied to several social groups such as ethnicities, genders, nationalities or professions (Fiske

et al., 2002). However, research has shown that stereotypical associations do not only apply to

people, but also to brands (Kolbl et al., 2019). Brand stereotypes illustrates the consumers’ beliefs

regarding brands as intentional agents (Kervyn et al., 2012), and these beliefs can assist consumers

perceptions (e.g., brand evaluation) intentions, (e.g., purchase intentions) and actual behavior (e.g.,

brand possession). Consumers tends therefore to establish relationships with brands, similarly to

how they do with people (Escalas & Bettman, 2003; Fournier, 1998). Stereotypes can be observed

in brands via e.g. ethnicity and gender (Avery, 2012; Merskin, 2001; Åkestam, 2018).

2.4 Brand equity

The concept of brand equity is considered as one of the most important topics in terms of marketing

theory and practice, therefore is it a widely studied subject (Leone et al., 2006; Christodoulides &

Chernatony, 2010). This has subsequently led to several definitions having been proposed to

explain brand equity (Oh et al., 2020), where two of the most used definitions on brand equity are

by Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993). The definition of brand equity according to Aaker (1991) is

“a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that add to or subtract

from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firm’s customers” (p. 27),

whereas Keller (1993) define it as “the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer

response to the marketing of the brand” (p. 8). However, several other authors have contributed

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with definitions to explain brand equity (see Table 2), highlighting diverse perspectives of this

term.

Table 2 - Definitions of brand equity

Authors Definition Farquhar (1989) “We define brand equity as the ‘added value’ with which a given brand endows

a product” Aaker (1991) “A set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that

add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firm’s customers”

Srivastava and Shocker (1991)

”A set of associations and behaviors on the part of a brand's consumers, channel members and parent corporation that enables a brand to earn greater volume or greater margins than it could without the brand name and, in addition, provides a strong, sustainable and differential advantage”

Keller (1993) “The differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand”

Keller (2002) “The set of associations and behaviors on the part of the brand’s customers . . . that permits the brand to earn greater volume or greater margins than it could without the brand name”

Ailawadi et al. (2003) “Brand equity is defined as the marketing effects or outcomes that accrue to a product with its brand name compared with those that would accrue if the same product did not have a brand name”

The importance of brand equity can be explained with it being a key marketing asset (Davis, 2000;

Ambler, 2003), an important intangible benefit to a firm (Leone et al., 2006) and acting as a

competitive advantage while also driving brand wealth (Yoo et al., 2000). Therefore, the work of

building a strong brand is highly connected with building brand equity (Keller, 2008). A strong

brand equity could therefore lead to a greater consumer preference, brand choice behavior and

brand purchase intentions (Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995; Freling et al., 2011; Romaniuk and Nenycz-

Thiel, 2013). Despite the lack of a definitive definition of brand equity (Christodoulides &

Chernatony, 2010), the realization of the importance of a brand as an intangible asset, has led to

various models with shared premises about brand equity: The strength of a brand belongs to the

mind of the consumers and all the impressions, experiences and feelings that they have gathered

over time in relation to the brand; you can see brand equity as an addition of value towards the

product in terms of words, thoughts and actions conducted by consumers (Leone et al., 2006).

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Many studies show that brand equity does not stand alone, it consists of a number of dimensions

which Aaker (1991) explains as brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality and brand

loyalty. Keller (1993) on the other hand has a different conceptualization regarding brand equity,

which focuses on brand knowledge containing two components which are brand awareness (recall

and recognition) and brand image (a mix of strength, favorability and uniqueness of brand

associations). Additionally, Yoo et al. (2000) proposed that the most obvious options of the

dimensions are perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand awareness/brand associations, where

the last ones are bundled together into one dimension. Considering these takes on brand equity

dimensions, this study will focus on reoccurring ones such as brand awareness, brand associations,

perceived quality and brand loyalty.

Earlier research has shown that there are two major perspectives of brand equity, consisting of a

financial perspective (FBBE) (Farquhar et al., 1991; Simon & Sullivan 1993; Haigh, 1999), and a

consumer-based perspective (CBBE) (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993). FBBE concentrates on the

financial value of brand equity with the use of metrics such as cash flows, cost savings, sales and

prices and is often defined as firm-based brand equity (FBBE) (Christodoulides & Chernatony,

2010; Farquhar, 1989; Kamakura and Russell, 1993; Swait et al., 1993). The financial value of

brand equity however is the result of consumer response to a brand name, whereas the latter

perspective is known as the driving force of gaining market shares and profitability from the brand,

based on the perception of the market or CBBE (Christodoulides & Chernatony, 2010). Because

of the consumer approach conducted in this study, this will be the focus and used in relation to the

rebranding initiatives of the four chosen companies.

2.4.1 Brand Awareness

The concept of brand awareness incorporates a consumers’ capability to recognize or recall a

brand, its symbol or name (Aaker, 1991), but also act as a first stage in the buyer’s readiness to

establish a brand preference and get one step closer towards the point of purchase (Ross &

Harradine, 2004). Brand awareness consists of brand recognition and brand recall (Keller, 1993).

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Brand recognition assumes earlier exposure to the brand, and when provided a cue, the consumer

should be able to properly identify the brand from their memory. An average consumer can

recognize a lot of brands but only recall a few, therefore brand recognition is the lowest level of

brand awareness, based on aided recall (Holden, 1993; Laurent et al., 1995; Mariotti, 1999). Brand

recognition is most applicable when it comes to decision-making in terms of choosing a particular

brand at the point of purchase (Radder & Huang, 2008).

The next level of brand awareness is brand recall and counts on unaided recall (Holden, 1993;

Laurent et al., 1995; Mariotti, 1999). It is connected to the consumers’ capability of collecting a

specific brand from their memory with the help of an appropriate cue (Ross and Harradine, 2004).

Because the consumer is not provided with the brand name leads to that brand recall implies a

stronger position of the brand in the consumers memory and therefore is the top-of-mind brand in

unaided recall, considered the greatest level of brand awareness (Laurent et al., 1995; Mariotti,

1999)

2.4.2 Brand Association

Brand association refers to any kind of brand knowledge connected to a brand in the mind of the

consumer which can be considered as the comprehensive brand equity in the consumer’s mind

(Huang & Sarigöllü, 2012). Any information that passes by brand association is related to the

brand name in a consumers recall, and acts as a reflection of the brands image (Keller, 1993;

Romaniuk & Sharp, 2003) If the product reaches a high point of brand association, it is more likely

to be remembered by the consumer and lead to loyalty towards the brand (Sasmita & Suki, 2015).

Brand association consists of several ideas, episodes and facts which in turn forms a stable network

of brand knowledge. The associations are considered stronger when they are based upon a large

number of experiences or exposures of communication, rather than a handful (Aaker, 1991; Alba

& Hutchinson, 1987) According to Yoo et al. (2000), brand associations results in higher brand

awareness which has positive connections towards brand equity. This since they can act as an

indication of quality and commitment which helps the consumer consider the specific brand at the

point of purchase, leading to a positive behavior for the brand (Yoo et al., 2000). However, since

21

brand associations are linked to the mind of the consumer, associations can be both positive and

negative towards the brand (Emari et al., 2012).

Connected to brand associations, and essential for our approach, is the importance of packaging

design and how it is perceived by consumers. One part of the visual component is the consumers’

perception being affected by color, where the color is reflecting the expected product taste/features

by consumer (Labrecque & Milne, 2012; Mead & Richerson, 2018). Additionally, studies show

how consumers perceptions and evaluations differ when it comes to visual components versus

textual components of package design, based upon psychological behavior of the brain, where for

example words are being recalled when on the right side of the package while illustrations on the

left (Rettie & Brewer, 2000). Visual elements are also dependent on the subjective interpretation

by consumers and an evaluation of visuals is done to assess products (Casparus & Machiels, 2016).

Visual and textual elements also affect the individual consumers views regarding a product as well

as impacts the evaluation of a brand/product (Krishna et al., 2017).

2.4.3 Brand loyalty

Brand loyalty is often referred to as a consumer’s commitment towards a brand, service or product

(Iglesias et al., 2019; Yoo et al., 2000). Oliver (1997) defines brand loyalty as “a deeply held

commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future,

despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching

behavior” (p.392). In relation to this, loyal consumers are more likely to present favorable

responses to a brand, more than the non-loyal or switching consumers (Grover & Srinivasan,

1992). Brand loyalty also depends on the consumers’ perception of the brand which makes both

tangible and intangible assets important. These variables can come to be crucial when it comes to

whether they want to be loyal towards the brand or not, or if it is just a matter of certain product

features that the consumer is looking for (Liu et al., 2017).

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2.4.4 Perceived quality

Brand equity is also affected by the perceived quality regarding a product. Perceived quality is

characterized by the consumers own perception of the improved quality attributes a product offers

in comparison to other products (Aaker, 1996). An important feature of perceived quality is that it

is concerning the subjective perceptions by individual consumers, not an objective comparison of

products (Zeithaml, 1988). Perceived quality also affects the loyalty towards a brand, when

perceived quality increases, so does the loyalty (Pappu et al., 2005). Perceived quality is also often

connected to higher incentives to pay more for a product in comparison to alternatives (Netemeyer

et al., 2004; Yoo et al., 2000).

2.5 Brand perception

Based on our literature review, brand perceptions in its essence are not properly defined with a

unilateral definition. Therefore, we rely on the definition given by Qualtrics “Brand perception is

what customers believe a product or service represents, not what the company owning the brand

says it does.” (Qualtrics, n.d.). With that said, studies regarding brand perception have been

performed throughout the years. Since there is a lack of overlapping themes within brand

perception, the literature we present is solely collected to aid our research.

Brand perceptions can be affected by both intrinsic and extrinsic cues. Espejel et al. (2007),

investigated how food brands perceived quality is affected by intrinsic attributes such as color and

appearance, and extrinsic attributes such as the perceived brand and the image of the product. Their

findings suggest that intrinsic quality attributes may affect the perception of satisfaction and

loyalty (Espejel et al., 2007). Continuing with the food theme, Huang and Wan (2019) identified

how both intrinsic and extrinsic product cues affected the perceptions of the brands and evaluation

of purchase behavior. Following the theme of intrinsic perception building, Favier et al. (2019),

identified that the simplicity vs. complexity of the design of champagne bottles affect different

brand perception elements. Simplistic was perceived as modern, authentic, successful as complex

design was perceived as feminine, sophisticated, joyfulness and seniority among other traits

(Favier et al., 2019).

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Brand perception connected to CSR initiatives have been studied to a certain extent. Huber et al.

(2011) researched consumers perceptions of CSR initiatives. The authors suggest that stronger

initiatives regarding corporate social performance (CSP) is perceived positively by consumers

which leads to a stronger relationship. This is partly due to an increase in social awareness among

consumers (Huber et al., 2011). However, although social awareness among companies is

appreciated by customers, an issue might rise regarding ethical views. For purely ethical

perceptions, Brunk and DeBoer’s (2015) paper identified that consumers might not react to

morally questionable behavior by companies. Occasionally, the perceived ethicality was only

critically reviewed when consumers were asked about evaluating the company's ethical behavior.

2.6 Proposed framework

Derived from the literature review, we propose a framework serving as a basis for our research.

The framework suggests that product rebranding affects brand awareness, brand associations and

brand loyalty, which in the end leads to changes in overall brand equity and by that, changes in

how consumers perceive a brand post-rebranding. Following the approach by scholars within

product rebranding (Collange & Bonache, 2015; Subhadip & Soumya, 2015; Marques et al., 2020),

due to the lack of existing literature on product rebranding, our research will be influenced by the

corporate rebranding literature.

Figure 1 - Proposed framework

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3.Method

This chapter presents the method that this study is based upon. First, the research philosophy

will be discussed, continuing with the research design, research approach, literature review,

data collection, data analysis, ethical considerations and ending with a discussion regarding the

research quality.

3.1 Research philosophy

Before presenting what eventually will be the data collection, our philosophical approach will be

explained as “the basic belief system or worldview that guides the investigator, not only in choices

of method but in ontologically and epistemologically fundamental ways” (Guba & Lincoln 1994,

p. 105). The fact that the researcher's beliefs and values can have a significant influence on the

research process (Greenbank, 2003), makes it important to address. Not only will the awareness

of our philosophical standpoint contribute to a higher quality of research, but also helps the

researchers to recognize what kind of research design that is the most suitable and what is not

(Easterby-Smith et al., 2015).

There are mainly three views of research philosophies, each of them contributing something

unique and important to the table. These views being ontology, epistemology and axiology.

Ontology refers to the nature of reality and how it shapes the view of the research object,

epistemology is about knowledge and how it is approached and elaborated, and axiology covers

the values and ethics within the research process. These views take different shapes depending on

which research philosophy is adopted (Saunders et al., 2019). Regarding this study, the researchers

agree upon that the reality is a product of the human mind and that knowledge is personal and

experiential (Cunliffe, 2011), which has led to this study incorporating a subjective viewpoint.

Therefore, out of the two main philosophies in marketing research, positivism and interpretivism

(Malhotra et al., 2017), the research philosophy adopted by this study is interpretivism.

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The interpretivist approach sees reality from a subjective point of view, which is evolving over

time and is affected by the social environment. The researcher is also engaged in terms of

interacting with the participant which can lead to biased outcomes based on the researchers’ values

and use of a certain language. These aspects are something that must be taken into consideration

thoroughly during the research. The researcher's interactivity with the participant can even reach

a personal level, which can lead communication taking a different shape depending on the specific

participant (Malhotra et al., 2017). To summarize, this paradigm focuses on human beings’

different social realities and how they perceive respective phenomenon’s (Saunders et al., 2019),

which is the case of our study, where we are entangling people’s thoughts and feelings regarding

the companies’ rebrandings and potential rebrandings. Therefore, our study incorporates a

subjectivist ontology and interpretivist epistemology with a main goal of exploring different

meanings, interpretations and perceptions of the subject area (Cunliffe, 2011).

3.2 Research Design

As a steppingstone from our research philosophy, a suitable research design needs to be selected

enabling us to answer the research questions in the best possible way. Since this study will dig into

what can be seen as a controversial topic regarding stereotypes in combination with rebranding, it

can benefit of an exploratory study due to the nature of explanation of thoughts about a particular

problem e.g., when you are uncertain about the exact nature of the problem (Saunders et al., 2007).

The concept of rebranding, especially product rebranding, and the effect that it has on brand equity

from a consumer perspective have yet to this day gone under the radar for many researchers, which

is shown in the literature review. This means that there is limited knowledge for us to attain and

makes an exploratory research design applicable (Malhotra et al., 2017; Saunders et al., 2007).

Usually, an exploratory research design relates to qualitative methods (Malhotra et al., 2017). A

qualitative research tends to achieve a deeper understanding of the studied phenomenon, analyze

certain experiences and develop a meaning (Kapoulas & Mitic, 2012), which suits this study better

than the more numerical nature of the quantitative method where focus lies on finding patterns and

generalize results from a wider population (Saunders et al., 2007).

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3.3 Research approach

There are mainly two types of research approaches, being deductive and inductive. The deductive

approach is based on the development of a theory and a hypothesis which is tested, while the

inductive approach is about developing theory, based on the result of the data analysis (Saunders

et al., 2007). Due to the interpretivist, exploratory and qualitative nature of this study, an inductive

approach is considered the optimal approach to answer the research questions. This since there is

a limited or no theoretical framework existing in the rebranding literature, leading to the

researchers using their creativity to come up with a framework. The inductive approach is also

related to participants being aided in explaining and discussing the nature of the subject in a certain

context (Malhotra et al., 2017), which is the case of the researchers conducting in-depth

questioning and probing the participants, in order to get as elaborated and profound answers as

possible. The inductive approach takes the form of a qualitative research where the focus lies on

exploring and understanding the essence that certain individuals ascribe to the problem presented

(Creswell, 2009). Some important aspects that emphasize an inductive approach, and therefore our

study, is that the collection of data is qualitative in the form of in-depth interviews, the researchers

are a part of the research process as interviewers and there are less concerns regarding

generalization because of the smaller sample of participants (Saunders et al., 2007).

3.4 Literature review

The work was initiated with a brainstorming session between the authors. This was helpful in terms

of sorting out ideas of interest, analyzing the suggestions and deciding which take on the subject

appealed the most (Moody, 1988). When the topic of interest was established, another session of

brainstorming was conducted in order to come up with the most suitable key words on the chosen

topic (Saunders et al., 2007). These key words were then used to find sources on the chosen subject

area, mainly in reputable databases such as Scopus and Business Source Premier. Extensive

utilization of citation indexes has been used in order to find sources that have been cited numerous

times before by other authors (Saunders et al., 2007), this since the researchers consider a high

cited source to be a more influential, impactful and trustful.

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The work proceeded with a systematic literature review to find as much information as possible

on the certain topics and provide an almost complete list of all the published and unpublished

studies found associated with the specific subject area (Cronin et al., 2008). Since the limited

amount of literature regarding rebranding, we were able to incorporate a majority of the most

influential work within the field to our paper. These studies were entered carefully into an Excel

file so that the researchers could obtain, read, and evaluate all the sources simultaneously. The

researchers further conducted a traditional literature review where a body of the literature were

summarized to then draw conclusions about the specific topic. This strategy enabled that readers

could get an extensive background regarding the current knowledge, showing the importance of

new research while also establishing a research gap (Cronin et al., 2008). This type of literature

review was explicitly useful in the case of brand equity, a topic that is widely studied. By

presenting the most cited and well-established sources, provided us with a summarized yet

comprehensive view of the topic.

3.5 Primary data collection

Since the exploratory character of this study, where the authors aim at understanding the issue on

a deeper level, qualitative research is a valid approach for this paper (Blumberg et al., 2005).

Additionally, since this papers aim is to understand why the consumers have certain opinions and

attitudes, qualitative interviews are deemed as an optimal approach to figure this out (Saunders et

al., 2007).

3.5.1 Qualitative Interview

There are three types of interviews, structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews.

Structured interviews are inflexible, where quantifiable data is the outcome. On the contrary,

unstructured interviews lack a pre-arranged interview guide, where the informant can express

themselves freely regarding a pre-determined theme (Saunders et al., 2007). The approach taken

by this paper consists of semi-structured interviews. Semi-structured interviews enable the authors

to have a pre-formed interview guide, consisting of questions and themes that will be of focus

during the interview. Simultaneously, it offers flexibility during the interview, where the order of

questions can be rearranged or omitted, depending on the informants' answers (Saunders et al.,

28

2007). We deem this the optimal approach since the opinions of each informant might differ to a

large degree, giving us the flexibility to reach the best level of understanding. We argue that each

informant might have different relationships towards the brands, meaning that the interview might

put more effort on a particular brand that the informant consumes on a regular basis, leading to

deeper insights. We also deem it ineffective to conduct unstructured interviews, since our proposed

framework requires specific information on certain topics. In addition, semi-structured interviews

offer the possibility to perform probing, meaning that more elaborated answers can be collected.

Furthermore, probing gives us the opportunity to use open-ended questions, giving the informants

liberty in answering the questions as well as an opportunity to aid the respondent in understanding

the questions (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

3.5.2 Chosen companies

Since the purpose of this paper is to understand how the rebranding/potential rebranding of food

brands is perceived by the consumers, we needed to limit ourselves to the specific industry. In

addition, our purpose was to mainly focus on the effects of rebranding that occurred due to the

global rebranding movement happening in 2020, which is why we further limited ourselves to

include companies that either rebranded or considered a rebranding in the wake of 2020. Therefore,

a judgmental sampling was conducted, allowing the researchers to select cases best suitable to

answer the research questions (Saunders et al., 2007), which is based on the researchers judgement.

We acknowledge, that due to the subjective nature of the human judgement, it can be seen as a

subject of researcher bias (Frey, 2018). Based on this, we identified four companies that will be

used in our research.

Eskimo, Pingviini

Pingviini has been a well-established ice-cream manufacturer on the Finnish market since 1960,

nowadays owned by Nestlé. The specific product this paper focuses on is the Eskimo stick,

nowadays known as “Pingviini Puikko”, being available for Finnish consumers since 1968

(Pingviini, n.d.). The company offers a broad variety of ice creams that are available in most stores

in Finland.

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In 2020 a rebranding campaign took place, where the stereotypical name Eskimo was replaced

with the name Puikko. One can clearly see that otherwise there are similarities between the two

packages, using the same font and the same layout with some minor changes taking place.

Turkish yoghurt, Valio

Valio has operated in Finland since 1905. It is the leading dairy producer on the Finnish market

with net sales of 1,7 billion euros (Valio, n.d. a). The company also conducts exports mainly for

industries although some export of consumer products also occurs (Valio, n.d. b). Valio’s products

are well known in both Finland and Sweden, where their products are in every grocery store. The

specific product we are looking at is their Turkish yoghurt. Although there are no figures backing

this claim, the product is well-known and can be found in most of the Finnish grocery stores.

In 2020 a rebranding campaign took place, where the Turkish man with the stereotypical fez was

removed. As can be seen, the color scheme of the products is similar as well as the font used for

the text, but the man itself has disappeared.

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Geisha, Fazer

Fazer is well-known, with yearly net sales of over 1 billion euros. Not only is the company known

by their confectionary, but also for bakery products like bread. Although primarily based on the

Finnish market, Sweden and the Baltics are major export markets for the company (Fazer Group,

2020). The company is well over a century old, being established in 1891 (Fazer Group, n.d. a),

making it a prominent part of consumers lives across multiple generations. Their chocolate product

Geisha is just as well-known as Fazer itself, having been available for consumers since the 1960’s

(Fazer Group, n.d. b). In 2020, the company discussed a rebranding regarding the stereotypical

name Geisha, however nothing has been changed to this date and the name remains the same.

Sitting Bull, Triumf Glass

Triumf Glass is a family-owned ice cream manufacturer acting on the Swedish market since 1946,

producing over 17,5 million liters of ice cream each year (Triumf Glass, n.d. a). Regarding the

Sitting Bull ice cream, the company considers it as a classic among their assortment (Triumf Glass,

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n.d. b). In 2020, discussions regarding using the native American chief Sitting Bull on the

packaging as well as in the name, was raised. However, to this date, no changes have been made.

3.5.3 Interview guide

In order to achieve the maximum benefit from the interviews, an interview guide was created,

acting as a foundation for our interviews. The interviews followed a standardized open-ended

interview technique, where the primary questions were phrased similarly to all participants but

formed in a way that would increase the odds of getting elaborate answers (Gall et al., 2003). In

addition, these types of questions give us as researchers the opportunity to ask additional questions

via probing (Turner, 2010). The questions that we present to the participants (see Appendix B),

are all based on the theoretical framework presented in the end of the literature review, connected

to our research questions. One thing to keep in mind, is the fact that the nature of standardized

open-ended questions can increase the difficulties of coding and interpreting similar themes among

different participants (Turner, 2010). Although acknowledging this challenge, we have carefully

assessed the interview questions in a way that would reach a sufficient level of complexity in

answers, aiding us in the coding and data analysis process. We also acknowledge the fact that

probing might interfere with the coding process, therefore we have discussed beforehand what

types of probing questions can be used in order to follow a similar pattern.

Our research questions, together with the proposed framework, guided us in how to structure the

interview. In the first part, we focused on brand awareness. We start of by showing blurred pictures

of both the original products as well as the rebranded products. The purpose of keeping the logos

or names blurred was to see whether the consumers recognized the products and whether the

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recognition was towards the old product or the rebranded one (in the instances where rebranding

already took place).

The next step was to show the original and rebranded products and ask questions regarding their

associations towards these products, followed up by questions regarding brand loyalty. We also

wanted to understand whether or not the participants at this stage had an idea why these

rebrandings occurred, to see if they acknowledged the stereotypical themes regarding the brands.

We concluded by presenting the background of these rebranding initiatives in 2020 and asked

questions regarding how they perceived the necessity of these rebranding initiatives and whether

their attitudes towards the products or companies changed after hearing the background. The

reason for not disclosing the story behind the rebranding's earlier, was to avoid biasness in answers.

We speculated that by explaining the story as an introduction and describing that some products

were perceived as even racist, the participants would perhaps reshape their answers to appear more

politically correct and support each decision taken by the brands, so called social desirability bias

(Nederhof, 1985).

3.5.4 Selection of participants

When selecting participants, it is crucially important to understand the different sampling

techniques and how they will affect the results of our research. There are generally two categories

of sampling techniques, which in turn are divided into multiple subdimensions. The two main

categories are probability sampling and non-probability sampling. In probability sampling, the aim

is to include a sample that is as randomized as possible, where sampling error is minimized. This

differs from non-probability sampling, where a specific part of the population is preferred over the

rest, since the authors presume that this sample will end up with better findings and fits better the

authors research approach (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

For this paper, a non-probability sampling technique is deemed to be suitable. We believe that our

research questions require informants to have a relatively good knowledge of the brands that this

paper focuses on. Furthermore, supporting our requirement of a particular degree of knowledge

33

required by the informants, a purposive sampling technique was implemented, where one has the

ability to choose informants that are capable of giving elaborated answers to the given research

questions (Saunders et al., 2007). Since our purpose to some extent aims at understanding branding

issues, how for example personal experiences affect their perceptions of rebranding, we believe

that it is important that the informants have some pre-existing knowledge of the brands in question.

Participants were not chosen based upon a specific age nor gender, we can only conclude that

participants were characterized by mixed genders and ages. The possibility of informants knowing

all brands being quite slim, we deemed it sufficient that the informants recognize three out of the

four brands. We believe that knowing three out of four brands would still provide us with elaborate

and useful data.

To find interviewees that would meet the criterion of recognizing three out of the four companies

of this study, a survey questionnaire was designed and sent via Facebook groups, friends and

family members. The questions were sorted by the product categories of chocolate brands, yoghurt

brands and ice-cream brands where the person taking the survey was able to choose among seven

brands in a particular category. If the persons recognized three out of four products of our study,

we deemed them as a suitable interview candidate. At the end of the questionnaire, a question

regarding if they would like to participate in an in-depth interview were asked, and if so, they

would be contacted by the researchers (See Appendix C).

It is also important to acknowledge the number of participants enrolled in our study. There is

relatively little information about how many interviews should be conducted in qualitative

research. Based on this, we conducted 10 interviews, supported by the findings of Marshall et al.

(2013), regarding the number of participants based on how different journals and different cultures

validate a sufficient number of interviews. We also argue that this is when we reached saturation,

being a moment when no new codes or themes were identified among the participants, resulting

in high validity of our results (Fusch & Ness, 2015).

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Table 3 - Interview participants

Participant Age Gender Interview length

P1 55 Female 57 min

P2 57 Male 44 min

P3 20 Female 46 min

P4 25 Male 46 min

P5 28 Male 42 min

P6 24 Male 36 min

P7 24 Male 41 min

P8 25 Male 52min

P9 26 Male 37 min

P10 27 Female 37 min

3.5.6 Transcriptions

In qualitative interviews, it is important to transcribe the interviews in a precise manner. What this

means, is that each comment will be written down precisely in the way the informant expressed it.

Additionally, it is crucial to make a distinction between what the participants said and what the

interviewer has said during the interview (Saunders et al., 2007). A good way to conduct

transcriptions is by recording the interviews when they take place. Recording the interview has

two positive effects, it will document the whole interview including tones used by the informants

when expressing their opinions. In addition, it enables the interviewer to focus on asking additional

questions and interpret answers, when he/she does not need to focus on making notes (Bryman &

Bell, 2011).

We audio-recorded every interview and transcribed them afterwards. A downside of this process

is time-consumption (Bryman & Bell, 2011), that will take place when transcribing each individual

interview. The interviews were conducted both in Swedish and Finnish. The answers given in

Finnish were then translated into English, to ensure a proper understanding by each author of the

context of the answers. All quotes in this paper are directly translated to English.

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3.6. Data analysis

In order to achieve reliable findings, a disclosure regarding data analysis is required. A challenge

with qualitative studies is how to analyze the data collected and how to create results out of all the

data gathered. The process of data analysis can result in confusion if not planned thoroughly due

to the vast amount of information collected (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The non-standardized answers

that are given by participants and expressed by words needs to be classified in order to analyze

and present findings (Saunders et al., 2007). When choosing the most suitable data-analysis

approach, two major analysis methods were primarily considered, grounded theory and thematic

analysis. With that said, if grounded theory would have been chosen, a major dilemma, difficult to

tackle would have been the question regarding previous theory. In grounded theory, the approach

usually requires some level of distancing from previous literature by not relying on a pre-conceived

framework (Saunders et al., 2007). With that said, there are ways to avoid this dilemma, by keeping

a critical mindset towards one’s own analysis and the closeness to pre-existing theories, or by

implementing a broader literary basis for one’s research by implementing multiple theoretical

perspectives in a shallower way (Suddaby, 2006). Based on our research, we could argue for

avoiding issues by having implemented theoretical perspectives from both rebranding and brand

equity literature. However, our primary data collection is heavily influenced by a proposed

framework, motivating our decision to implement a thematic analysis instead.

Thematic analysis enables researchers to identify the underlying themes identified in the vast

amount of information gathered. A thematic analysis is difficult to distinguish as a distinct analysis

method from other quantitative methods, instead, it can be seen as a method influenced by various

qualitative methods (Attride-Stirling, 2001). Multiple authors argue that thematic analysis has a

weak reputation among the more common qualitative methods (Attride-Stirling, 2001; Braun &

Clarke, 2006; Vaisamoradi et al., 2013; Nowell et al., 2017). Although it’s weak reputation among

its “rivals”, thematic analysis is widely used in social sciences (Braun & Calrke, 2006). Therefore,

we argue that it is a suitable method for our research.

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We conducted a thematic data analysis using the six steps introduced by Braun and Clarke (2006).

In broader terms, thematic analysis is the process of identifying specific themes within the data

collected. The thematic analysis and identification of themes can either be of inductive or

theoretical nature, where the former themes are related to the interview answers rather than the

questions asked during the interview, while the latter, theoretical thematic analysis, is to a larger

extent identifying themes based on research questions and theoretical foundations (Braun &

Clarke, 2006). We implement a theoretical thematic analysis, based upon our framework which is

connected to our research questions. In addition, we aim at identifying semantic themes, meaning

that the themes are identified from the data collected, differing from latent themes identified from

underlying observations (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

The data analysis process itself consists of six steps. The first step is about getting familiar with

the data collected, in other words, transcribing the interviews conducted and forming some initial

thoughts on what can be identified (Braun & Clarke, 2006). In our case, each interview was

transcribed immediately after its conduction in order to have a fresh memory of what the context

is. After conducting the final interview, we had a brief discussion regarding overall findings that

were identified during our interviews that multiple participants had discussed in similar manners.

The second step is coding the data. Codes can be individual words that the authors believe play a

role in creating potential themes. One important feature to acknowledge in this step is that codes

are supposed to be “raw” information, not requiring any deeper interpretation (Braun & Clarke,

2006). When the interviews were conducted, we went through each interview to identify words

and phrases that could be categorized into specific codes.

The third step is theme identification. When coding is finished, a categorization of these codes to

match themes is done. Themes can both consist of more specific underlying themes that are then

merged into a more overlapping theme. Visualization of themes can enable a more efficient theme

identification (Braun & Clarke, 2006). When codes had been identified and categorized, we

proceeded with identifying similar codes that could be categorized into specific themes. In many

37

instances, we observed themes on the “same level” requiring an additional overlapping theme that

took into consideration all underlying themes combined.

The fourth step is theme review. In this step it is crucial to analyze each theme from a critical

perspective, firstly by assessing how the individual codes fit into the identified themes. Secondly,

by assessing how well the themes fit into the overall research proposal and in comparison to the

other teams (Braun & Clarke, 2006). When themes were identified, we followed up with a critical

analysis and a discussion regarding what the similarities are within a theme and how strongly they

can be distinguished from other themes. We followed a similar process as Braun and Clarke

(2006), by creating developed thematic maps from initial thematic maps that were then formed

into final thematic maps categorizing the main themes.

The fifth stage is about defining and naming themes. This step consists of defining the themes in

accordance with what the overall context in each theme is and what the narrative the themes were

identified from consists of (Braun & Clarke, 2006). We followed the “guidelines” by Braun and

Clarke (2006) by ensuring that all major themes were distinctive from each other, could be defined

in a couple of sentences and clearly communicates to the reader what the theme is about.

The sixth and final step concerns implementing the themes into the report itself, by defining what

this theme is about, giving support to one’s claims by using quotes and creating a narrative

storyline based on the themes and their potential effects on other themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

The narrative storyline of our thematic analysis was to a certain extent based upon the layout of

the interviews and how stereotypical brands were perceived before vs. after rebranding.

It is also important to be aware of potential pitfalls when implementing a thematic analysis,

something we have taken into consideration as well. The first pitfall focuses on failing to analyze

the data on a deeper level and only showcasing the obvious findings. The second pitfall expresses

how themes should not be derived directly from interview questions (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The

38

avoidance of these pitfalls was present in our discussions on how to identify themes and where

they are derived from. The third and fourth pitfall showcases how themes need to be separable

from each other and identified from the whole dataset as well as arguable based on the data

collected (Braun & Clarke, 2006). We believe that our thorough analysis based on coding each

interview transcript from beginning to the end and critically discussing all subthemes and major

themes showcases that we have taken into consideration these pitfalls. The final pitfall is in regard

to not aligning the themes and what the theoretical framework depicts (Braun & Clarke, 2006),

something we also have critically evaluated throughout the whole process from coding to

constructing themes as well as writing the findings and analysis.

3.7. Ethics

Research always includes the risk of ethical misconduct; therefore, we believe that it is important

to take pre-emptive measures when conducting research. For our paper, both data collection and

data processing may cause the biggest issues. When it comes to the informants, it is important to

maintain the privacy of informants. In addition, it is important to make sure that participation is

on a voluntary basis. There also needs to be consent from the participants regarding the aim is and

how their information will be processed. Confidentiality and privacy are also important aspects

when conducting this paper (Saunders et al., 2007).

All informants were informed of the purpose of this paper and how their answers would be

collected and processed (see appendix D). This was done in accordance with the GDPR rules

formed by Jönköping University. Written consent for the interviews was received by all

participants and signed by the authors, participant and thesis supervisor. We disclosed that they

would remain anonymous in our paper and that the recordings taken during the interviews would

be deleted immediately after transcription. In addition, since the theme of this paper might be of

sensitive nature to some informants, it was important to disclose the confidentiality and at the same

time perform the interviews in a private environment.

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3.8 Research Quality

Qualitative research often faces issues questioning the quality of the research in general. This since

in qualitative research, unlike in quantitative research, struggles to measure validity and reliability

(Bryman & Bell, 2011). Therefore, it is necessary to mitigate potential drawbacks of this papers

qualitative character. In order to do so, Guba and Lincoln’s (1994) four measures of improving

trustworthiness in qualitative research are considered.

The first factor taken into consideration is credibility. It is important to both conduct research and

present the results in a way that has been proposed to the subjects of this study, being the

respondents. One way to achieve this is through respondent validation, where the results of the

paper along with what the results are based upon, are shown to the respondents (Bryman & Bell,

2011). Appropriate measures were taken by us, by submitting the report to each respondent as well

as offering them the possibility to discuss the findings. In addition, a higher degree of credibility

was achieved by ensuring a proper transcription of each interview making sure that everything

codable was available for us during the data analysis stage.

The second factor is the issue of transferability, being how well the findings can be reconstructed

by other researchers in this moment or in the future (Bryman & Bell, 2011). In order to tackle

issues regarding transferability, elaborate and thorough descriptions regarding the participants and

the interview process will be disclosed, enabling other researchers to properly understand under

which conditions our research took place such as appendices regarding interview guides and

themes. The method chapter depicts in detail how interviews have been conducted and how data

analysis was done, enabling the best possible starting point for other researchers. This also tackles

the issue of dependability, where fully disclosed records and descriptions of each step in the

research process are wished for (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

Finally, issues regarding confirmability will be considered, being the researchers’ capability of

avoiding biasness in both data collection and theoretical interpretation (Bryman & Bell, 2011). All

interviews were directly transcribed word by word in the precise manner in which the participants

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had answered the questions. Furthermore, in order to not misinterpret theoretical aspects, all

findings were critically evaluated in co-operation with both authors, where discussions took place

whether or not the theories are interpreted in a correct, transparent way. We also believe that we

proactively mitigated biasness by having a strong dialogue with each other and encouraged the

other to highlight any questionable parts of our thesis or requested the other author to elaborate

and motivate their opinions and views.

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4. Findings and analysis

In this chapter the empirical findings will be presented while simultaneously connecting the

findings to previous research within the subject area. Lastly, an elaborated framework will be

presented based on the findings.

4.1 Awareness

4.1.1 Brand awareness

At the beginning of the interviews, the participants were asked to name brands in the three different

product categories, which gave an understanding of which brands achieve the status of unaided

brand recall and therefore have a top-of-mind position in the mind of the consumer. When being

exposed to only the name of a brand, the majority of the participants were able to recognize the

specific product. However, when showing only an image of the product without the name/logo,

the participants proved the importance that cues played for participants recognizing the product.

Table 4 - Brand awareness among participants

Brand awareness Eskimo Puikko Turkkilainen jogurtti (Pre rebranding)

Turkkilainen jogurtti (Post rebranding)

Geisha Sitting Bull

Brand recall - 1 3 3 2 1 Brand recognition by name

6 7 8 8 10 4

Brand recognition by packaging

1 1 3 - 9 2

“Yes, this is, what is it called… Pingviini Puikko, I think” - P2

“Is this Eskimo again? I think so.” - P1

In these cases, participants 1 and 2 were shown a picture of Pingviini Eskimo but recognized it as

Pingviini Puikko or expressed levels of uncertainty. Regarding brand recognition, the consumer

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should be able to properly identify the brand he/she has been exposed to previously when given a

cue (Holden, 1993; Laurent et al., 1995; Mariotti, 1999), which did not happen in this case and the

similarity of the rebranded and original product lead to confusion and participants mixing them

up.

“No, I can't say I do.” – P3

“I can't name it. I think, I would say… I don’t think I can recall this one either.” - P7

One brand that no participant recognized, was the rebranded Turkkilainen jogurtti, when provided

with cues in form of a picture of the packaging. This in comparison to the original one, where

three participants could recognize the brand when provided a cue. According to Holden, (1993)

Laurent et al. (1995) and Mariotti, (1999), brand recognition is the lowest level of brand awareness,

which the rebranded product could not achieve, resulting in low levels of brand awareness.

Among participants, there were differences between brand- recall and recognition across products.

For example, Geisha, which all of the participants recognized by name, and the majority by picture

(Table 3), does not result in what Laurent et al. (1995) and Mariotti (1999) describes as the greatest

level of brand awareness within the segment, due to the low levels of brand recall. Additionally,

brand recognition appears much stronger when provided a cue through brand name, rather than via

pictures of the packaging (Table 3).

4.1.2 Awareness of stereotypical factors

We wanted to know to what extent stereotypical factors were acknowledged by the respondents.

Based on the answers given, these were matched into three distinct patterns; answers reflecting

stereotypical descriptors in a positive light, the ones describing stereotypical views without any

positive or negative “tones”, and negative stereotypical attitudes, where the participants perceived

the stereotypical ques somewhat offensive. These stereotypical cues were divided into product

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names (Eskimo, Geisha), product illustration (Turkkilainen jogurtti), or both name and illustration

(Sitting Bull).

Persons depicting stereotypes in a positive manner, were to a large extent utilizing stereotypical

descriptions as a strengthening argument for the product, where stereotypical depictions were

deemed suitable to illustrate the product features. As an example, the name Eskimo was perceived

as a synonym for cold, matching the description of an ice cream, without any negative

connotations. Similarly, some participants drew connections between the Turkish yoghurt and the

depiction of a Turk, exemplifying that one knows what one gets.

“I freeze, partly with the color choice and the penguin combined with the text “Eskimo” gets me

out in the cold.” - P9

“(…) it may be very strange really, but it feels like a typical Turkish yoghurt jar that it should be

a man.” - P10

For consumers perceiving stereotypical names and images in a positive manner, there is no

connection to the negative aspects of these depictions. This is supported by Brunk and DeBoer’s

(2015) findings, that attention towards questionable behavior by companies might not be identified

by consumers, as long as one does not probe into the issue. The answers also support the claim by

Kaikati and Kaikati (2003), how companies rebranding should not only go with the flow, but

instead analyze how their own customers perceive the brand. For individuals perceiving

stereotypes as a strengthening of the brand, rebranding might not be necessary. The strengthening

of a brand’s image via stereotypes can also be connected to the study by Espejel et al. (2007), how

a mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic elements are merged and together create the perception of a

brand. These findings also support Daly and Moloney’s (2004) description that one needs to

analyze what to maintain or neutralize in a brand, since stereotypical ques in this case in fact might

strengthen the brand.

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When participants talked about stereotypes in a neutral manner, they tended to acknowledge the

fact that there was a stereotypical image or name but did not put any emphasis on it. They

acknowledged the fact that the image or name was there or drew general connections. For example,

saying that there is a Native American on the front of the Sitting Bull ice cream or that Geisha has

connections to Asia, not drawing either positive or negative conclusions.

“I connect the name Geisha to China, Asia and Japan likewise I do with the flowers.” P.4

“One can see it as a young native American chief Sitting Bull eating ice cream.” P.2

Consumers having a neutral view of stereotypes support Brunk & DeBoer’s (2015) findings that

questionable ethical behavior will be unrecognized by consumers if not directly asking them about

the issue. This also supports the findings by Kaikati and Kaikati (2003) that companies need to

understand their customers’ attitudes regarding whether rebranding is necessary.

Participants depicting stereotypes in a negative manner stated that the name or image did not add

any particular value to the product or did not evoke any kind of buying behavior. There were also

opinions regarding that the stereotypical image/name did not match the product description which

also led to confusion and avoidance of the product. In some cases, the participants were aware of

stereotypical elements implemented in the brand which had been publicly discussed.

“I get provoked by the name and the depiction of a native American. I think that it is

inappropriate. … I would never buy this product because the packaging does not evoke any

positive feelings in me.” P. 8

“I don’t really understand the importance of the Turkish man on the packaging since it is a bit

stereotypical to have a Turk on a package.” P. 7

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These views support the research by Kaikati and Kaikati (2003), but from an opposite perspective,

where the consumers in fact are pro-rebranding. One reason for this could be the fact that since

these products and their designs are quite old, they do not match what is deemed appropriate today,

where the arguments for Muzellec et al. (2003) fit in, regarding renaming and redesigning one’s

product to match the new surroundings. Otherwise, negative associations will prevail (Emari et al.,

2012). The negative perceptions are also supported by the research by Huber et al. (2011) regarding

increased social awareness. Consumers seeing stereotypes negatively, might be more aware of

these issues in today’s society.

Figure 2 - Awareness of stereotypical factors

4.1.3 Awareness of reasons for rebranding

When introducing the theme of this research, being rebranding, and asking the participants what

they could consider being the reason for the rebranding, a majority of participants expressed the

stereotypical names or illustrations as the reason. The participants could be categorized into three

subcategories; the ones who were certain about the reason for change, the ones showing

uncertainty but guessing correctly and the ones having a lack of knowledge regarding the reasons

for rebranding.

The first category were respondents that expressed certainty in their answers, where not much

doubt was expressed in the answers given or where answers were given quickly without much

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hesitation. For all four original products presented, the participants that were certain about the

reason for rebranding, described the names or depictions as inappropriate, controversial,

politically incorrect and disrespectful.

The first thing I think about is the Eskimo name and that it is not allowed to be called that anymore

and that the name will change. - P3

“The first thing I think of when you added “Eskimo” is that there has been a lot of talk about it.”

- P5

Consumers showing certainty in their answers showed an immediate knowledge of what is the

reason. This would support the argument regarding an improved level of social awareness (Huber

et al., 2011). In addition, the social awareness argument is supported by the fact that some of these

consumers explained the reason for rebranding immediately even before probing for it further.

This goes against the theory of Brunk and DeBoer (2015) regarding how unethical problems are

only discussed when guiding questions or the context is presented.

The second category of answers reflected uncertainty for what the reasons for the rebranding could

be. In a majority of these cases, the participants could identify the name or illustration as the reason

but expressed uncertainty in why this would be the case. Either directly by informing that they do

not understand the reason or by showing uncertainty by saying that “It could be” the reason.

“Maybe the name has changed due to Eskimo perhaps being offensive to some people and Puikko

is more neutral” - P2

“I would guess that there has to do something about Indians and that you should not use it as an

expression.” P5

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The third and final category identified, was characterized by a complete lack of knowledge

regarding the reasons for rebranding. When asked what the driver for the rebranding initiatives

were, the answers given were characterized by participants expressing that the packaging was not

visually pleasing and that this would make the companies rebrand. In other words, even when

giving hints and showing the packages side by side, the stereotypical elements were left

unattended.

“I do not know if it is just me that associate it to my youth, but I just feel like it is a worn-out light

blue, it is not very stylish. So, it feels like a little sharper colors would have been something for

them.” - P6

“I think it's to make it less childish. That is my first thought, because now I understand that the

brand has a penguin as a logo so they cannot remove it completely. But it feels more mature than

the top one did (refers to Eskimo), much more.” - P10

The reason for showing uncertainty or lack of knowledge, might be caused by not communicating

the reason for rebranding properly, supporting the idea by Muzellec et al. (2003) regarding the

necessity to relaunch the new brand efficiently and taking into consideration the communication

of the reasons. Similarly, it is supported by Merrilees (2005) and how stakeholders, in this case

conusmers, need to be committed to change and understand the reasons behind it. In addition, one

can argue against the necessity of the rebranding since these consumers did not understand the

reason fully, supporting the research by Daly and Moloney (2004) regarding companies need to

assess what to maintain versus what to neutralize.

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Figure 3 - Awareness of reasons for rebranding

4.1.4 Rebranding awareness

In order to understand the participants knowledge of the subject area, we also asked them if they

were aware of these rebranding initiatives before the interviews. A majority of the participants

could not recall the rebranding initiatives of these specific products. In some instances, there was

an overall awareness of the stereotypical issues regarding brand names and imagery, but not

directly connected to these products. However, they could connect the themes they had heard about

before to the products we presented.

“. … Media coverage, with everything from indigenous people, and that you should no longer call

people Indians, so somehow it has been on the agenda in Sweden as well.” - P5

“He (Turkish depiction) does not increase the temptation to test the product and does not match

the brand. I am not sure if it is connected to some discussions that have been going on and if this

man affects some minorities… maybe there is an underlying thought process regarding this…” -

P4

On some occasions, there was pre-existing knowledge regarding the specific rebranding initiatives

for the products this study focused on. Interestingly, a couple of participants expressed how they

had read or heard about the rebranding of a particular product, however, when we showed them

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the original product and asked about associations regarding the product, they could not remember

that they had heard about the rebranding's taking place.

“I have thought about them but did not do this before it was highlighted by the media and for

example connected to Black Lives Matter and the discussion surrounding this. For Eskimo, this

is something I had thought about even before but did not remember it.” - P8

“I actually knew about Eskimo being rebranded to Puikko, I had heard about it on the radio, but

I did not remember this at all. Regarding the others I had no idea about it.” - P7

To some degree, these answers support the research by multiple authors regarding communication

of rebranding (Muzellec et al., 2003; Merrilees, 2005). However, a critical note that needs to be

mentioned is that this awareness might not be a result caused by the companies themselves, instead

it is communicated by the media as some participants mentioned. This in turn could be connected

to an increase in social awareness (Brunk & DeBoer, 2015). Lastly, it was interesting to note how

communication can be forgotten by the consumers after a while.

Figure 4 - Rebranding awareness

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4.2 Associations

4.2.1 Corporate associations

When presenting the products to the participants and asking what associations these evoke,

multiple individuals did not only focus their answers on the product itself but extended the

discussion to the producer of the product. By producer we mean the corporation behind the

product, being Pingviini, Fazer, Valio and Triumf Glass.

One way these corporate associations were discussed, was by participants drawing connections

between the product and the brand behind it. In some instances, participants presented their

thoughts on how the product matched or did not match the branding of the manufacturer in overall

terms. This was observed both in regards to products pre-rebranding as well as post-rebranding.

“And then somehow the packaging has a high level of dignity, and it appears like a quality product.

Which I think is quite usual with Fazer’s products, that they are able to brand them well.” - P8

“Regarding the design, the design communicates well Valio’s brand, but not this Turkish dude.

He does not increase the temptation to test the product and does not match the brand.” - P4

The fact that some participants expressed how the products match the manufacturer/corporation

behind the products, would mean that there is a strong connection between the company and the

product itself. Furthermore, since associations between the product and the brand were

communicated both before and after a particular rebranding, supports the research by Muzellec

and Lambkin (2008) regarding corporate and brand perceptions affecting each other.

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Multiple participants discussed how they understood the importance of these rebranding initiatives

in order to pave way for the company’s future. By rebranding their products, companies would

protect themselves from negative publicity and therefore maintain a better image. Some

participants also mentioned how the rebrandings were necessary in order to keep up to date with

the changing world around them and that it also would look good from a CSR perspective.

“For the corporations, it shows a more responsible company, especially when talking about

companies with these pictures. The brands improve their image.” - P4

“Kind of, if I think from the corporations perspective, it might be better to change to something

more neutral in order to avoid controversy if someone is upset. For example, Puikko vs. Eskimo,

maybe it is a natural step for companies to make to appear modern and responsible.” - P1

These answers once again reflect the consumers view of connecting corporate perceptions and

product perceptions, supported by Muzellec and Lambkin (2008). By rebranding, consumers either

see the company as more responsible or at least understands that corporations need to make the

change. Additionally, it is supported by the research by Huber et al. (2011), how consumers

appreciate stronger corporate social performance.

Connected to the opinions above, a couple of participants also appreciated the transparency of the

corporations rebranding their products. At the same time, transparency was also resulting in

negative associations for the corporations that had issued press-releases regarding a potential

rebranding (Geisha and Sitting Bull), but that had not yet rebranded their products. These

associations were connected to corporations knowing that some might perceive the brands as

offensive but that nothing was done about it in the end.

“Just a thing like they would explain that “now we want to rethink our brand” or something

similar would make it clearer for me why they are rebranding themselves, I think.” - P6

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“If there has been a public discussion regarding the fact that they are considering a rebranding,

I would be disappointed if they were not to do the rebranding.” - P8

“If we were to say that Sitting Bull would not consider changing at all. Then you would be like

`Come on'” - P10

This supports the findings by Collange and Bonache (2015) regarding how important it is to ensure

consumers with information regarding why a rebranding takes place. By communicating the

reasons, consumers understand the process better and that might even lead to the changed opinions

of one’s own customer base, something that is important in order to not alienate one’s customers

(Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003). However, an interesting finding was the fact that pre-emptive public

statements regarding awareness of controversy, that do not lead to a rebranding, might in fact harm

the relationship further, something that no theory has directly disclosed before. In these instances,

one could argue for the fact that the consumers associations change when companies themselves

acknowledge the problem. And if nothing is done, brand associations shift from positive to

negative, supported by Emari et al. (2012) and how associations are linked to the consumer's mind.

Some participants perceived rebranding as being an effortless process for corporations. These

participants shared the view that rebranding was necessary and that companies should rebrand

without hesitation.

“Basically, it is such a small effort for the companies to make.” - P8

“But just change, it's not that hard. You do not have to make a drastic change as with the Turkish

yogurt because then I understand that they will lose out on it. But make a small change that makes

a big difference to society, and a small difference for the consumer. It will still be good.” - P10

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The fact that some consumers perceive rebranding as an effortless process, is something that poses

a big threat for companies. In the literature regarding rebranding, there is an overlaying agreement

that rebranding is a complex and difficult process with multiple pitfalls, ranging from balancing

the old and new identity to how to communicate the rebranding and who to listen to (Muzellec et

al., 2003; Merrilees, 2005; Merrilees & Miller, 2008; Miller et al., 2014). This might cause a

situation where consumers demand rapid changes while companies would prefer a thorough

analysis of alternatives.

Some participants had a more critical view of the rebranding initiatives, where they questioned the

quantity and quality of research that the corporations had put into understanding the relevance of

rebranding. These participants perceived corporations making hasty decisions, perhaps not

considering the actual seriousness/lack of seriousness of this issue, questioning both the

geographic distance between the Nordics and where these minorities are located as well as what

these minorities actually think themselves.

“It is interesting that companies rebrand so quickly thanks to social media, and I also see it as an

issue, that these might be hasted decisions, where the critique would become calmer in the long

run.” - P1

“One can ask if it really is necessary in Finland to change the name Eskimo. How many Eskimos

are walking on the streets in Finland today etc. So, I think it’s a balancing act for companies that

might be difficult.” - P2

“But they did not have to do it so drastically. That's a thing where I think they have gone too far

concerning change…” - P10

The fact that some consumers discuss the necessity of rebranding critically, supports the claim by

Kaikati and Kaikati (2003) regarding how national brands might not be required to follow the

rebranding of international conglomerates, especially since the own customers question the

relevance. It also partly supports the claim made by Todor (2014) how customers might feel lost.

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In these cases, feeling lost is portrayed by not properly understanding the relevance. In addition,

we argue that different stakeholders might be a root cause for the opinions of hasty decisions,

where perhaps the fear of media backlash has weighed more than the customers attitudes,

supporting the findings by Gotsi and Andriopolous (2007) regarding companies' inability to

prioritize the right stakeholders. The last quote also shows that hasty decisions are done by

changing too much simultaneously, supporting a more evolutionary approach to rebranding rather

than a revolutionary approach, matching the research by Stuart (2012).

Figure 5 - Corporate association

4.2.2 Product associations

When presenting the products to the participants, they were asked to think of associations they had

regarding the specific products. Several of the participants associated products with nostalgia or

special occasions such as Christmas. An important observation we made, was regarding how

product associations did not transfer to the rebranded products. In the case of both Eskimo and

Turkkilainen jogurtti pre-rebranding, consumers discussed product associations connected to

personal experience, however none of them communicated the same for the rebranded ones.

“I think about childhood. ... We had a local store where I grew up, and always when the freezer

got too warm, we got these ice creams with my sister when they had melted a bit.” - P1

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“Geisha is a delicious chocolate, that has been the same for a long time. I connect this to

confectionaries and Christmas especially, I see it as a seasonal product. I bet it has been a part of

my life for anything between 30 and 40 years perhaps.” - P2

The fact that the participants associated the products in relation to episodes in their lives such as

warm memories from their childhood or special events such as Christmas, confirms that the

consumer’s associations get stronger when based upon a higher number of experiences rather than

a few (Aaker, 1991; Alba & Hutchinson, 1987). When participants could give so detailed

descriptions regarding these brands, supports Sasmita and Suki (2015) who describes that a high

point of brand association makes it more likely for the consumers to remember the brand.

However, the fact that product associations are not transferred to rebranded products, would on an

overall level support Merrilees and Miller (2008) as well as Gotsi and Andriopolous (2007) views

regarding the importance of understanding what to maintain in the new brand. Perhaps an

evolutionary rebranding would have maintained ques and product associations better (Stuart &

Muzellec, 2004).

Figure 6 - Product association

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4.2.3 Package associations

Compared to product associations, a lot of participants looked at the visualities of the products

leading to package associations. These could be associations referring to the packaging looking

kind, cheap or even cold in their appearance.

“I freeze, partly with the color choice and the penguin combined with the text ‘Eskimo’ gets me

out in the cold.” - P9

“I would say that the packaging is quite uninspiring once again, and seems quite cheap.” - P7

“I think the packaging looks nice overall. … I would say that it is soft, kind, nothing that stands

out, it feels like there is a little vanilla, chocolate, vanilla ice cream, nothing that stands out that

way.” - P5

Participants associating the packaging with positive and negative aspects, supports Emari et al.

(2012), who describes that brand associations are linked to the consumers mind, which makes both

positive and negative associations towards the brand possible. In some instances, when the

participants had no personal experiences of the product, they put emphasis on the packaging and

what associations it evokes. This in turn makes the associations towards the brands weaker (Aaker,

1991; Alba & Hutchinson, 1987) and therefore has a lower chance of being recognized (Sasmita

and Suki, 2015).

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Figure 7 - Package association

4.2.4 Emotions

4.2.3.1 Negative

When having knowledge of the rebranding initiatives and the story behind it, negative emotions

were observed in the answers given by some participants. For the products that have not been

rebranded, being Geisha and Sitting Bull, frustration could be observed. The participants showing

frustration, was connected to a full incomprehension of why the products have not been rebranded.

Interestingly, P10 only expressed frustration after informing her about the theme of the study. In

the primary phase, no frustration was shown.

“It is crazy that they have not done it already (rebrand). But I guess it is caused by the fact that

Geishas as a group of people have not received as much attention as Black Lives Matter. If they

would, I bet 100% that they would have done it, but I absolutely think they should already have

done it.” - P10

“I would say that it is quite unthoughtful and distasteful to kind off take advantage of the term.” -

P8

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In these instances, there was support for rebranding. This goes against the findings by Subhadip &

Soumya (2015) regarding how rebranding of well-known brands might be perceived negatively,

in fact the opposite was observed. In these instances, a rebranding was supported by consumers,

even expected.

In one case, actual sadness was a result of the rebranding that had taken place. This was caused by

a lack of connection between the old packaging and the new, where memories were not transferred

to the new packaging.

“Of course, it is sad that my memories are not matching the new brand any longer.” - P1

This answer supports the study by Collange and Bonache (2015) and their findings that rebranding

is perceived in a negative manner by consumers. In addition, the answer given goes against the

study of Marques et al. (2020), regarding how brand equity is not impacted, and the image

associations remain post-rebranding. For P1, she explicitly communicated how a transference of

memories had not happened.

4.2.3.1 Positive

Participants were also showing varying levels of compassion towards minorities and groups of

indigenous people depending on the product in question. They could imagine themselves in the

situation of these minorities and understood that this could be offensive. An interesting note we

can make, is that a minority of participants showed compassion for three out of the four products,

with only Sitting Bull having a majority of participants showing compassion.

“I would not see this rebranding necessary myself, but for minorities it can be a whole other

situation.” -P2

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"But having said that, I think that it’s more right to perhaps make changes to these packages if it’s

the case that someone takes offense. ... Then, in my opinion there is not much to talk about." - P5

The answers reflecting compassion shows that to some degree there is a social awareness present

in the consumers mind, matching the theory by Huber et al. (2011). However, an interesting

observation in multiple cases was the fact that consumption patterns would not change, supporting

rebranding literature regarding the necessity to understand what the consumer thinks and

evaluating one’s own customers attitudes (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003; Gotsi & Andriopolous, 2007;

Daly & Moloney, 2004).

Figure 8 - Emotions

4.2.5 Visual and verbal cues

We could identify some distinctive themes regarding visual and verbal ques of the product

packaging's’ based on the answers given by participants. These themes are interpretation and

imbalance between elements.

The first observation was made regarding how participants interpret the elements they can see. A

majority of the participants interpreted visual and verbal ques in an objective way, meaning that

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they understood what the words and pictures meant correctly. However, some participants

interpreted the elements in a subjective way. What we mean by this is that these participants

interpreted the name Eskimo with cold or Geisha with Asia, not taking the objective meaning of

the word into consideration.

“But for Eskimo, I have always associated the name with the cold element such as ice, not the

group of people at all.” - P1

“I think that here it is about the fact that I have an own perception of what Eskimo and Geisha

means, and that this reflects to the childhood when they were used a lot” - P4

Another interesting observation was a distinction between the image and the name, something we

call an imbalance between elements. Participants describing an imbalance between elements were

observed both before as well as after presenting them the theme and background of this research.

These participants expressed an opinion where they perceived illustrations, being the stereotypical

pictures on packaging’s as more inappropriate than stereotypical names. When probing more in

order to understand why they believe like this, some participants elaborated that the pictures are

more unsubtle than only names.

“Yes, I think they were. Maybe not Geisha and Eskimo, since they are names. But like pictures I

understand for example removing the black man from Uncle Ben’s.” - P3

“But if it is a picture, depicting a minority, one cannot make those assumptions any longer in this

globalized world where people from all cultures live across countries.” - P4

“It somehow is being concretized even more in the picture. If there was only a name, then yes, one

could connect it to a native American name, but it would not be as clear. A picture is a more “in-

your-face” approach than only the name.” P8

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Both the interpretation of elements as well as the imbalance between elements show that different

consumers perceive ques in different ways, affecting their attitudes of a product. This supports

Casparus and Machiel’s findings (2016) regarding subjective nature of interpretation as well as the

individual's evaluation of elements by Krishna et al. (2017). The imbalance between elements

could in fact be caused by something psychological, where images are more offensive, partly

supporting the research by Rettie and Brewer (2000).

Figure 9 - Visual & Verbal cues

4.3 Loyalty

Loyalty is a topic that received a lot of attention by the participants. To present the findings in a

comprehensible manner, loyalty is separated into two major themes, being the drivers of loyalty,

i.e., things that participants communicated that they see as important in order for them to be loyal.

The second theme is damagers, which were things that the participants perceived as factors

affecting the brand relationship in a negative manner, forcing them to evaluate alternative brands

instead.

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4.3.1 Drivers

Participants discussing corporate identification did not perceive themselves as loyal to the

individual products within the corporation's assortment, but instead expressed how they identified

so strongly with the corporate identity, leading to a natural consumption of their products as well.

“I don’t buy Geisha per se but would consider myself loyal towards Fazer as a brand. Well okay

if I buy Turkish yoghurt, it will be the one from Valio.” - P8

“Regarding yoghurt you want a bit of a variation. But I would say that I consume a lot of Valio.”

- P9

Participants expressing corporate identification as a loyalty driver once again shows how corporate

brands and product brands are deeply interwoven (Muzellec & Lambkin, 2008). In these instances,

when corporations themselves act in an appropriate manner in the eyes of the consumer, no

rebranding might be necessary.

The second subtheme of loyalty drivers is categorized as nostalgia. One feature of nostalgia was

memories connected to childhood, which even to this date functions as a loyalty driver towards

specific products. Multiple participants also expressed how the long history one has had with a

product drives loyalty. Since the product has been a part of their lives for decades, a loyalty remains

to this date.

“I connect this to confectionaries and Christmas especially, I see it as a seasonal product. I bet it

has been a part of my life for anything between 30 and 40 years perhaps.” - P2

“I don’t often buy chocolate but when I do, I often tend to buy Geisha. I get a feeling that this

product has been a part of my life as long as I have been eating chocolate. So, a long history comes

to mind. I would say that this is in my top 5 when I purchase chocolate in the store.” - P4

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Loyalty driven through nostalgia shows the importance of both tangible but more importantly

intangible product assets, supporting the description by Liu et al. (2017). In many instances this

was connected to decades of experience from the product in question, supporting the view by

Oliver (1997) of how deeply held commitment drives loyalty.

The fourth and final subtheme driving loyalty is product features. A majority of participants

expressed how quality is one of the major drivers of loyalty. For our products, that primarily meant

the taste and consistency of the products. Some participants also deemed a product a “safe” choice,

where one knows what one gets.

“The products taste good, and the consistency is good.” - P3

“And it tastes great, and there is no risk that it is a bad product although there might be other

products on the market that could fit one’s requirements. It's an easy and safe choice so to speak.”

- P4

“They have a lot of vanilla stuff that I think is nice. But it's probably their range of tastes.” - P9

What the participants identify as loyalty drivers regarding product features, being consistency and

taste, can be connected to the perceived quality they have of a brand. Perceived quality being how

the consumers themselves see the quality of the products (Aaker, 1996; Netemeyer et al., 2004;

Zeithaml, 1988). Although these authors distinguish perceived quality as a separate measure from

brand loyalty, we will merge the theme of perceived quality into loyalty due to the fact that

consumers communicate this as a loyalty driver. This is partly supported by Pappu et al. (2005)

regarding how loyalty is connected to perceived quality.

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Figure 10 - Loyalty drivers

4.3.2 Damagers

Some participants shared thoughts regarding how a damaged brand relationship can sway their

loyalty. In some instances, brand relationship was harmed due to consumers not familiarizing

themselves with the new design as strongly as to the old one. The participants expressing a lack of

familiarity also connected this to a long history that has been existing between the brand and the

consumer. Additionally, some participants expressed how a radical change can damage the

loyalty, where the brand changes too many of their features simultaneously.

“It would not match my feeling of the product any longer. Since I am familiar with the design and

connect memories to these designs it would no longer be the same for me. ... If they make too

radical changes, it makes me feel like they aim towards new customers and forget their old

customers that have experiences from the products. And there might be a risk that I would not even

find the product any longer in the 100-meter-long candy isle.” - P1

“I would not say that it immediately has a negative effect (rebranding), but it might take some time

before you find the brand once again.” - P8

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Consumers expressing lack of familiarity and radical change as loyalty damagers match the

research by Merrilees and Miller (2008) regarding the importance of maintaining ques connected

to the old brand. Otherwise, a gap can be created between the old and new brand equity (Gotsi &

Andriopolous, 2007). It also raises the question whether an evolutionary rebranding would have

been better (Stuart & Muzellec, 2004), where the changes would have been more subtle happening

over time, minimizing the risk of not recognizing the products.

The second damager was corporate misconduct. Corporate misconduct as a loyalty damager was

communicated by the majority of participants and ranged from a violation of human rights and

animal rights as well as sustainability to how bad publicity and social pressure could affect the

consumers underlying opinions regarding a brand. A distinctive feature regarding opinions of

ethical misconduct, was the fact that it specifically referred to the corporations behind the

individual products, and none of the participants connected ethical misbehavior to the product

itself or the stereotypical factors.

“...negative publicity. For example, regarding how they portray minorities... Caused by a vocal

media or the society highlighting these issues.”- P2

“I am not sure, maybe if they would do something bad, that would maybe change my view of the

company. For example, if they use bad ingredients or are in the middle of a crisis of some sort.”

P3

“For example, if the company is exposed in regards to misbehavior in manufacturing process.

That they use child labor or is extremely detrimental towards the earth. - P7

These participants prove that consumers are socially aware, following the findings by Huber et al.

(2011). However, although ethical misconduct ranged in its variety, none of these answers were

connected to the product itself, rather the corporation. In addition, since none of the participants

acknowledged the stereotypical factors as a type of misconduct, but some still being concerned

about them on a later stage, supports Brunk and DeBoer’s (2015) study on how critical thinking

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was only highlighted when asked about the names and symbols directly. This also fits into the

findings by Lai (2014) regarding how abstract the views by consumers of ethical responsibility

are, and how they interpret what is important from an ethical standpoint.

The final damager of loyalty is product features. Similar to quality being a driver of loyalty, it is

also perceived as a damager. If the taste or consistency was worsened, loyalty was observed as

weaker. Some participants expressed how increased prices could make them consider alternatives.

One interesting observation was the fact that multiple participants believed that a changed product

or package design could make them re-consider their loyalty, although none of the participants

communicated the visual elements as a loyalty driver.

“I’m quite a visual guy, so I would say that the packaging design plays a big part. Then of course

if the taste would change, I would reconsider.” - P8

“... Or other competing products that are better at pleasing in regards to quality, price, taste or

looks. - P7

Product features as a loyalty damager support the views by authors writing about perceived quality

(Aaker, 1996; Pappu et al., 2005; Netemeyer et al., 2004). If the perceived quality worsens, so

does loyalty. An interesting note to make is that price increases in some instances can be negatively

viewed by the consumer, although literature (Yoo et al., 2004) illustrates how loyal consumers are

ready to pay a price premium.

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Figure 11 - Loyalty damagers

4.3.3. Attitudes

Another thing that seemed to affect loyalty, were attitudes towards the rebranding initiatives of the

brands. To get a clear view of the participants attitudes, we questioned them about whether they

thought that the rebranding initiatives conducted by the companies were necessary, resulting in

sub-themes convinced, unconvinced and unconcerned. An important note to make is that the

attitudes vary to a large degree between participants, and in some instances the participants

communicated all three themes at the same time, depending on the product in question. To some

degree this was caused by the imbalance between elements mentioned previously.

When a participant was convinced, he/she thought that the rebranding was necessary and

understood why the company acted in terms of the rebranding initiative because of stereotypical

images/names. In several cases, the participant also expressed that the images/names could be seen

as controversial and provocative which were incentives for a positive attitude towards the

rebranding initiatives.

“I can understand that it can be seen as controversial if they have a picture of someone who will

imitate a Turk. So, I can understand that they have changed.” - P6

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“Especially the Turkish yoghurt was somehow disturbing due to the picture and potentially even

this Sitting Bull ice cream when these products depict a minority or like a cultural group.” - P4

“Yes, very necessary. It has also been on the agenda. Not like Black Lives Matter but, it has still

been that you are not allowed to say that word. (Indian) And you are not allowed to dress up as

it.” - P10

The participants that were convinced regarding the rebranding initiatives goes align with Huber et

al. (2011) who describes that consumers appreciate when corporations are focusing more on social

performance which is a result of consumers putting more emphasis on social awareness. The fact

that these participants were convinced about the reasons of the rebranding initiatives proves

Merrilees (2005) work where the consumers need to be committed towards a change and that a

rebranding should be properly communicated.

However, a majority of participants were not convinced in this kind of way in the beginning of the

interviews, which supports the study of Brunk and Deboer (2015), where consumers do not tend

to react to morally debatable behavior performed be companies, unless they receive questions

regarding the company's ethical behavior.

Secondly, when the participants were unconvinced, they did not think that the rebranding

initiatives were necessary. There was a lack of understanding of how the image/name could be

seen as offensive, they were more unconvinced regarding the rebranding of names, but also that

we live in a cancel culture leading to over-sensitivity.

“Even though I had been an Eskimo, I do not understand how one would be offended by an ice

cream with a little playful name.” - P9

“For the name Geisha I do not understand why a rebranding would take place since it is not a

race per se.” - P1

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“But personally, and considering the vast majority, I am not sure that these rebranding’s are seen

as necessary.” - P2

The participants that were unconvinced did not think that neither the rebranding’s executed was

necessary nor the potential ones, supporting what Kaikati and Kaikati (2003) describes regarding

assessing what one’s own customers think. In relation to this, participants showed confusion

regarding the rebranding which can be connected to Todor (2014), describing the need for proper

analysis, otherwise customers get lost. Additionally, this goes against Huber et al. (2005) vision

of socially aware consumers.

Finally, participants being unconcerned, talked about stereotypical images/names as something

they would not actually care about when push comes to shove, for example when shopping. In

fact, most of the participants showed at least at one point that they were unconcerned about the

stereotypical nature of the brand.

“I don’t recognize this as such a big issue, maybe because I am not a part of any of these

minorities… But I don’t think that I would “punish” these companies for not rebranding.” - P7

“But it depends, I think that these are on a different level. For example, for Geisha I would still

buy if they were not to rebrand but for Sitting Bull, I think that not doing a rebranding would

directly affect my willingness to purchase.” - P8

“I would remain a customer for example if Eskimo and Geisha would remain their old names.” -

P2

The participants that were unconcerned and did not care so much about if a rebranding would

occur, support the study of Collange and Bonache (2015) where a product rebranding might not

be necessary, due to neutral emotions of the consumers. The fact that these participants would

remain as loyal customers towards these brands reflects what Grover and Srinivasan (1992)

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explains, that loyal customers are more likely to engage in favorable responses towards a brand,

i.e., remain as a customer. Being unconcerned, is supported by the study of Oliver (1997)

describing that a loyal customer has a commitment towards a brand and tends to buy the product

despite circumstantial happenings like discussions regarding stereotypes.

Figure 12 - Attitudes

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4.4 Elaborated framework

Figure 13 - Elaborated framework

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Based on our findings and analysis, our proposed framework has been elaborated with the most

notable factors impacting each category. Rebranding, affects awareness, associations and loyalty

in various ways. Firstly, one of the most stand-out awareness factors connected to product

rebranding is the consumers awareness of stereotypical factors, where the consumer acknowledges

stereotypes in a positive, neutral and negative way. Secondly, awareness of the reasons for

rebranding can take the shape by consumers showing certainty, uncertainty or a lack of knowledge

about the reasons. Thirdly, the consumers’ rebranding awareness can be impacted by an overall

awareness about the subject or pre-existing knowledge about the particular reasons for rebranding.

Regarding the effects a rebranding has on associations, multiple factors are identified. It has been

recognized that the consumer’s associations of a product rebranding stretch further, incorporating

the company manufacturing the product. Consumers think about aspects such as, how they

associate themselves with the company more than the product, the company's future, transparency

in the communication, and that rebranding is an effortless task for the companies as well as that

rebranding may be based on hasty decisions.

The stand-out observations of how a rebranding affects brand loyalty were categorized as drivers,

damagers and attitudes. The loyalty drivers were recognized when a consumer identifies himself

with the company, when the product is connected to nostalgia, but also product features regarding

quality. Regarding loyalty damagers, rebranding can affect the brand relationship a consumer has

with the brand negatively, the actions of the company behind the product can damage the loyalty

towards the product, and a change in the product features can cause loyalty switching behaviour.

Lastly, consumers can be convinced, unconvinced or unconcerned in their attitudes. Convinced

consumers see the rebranding initiative as necessary, unconvinced consumers think that the

rebranding is unimportant, while unconcerned consumers show nonchalance towards the

rebranding. It has been observed that all these aspects are affecting the brand equity of a brand,

subsequently also how the consumer perceive a product rebranding as a whole, which will be

disclosed in the conclusion.

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5. Conclusion

This chapter summarizes the whole thesis, starting with presenting a conclusion, followed by

theoretical and managerial implications and ending with limitations and future research.

5.1 Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the consumer perceives rebranding's and if they

considered it as a necessary move for the companies to make, as well as how it affects brand

perceptions and equity. We believe that we have achieved the purpose we set out for this study

through answering our two research questions which will be disclosed below.

Research question 1: How is brand equity among consumers affected by the rebranding or

potential rebranding?

Based on our findings, we can observe that the rebranding has had varying levels of effects on the

three chosen dimensions of brand equity: awareness, associations and loyalty. Regarding

awareness, there were no identifiable changes on the consumers recall and recognition of the

brands pre- and post-rebranding. This might mainly be caused by the fact that the rebranded

products (Puikko and Turkkilainen jogurtti) were quite unfamiliar to many participants. In

awareness, we also aimed at understanding how well consumers acknowledge stereotypical factors

such as names and images. An interesting observation was that many participants did discuss these

factors but from a positive or neutral perspective. Additionally, only when comparing the products

side-by-side, did a majority of consumer’s acknowledge the stereotypical factors as possibly

offensive. This raises questions regarding the actual necessity of rebranding for companies if

focusing on one’s own customers views.

In associations we could observe multiple subthemes. Corporate associations highlighted the fact

that consumers to a certain degree understood the rebranding as a way to ensure a stable future for

the company. At the same time, some consumers would have appreciated clearer communication

regarding the reasons as well as sometimes questioning the actual relevance of rebranding. On

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product associations we could observe that many of the participants having personal experiences

of the products, did not transfer their associations to the rebranded products, showing how tricky

maintaining product associations can be. Observed sadness, is a result of the consumer not having

the same connection to the brand as before. Simultaneously, the package needs to be tempting,

especially towards consumers who have not tried the product. Occasionally, consumers portray

negative emotional associations toward the brand if a rebranding is not performed, but these

emotions only occur when consumers are being introduced to the controversial issues. However,

no negative emotions could be observed for rebranded companies, such as boycotting the product

caused by the rebranding. On positive emotions we observed that there is a compassion towards

affected minorities. However, consumers did not think that this would affect their buying behavior,

if companies would not rebrand. Finally, associations were perceived in a variety of ways, some

seeing stereotypes as a positive element strengthening the products message. Furthermore,

stereotypical images were perceived as more offensive than the names, showcasing once more

how each product needs to be considered individually when rebranding.

On loyalty, some consumers might not have an interest for how the product itself looks or how it

is portrayed, instead, there is a connection between the corporation behind the product. This raises

the question whether consumers care about stereotypical names/logos. Consumers also

communicate nostalgia as a loyalty driver, which might be the reason why many did not care about

the stereotypical factors in the end. At the same time, it once again shows how important it is for

companies to maintain ques enabling connections to nostalgia post-rebranding. Product features

also drive loyalty, perhaps mitigating the negative perception of stereotypical elements. On loyalty

damagers, we can observe that consumers do not appreciate radical changes, once again

highlighting how important it is to analyze what to maintain and how to rebrand. Corporate

misconduct also damages loyalty, however, stereotypical names/illustrations were not considered

as ethical misconduct, leading to a question regarding how relevant rebranding's are from a

consumer perspective.

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Regarding direct attitudes towards rebranding, multiple consumers did perceive the rebranding as

a necessary move and were convinced. However, others were more unconvinced, which was to a

large degree dependent on which product it was a matter of and the public discourse around the

product. Although consumers being convinced or unconvinced, many did not actually care about

these stereotypical issues in a purchasing situation, due to own experiences as well as their own

perception whether the brand actually is offensive. What this reflects is that the consumers do to

some degree understand the reasons, however, it is highly individual whether it affects the

consumption if stereotypical brands do not rebrand.

Conclusively, a previously strong brand equity might mitigate the negative effects of rebranding.

At the same time, the rebranding can alienate consumers, leading to weaker brand equity.

Furthermore, previous strong brand equity might also mitigate the perception of stereotypical

brands as an issue.

Research question 2: How does the consumer perceive the rebranding initiatives by

companies within the food industry?

Consumers perceive the rebranding of a particular product in different ways, affected by complex

perceptions of their own values, previous experiences of the product and their shifting loyalty

towards the product. The findings show that there is not a “correct path” regarding how to rebrand

a product.

Curiously, individual consumers could at the same time perceive rebranding of a particular product

as a good thing as well as not really thinking it was necessary. None of the consumers outright

claimed that a rebranding would harm their pre-existing loyalty, something we had though that

could happen when having followed the rebranding discourse on social media. However, not many

would either stop consuming if nothing was done regarding the stereotypical cues of a product.

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In overall terms, there is some pre-existing social awareness regarding the stereotypical discourse,

however, from a marketing perspective, it does not appear to be a major concern of the individual

consumer. It might in fact be a topic the media communicates as important, something many

participants also highlighted in their answers. Furthermore, the pitfalls of unsuccessful rebranding,

such as weaker perceptions of brand equity, might outweigh the benefits in many cases.

5.2 Theoretical Implications

Our research studied product rebranding and its effect on brand equity as well as the consumers

perception of rebranding. We believe that our study has contributed to the existing literature on

rebranding as well as identified some existing gaps in literature. We observed a lack of depth in

existing literature regarding product rebranding and how consumers in fact perceive the

rebranding. Much like researchers before, regarding product rebranding (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2003;

Collange & Bonache, 2015; Subhadip & Soumya, 2015; Marques et al., 2020), our research was

heavily influenced by the literature in corporate rebranding (Muzellec et al., 2003; Stuart &

Muzellec, 2004; Miller et al, 2014; Merrilees, 2005). Our research shows that to a large extent,

with some adaptations, corporate rebranding literature can be utilized in product rebranding

literature and that rebranding perhaps should be presented as a unified research topic.

Regarding product rebranding specifically, our contribution to existing literature lies in the fact

how rebranding is perceived to a large extent depending on what causes a rebranding, in our case

being the stereotypical factors and controversy related to this. In existing product rebranding

literature, the results often show customers being lost and not understanding the reason for

rebranding. Our research shows that when talking about stereotypical brands, there is an overall

understanding/acceptance of the reason for rebranding and that this does not directly lead to losing

customers. However, much like other authors conclude, the rebranding process itself is complex,

where the threat of losing one’s customers is imminent, leading to a question regarding economic

relevance of rebranding.

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Our research also added to existing literature by highlighting the imbalance between elements and

how they are perceived by customers. Although existing theory has discussed package design on

an overall level, our research shows the importance of evaluating this in regard to product

rebranding of stereotypical brands, and that images appear more controversial than the names.

Additonally, we contribute to the existing literature by showing that consumers can simultaneously

be convinced of the reason for rebranding and show compassion, but when it comes to the purchase

situation, it is nothing they care about. Once again, questioning the necessity of rebranding, partly

matching corporate rebranding literature regarding balancing between expectations between

stakeholders (in our case customers vs. media and the indigenous groups).

Finally, a major contribution of our research is proposing an elaborated framework which is

derived from brand equity literature that incorporates the consumers perceptions of rebranding.

We believe that our elaborated framework can be utilized in future research and modified further

to enhance our understanding of product rebranding.

5.3 Managerial implications

Based on our findings, some managerial implications can be presented. Since our research only

focuses on food brands, we limit our managerial implications to the food industry.

An overlapping theme of our research is how different brands are perceived in a different manner

when it comes to stereotypical cues. Managers need to assess the perceptions by their own

customers and evaluate whether or not a rebranding is necessary to make. We have observed that

not all ethnic stereotypes are perceived in the same manner, leading to managers needing to

understand how their particular brand is perceived. In addition, something that might work in

another geographical location, might not be the optimal approach in another location.

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Connected to this, managers need to understand which stakeholder group to listen to, being their

own customers or the overall public. In many cases, when being satisfied/loyal towards the

product, the negative perceptions of stereotypes might not in fact impact consumers buying

behavior. At the same time, if not rebranding, the media might focus efforts on highlighting the

company’s ethical misconduct. However, this needs to be evaluated against one own’s customers.

And when following the social media discourse, the issue might seem bigger than what one’s

customers believe.

Finally, rebranding’s should be done at a slow pace, requiring a lot of analysis on what to rebrand

and how to maintain perceptions to the old brand. Drastic changes are not seen in a positive light

by customers, and in some instances the consumers might in fact get lost in the process of

rebranding, where loyalty-driving brand equity features are not transferred to the rebranded

product.

To round things up; analyze what your own customers think and feel about a portrayed issue.

Evaluate all the pros and cons connected to rebranding and after that, communicate if the

rebranding will take place and make sure to not lose the customer in the rebranding process.

5.4 Limitations and future research

Throughout the process of writing this paper, we have observed extensive limitations to our

approach that need to be disclosed. These limitations also pave the way for future research. The

first limitation is regarding selection of participants and their gender and age. A majority of

participants in our study were male. Additionally, a majority of our participants were between 20

and 30 years old. Although our sample did not observe any differences between genders or ages,

larger samples might in fact result in clear differences. We therefore recommend future research

to analyze whether differences can be observed across ages and genders. A further limitation is the

fact that we did not have the resources to identify participants who actually belong to any of the

minority groups we have discussed. Future research could focus on applying our method and

framework to identify what kind of findings would be observed in these instances.

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Finally, we have solely focused on stereotypical food brands. The results might look different in

regard to other industries. We believe that the food industry is majorly consisting of low-

commitment products, which might be a reason for us not observing any direct negative

perceptions of rebranding on consumption, such as boycotting. However, nothing is to say that

these results would be the same across industries, for example the sport industry and how

consumers there perceive rebranding caused by stereotypes. Therefore, we urge future research to

study alternative industries to see whether differing results can be observed.

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Appendix

Appendix A – Reactions to rebranding on social media.

Below three examples of reactions to news regarding the product rebranding's are presented. We

chose to depict Facebook posts since one can observe the “reactions” people have on these posts.

In all three cases we can observe more “laughter” and “hate” reactions than the normal thumbs up

reaction, indicating that people either see it as a joke or are frustrated by it. The same discourse is

also observed in the comment sections. In addition, these posts result in hundreds of individuals

sharing the news, indicating that it evokes feelings that one wants to discuss.

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Appendix B – Interview guide

Background information:

• Name

• Age

• Gender

Brand recall:

1. Name the ice cream products you know. Not the manufacturer but the product itself.

2. Name the chocolate products you know. Not the manufacturer but the product itself.

3. Name the yoghurt products you know. Not the manufacturer but the product name itself.

Brand recognition:

**Show one brand at a time (Pictures/names/logos blurred in the first step) and ask if they

recognize the brand. When this question has been asked, show the unblurred picture and ask what

feelings and associations the product evokes, not only packaging but also emotional ques when

possible such as nostalgia etc.**

1. Eskimo: Do you recognize this brand? What kind of feelings and associations does it

evoke?

2. Puikko: Do you recognize this brand? What kind of feelings and associations does it

evoke?

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3. Turkish yoghurt (With the man): Do you recognize this brand? What kind of feelings

and associations does it evoke?

4. Turkish yoghurt (New): Do you recognize this brand? What kind of feelings and

associations does it evoke?

5. Geisha: Do you recognize this brand? What kind of feelings and associations does it

evoke?

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6. Sitting Bull: Do you recognize this brand? What kind of feelings and associations does it

evoke?

Examples of brand associations: Brand associations of Apple are; Electronics, overpriced, great

design etc.

Brand loyalty

1. Would you consider yourself loyal towards any of these brands presented (all six!). For

example, do you buy this product often etc.?

1. What are the things that make you loyal to this/these product/s?

2. What would make you reconsider your loyalty towards these brands or any other brands

for that matter?

3. Assume that you are a loyal consumer of this product, would you still be loyal after

change of name or logotype (rebranding). Why/why not?

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Rebranding

**Tell the participants that some of the products shown have been rebranded, without expressing

why this has been done.**

1. Can you tell me which is the original product and which is the new one? What could be the

reasons for these rebranding initiatives? (Show the before and after pics)

**Tell the story about the global rebranding movement in 2020 regarding stereotypical/racist

brands (Washington Redskins, Uncle Ben’s). And that all of the companies presented have either

rebranded themselves or consider rebranding and what the reason for this is.**

1. Do you think that these rebranding initiatives were necessary? Why, why not?

2. When you know the story behind the rebranding initiatives, what is your attitudes towards

the companies?

3. As a consumer, is this something that you would care about?

4. Are these things you have thought about previously? Or have your thoughts regarding this

only emerged during our interview?

5. Anything else you would like to disclose?

General probing questions used:

• Can you elaborate further?

• If I understand you correctly, you are saying that...?

• Why is that?

• How come?

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Appendix C – Survey questionnaire

Food industry brands

Please mark every box in which you recognize the brand/product name. The answers will be used

to assess potential interview candidates for our master thesis on branding, so it is very important

that you pick ALL brands that you recognize. Thank you!

Jesse & Joel

(E-mails and names will be handled confidentially)

Which of these chocolate brands do you recognize? (You can pick more than one)

o Marabou, Japp

o Fazer, Geisha

o Cloetta, Kexchoklad

o Fazer, Fazerina

o Lindt, Lindor

o Marabou, Aladdin

o Fazer, Dumle

o None of them

Which of these ice cream brands do you recognize? (You can pick more than one)

o GB Glace, Daim

o Pingviini, Puikko

o Fazer, Salmiakki

o Triumf Glass, Sitting Bull

o Pingviini, Eskimo

o Pingviini, Puffet

o GB Glace, Magnum

o None of them

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Which of these yoghurt brands do you recognize? (You can pick more than one)

o Danone, Activia

o Valio, A+

o Arla, Yalla!

o Valio, Turkkilainen Jogurtiii

o Oatly, Oatmeal yoghurt

o Fazer, Yosa

o Arla, Greek yoghurt

o None of them

If your answers match our search criteria, would you be willing to participate in an

interview? (further details would be discussed in person)

o Yes

o No

o Maybe

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Appendix D – Participant information sheet

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Appendix E – Themes and Codes

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “I freeze, partly with the color choice and the penguin combined with the text “Eskimo” gets me out in the cold.” - P9

Positive manner

Awareness of stereotypical

factors

“(…) it may be very strange really, but it feels like a typical Turkish yoghurt jar that it should be a man.” - P10

“Regarding the packaging, it gives Asian vibes from the flowers. It has a calm flow. Flowers. Matching the traditional Geisha color scheme. - P7 “I connect the name Geisha to China, Asia and Japan likewise I do with the flowers.” - P4

Neutral manner

“One can see it as a young native American chief Sitting Bull eating ice cream.” - P2

“Japan immediately, and when I see the package, I know what the chocolate will taste like, nutty.” - P8

“There is a lot of colors, and that there is a native American girl eating the ice cream there.” - P3

“I get provoked by the name and the depiction of a native American. I think that it is inappropriate. … I would never buy this product because the packaging does not evoke any positive feelings in me.” - P8

Negative manner

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“I don’t really understand the importance of the Turkish man on the packaging since it is a bit stereotypical to have a Turk on a package.” - P7

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme The first thing I think about is the Eskimo name and that it is not allowed to be called that anymore and that the name will change, I think. - P3

Certainty

Awareness of reasons for rebranding

“The first thing I think of when you added “Eskimo” is that there has been a lot of talk about it.” - P5

Quite strong colors, and simple Valio packaging. Otherwise quite plain, I don’t really understand the importance of the Turkish man on the packaging since it is a bit stereotypical to have a Turk on a package.” - P7

“Well, I have never seen or eaten it. But I get provoked by the name and the depiction of a native American. I think that it is inappropriate.” - P8

“Not at all like the others, even though Geisha could be seen as controversial.” - P5

“Maybe the name has changed due to Eskimo perhaps being offensive to some people and Puikko is more neutral” - P2 Uncertainty

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“I would guess that there has to do something about Indians and that you should not use it as an expression.” P5

“Geisha, if I do not remember it completely wrong, it means "girl of joy", so there is a pretty bad incentive to have that name even though I can understand that you have that name to create a desire for the consumer.” - P5

“The name Geisha, perhaps it has two meanings.” - P9

“Maybe it has something to do with the man... Makes me think about a Dictator for some reason, maybe a bit unpleasant.” - P1

“I do not know if it is just me that associate it to my youth, but I just feel like it is a worn-out light blue, it is not very stylish. So, it feels like little sharper colors would have been something for them.” - P6

Lack of knowledge

“I think it's to make it less childish. That is my first thought, because now I understand that the brand has a penguin as a logo so they cannot remove it completely. But it feels more mature than the top one did (refers to Eskimo), much more.” - P10 “It could be that it was perceived as a bit too childish, and I can also believe that they wanted to include this Fairtrade logo because consumers have become more aware of such things” - P9

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Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “. (…) Media coverage, with everything from indigenous people, and that you should no longer call people Indians, so somehow it has been on the agenda in Sweden as well.” - P5

Overall awareness

Rebranding awareness

“He (Turkish depiction) does not increase the temptation to test the product and does not match the brand. I am not sure if it is connected to some discussions that have been going on and if this man affects some minorities… maybe there is an underlying thought process regarding this…” - P4. “I have thought about them but did not do this before it was highlighted by the media and for example connected to Black Lives Matter and the discussion surrounding this. For Eskimo, this is something I had thought about even before but did not remember it.” - P8 Pre-existing

knowledge “I actually knew about Eskimo being rebranded to Puikko, I had heard about it on the radio, but I did not remember this at all. Regarding the others I had no idea about it.” - P7

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “And then somehow the packaging has a high level of dignity, and it appears like a quality product. Which I think is quite usual with Fazer’s products, that they are able to brand them well.” - P8 Association with

company

Corporate association

“Regarding the design, the design communicates well Valio’s brand, but not this Turkish dude. He does not increase the temptation to test the product and does not match the brand.” - P4 “For the corporations, it shows a more responsible company, especially when talking about companies with these pictures. The brands improve their image.” - P4

Company´s future

103

“Kind of, if I think from the corporations perspective, it might be better to change to something more neutral in order to avoid controversy if someone is upset. For example, Puikko vs. Eskimo, maybe it is a natural step for companies to make to appear modern and responsible.” - P1 “I bet it is important for the prestige of the companies.” - P2

“And yes, rather make a change too much because I think you as a brand are perceived as positive if you take such positions as well. ‘We do this because we think this is wrong too, we see you, we hear you and we do something about it’ I think you will profit from it in the end.” - P5 “Just a thing like they would explain that “now we want to rethink our brand” or something similar would make it clearer for me why they are rebranding themselves, I think.” - P6

Transparency

“If there has been a public discussion regarding the fact that they are considering a rebranding, I would be disappointed if they were not to do the rebranding.” - P8

“If we were to say that Sitting Bull would not consider changing at all. Then you would be like `Come on'” - P10

“Basically, it is such a small effort for the companies to make.” - P8

Effortless “But just change, it's not that hard. You do not have to make a drastic change as with the Turkish yogurt because then I understand that they will lose out on it. But make a small change that makes a big difference to society, and a small difference for the consumer. It will still be good.” - P10

104

“It is interesting that companies rebrand so quickly thanks to social media, and I also see it as an issue, that these might be hasted decisions, where the critique would become calmer in the long run.” - P1

Hasty decision

“One can ask if it really is necessary in Finland to change the name Eskimo. How many Eskimos are walking on the streets in Finland today etc. So, I think it’s a balancing act for companies that might be difficult.” - P2

“But they did not have to do it so drastically. That's a thing where I think they have gone too far concerning change (…)” - P10

“Yes exactly. So, I feel like if I fancy a brand and they change it too much. Then it would feel like they are striving away from me too much.” - P6

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “I think about childhood. ... We had a local store where I grew up, and always when the freezer got too warm, we got these ice creams with my sister when they had melted a bit.” - P1

Nostalgia Product

associations

“Childhood. This is a classic ice cream that feels like everyone in my age has grown up with and eaten. - P10

“This is a well-known ice cream, when I see the package, I know what I get. I bet this has been on the market for over 50 years with the name. I am very familiar and would consider it a standard in most stores. It has not changed a lot in taste or design, I can recall memories from my childhood when I have been eating this product.” - P2 “I would say that childhood, summer and family are things that come to mind.” - P4

105

“Geisha is a delicious chocolate, that has been the same for a long time. I connect this to confectionaries and Christmas especially, I see it as a seasonal product. I bet it has been a part of my life for anything between 30 and 40 years perhaps.” - P2

Special occasions

“I connect the product to Christmas.” - P1

“I would say that chocolate often, especially Geisha confectionaries are strongly connected to Christmas. I often received these as gifts.” - P4

“The only thing that comes to mind is that this is always eaten at our summer house, so that maybe. And then Christmas since one eats a lot of chocolate on Christmas.” - P8

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “I think the packaging looks nice overall. … I would say that it is soft, kind, nothing that stands out, it feels like there is a little vanilla, chocolate, vanilla ice cream, nothing that stands out that way.” - P5 Kind

Package associations

“I think it looks nice, Geisha feels nice and delightful. It feels inviting.” - P5

“I would say that the packaging is quite uninspiring once again, and seems quite cheap.” - P7

Cheap “It feels a bit more budget if I were to say so even though I see that there is a Fairtrade logo up there so. It was not even something I thought about with the other one, but it just looked more well made. This one looks a little more budget. - P5

106

“I freeze, partly with the color choice and the penguin combined with the text ‘Eskimo’ gets me out in the cold.” - P9

Cold “The package tells me that it is a stick which makes it easy to eat and is of a decent size. It looks delicious, simple, nothing too much or too little. It looks crispy and cold. Once again, a Finnish product. I can’t tell any personal connections towards the product though” - P1

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “Of course, it is sad that my memories are not matching the new brand any longer.” - P1

Negative

Emotions

“It is crazy that they have not done it already (rebrand). But I guess it is caused by the fact that Geishas as a group of people have not received as much attention as Black Lives Matter. If they would, I bet 100% that they would have done it, but I absolutely think they should already have done it.” - P10 “I would say that it is quite unthoughtful and distasteful to kind off take advantage of the term.” - P8

“I would not see this rebranding necessary myself, but for minorities it can be a whole other situation.” - P2

Positive But having said that, I think that it’s more right to perhaps make changes to these packages if it’s the case that someone takes offense. ... Then, in my opinion there is not much to talk about." - P5

107

”It’s a difficult question, but I still feel like I would buy the product. Even though I agree on the point that they should respect the cultures or whatnot, I would still buy the product sometimes.” - P3

“If we talk about these specific products, the yes. Especially the Turkish yoghurt was somehow disturbing due to the picture and potentially even this Sitting Bull ice cream when these products depict a minority or like a cultural group.” - P4

“With that said, I think it is more right to perhaps make changes to these packages if it is the case that someone takes it badly and if there is an incentive to change it because someone or some ethnic group finds it offensive.” - P5

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “But for Eskimo, I have always associated the name with the cold element such as ice, not the group of people at all.” - P1

Interpretation Visual & Verbal

cues

“I think that here it is about the fact that I have an own perception of what Eskimo and Geisha means, and that this reflects to the childhood when they were used a lot” - P4

“I mean thoughts regarding these things have been a part of my thinking for a couple of years, when being younger I only connected Eskimo to being a name of an ice cream and that Geisha is a beautiful name for a chocolate. The new things I found out is that Eskimo already has changed its name and that Turkkilainen jogurtti likewise. So, some thoughts have emerged, but it does not affect my buying behavior. The product features are what matters.” - P3

108

“Yes, I think they were. Maybe not Geisha and Eskimo, since they are names. But like pictures I understand for example removing the black man from Uncle Ben’s.” - P3

Imbalance between elements

“But if it is a picture, depicting a minority, one cannot make those assumptions any longer in this globalized world where people from all cultures live across countries.” - P4

“It somehow is being concretized even more in the picture. If there was only a name, then yes, one could connect it to a native American name, but it would not be as clear. A picture is a more “in-your-face” approach than only the name.” - P8

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “I don’t buy Geisha per se but would consider myself loyal towards Fazer as a brand. Well okay if I buy Turkish yoghurt, it will be the one from Valio.” - P8 Corporate

identification

Drivers

“Regarding yoghurt you want a bit of a variation. But I would say that I consume a lot of Valio.” - P9

“If I would need to be loyal towards an ice cream brand it would be Eskimo, it is traditional, and I am super familiar with the product and know what I will get.” – P1

Nostalgia

“I connect this to confectionaries and Christmas especially, I see it as a seasonal product. I bet it has been a part of my life for anything between 30 and 40 years perhaps.” - P2

“I don’t often buy chocolate but when I do, I often tend to buy Geisha. I get a feeling that this product has been a part of my life as long as I have been eating chocolate. So, a long history comes to mind. I would say that this is in my top 5 when I purchase chocolate in the store.” - P4

109

“Okay, I would associate this ice cream with school (elementary-school). If ice cream was offered, it was this product specifically. It is a quite sterile packaging, and the ice cream is flat and neutral in taste, there is nothing special about it. But I associate it with joy and that something special happens in school and that it is a good day.” – P7 “Childhood. This is a classic ice cream that feels like everyone in my age has grown up with and eaten. I would be really irritated if they changed it, it should look like this. It's a bit old school, not very cool or anything like that. It's still very nice and is still, it is not a premium package. It has an old man on it and a bit of color. But I like it.! It may be just because I like the content of it, but yeah. Classic, nice and appealing.” – P10 “The products taste good, and the consistency is good.” - P3

Product features

“And it tastes great, and there is no risk that it is a bad product although there might be other products on the market that could fit one’s requirements. It's an easy and safe choice so to speak.” - P4

“They have a lot of vanilla stuff that I think is nice. But it's probably their range of tastes.” - P9

“Geisha. Due to the taste.” - P2

110

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “It would not match my feeling of the product any longer. Since I am familiar with the design and connect memories to these designs it would no longer be the same for me. ... If they make too radical changes, it makes me feel like they aim towards new customers and forget their old customers that have experiences from the products. And there might be a risk that I would not even find the product any longer in the 100-meter-long candy isle.” - P1

Brand relationship

Damagers

“I would not say that it immediately has a negative effect (rebranding), but it might take some time before you find the brand once again.” - P8

“...negative publicity. For example, regarding how they portray minorities... Caused by a vocal media or the society highlighting these issues.”- P2

Corporate misconduct

“I am not sure, maybe if they would do something bad, that would maybe change my view of the company. For example, if they use bad ingredients or are in the middle of a crisis of some sort.” P3

“For example, if the company is exposed in regards to misbehavior in manufacturing process. That they use child labor or is extremely detrimental towards the earth. - P7

“Well, I mean for example if the manufacturing or supply chain for example uses child labor or takes advantage of a particular group of people and other similar stuff.” - P8

“That’s a difficult question… something that would start a thinking process would be if the company behind Geisha (Fazer) would act in a questionable manner, for example regarding the working conditions in the factories or any other big scandals would occur.” - P4

111

“I’m quite a visual guy, so I would say that the packaging design plays a big part. Then of course if the taste would change, I would reconsider.” - P8

Product features

“... Or other competing products that are better at pleasing in regards to quality, price, taste or looks. - P7

“If these products would change their recipe, and it would affect the taste I would not buy them anymore. I would also rethink my loyalty if they would change their packaging radically from this traditional and appealing design.” - P1 “Price is the first thing I think about and that I would try to look for a company that offers a similar product. However, in the case of Turkkilainen jogurtti I have not found any substitutes that taste the same. Although the product is more expensive and quite small packages. Another thing is if the taste would change too much.” – P3

Representative quotes Sub-themes Main-theme “Yes, I mean I think it is good that all these rebranding’s are done simultaneously. I don’t see the necessity in it per se, but I understand the moral and equality issues that lie behind these rebrandings” - P7

Convinced Attitudes

“I can understand that it can be seen as controversial if they have a picture of someone who will imitate a Turk. So, I can understand that they have changed.” - P6

“Especially the Turkish yoghurt was somehow disturbing due to the picture and potentially even this Sitting Bull ice cream when these products depict a minority or like a cultural group.” - P4

“Yes, very necessary. It has also been on the agenda. Not like Black Lives Matter but, it has still been that you are not allowed to say that word. (Indian) And you are not allowed to dress up as it.” - P10

112

“I understand the movements that are taking place and it might be good to do it, but I do not think it is offensive, but I understand that people can think that. - P9

Well, I would say so yes. Basically, it is such a small effort for the companies to take (…) I would say that it is quite unthoughtful and distasteful to kind off take advantage of the term. - P8

“Even though I had been an Eskimo, I do not understand how one would be offended by an ice cream with a little playful name.” - P9

Unconvinced

“For the name Geisha I do not understand why a rebranding would take place since it is not a race per se.” - P1

“But personally, and considering the vast majority, I am not sure that these rebranding’s are seen as necessary.” - P2

“... I think that there is a "cancel culture" in general, where you are so afraid of the social court or the public court that ‘you have to do this otherwise we are screwed’ which I think there is a risk in maybe creating, it is like, you have to erase a story and I can find something in that where I think it is wrong to change it” - P5 I really think it's very resentful. Almost as if they are trying to find something to censor that from the beginning is not meant to be problematic (…) Feels like they're looking for censorship where it's just unnecessary in my opinion.” - P6 “I don’t recognize this as such a big issue, maybe because I am not a part of any of these minorities… But I don’t think that I would “punish” these companies for not rebranding.” - P7

Unconcerned

113

“But it depends, I think that these are on a different level. For example, for Geisha I would still buy if they were not to rebrand but for Sitting Bull, I think that not doing a rebranding would directly affect my willingness to purchase.” - P8 “… you do not know exactly, it is easy to think that you would have done it and then you stand there and think ‘this one will be good!’ I do not think I would have thought about it that much” - P10

“The former package was cooler compared to this. Maybe the name has changed due to Eskimo perhaps being offensive to some people and Puikko is more neutral. This does not change my opinion and I don’t care if it is called Eskimo or Puikko.” - P2 “So, some thoughts have emerged, but it does not affect my buying behavior. The product features are what matters.” - P3

“No, I would not actually say that. It is nothing that I think about when I go shopping” - P6