Interactive home shopping The pleasures and perils of selling in cyberspace Electronic shopping promises to have a dramatic impact on the future of the retail industry. As the observability of product quality increases, so does consumers' willingness to pay more for the product. Yes, claim many in the business press. In truth, say researchers Marnik Dekimpe, Martin Mellens, Jan-Benedict Steenkamp, and Piet Vanden Abeele, the erosion of brand loyalty is more myth than fact. Their study of 92 brands in 21 product categories over one to two years revealed an encouraging level of stability in these brands' abilities to retain loyal customers.
Brand loyalty is more stable for market leaders than for others.
The eyes have it Logos are meant to enhance a company's corporate identity. To achieve positive consumer evaluations, say researchers Pamela Henderson and Joseph Cote, logos should be elaborate, symmetric, natural, and should evoke strong associations. They base their recommendations on a study that surveyed subjects on 195 real logos. In a second study, they found that these four characteristics also affect a logo's recognizability. People are able to discriminate more accurately among logos that are natural or representative.