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The present study investigates the interplay between brand stability and customers' response toward the brand in an industrial buying context. Based on an information economic perspective, the authors develop a conceptual framework that incorporates perceived brand stability, risk reduction, brand loyalty, and customers' willingness to pay a price premium. This framework is empirically tested based on a survey with one hundred and forty nine key informants from business units within the food industry. In order to analyze the proposed relationships, the authors employ structural equation modeling. The present research contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of brands in business-to-business contexts by highlighting the signaling effects of brands in an industrial buying context. Second, the present research empirically demonstrates that brand stability is a key factor to (1) reduce perceived risk, (2) build brand loyalty, and in turn (3) achieve a price premium.

Brands and branding have been used since the earliest times to distinguish the goods or services of one seller from those of another. For customers, brands promise a particular quality level, reduce risk, and engender trust in the performance of goods and services (e.g., Erdem and Swait, 1998 and Rao et al., 1999). This tendency may be in particular apparent with difficult-to-assess products and thus within markets characterized by imperfect and asymmetrical information structures (Wernerfelt, 1988). Here, brands have been identified as important signals, providing benefits for customers by serving valuable functions (e.g., Erdem and Swait, 2004, Erdem et al., 2002 and Keller, 2002). A brand signal is composed of the past and present marketing mix strategies and activities associated with the brand, reflecting a firm's brand positioning decisions (Keller, 1993 and Keller and Lehmann, 2006). As firms can control and manipulate marketing mix strategies and activities associated with the brand, they determine the content of a brand signal. Thus, a brand signal as it will be perceived by customers depends on the firm's brand positioning strategy (Sujan & Bettman, 1989) and the specific properties of the marketing mix activities and programs associated with the brand (Erdem & Swait, 1998). Considering the fact that many industries are highly competitive environments that challenge firms not only to build but also to defend already established market positions, managers might be encouraged to rethink or even change brand positioning strategies according to current trends and developments. According to Aaker (1996, p. 225), the temptation is “to dig in, diagnose the problem or trend, and take action — even when the “action” course may actually end up hurting the brand.” While such actions might result in short-term brand success, in the long-term they affect the content of the brand signal as it is perceived by buyers. Within this context, prior research highlights the critical role of the stability of brand attribute associations over time as an important predictor of customers' response toward the brand (Aaker, 1996, Day and Pratt, 1971, Erdem and Swait, 1998 and Penrose and Moorhouse, 1989). We define brand stability as the degree to which a brand's attributes are perceived as permanent (i.e., stable over time), allowing customers to confidently anticipate the future performance of the brand. As a literature review reveals, prior research involving brand stability primarily investigates this concept from the firm's perspective focusing on the extent to which a brand brings stability to organizations through enabling them to predict future streams of revenue (e.g., Ailawadi et al., 2003 and Simon and Sullivan, 1993). Research on brand stability from the customer's point of view still remains limited or is mainly conceptual in nature (e.g., de Chernatony and Dall'Olmo Riley, 1998 and Rubinstein, 1996). Against this background, the objectives of this research are twofold. First, we aim to extend existing knowledge on branding research by conceptually analyzing and empirically investigating the construct perceived brand stability. Second, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of the interplay between perceived brand stability and customers' response in an industrial buying context. As prior research reveals, there is a paucity of research on business-to-business branding (Lynch & de Chernatony, 2004). Based on an information economic perspective, we develop a conceptual framework that incorporates perceived brand stability, risk reduction, brand loyalty, and customers' willingness to pay a price premium. To realize these aims, we conducted a quantitative study that consists of a survey with one hundred and forty nine key informants from business units within the food industry. In order to analyze the proposed relationships, we employed structural equation modeling. The main contributions of this study are as follows: The present research contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of brands in business-to-business contexts by emphasizing perceived brand stability as an important brand characteristic having the potential to stimulate signaling and bonding effects. Second, the present research empirically demonstrates that brand stability influences customer response in terms of (1) reducing perceived risk, (2) building brand loyalty, and in turn (3) achieving a price premium. The article is organized as follows. The next section discusses the theoretical background of this study. After that, we present the conceptual framework, explain the focal constructs, and discuss the hypothesized relationships between these constructs. Then, attention turns toward methodological aspects, focusing on sample selection, data collection, and measures. The research method used to test the model and the results of the empirical investigation are then reported. The last section outlines the implications of our study.

The objective of this study was to develop and empirically test the impact of brand attributes under imperfect information structures in an industrial buying context. More specifically, we investigate the interplay between brand stability, risk reduction, and customers' response (i.e., brand loyalty and willingness to pay a price premium). As the results show, this study finds support for all hypothesized relationships. Our research has implications for academicians and managers alike, which we will discuss now. We will start with implications for research.