Most companies are intent on equipping their brands with a set of strong, symbolic values. Although it is widely accepted that all marketing activities (including the product itself) need to be consistent with a brand's values, a comprehensive and systematic approach for transforming abstract brand values into concrete product design features is still missing. This research addresses this gap in the literature by adapting an approach that was originally developed in perception research to a branding context. In particular, we propose that image morphing and warping techniques can be used to identify and manipulate those design features that drive the perception of a given brand value. Two studies with real consumers focusing on the automotive market confirm the viability and the usefulness of our approach. From a managerial perspective, the approach may increase the effectiveness of design efforts and may facilitate the communication between marketing and design departments.

This research examines how two prepurchase stages of the buyer decision process-information search and alternative evaluation-and two postpurchase stages-evaluation of product and service attributes-influence buyer regret. The study extends prior consequences of regret to include purchase intentions toward both brand and the channel. Tested in a field sample of luxury automobile purchasers, results show that higher information search and alternative evaluation lead to more buyer regret; lower evaluations of service (but not product) attributes lead to more regret; and regret's consequences include reduced intentions to repurchase either the brand or from the dealership. Buyers who switch brands experience more regret than buyers who did not switch brands.

Consumer researchers are wrestling with the crisis of representation that has challenged contiguous disciplines over the past decade. Traditional or conventional prose articles seem increasingly insufficient as vessels for representing our understandings and experiences. In this article, we demonstrate how poetry contributes to the research enterprise. We use our own experiences as researcher?poets to illustrate how the writing and close reading of poetry can take us directly to the heart of consumption. Our essay is intended to provide a philosophical basis for the inclusion of poetry between the covers of this journal.