The effect of product traditional cultural load on brand status: Evidence from young consumers*

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.01542

Abstract

Abstract:

Four behavioral studies and one brain imaging study consistently confirmed that increasing the traditional cultural load of a product can enhance consumers’ perceived brand status of the product. Giving products more traditional cultural content can activate consumers’ social cognitive brain areas and reward brain areas, and enhance consumers’ perceived social value of the product, which in turn affects their perceived brand status evaluation of the product. Product type moderates the effect of traditional cultural load on brand status. The empowering effect of traditional cultural load on brand status is more applicable to utilitarian products, and the effect on the brand status of hedonic products is not significant. This research expands the scope of cultural marketing research and reveals the cognitive neural mechanism of Chinese traditional culture empowerment on brand status. Also, it has important practical implications for the use of Chinese traditional culture in brand status management of utilitarian products.

Key words: traditional culture, product type, perceived social value, brand status

YU Wenhuan, HE Lin, FU Yu, LIU Tao. (2023). The effect of product traditional cultural load on brand status: Evidence from young consumers^*. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 55(9), 1542-1557.

Figures/Tables 19

Figure 1. Mediated model of brand status for high modern culture load group (vs. low traditional culture load group).
Note. The dummy variables in the X1 condition were coded as high modern cultural load = 1, low traditional cultural load = 0, and high traditional cultural load = 0. * p ≤ 0.05 (two-tailed), ** p ≤ 0.01 (two-tailed), *** p ≤ 0.001 (two-tailed) same below.

Figure 2. Brand status mediation model for high traditional culture load group (vs. low traditional culture load group).
Note. The dummy variables in the X2 condition were coded as: high modern cultural load = 0, low traditional cultural load = 0, high traditional cultural load = 1

Figure 3. Brand status mediation model.
Note. The high modern culture load and low culture load were both coded as ?1, and the high traditional culture load group was coded as 1.

Table 1 Correlation analysis of each variable with brand status

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Brand status
2. Age	0.21^**
3. Education level	0.17^**	0.12^*
4. Picture attraction	0.56^**	0.30^**	0.16^**
5. Frequency of daily use	0.44^**	0.26^**	0.18^**	0.57^**
6. Daily carry-out frequency	0.43^**	0.22^**	0.11	0.57^**	0.81^**
7. The importance of the social value dimension	0.48^**	0.21^**	0.16^**	0.54^**	0.49^**	0.50^**
8. The importance of the emotional value dimension	0.29^**	0.07	0.01	0.36^**	0.24^**	0.28^**	0.41^**
9. The importance of the functional value dimension	0.12^*	0.17^**	0.02	0.22^**	0.17^**	0.18^**	0.18^**	0.19^**

Figure 4. Mediation model of brand status for high Western traditional culture load group (vs. low traditional culture load group).
Note. The dummy variables in the X1 condition were coded as: high Western traditional culture load = 1, low traditional culture load = 0, high Chinese traditional culture load = 0

Figure 5. Mediation model of brand status for high Chinese traditional culture load group (vs. low traditional culture load group).
Note. The dummy variables in the X2 condition were coded as: high Western traditional culture load = 0, low traditional culture load = 0, high Chinese traditional culture load = 1

Figure 6. Distribution of specific product selection willingness in different scenarios.

Figure 7. Mediation model for repeated measures of brand status.

Figure 8. Measurement position of each channel of fNIRS.

Figure 9. Differences in participants’ brain activity when evaluating the brand status of high/low traditional cultural load products.
Note. The colors in the figure characterize the size of the t-value in the paired sample t-test (high traditional culture load vs. low traditional culture load)

Figure A (1) High Traditional Cultural Utilitarian Product Group.

Figure A (2) High traditional cultural hedonic product group.

Figure A (3) Low traditional cultural utilitarian product group.

Figure A (4) Low traditional cultural utilitarian product group.

Figure B (1). High Western traditional cultural load group: Oil Painting of Cedar.

Figure B (2). Low traditional cultural load (control) group: Summer Ginkgo.

Figure B (3). High Chinese traditional cultural load group: Ink painting of Yingke Pine.

Table A Perceived social value measurement scale

Title: I think this product......	1 Totally disagree	2 Disagree more	3 somewhat disagree	4 General	5 somewhat agree	6 Agree more	7 Totally agree
Would help me to feel acceptable	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Would improve the way I am perceived	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Would make a good impression on me	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

Table B MNI coordinates and covered brain regions for each measurement channel of fNIRS

Measurement channels	MNI coordinates			Anatomical brain area labels	Coverage Probability
Measurement channels	x	y	z	Anatomical brain area labels	Coverage Probability
1	34	65	12	10-Frontopolar area	0.90
2	2	68	16	10-Frontopolar area	1
3	-34	63	14	10-Frontopolar area	0.69
4	44	60	-1	46-Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex	0.48
5	21	72	0	10- Frontopolar area	0.51
6	-19	72	0	10- Frontopolar area	0.49
7	-44	57	-4	46-Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex	0.70
8	34	66	-11	11-Orbitofrontal area	0.63
9	2	69	-14	11-Orbitofrontal area	0.83
10	-32	63	-13	11-Orbitofrontal area	0.61
11	67	-39	41	40-Supramarginal gyrus	0.97
12	61	-48	49	40-Supramarginal gyrus	0.97
13	67	-31	45	40-Supramarginal gyrus	0.55
14	62	-38	53	40-Supramarginal gyrus	0.85
17	-56	-47	54	40-Supramarginal gyrus	1
18	-54	-63	47	39-Angular gyrus	0.79
19	-63	-40	48	40-Supramarginal gyrus	1
20	-61	-54	39	40-Supramarginal gyrus	0.57

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