Despite the importance of technology-based innovation and customer participation for both practitioners and academics, the impact of different customer participation types in new product innovation has rarely been addressed. Since consumers' positive assessment of new technologies leads to positive outcomes in the market, consumer evaluation of new technologies is important. Thus, examining the consumer perception of technology-based innovation including the different levels of customer participation is meaningful to new theoretical and practical insights.

Emojis have become an important element in human-chatbot interaction to communicate emotion. In addition to facilitating emotional communication, emojis are able to engage consumers, enhance relationship strength and influence consumer behavioural intention. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the use of emojis affects customer-chatbot rapport and purchase intention in the consumption context.

This study examined the MZ Generation Consumers’ perception and needs of HMR (Home Meal Replacement) using local food. The paper provides basic data for deriving a plan to promote local food consumption and reports the implications for various development and distribution strategies regarding HMR using local food. In this study, a quantitative survey was conducted targeting 600 consumers to examine the general consumption status of HMR using local food by MZ consumers. In addition, a qualitative survey was conducted targeting 21 people to derive the specific perceptions and unmet needs of MZ consumers. These results showed that MZ consumers require healthy and fresh HMR but have low awareness of HMR using local food. Therefore, it is necessary to deliver sufficient information and promote it. In particular, MZ consumers have high expectations for ‘healthy and safe’ food when purchasing HMR using local food, which plays an important role in purchasing decisions. They also valued ‘convenience’, which means ‘simple cooking’, ‘subdivision packaging’, and ‘accessibility of purchasing channels’, as important when purchasing HMR using local food. Lastly, MZ consumers positively evaluated the values of ‘healthy eating’ and ‘revitalization of the local economy’ through local food.

There is a growing global interest in food choices that could affect health. Consumer food choices are dictated by numerous factors such as attitudes, beliefs, desires and preferences stemming from psychological and physiological attributes. The present study aimed to understand consumers’ internal perceptions about cream soup, cream sauce, and tomato sauce using ZMET (Zaltman’s Metaphor Elicitation Technique). The 9 step ZMET interview process was conducted for a sample of 36 consumers (12 consumers for each sauce). A content analysis of the survey results was carried out. From this, 56 concepts of cream soup were derived, and 15 constructs that met with the agreement of more than one-third of the total sample consumers were extracted. These 15 constructs included ‘Soft’, ‘Recollection’, ‘Familiar’, ‘Warm’, ‘Comfortable’, etc. Similarly, for cream sauce, 67 concepts and 20 constructs ‘Silky’, ‘Warm’, ‘Restaurant’, ‘Family’, ‘Memory’, etc. were deduced. A total of 66 concepts and 20 constructs for tomato sauce ‘Sourness’, ‘Sauce Bottle’, ‘Pleasant’, ‘Ingredient’, ‘Cooking’, etc. were derived. The analysis of consumers’ consensus maps through this study provides a deep and useful understanding of consumers and their latent needs. Also, the results of this study indicate that exploring consumers’ internal perceptions is critical to understanding their healthy food choices. This can be used as basic data for formulating marketing strategies.

This study evaluated the perception, consumption behavior, and optional attributes of Korean, Chinese, and U.S. consumers of energy bar products. Data were compared and analyzed by surveying 300 consumers in each country. Significant differences were observed in preference for energy bars according to their nationality, in the order China, the U.S., and Korea. Perception of taste, types and dietary suitability of the products ranked lower for Korean consumers, as compared to consumers of the United States and China. The order dietary fiber, protein, and calcium were the sought-after nutritional requirements of the products. The demand for protein was significantly higher in the U.S. Calcium demand was low in the United States and China, but was very high in Korea, which could be attributed to the low calcium intake of Koreans. Other optional attributes which were closely associated with the purchase and re-purchase decision, included price, taste and delivery period. All three factors were recognized as important options in Korea, whereas awareness of packaging/ appearance and brand was not. The taste, nutrients and price in the U.S. ranked high as important optional attributes, while the packaging, external and expiration dates were recognized as low. Unlike Korea and the U.S., important optional attributes for Chinese consumers were determined in the order expiration date, taste, and nutrients, and showed low perception for packaging, appearance, weight, counts, and prices. Evaluating the preference for the main and secondary ingredients, Koreans preferred nuts over grains, Americans preferred dried fruits over nuts, and Chinese preferred nuts and grains; both Korean and American consumers had low preference for dried vegetables. The preference for chocolate was low in Korea and China, whereas preference for jelly was high in China as compared to Korea and the U.S. The intention of purchasing energy bars was significantly lower in Korea than in the U.S. and China. A variety of nutritious functional bars have recently been distributed and sold in Korea, but they are mostly produced in the U.S., which is the largest producer and consumer worldwide. Taken together, results of this study indicate that the demand for nutritional enhancement and preferred materials vary according to the nationality. Hence, it is necessary to develop products that reflect these criteria. Further research is required to analyze the relationship between preference and consumption behavior for each material product developed in the future.

한국의 탐사보도 수용자를 설문조사해서 탐사보도 역할 인식, 이용량, 인구사회학적 요인이 비윤리적, 위법적인 탐사보도 취재방법 허용정도에 미치는 영향과 취재의 자유에 대한 인식을 분석하였다. 수용자들은 탐사보도가 사회감시와 정보제공 역할을 한다고 생각하면서도 비윤리적이고 위법적인 취재방법에 대해서는 부정적이어서 언론의 자유는 절대적 자유가 아니라고 인식하였다. 수용자들은 취재방법과 취재목적에 따라 취재의 자유에 차이가 있다고 생각하는 것으로 분석되었다. 취재방법이 개인 프라이버시를 침해할수록 제한적으로 생각하고, 취재목적의 공익성이 높으면 넓게 생각하였다. 수용자들이 사회감시역할을 중시하면 비윤리적이고 위법적 취재방법이라도 수용하였고, 정보제공역할을 중시하면 부정적으로 생각하였다. 탐사보도 이용량은 많은 취재방법에 정적인 영향을 주어서 탐사보도 이용만족도가 높았다. 남성보다는 여성이, 연령과 학력은 낮을수록, 수입은 많을수록 취재방법을 더 허용하였다. 환경과 건강 분야 보도 이용량이 많을수록 취재방법을 더 허용하고, 교육, 정부, 범죄 분야 보도를 많이 이용할수록 부정적이었다. 한국 수용자들은 언론의 환경과 건강 분야 감시를 중시하였다.

As the concept of “marriage age” gradually disappears, the consumption class of the wedding market includes not only X and Y generations but also Z generations, and each generation has its own characteristics as it is already known, and there are differences in the consumption. So this research analyzed age-related behavior differences in both awareness of and preparation for marriage. Three hundred sixteen unmarried Korean males and females comprised the study population and data was collected from March 5, 2019, to April 3, 2019. The SPSS Statistics 23.0 Package was used for analysis, specifically the functions of frequency, cross tabulation, factor analysis, chi-squared test, Cronbach’s alpha, Duncans’s new multiple range test (MRT), and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Marriage motivation was analyzed by three factors, and there were significant differences in two types. Marital involvement was analyzed by two factors, and both factors showed significant age-related differences. Concerns relating to marriage preparation were analyzed by four factors, and two varied according to respondent age. Regarding marriage preparation behaviors, the analysis revealed that the marriage preparation method appreciably differed between age groups. Our analysis also found significant age-related differences in “the main media usually used to acquire information” and “the paths preferred for acquiring information in preparing for marriage”. We expect that study results will be useful for identifying new research directions, understanding the dimensions of the wedding industry, and developing related marketing strategies.

When social media users post their opinion on social media, they might expect to receive a favorable evaluation from others (e.g., ‘like’ on Facebook and ‘heart’ on Instagram). On the contrary, when users read and evaluate other’s posts, they are less likely to care about others. What’s more, if users spend more time on social media, posting would make them more care about others. This research answers the question ‘Does social media interaction alter the way we perceive value and affect different choice? Three studies show 1) how social media interaction affects consumers’ luxury value perception and the mediating role of social media self-view (interdependent vs. independent self), 2) how main effect and mediated relationship are different between two groups divided by participants’ time spent on social media (high vs. low: ±1 SD) and 3) how the type of social media interaction (post vs. “like”) affects handbag choice between social and functional luxury-superior option.

본 연구는 학부모를 대상으로 식품첨가물 및 보존료에 대한 인식 수준과 정보요구도를 파악하고 이를 바탕으로 학부모의 식품첨가물 및 보존료에 대한 올바른 이해와 안전한 식생활을 위한 교육자료를 개발하고자 하였다. 2014년 서울 경기지역 초등학생을 둔 학부모 381명을 대상으로 식품첨가물 및 보존료에 대한 인식 및 정보요구도에 대한 설문조사를 수행한 결과 응답자 중 가공식품 구입시 안전성을 가장 중요한 요소라고 응답하였으며, 41.5%가 식품 첨가물을 가장 식품안전을 위협하는 것이라고 응답하였으며, 식품 첨가물 중에서는 보존료가 가장 위험하다고 응답하였다. 그러나 응답자의 90.6%가 식품첨가물 및 보존료에 대한 교육 경험이 없다고 응답하였다. 설문결과와 학부모들의 정보요구도에 따라 교육홍보책자인 ‘보존료 바르게 알기’를 개발하였다. ‘보존료 바르게 알기’는 ‘보존료란 어떤 물질인가요?’, ‘보존료는 어떤 종류가 있나요?’, ‘보존료는 안전한가요?’, ‘가공식품, 어떻게 섭취해야 하나요?’, ‘식품첨가물은 식약처가 철저히 관리하고 있어요’ 등의 5장으로 구성하여 소비자인 학부모들이 알고싶어하는 내용들을 알기 쉽고 재미있게 전달할 수 있도록 구성하였다. 개발된 교육홍보책자를 초등학교 학부모에게 시범 적용한 결과, 사전 18.9%만이 보존료가 무엇인지 알고 있다고 응답한 수준에서 사후 90.9%가 그 역할을 이해하고 72.7%가 안전하다고 응답하여 개발된 책자가 보존료에 대한 이해도를 크게 높이고 보존료에 대한 오해를 바로잡을 수 있는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 따라서 본 연구에서 개발된 교육홍보책자는 학부모를 비롯한 일반소비자들에게 보존료에 대한 이해를 높일 수 있는 효과적인 정보전달매체로 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

This study analyzed consumers’ recognition and demand for probiotic products and dietary and living habits according to their probiotics ingestion experience to provide information on the development of probiotic products and marketing strategies in the health functional food-related industry. A total of 280 consumers living in Seoul, Incheon and Kyeonggi-do area were enrolled in this study. The consumers expected mostly intestinal health (80.4%) after ingesting probiotics. The appropriate price level for purchasing probiotics was between 20,000-50,000 won (58.2%), preferring a price range of 50,000 won or less (77.1%). There was a significant difference in the dietary habits depending on the experience of probiotics ingestion, but there was no difference in the living habit. Consumers took Vitamin C, red Ginseng and Ginseng the most instead of probiotics as health functional foods. Based on the results, a marketing strategy could be established to meet the consumer’s needs, such as focusing on the effects of probiotics, building up various price policies and the development of new products mixing with other commonly consumed health supplements.

This study examined the consumers’ perception of edible insect foods and carried out importance-satisfaction research on the choice attributes of edible insect foods. Through this, the potential of food materials as future food resources was evaluated and foundational data was provided to devise marketing strategies required to develop products made from edible insect foods. According to the results, females had more information on edible insect foods than males (p<0.05), and males gained higher points in trying new foods (p<0.001), overall satisfaction (p<0.001), and purchase intention (p<0.01) than females. Both importance (p<0.05) and satisfaction (p<0.001) about the mean of the choice attributes of edible insects were higher in males than females. The sustenance area showed high importance and high satisfaction, including taste, smell, freshness, sanitation, safety, and shelf-life. Accordingly, to understand edible insect foods properly, it is important to deliver information constantly and publicize them aggressively. In addition, it is necessary to develop various kinds of food made from edible insect foods and functional foods utilizing their nutritive value.

본 연구는 시판 김치에 대한 소비자 인식을 통해 재료의 비율을 최적화하여 최적의 김치양념장을 개발하기 위한 연구이다. 189명의 20대이상 여성을 대상으로 조사를 실시하여 김치양념 재료 중 액젓, 젓갈, 물의 비율을 반응최적화 도구을 통해 최적 김치양념장 레시피를 선정하였다. 조사 대상 중 30대가 41.3%로 가장 많았고, 직업은 주부, 기타 직업, 학생순으로 조사되었다. 시판되는 김치를 구매하고 싶은 이유로 가정에서 김치를 만들기 번거로운 면과 경제 적인 면을 많이 꼽았으며, 나이가 어릴수록 김치를 만드는 방법을 모르기 때문이라는 답변이 많았다. 또한 가족 구성원 수가 적을수록 김치를 적게 먹어서 시판김치를 구매하는 경향이 있었다. 시판김치를 구매하지 않고 싶은 이유로 재료에 대한 믿음과 비싼 가격에 대한 이유가 높게 나타났고, 수입이 많을수록 인공조미료 사용 때문에 시판김치를 구매하지 않는다는 의견이 많았다. 김치에 대한 선호 맛은 감칠맛, 매운맛, 젓갈맛, 짠맛, 단맛 순이었으며, 나이가 어릴수록 짠맛을 선호하고, 41세 이상은 젓갈맛을 선호하는 것으로 조사되었다. 사전 조사 및 설문조사를 통해 김치 양념장제조시 조정 해야 할 재료를 멸치액젓, 물, 새우젓으로 선정하여 배합 비율을 조정하여 기호도에 대한 최적화를 잡은 결과 ‘–11.00A + 4.30B + 1.70C + 31.37AB + 33.56AC – 7.35BC’ (A: 멸치 액젓, B: 물, C: 새우젓)의 회귀식을 나타냈고, 멸치 액젓, 물, 새우젓의 최적 비율은 27.12 : 62.88 : 10.00 (w/w)이었다. 이 같은 연구 결과는 김치 양념 의 최적화를 통해 보다 좋은 맛과 품질의 김치를 개발할 데이터로 활용 가능하며, 고객 맞춤형 김치 양념장 개발에도 사용가능 할 것으로 보인다.

Although the majority of prior literature has suggested the key reasons for consumer complaining in service failures are to vent negative emotions (e.g. anger, dissatisfaction) and to seek redress (Blodgett, Hill, & Tax 1997; Nyer 1997), some research has also pointed out that customers will give constructive suggestions to firms through complaining (Groth, 2005; Liu & Mattila, 2015). In this regard, consumer complaining can be classified into two types, namely, positive complaint (i.e., with constructive suggestion) and negative complaint (i.e., without constructive suggestion). Understanding what situations would dissatisfied consumers choose to give constructive suggestions in service failures would be of utmost important to firms. We suggest that a firm’s brand image may affect consumers’ intention to choose what types of complaint in service failures. In general, consumers may perceive a brand as having a competence image (e.g., professional and efficient) or having a warmth image (e.g., friendly and approachable) (Kervyn, Fiske and Malone, 2012). Comparatively speaking, a warmth image is associated with friendship and caring, whereas a competence image is associated with expertise. Therefore, it is possible that consumers would have a higher empathy and intention to help a firm with a warmth (vs. competent) image, and be more likely to choose positive complaint when a failure happens to this firm. An experimental study confirmed this prediction. In addition, we found that although a firm’s competence (vs. warmth) image does not affect the likelihood to give constructive suggestions in service failures, it leads to a higher level of return intention. Implications and future research directions will be discussed.

Western social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, etc are banned in China. In their places, Weibo, WeChat, Youku and more are the main social media channels in China and thus the main battlefields of social marketing for brands entering China Market. WeChat is the largest social network in China, with over 900 million users daily, for nearly all types of services, including booking flights, restaurant table reservation, shopping, paying bills, etc. To cater the needs of the new generation of Chinese digital natives, a mobile app eM++ was developed that creates new customer services and enables tailored fashion marketing. This new mobile app eM++ works well in China, will this be also well received in other countries? This research investigates consumers’ perception of this new fashion e-tailoring e-shopping concept in UK. Will this type of e-tailored services be welcome in UK? Will consumers welcome this type of e-shopping service in UK? Or they prefer the traditional way of tailoring and shopping? Which social media platforms should be used for promotion? The sample population of this research covers both male and females from China and UK aged 18 years old or above with experience of searching and/or buying clothing items online. Convenient sampling and snow-balling sampling methods are used. In UK, recruitment of volunteers for this project will be via emails to colleagues and previous students, as well as via posters of recruiting volunteers for this project posted on campus. Details of the project and experiment will be included in both emails and posters. Volunteered participants are asked to answer a pre-experiment online questionnaire. Based on their answers, suitable participants will be invited to participate the experimental part (which is trying a fashion app and then answer the post-experiment questionnaire). Participants successfully completed the experiment and post-experiment questionnaire will be given their own body measurements with a 3D model in user’s customised shape, as well as a discount coupon for future use when the app is officially launched. This research will have mainly quantitative data analysis, SPSS will be used to analyse the data. There will have a few open-ended questions that qualitative data analysis method will be employed. This research will explore the feasibility of this service in UK and formulate a cross-cultural comparison between China and UK.

Introduction Luxury industry, in addition to feelings, started to provide reasons for consumers to justify their consumption. Also, it helps them to avoid social risks by offering inconspicuous luxury products. For example, ‘Mandarin Oriental Barcelona’ suggests luxury holiday package for people running Barcelona marathon, London cocktail bar ‘Bart’ serves cocktails designed to 'facilitate focus and encourage relaxation', ‘Tiffany’ has dropped the spelled-out brand name from its fashion jewelry line in favor of simple “T”. (Trend watching 2017) Then, what changed consumers' interest? Interestingly, the current expectations of luxury consumers have a lot in common with the features of interdependent self-construal. The "we" effect of social media can explain this trend. Literature review and Conceptual framework Social Media usage and Interdependent Self-Construal Although earlier research in cultural psychology conceptualized self-construal as culturally determined (Markus and Kitayama 1991), more recent research suggests that independent and interdependent self-construal can also be made temporarily accessible. The most frequently adopted priming procedure to induce self-construal is the procedure by stories about we or I. (Gardner, Gabriel, and Lee 1999; Mandel 2003; Krishna, Zhou, and Zhang 2008; Hong and Chang 2015). We suggest that Social media usage can induce interdependent self-construal because social media users read stories and watch videos of others. Prior findings indicated that participants in interdependent self-construal condition have an equivalent number of thoughts about themselves and others. (Lee, Aaker, and Gardner 2000). Social Media, Interdependent Self-construal, and Consumers’ Luxury Value Perception Consumers’ perceptions of luxury value appear to be determined mainly by Functional, Individual, and Social aspects (Wiedmann, Hennigs, and Siebels 2009). Recent luxury marketing researchers compare conspicuous consumption and inconspicuous consumption, two types of social aspect consumption (Han, Nunes, and Dreze 2010; Eckhardt, Belk, and Wilson 2015). They are interested in Functional luxury value, added to Individual luxury value because small utilitarian additions to a hedonic luxury are often valued more than their stand-alone value (Keinan, Kivetz, & Netzer 2016). These two trends seem to have nothing in common. But when the concept of self-construal is adopted, they have something in common. Namely, interdependent selves, which focuses on others, are the one who cares about both inconspicuousness and utilitarian aspects. We suggest that because of the features of interdependent self-construal, consumers more using social media tend to have a different priority regarding luxury value perception than consumers less exposed to social media. We explore the mediating role of relational interdependent self-construal in this model (Triandis 1989; Cross, Bacon, and Morris 2000). Also, luxury brand company’s social media marketing efforts (Kim and Ko 2012; Godey et al. 2016) have different features. We expected that each social media marketing activity has a different impact on luxury value perception. Interdependent Self-Construal, Reason, Functional luxury value We propose that because of interdependence priming effect of social media, participants who are exposed to social media (social media priming group) tend to rely on both reason and feeling, which in turn set an equivalent value on Functional luxury value (cognitively superior) and Individual luxury value (affectively superior) (Hong and Chang 2015). Interdependent Self-Construal, Social Risk, Inconspicuousness The authors propose that because of interdependence priming effect of social media, participants who are exposed to social media (social media priming group) tend to avoid social risk than participants who are not exposed to social media (no priming group). Study 1: The effect of social media on the balance between self and others. A total of 709 respondents (389 females) participated in this study via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) They were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (with social media manipulation vs. No manipulation) The impact of ‘one-time social media use’ Following the previous study (Hong and Chung 2015), we conducted a 2 (social media manipulation: No vs. Yes) x 2 (thought type: self vs other) mixed ANOVA with social media manipulation as a between-subject factor and thought type as a repeated measure. The main effect of thought type is significant (F(1,707) =293.54, p<.000). However, the interaction between social media manipulation and thought type was not significant. (F (1,707) = 0.128, p<.721). So, the result shows that one-time social media use doesn’t manipulate interdependent self-construal. The impacts of ‘chronic social media use’. To check whether chronic social media use can manipulate interdependent self-construal, we conducted a 2 (time spent on social media: Low vs. High) x 2 (thought type: self vs. other) mixed ANOVA. The main effect of thought type is significant (F(1,707) =293.81, p<.000). The interaction between time spent on social media and thought type was significant. (F (1,703) = 6.65, p<.000). Also, we conducted a 2 (communication on social media: Low vs. High) x 2 (thought type: self vs. other) mixed ANOVA. The main effect of thought type is significant (F(1,707) =300.76, p<.000). The interaction between communication and thought type was significant. (F (1,704) = 5.764, p<.000). So, the result shows that chronic social media use manipulates interdependent self-construal. Also, we computed three types of groups, the others-dominant, the balanced, and the self-dominant by modifying past research (Kitayama et al. 2009; Wu, Cutright, and Fitzsimos 2011, Hong and Chang2015). A chi-square test revealed that participants who spent more time and had more communication on social media had more balanced thought type (32.6%, 31.0%) than participants who spent less time and had less communication on social media (24.8%, 24.0%) Study 2: The effect of using social media on luxury value perceptions (SEM) A total of 255 respondents (85 females) participated in this study through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The participants were between 18 and 65 years old and lived in the U.S., and the modal age group was 25-34 (43.9 %), followed by 35-44 (25.5%). We conducted exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using maximum likelihood estimation with Promax rotation. The goodness of fit statistics is: 𝒙𝟐=707.14, df =377, P<0.0005, 𝒙𝟐/df =1.876, CFI=0.95, and RMSEA =0.059. The final CFA model fits well with the data (Hu and Bentler, 1999; Hair et al., 2010). After confirming the measurement model, SEM with maximum likelihood extraction was estimated to test Hypothesis. The goodness of fit criteria of the model meets the proposed thresholds in previous studies: 𝒙𝟐=677.97, df =374, P<0.0005, 𝒙𝟐/df =1.813, CFI=0.95, and RMSEA =0.057 (Hu and Bentler, 1999; Hair et al., 2010). The SEM model showed each social media activity has a different effect on each luxury value. Interaction positively impacts the functional luxury value (β=0.38, p<.000) but negatively impacts the individual (β= - 0.27, p<.000) and social luxury value (β= - 0.34, p<.000). Entertainment/WOM has a positive effect on individual luxury value (β=0.39, p<.000) and on social luxury value (β=0.32, p<.000). Customization positively impacts the social luxury value (β=0.26, p<.000). We could also find Entertainment/WOM and Customization did not influence the functional luxury value. Only Entertainment/WOM positively impacts relational interdependent self-construal (β=0.32, p<.000) Relational interdependent self-construal positively impacts on individual value (β=0.24, p<.000) and social value (β=0.27, p<.000). We conducted a mediation analysis. Among social media activities, only Entertainment/WOM had a significant positive effect on Relational Interdependent Self-Construal. Study 3: the effect of social media on self-construal and choice between functional value and individual value superior options 454 Responses (304 females) collected via Mturk to stimulate the environment of social media. Respondents are primed on interdependence by social media usage while control group respondents are not primed. The authors checked the validity of the self-construal manipulation effect of social media. Respondents were given a choice task, designed by adopting previous method (Hong and Chang 2015). They were told to imagine that they were going to buy a hand bag. Handbag X is superior on functional (cognitive) dimensions whereas handbag Y is superior on all individual (affective) dimensions. Participants are asked to indicate their choice between two Handbags Choice. A chi-square test revealed that the effect of social media manipulation is not significant on the handbag choice (𝑥2(l) 0.371, p<.309). However, the effect of interdependent self-construal on the participant's’ handbag choice was significant (𝑥2(l) 5.85, p<0.01). As predicted, participants with a higher Interdependent self-construal primed by social media have a smaller preference gap between Functional luxury value and Individual luxury value (F:73.2%-I:26.8%=46.4%), than participants with lower Interdependent self-construal participants (F:82.7%-I:17.3%=65.4%) Study3 supports the results of previous two studies. As individuals communicate more and spend more time on social media, they are more likely to prefer equally for Functional luxury value and Individual luxury. Study 4: the effect of social media on self-construal and choice between conspicuous and inconspicuous options. After the self-construal manipulation with social media, respondents were given a choice task. The choice was designed by adopting previous method (Han, Nunes, and Dreze 2010). Respondents were told to imagine that they were going to buy a handbag. One option has an inconspicuous design whereas the other option is conspicuous design. Participants are asked to indicate their choice between two handbags. Social media manipulation and Handbags Choice. All three chi-square tests revealed a significant or marginal effect of social media manipulation on participants handbag choice with the same pattern. ( 𝑥2(1) = 6.328, p > .032; 𝑥2(1) = 3.086, p > .079; 𝑥2(1) = 1.933, p > .098) As predicted, participants in social media manipulation group prefer the inconspicuous option to the conspicuous option (59.3%>40.7%; 58.9%>41.1%; 60.4%>39.6%) than participants in control group (47.3%, 52.7%; 50.5%, 49.5%, 53.8%, 46.2%). Interdependent-self construal and Handbags Choice. All three chi-square tests revealed a significant effect of interdependent self-construal on participants handbag choice with the same pattern. ( 𝑥2(1) = 4.2, p > .047; 𝑥2(1) = 4.79, p > .029; 𝑥2(1) = 6.11, p > .013) As predicted, participants with higher Interdependent self-construal primed by social media have a equivalent preference about the inconspicuous option and conspicuous option (50%, 50%; 50.8%, 49.2%; 52.4%, 47.6%) than participants with lower Interdependent self-construal(59.6%, 40.4%; 61.1%, 38.9%, 63.9%, 36.1%). Study4 shows that one-time social media exposure can reduce conspicuous consumption. However, as individuals communicate more and spend more time on social media, they become more likely to prefer equally for conspicuous option and inconspicuous option. Contribution In luxury brand marketing, this study sheds light on the balance between two motivations, luxury for self and luxury for others (Kapferer, Jean-Noël, and Vincent 2009) using the concept of self-construal. This research also contributes to the literature on consumers’ luxury value perception (Hennigs et al. 2012; Wiedmann et al. 2009). In general marketing subjects, it adds to the increasing literature on consumer risk and choices between affective and cognitive options. For the luxury brand industry, this study can give marketers a practical idea about choosing social media marketing activities and designing new products. For example, if luxury brand companies promote customers posting opinions on websites, they should know that their activities might advertently affect their sales because interaction negatively influences on individual and social luxury value.