Title: Towards an integrated model for brand adoption: insights from an organismic integration theory

Authors: Naeem Gul Gilal; Jing Zhang; Faheem Gul Gilal; Rukhsana Gul Gilal

Addresses: School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China ' School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China ' Department of Business Administration, Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur, 65200, Pakistan ' Department of Business Administration, Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur, 65200, Pakistan

Abstract: Drawing on organismic integration theory (OIT), this study investigates what kind of motivational regulations (e.g. intrinsic, identified, introjected and external motivation) could influence brand adoption and what kind of advertisement appeals (e.g. hard-sell and soft-sell) could influence consumers' motivational regulations. To this end, participants (n = 657) from Pakistan were recruited, and the hypotheses were tested in the airline industry. Results show that hard-sell appeals had the strongest effect on identified motivation, whereas soft-sell appeals were more effective at capturing consumers' intrinsic motivation. Consumers' intrinsic motivation had the greatest effect on consumer brand adoption. The moderation results revealed that the effects of identified, introjected and external motivations on consumer brand adoption were salient when perceived social influence was higher, but not when social influence was lower. Finally, the authors discuss in depth the implications of these results for theory and practice.

Keywords: brand adoption; hard-sell appeal; soft-sell appeal; motivation types; social influence.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2022.119745

European Journal of International Management, 2022 Vol.17 No.1, pp.1 - 26

Received: 03 Jun 2018
Accepted: 06 Oct 2018
Published online: 20 Dec 2021 *

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