Abstract

The thesis of this dissertation is that interpreting brands as promises is a way for firms to improve their credibility by making a binding commitment. At a time when corporate credibility is low, adopting the idea of brand as promise enables firms to commit themselves publicly to a course of action, thereby strengthening their credibility. The thesis is supported through a theoretical argument. The argument is summarized as follows. If a firm construes its brand as promises then it is likely to do two things. First, it is likely to make clear brand promises. Second, it is likely to connect the brand promise explicitly to the company. As a result, there will be a greater threat of backlash against the firm breaking its brand promises, which will serve as encouragement to keep those promises. Keeping brand promises will result in greater credibility for the firm. ;The dissertation draws from the existing legal and philosophical literature on promising, as well as from the brand management literature, to provide a definition of what it means to say "a brand is a promise." It classifies the different kinds of brand promises according to their scope and content and explores their implications. It then reviews existing research on the concept of expectations to demonstrate the importance of firms clarifying their brand promises. The dissertation also works through the details of how brand promises can be made and kept, and shows under which conditions---and in what ways---brand promises may be broken. It then introduces the concept of the separation thesis, and shows how brand as promise can overcome the separation thesis. A design for a research experiment is presented to study the question of what is the value of keeping brand promises. The dissertation concludes with a summary of contributions, implications for managers, and recommendations for further research