How Early Online Interactions Shape Brand Image: New Study Reveals Key Cultural Differences
How Early Online Interactions Shape Brand Image: New Study Reveals Key Cultural Differences
How Early Online Interactions Shape Brand Image: New Study Reveals Key Cultural Differences
Wittenborg’s Adam Jones Co-authors Study on Value Co-creation in the ‘Dreaming’ Phase
A newly published article in the Journal of Services Marketing sheds light on how consumers’ earliest online interactions, before they even begin planning a purchase, play a decisive role in shaping service-firm brand image. The study, titled ‘Online Value Co-creation During the ‘Dreaming’ Phase, Brand Image and Uncertainty Avoidance,’ was co-authored by Wittenborg associate professor Adam Jones, together with Francisco Peco-Torres, Ana Isabel Polo-Peña and Dolores M. Frías-Jamilena.
The research presents an explanatory model for understanding how brand image forms in the online environment during the ‘dreaming’ phase, when consumers first begin to fantasise about future service experiences, often without any clear intention to buy.
Using the lens of Service-Dominant Logic (SDL), the authors examine how value is co-created through online interactions between consumers and three key actors: the firm, online platforms and other consumers. The study then analyses how these interactions influence brand image and how the effects vary depending on consumers’ uncertainty avoidance.
Cross-cultural insights from Spanish and British consumers
To investigate these relationships, the authors surveyed 607 hotel guests – 310 Spanish (from a high uncertainty-avoidance culture) and 297 British (low uncertainty-avoidance culture) – who had interacted with online sources during the very initial stages of their consumer journey.
The results reveal a strong cultural split. For Spanish consumers, online value co-creation with online platforms and other consumers significantly strengthens brand image, while co-creation with the firm’s online media shows no significant effect.
For British consumers, the opposite occurs: co-creation with the firm produces a strong positive influence on brand image, while interactions with platforms or other consumers do not show a meaningful impact.
Commenting on these findings, Jones emphasised the importance of recognising these cultural differences. “Our results make clear that consumers from different cultures co-create value in very different ways. High uncertainty-avoidance consumers rely heavily on online platforms and other users, while low uncertainty-avoidance consumers draw more from the firm’s own online media. Understanding this distinction is crucial for international service firms.”
Strategic online reputation management as a key driver
The study also shows that strategic online reputation management is a significant antecedent of value co-creation across all channels. When firms encourage online reviews, respond to feedback and analyse user-generated content, this boosts value co-creation with the firm, platforms and other consumers – even in the earliest stages of the journey.
The associate professor explained that this early engagement matters more than firms often realise. “What we show is that brand image doesn’t begin forming at the moment of planning or booking. It begins much earlier, when consumers are simply imagining possibilities. In this dreaming phase, even light or casual online interactions can start shaping how they perceive a service brand.”
Advancing SDL theory and offering practical guidance
The research extends Service-Dominant Logic theory by confirming the multi-actor nature of online value co-creation. It is also one of the first studies to measure co-creation specifically during the dreaming phase and to examine brand image in relation to cultural differences in uncertainty avoidance.
Beyond the theoretical contributions, the findings offer actionable insights for service firms operating internationally. The authors highlight that companies seeking to attract high uncertainty-avoidance consumers should prioritise strong visibility on independent online platforms and stimulate user-generated content. Firms targeting low uncertainty-avoidance consumers, meanwhile, benefit from investing in inspirational brand-owned online media.
Jones noted that these insights can help companies build stronger relationships with customers earlier in the process. “Being able to map how brand image forms from the very first spark of interest gives firms a clearer strategy for online engagement. They can target consumers with the right type of content on the right channels, at the exact moment when initial impressions are being formed.”
WUP 26/01/2025
by Ulisses Sawczuk
©WUAS Press
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#SDG9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
#Internationalisation
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#GRT1: Digital Revolution
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