Abstract/Description

This review paper aims to provide a detailed understanding of what are doppelgänger brand images (DBIs), their impact on brands across multiple industries, and how they influence consumer perceptions and purchasing behavior. DBIs emerge as a paradoxical consequence of emotional branding strategies, challenging the authenticity of a brand’s emotional narrative. This phenomenon can turn a brand’s most loyal customers, who were once its ‘best friends,’ into its ‘worst enemies’ when the brand deviates from its initial promises and claims (Geisler, 2012). DBIs serve as early warning signs for brands, indicating potential upcoming failures in their emotional branding strategies. By recognizing these signs, brands can refine their approaches to avoid major backlash from consumers. This paper includes a detailed analysis of emotional branding strategies applied in an eight-year longitudinal investigation of Botox Cosmetic (Geisler, 2012). This case study will illustrate how DBIs are formed, how they function, and how the brand successfully overcame them using effective strategic tools.

Overcoming DBIs results in the process of market creation (Geisler, 2012), where brands must legitimize their authenticity to consumers. This review paper adopts a consumer-centric approach to understanding DBIs, their formation, and their consequences. It is based on the article Impact of Doppelgänger Brand Image on Consumer Behavior by Shivangi Mishra, Shivika Marwah, Manu Sreelatha Subby, and Neha Prusti, published in the International Journal of Management and Humanities (IJMH) in November 2020. The purpose of this review is to add to this article’s understanding of DBIs by not only looking at them from a consumer-centric approach, but also from the view-point of other stakeholders, like managers and business owners.

Keywords

Doppelgänger Brand Images, Marketing Strategies, Authenticity, Emotional Branding, Market Creation, Stakeholders, Consumer Behavior, Consumer-Centric Approach

Track

Marketing

Session Number/Theme

Marketing - Session II

Session Chair

Dr. Hassaan Ahmed

Start Date/Time

14-6-2025 9:00 AM

End Date/Time

14-6-2025 10:40 AM

Location

MCC - 09 Ground Floor, AMAN CED Building

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Jun 14th, 9:00 AM Jun 14th, 10:40 AM

Emotional Branding & Consumer Insights: The Role of Doppelgänger Brand Images (DBI)

MCC - 09 Ground Floor, AMAN CED Building

This review paper aims to provide a detailed understanding of what are doppelgänger brand images (DBIs), their impact on brands across multiple industries, and how they influence consumer perceptions and purchasing behavior. DBIs emerge as a paradoxical consequence of emotional branding strategies, challenging the authenticity of a brand’s emotional narrative. This phenomenon can turn a brand’s most loyal customers, who were once its ‘best friends,’ into its ‘worst enemies’ when the brand deviates from its initial promises and claims (Geisler, 2012). DBIs serve as early warning signs for brands, indicating potential upcoming failures in their emotional branding strategies. By recognizing these signs, brands can refine their approaches to avoid major backlash from consumers. This paper includes a detailed analysis of emotional branding strategies applied in an eight-year longitudinal investigation of Botox Cosmetic (Geisler, 2012). This case study will illustrate how DBIs are formed, how they function, and how the brand successfully overcame them using effective strategic tools.

Overcoming DBIs results in the process of market creation (Geisler, 2012), where brands must legitimize their authenticity to consumers. This review paper adopts a consumer-centric approach to understanding DBIs, their formation, and their consequences. It is based on the article Impact of Doppelgänger Brand Image on Consumer Behavior by Shivangi Mishra, Shivika Marwah, Manu Sreelatha Subby, and Neha Prusti, published in the International Journal of Management and Humanities (IJMH) in November 2020. The purpose of this review is to add to this article’s understanding of DBIs by not only looking at them from a consumer-centric approach, but also from the view-point of other stakeholders, like managers and business owners.