Engagement has aroused tremendous interest in the marketing community, but studies examining engagement with luxury brands are absent. This study investigates whether luxury stores can use food to drive engagement with different customer segments. The results have important managerial implications and further our understanding of the behavioral drivers of (dis)engagement. The old marketing reality in which brands communicate with customers through one-way advertising messages is long gone (Campbell, Parent, Berthon, 2011). Now, it is not only brands that broadcast messages to customers, but customers can initiate or actively participate in conversations with brands. This customers’ participation in conversations with brands can have an effect on their and other customers’ purchase decisions. Therefore, brands are now focusing on using advertising to get customers engaged with them. Customer engagement has become a new way of describing brands’ relationships with customers. Scholars have offered many definitions of engagement. Some of them emphasize the psychological aspects of engagement (e.g., Calder Malthouse, and Schaedel, 2009; Mollen and Wilson, 2010), while others describe engagement in behavioral terms (e.g., Van Doorn et al., 2010; Verhoef et al., 2010). The most comprehensive definition of customer engagement was offered by Brodie et al. (2011: p. 790) who describe customer engagement as “a psychological state that occurs by virtue of interactive, co-creative customer experiences with a focal agent/object (e.g., a brand) in specific service relationships. It occurs under a specific set of context-dependent conditions generating differing customer engagement levels; and exists as a dynamic, iterative process within service relationships that co-creates value. Customer engagement plays a central role in a nomological network governing theoretical relationships in which other relational concepts (e.g., involvement, loyalty) are antecedents and/or consequences of iterative customer engagement processes. It is a multidimensional concept subject to a context- and/or stakeholder-specific expression of relevant cognitive, emotional and/or behavioral dimensions.” As both this definition and other definitions in the extant literature (e.g., Calder et al., 2009; O’Brien & Toms 2010).

3D printing is an additive software manufacturing technology for designing and creating real objects using a layering technique. Global brands including Coca Cola and Warner Bros have successfully offered the first 3D printing campaigns, but the market is still untapped for using 3D printing marketing in global advertising. Global brands potentially can undertake 3D printing technology campaigns that will offer innovative and strong experiences for enhancing brand values and competitiveness. Luxury brands are particularly recognized for their rarity, uniqueness, innovation, and classic traditions. Luxury brands can thus use 3D printing campaign experiences to expand the cultural imagination in coherence with luxury identifications. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of 3D printing campaign experience on attitude toward campaigns, perceived value of luxury brands, and purchase intentions. The authors offer implications for advertising practitioners by constructing a theoretical model regarding 3D printing campaigns and perceived values of luxury brands.

This research aims to look at the contradictory effects of corporate social responsibility as conducted by luxury brands. On the one hand, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is known to product positive effects on brands such as the transfer of goodwill and image but on the other hand because of the purported impact of disfluency, previous research has argued that the emphasis on self enhancement runs counter to the more social agenda of CSR. In this study we examine of power and how that can mediate when positive and negative impact of CSR when such campaigns are implemented by luxury brands.

The aim of this paper is to investigate, through a content analysis, the communication strategies used by luxury fashion brands on Twitter and the related Twitter eWOM, with the purpose to identify brand associations compared to luxury dimensions considered in literature (De Barnier et al. 2012; Godey et al. 2014). Within the luxury fashion environment, where every detail is meaningful and, consequently, every single word matters, this study attempts to provide a contribution into the field of luxury advertising, by comparing semantic fields of words chosen by digital fashion marketers and by popular fashion bloggers to the dimensions that define the luxury construct in luxury literature.

In the framework of luxury marketing, counterfeits have been constructed as a constant threat – an irritating presence and a hostile intruder (Bian & Mouthinho, 2008; Keller, 2009). However, there now exists a minor but growing body of literature that has found counterfeits as potentially non-threatening or even beneficial for luxury brands (e.g., Barnett, 2005; Romani, Gistri & Pace, 2012). Building on this emerging stream of evidence, the goal of this conceptual paper is to explore how counterfeits act as advertising for luxury brands and how luxury brands could benefit from this. To understand the communicative potential of counterfeits, we construct our argument around Veblen’s (1899/1994) foundational notion of how the conspicuous consumption of luxury revolves around the creation of new styles by/for the elite consumers and the efforts of the masses to emulate them. In doing so, we differentiate the effects based on whether they contribute to the emergence of new luxury goods targeted to elite consumers or the diffusion of luxury to the masses. The emergence of luxury stems from the desire of elite consumers to distinguish themselves from the masses through conspicuous consumption (Veblen, 1899/1994). Counterfeits contribute to this phenomenon by accelerating the snob effect (Leibenstein, 1950) as counterfeits destroy snob premium of goods and drives elite consumers to seek new ways to distinguish themselves (Barnett, 2005). Counterfeits also accelerate the fashion cycle that luxury companies depend on (see also Sproles, 1981). They do so by induced obsolescence that destroys the status value of product designs when they are copied and by anchoring trends to design features that accelerate their diffusion and subsequent replacement (Raustiala & Sprigman, 2006; 2009). Another key component of conspicuous consumption relates to the diffusion of luxury to the greater public (Veblen, 1899/1994). Therein counterfeits can generate aspiration effect when non-elite consumers imitate elite consumers by consuming counterfeits and in so doing generate brand awareness and exposure among other non-elite consumers (Barnett, 2005; Shultz & Saporito, 1996) at early stages of diffusion. During latter stages of diffusion counterfeits can generate bandwagon effect (Leibenstein, 1950) as they confer the desirability of certain luxury goods and brands over others (Barnett, 2005;Bekir, El Harbi & Grolleau, 2008). Finally, counterfeits can generate herding effect as they signal which to consumers which goods are desirable and appreciated or ‘trendy’ at a certain point in time (De Castro, Balkin & Shepherd 2008).

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate how a luxury brand may be affected by the variables associated to a new market entry as the Chinese and how those new market variables are integrated in the process of rebranding in the new geographical context. In doing so, the paper will review the existing literature in the field and following three derived propositions through a qualitative approach, it will analyse the successful brand strategy of three Italian luxury brands. The luxury brands considered in our investigation are three international ones with a specific consolidated brand heritage and with a multisectorial positioning. The methodological approach chosen in the analysis is the case-study method (Yin, 1984) with the specific purpose of focusing on a particular phenomenon instead of generalising (Schramm, 1971). Following the case-study methodology, this paper will explore and analyse the specific luxury brand building and rebranding process adopted by three Italian luxury brands to enter the new market and specifically through the digitalisation of the brand. The abstract will report a summary of one case as a reference sample. The empirical research will evidence the positive impact of digitalisation for successful luxury branding and rebranding in entry market strategy and justify its adoption in the exclusive luxury sector by the socio-cultural context-related factors of the new market. It will provide specific orientations and recommendations as well as best practices for luxury corporations on the specificities of branding and digitalisation of luxury in China. The research will show a successful model path for luxury branding when entering the Chinese market and the key impact of the “luxury digitalisation” strategy - usually associated to high accessibility - with respect to a traditional “luxury retailing” strategy - associated to the exclusivity of the luxury sector. Introduction The increasing interest in luxury brands in the fast growing economies of Asia, with particular attention towards China, has supported the growth of the luxury market in the last years. China, the global second largest economy, with the global largest consumer market, has reached a role of an undisguisable strategic leader in the luxury market. Far from theexponential double digit growth rates characterizing China’s growth in the past decades - as high as 14.2% in 2007 – at the moment it is entering a different phase of growth. A recent trend is tending to see China as the source of a multiplicity of diversified aspects impacting the global luxury market scenario – despite the fact that luxury industry market situation is not simply China related. The ongoing Chinese growth in the last decade has been associated with a decrease in European and US markets. In addition to this, further issues have negatively affected the market grow more related to Chinese market specificity. Chinese exponential luxury market growth has negatively influenced the exclusivity aura associated to luxury goods and consequently disrupting non-Chinese luxury customers and Chinese top spenders luxury brands orientation. In relation to the economic crisis in consolidated markets, international luxury brands have focused their interest towards fast growing economies. As a result, global brands have focused their attention on attracting fast growing economies with a specific growth in affluent consumers interested in foreign brands and in an augmentation in global consumption (Le Monkhouse et al., 2012). As a consequence, China has attracted much attention by significantly contributing to balance the sales decline in consolidated economies that in 2013 accounted for 28% of the €212 billion global luxury consumption (Schiliro, 2013). In the new luxury oriented Chinese context, local shoppers have started to become brand aware of what they were in the past and with a specific focus on luxury fashion brands (Bruce & Kratz, 2007). However, it would be too limited to simply consider that the volumes of the market and focus on luxury brands is resulting only from consumer intentions to purchase luxury brands. A multiplicity of factors and in particular context related factors affecting shoppers luxury brand perception and luxury goods purchasing experience must be considered and as a consequence those context related factors that may affect the branding process itself. China's culture is different from Western cultures (Henriksen, 2009), and thus, Chinese luxury consumption may not follow the trends of the Western world. The Chinese perceive luxury brand value in terms of China's unique cultural background and as a consequence of the Chinese economic development, the Chinese luxury lifestyle is gradually evolving and beginning to show its own distinct characteristics. Although prior research related to luxury examines different cultures and markets such as the US, Indian, European, the Chinese luxury context and its impact on luxury brand when entering this market have not been examined sufficiently. Literature review Luxury Brands, Rebranding and the Chinese Context Literature teaches us that “luxury” is used to denote the main category of highly prestigious brands (Vigneron & Johnson, 2004). In the same way, luxury brands are related to wealth, exclusivity and power and are related to the fulfilment of nonessential desires (Brun et al., 2008 and Dubois and Gilles, 1994). “Luxury brands” comprises highly quality, expensive and nonessential goods and services that are symbols of rarity, exclusivity, prestige, and authenticity in for their consumers and they can provide highlevels of symbolic and emotional value (Tynan, McKechnie, & Chhuon, 2009). Vigneron and Johnson (2004) and later Wiedman et al. (2007) defined the concept of luxury as the physical and psychological values provided by prestige of luxury brands and consequently highlighting the symbolic and conceptual dimension associated to luxury. However, it was evidenced how the dimension is strongly associated to the cultural values and to the social environment by considering luxury goods representatives of individual and social identity (Vickers & Renand, 2003). These elements of exclusivity, prestige, rarity as well as individual and social identity are the key values distinguishing luxury from nonluxury brands (Tynan et al., 2009). In the same perspective, Kapferer (1997, p. 334) highlighted the importance of those luxury brand values in evidencing that brand memory and brand values should not be abandoned when the brand is revised suggesting that rebranding is an incremental process in contrast to a radical change. The Digitalisation of Luxury Brands and the Chinese Market In the western countries, the elder people mainly compose luxury customers, while luxury consumers become younger (about under 40 years old) in China. The increasing number of middle-level class has been the main force of online luxury consuming. The consumption concept of younger customers are huge different from that of traditional customers. Solomon (2009) expressed that customers’ behavior is a dynamic concept because they are influenced by the outer factors and inner elements (Solomon, 2009). A survey from McKinsey & Company indicates that there are almost 90% of Chinese Internet users living in tier1, tier2 and tier 3 cities have enrolled in a social-media site and Chinese people can be regarded as the world’s most active social-media population, around 91% of respondents telling they visited a social-media site in the previous six months, followed by 70% in South Korea, 67% in the United States and 30% in Japan (Chiu, Lin, & Silverman, 2012). The Chinese social and cultural context is increasingly becoming “digitally savvy” and Chinese citizens are more likely to gain information from Internet when they would make shopping decisions. First Proposition Indirect orientation for the first proposition comes from Vickers and Renard (2003) conceptual development that evidences that the conceptual dimension of luxury is strongly influenced by cultural elements and by the social context. Consequently it derives that the digitalisation of luxury as a part of the social and cultural variables of contemporary Chinese consumers’ market will be conceptualised in the rebranding process for luxury brands when entering the Chinese market. Second Proposition Specific support for our second proposition comes from Kapferer (1997) theory highlighting that successful luxury rebranding has to keep least certain core brand elements to have a proper transition from the existing luxury brand to the revised luxury brand in the new Chinese market. The digitalisation process for rebranding will evidence the core elements kept as a part of the brand heritage and identity.In the re-branding process new market segments may be touched or even new markets (Kapferer, 1997). Successful luxury rebranding may require meeting the needs of new market segments. As a consequence, in our third proposition it is assumed that new attributes to the brand may be required to satisfy the new market and in particular the Chinese digitally savvy” segment. These principles of rebranding applied to our Chinese luxury context refers to the existing literature relating to re-create the brand vision to entry the new Chinese market. Research questions and methodology This research aims to analyse the impact of cultural and social variables of a new market, the Chinese one, in the redefinition of a luxury brand and in particular: - the evolution towards a new digital orientation as a response to the needs of the new customer segments - the specific socio-cultural characteristics of the new Chinese market customer segments In order to provide specific responses from the field, the empirical research methodology is based on the case analysis method (Yin, 1984). The luxury brands cases considered in the research have been kept anonymous in order to keep the confidentiality of the data collected and consequently referred as A, B and C. It has been based on interviews carried out in China and in Europe with the management of the luxury brand, with a sample of its customer segments and also on the published data of the corporation. The Case of an Italian Luxury Brand in China The A case: Rebranding through Digitalisation for Successful Entry in the Chinese Market Out of the three cases, A is an Italian global luxury brand with an established brand image and heritage internationally. Its positioning as authentic luxury brand worldwide specifically focus its image on exclusivity, originality and innovative design. China, which was entered lately with respect to the other geographical markets in their global strategy, has now become clearly the main focus. Its entry strategy has been oriented towards a progressive reinforcement of relations between brand and market, in particular in relation to the digitalisation of the market and its consumption mode. The brand started opening the main flagship store in the Mainland China capital Beijing and following with the fashion centre Shanghai at the beginning of 2006. After a few years of gradual expansion and monitoring of the market evolution, the brand can nowadays count on a consolidated flagship store network adding value to the brand awareness. Counting on the younger Chinese luxury market segments, the brand had a remarkable immediate growth in the market as a result of its brand core values and image as well as of its own digitalisation of the brand development strategy. The growth and consolidated positioning allowed the brand to start a brand expansion strategy by introducing the cosmetics line in department stores after clothing and apparel and perfumes. Conclusion A luxury brand focused on a specific rebranding as entry strategy for the Chinese market through the integration between the socio-cultural variables associated to the local context and the core components of the brand. A transferred the brand to the Chinesemarket by maintaining its own young style and image, specifically suitable for the young Chinese luxury market. In the initial phase of the Chinese market entry, A focused on reinforcing the brand image and awareness in the local socio-cultural context by developing their retail and distribution in particular by having key premium locations, fundamental to communicate the brand identity and core values. However, the retailing network was not perceived as sufficient to create “a social buzz” in the Chinese young socio-cultural context that is specifically influenced by digital media in this geographical environment. The analysis of the brand and its entry strategy in China have clearly shown that they entry and kept expanding in China from first to third tier cities and to different targeted segments by developing an intelligent digitalisation of the brand. Starting from developing a Chinese version of the brand name, A brand modified its brand name as a main strategy to giving meaning to the brand in the Chinese socio-cultural context, as well as emphasizing the heritage of the brand and creating a strong position in the mind of the Chinese consumer and creating a strong advantage in the digital search positioning. Furthermore, in analysing the market socio-cultural digital trends and the decreasing reach of conventional media and the increasing one of the digital ones, A decided to focalise on a diversified use of digital media in their entry strategy - through online video advertising and the growing digital out of home as well as local search engine as Baidu or local social networks, BAIDU Sina.com Wechat Youku and in particular online influencers and BBS, Bullet Board Systems – by clearly choosing to rebrand through the digitalisation of their luxury brand in compliance with the socio-cultural variables and trends of the market. The sample case will be reported and the model path for branding and rebranding in the Chinese context will be presented.

With its fast growing economy and huge population, China has become one of the most lucrative markets for luxury brands (Zhan and He 2012). In fact, China has surpassed Japan and become the No.1 luxury products spender in the world, accounting more than one-quarter of the global luxury brand expenditure (Artsmon et al. 2012). Chinese middle-class consumers thus have become important targets of luxury brands (Zhan and He 2012). However, China’s culture is different from Western cultures (Li, Li and Kambelle 2012), and Chinese luxury consumers have their distinctive characteristics (Buchwald, 2015). Therefore, Chinese luxury consumption may not follow the trends of Western world (Li, Li and Kambelle 2012). Previous studies have explored Chinese luxury consumers’ perceptions and receptivity of luxury brands in different cultural contexts (Bian and Forsythe 2012; Wang, Sun and Song 2011; Zhan and He 2012; Wang, Sun and Song 2011; Li, Li and Kanbelle 2012; Oswald 2010, Li and Su 2007; Wang and Ahuvia 1998). However, all those studies have only investigated luxury brands’ marketing strategies in traditional offline worlds. With the emergence of digital technology, luxury brands have started building presence in online world through different digital marketing strategies (Okonkwo 2009). Among all the digital marketing tools, social media marketing has become an increasingly important marketing communication weapon (Kim and Ko, 2012). While the luxury brands have widely accepted social media marketing, the academic research largely lags behind, Only limited number of studies have examined luxury brands’ social media marketing strategies (Tynan, McKechnie, and Chhoun, 2010; Kim and Ko, 2012). No study, to the authors’ knowledge, has been conducted to investigate luxury brands’ social media marketing strategies in connecting with Chinese consumers. In addition, previous studies on luxury brands marketing have conducted either quantitatively (Bian and Forsythe 2012; Wang, Sun and Song 2011; Zhan and He 2012; Wang, Sun and Song 2011; Li, Li and Kanbelle 2012) or qualitatively (Oswald 2010, Li and Su 2007; Wang and Ahuvia 1998) from either consumers’ or marketer’s perspective. In order to fill the research gaps, the current study is designed to explore the phenomenon with a mixed method by integrating both marketers’ social media marketing strategies and consumers’ interpretation of those marketers’ social media marketing in the contextof China. Specifically, a quantitative content analysis was conducted to examine marketers’ social media marketing strategies on a Chinese social media platform: WeChat; in the meanwhile, a qualitative study was conducted to explore Chinese female affluent consumers’ interpretations of those social media strategies transmitted via WeChat. Based on the research purpose, two overarching research questions were proposed: R1: Do Western luxury brand use social media platform of WeChat to build social presence, create self-presentation or interact with consumers? R2: What are Chinese female affluent consumers’ perceptions and interpretations of luxury brands’ social media marketing communication strategies via WeChat? Methodology The current study used a mixed methodological approach (Creswell 2014). Specifically, a quantitative content analysis (Krippendorff 2012) and a phenomenological study (Creswell 2012) were conducted to investigate luxury brands’ social media marketing communication strategies via WeChat and Chinese female affluent consumers’ perception toward those marketing communication strategies. Initial Findings Study 1 So far, 50% (N = 60) of the sample was analyzed. RQ1 asked about the luxury brands’ marketing communication strategies. The initial frequencies of each coded variable are reported in Table 1. Table 1. Frequencies of Coded Variables The results showed that more than half of the coded messages had images, showed products/brands in images or videos, provided event, discount and other promotional information, described products’ physical features and attributes, contained celebrities, sought action-based participation, and applied hyperlinks. The initial data suggest that a major use of social media in luxury brand advertising is to build the brand’s social presence by extensively using visuals. Images were found in 44 messages, and 25 of them used 6 or more images. Most of these images showed products or brands. Video also appeared in 14 messages. The initial results also suggest consumer interaction and engagement is restricted to the lowest level. The two major ways of interaction were hyperlinks and action-based participation. A close examination showed that these two were often used together. A hyperlink used anchor text that contained a call for action-based participation, like “read more,” “get the coupon,” etc. A lot of these actions related to consuming content, like reading, downloading or sharing, which is the lowest level of brand related-activeness on branded social media sites (Muntinga, Moorman, and Smit 2011).Additionally, product/brand information and physical features and attributes were frequently mentioned, suggesting that luxury brands use social media for information dissemination. WeChat has a large size of active users, and self-disclosure of information on social media can create a sense of close relationship (Kaplan and Haelein, 2010). High product quality, especially in terms of design and craftsmanship were frequently addressed, suggesting that that social media are used to communicate the nuances of brand’s social meanings. For example, some messages described the conceptualization of the design, the processing of handcrafting, and the meaning of the design, etc. These deeper meaning of a brand is often left out of traditional methods of advertising because of limited space or time. Celebrity was one of the major methods to create social meaning, suggesting that luxury brands use social media to leverage parasocial interaction between celebrities and consumers. Parasocial interaction refers to consumers’ perception of personal relationship with media personalities (Men and Tsai 2013). Among the sample messages, there were interviews with famous designers, advices and recommendations from celebrities about luxury brand and fashion, etc. These messages offer an opportunity for consumers to connect with celebrities, and subsequently, associate luxury brands with these iconic figures (McCraken, 1989). All in all, Western luxury brands largely use social media to build social presence, disseminate information, and communicate brand’s social meanings. Luxury brands frequently interact with audiences on social media but the level of consumer engagement is restricted. Study 2 The participants’ interpretations of WeChat provide a unique context and form a crucial referential framework for them to interpret luxury brands’ marketing communications on this particular social media platform. Specifically, the themes that emerged regarding those Chinese female affluent consumers’ perceptions of the social medium are an intimate friend vs. an everyday assistant, simple vs. complicated, and stickiness vs. interactivity; and, the themes regarding the participants’ interpretation of luxury brands’ marketing communications include inactive, conservative, and distance. Based on their own experiences of social media marketing and from consumers’ perspectives, the participants also provided insightful suggestions for luxury brands to improve their social media marketing to better connect with their consumers. Interpretation of WeChat An Intimate Friend vs. An Everyday Assistant According to the participants, their usage and composition of friends on WeChat has kept changing and evolving. At the initial stage of their usage, all the friends on WeChat were family members and close friends. At that time, WeChat constructed a small, closed, and intimate social circle for them to communicate, socialize, and entertain themselves and their WeChat friends in a carefree and relaxing way. In this sense, WeChat is like a good friend, who can accompany them and chat with them whenever they need him/her. Later, with the number of WeChat friends increasing and expanding, the composition of theirWeChat friends has also become complicated: different social relationships have been added to their WeChat friend list. Accordingly, based on the closeness and remoteness, they categorize their WeChat friends and communicate and socialize with them in a more cautious and delicate way. In this sense, WeChat has also changed to an office assistant who helps them to manage and maintain their social relationships. Simple vs. Complicated With the change of WeChat and the revolution of participants’ usage and experiences, in the life-worlds of the participants, WeChat has transformed from a simple chatting app to a multi-functional personal service hub. At the initial usage of stage, according to the participants, the major function of WeChat is a chatting app to communicate with their friends conveniently. Later, with more functions to be added to WeChat, WeChat has evolved to a complicated personal service hub to serve various personal and commercial purposes for the participants. Stickiness vs. Interactivity According to the participants, WeChat is a unique social media platform with high stickiness but low interactivity. The participants indicated that they use WeChat all the time, and they have to check their WeChat numerous times during a day. In other words, WeChat is considered as a high frequency social media app. In the meantime, the participants felt that WeChat is lacking interactivity when comparing to other social media platforms such as microblogging. They stated that the possible interactive activities on WeChat are very limited. In other words, in the life-world of the participants, WeChat is perceived as a less reciprocative social media platform. Interpretation of Luxury Brands’ Marketing Communication on WeChat Inactive According to the participants, the luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts are less active than other brands’ public accounts. Those luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts post information less frequently and seldom interact with followers. This is actually put those luxury brands in a relatively negative marketing position on WeChat. The participants indicated that they follow many public accounts. Because the luxury brands’ public accounts are not very active, without constant reminder, the followers may gradually forget about those luxury brands’ public accounts and stop checking their accounts’ updates. Conservative In addition to be seen as inactive, the luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts are also perceived to be conservative. According to the participants, compared to other brands, luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts are too serious, less interesting, and lacking entertainment. The participants felt that the luxury brands are very cautious and careful regarding their WeChat presence. Therefore, their WeChat posts are generally too conservative and formal, lacking creativity and uniqueness. As a result, the participants couldn’t remember any impressive and unforgettable post from those luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts.Distance In the participants’ eyes, the luxury brands are perceived to intentionally keep a certain distance from WeChat users. The participants felt that on the one hand the luxury brands are trying hard to connect with their consumers on social media, on the other hand, they are also trying to preserve their luxury brand image on this media platform by alienating general WeChat users. However, the participants felt it is not easy for luxury brands to achieve those two purposes successfully on WeChat. Suggestion of Luxury Brands’ Marketing Communication on WeChat Based on their perceptions and experiences of luxury brands’ social media marketing, the participants offered several insightful suggestions for luxury brands to improve their social marketing endeavors to better connect with their consumers. According to the participants, the most important marketing communication strategy via social media that luxury brands could adopt is to collaborate with opinion leaders (Katz and Lazarsfeld 1957) on social media to humanize, personalize, and entertainize their marketing communications. As the participants indicated, there are many successful and popular personal fashion public accounts on WeChat which have millions of loyal followers. Those personal fashion public accounts usually have unique styles and characteristics that are attractive to and well-liked by their followers. Compared to luxury brands’ official public accounts, those personal public accounts are perceived more humanized, personal, and closer to consumers. In addition, those accounts also have more flexibility to be creative and entertaining thus providing a better social media experience for luxury brands’ consumers. For luxury brands’ own public accounts on social media, the participants suggested that those luxury brands should become more active on social media by posting messages more frequently and constantly reminding consumers of their social presence. In addition, the participants think those luxury brands should be more adventurous on social media by being more creative and expressing more entertaining spirit.

Marketers often attribute the premium charged on a luxury brand over a value brand to innovation in product form (Von Hippel 1986). One way of conveying this innovation is through the use of perceptual cues which use visual depiction of a product (Gregan-Paxton, Hoeffler, and Zhao 2005). Consequently, what we think of as high fashion or innovation in product form is essentially novelty in the perceptual cues of a product (Cox and Cox 2002) and it is known that moderate levels of novelty can increase complexity (or incongruity) of product design and is in general, favored by consumers (Cox and Cox 2002). However, despite the fact that novelty in form offered in high fashion or complex products is expected to bring value, we predict that novel designs are perceived as more favorable depending on their positioning as luxury (value) brands. In detail, we expect that value brands more than luxury brands benefit from novelty of form and that peripheral cues in product design informs a sense of brand authenticity which drives preferences. Past research showed that a product’s positioning in advertising moderates the effect of schema incongruence on product evaluation (Noseworthy and Trudel 2011). When products with a moderately incongruent design are positioned based on their functionality, they are evaluated more favorably. Conversely, when products are positioned based on experiential dimensions, this effect is reversed, and moderately incongruent designs are evaluated less favorably. We believe that these relationships can be explained using the perception of hedonic or utilitarian benefits offered by the product. In general, consumers are motivated by utilitarian concerns until they think that they have earned the right to indulge in hedonistic consumption (Kivetz and Simonson 2002). With congruent products, consumers may infer functionality from memory, and they are therefore liberated to indulge in hedonic pleasure. With incongruent products, however, consumers must work out the functionality of the product for themselves. Thus, we expect that brand positioning will influence the way novel designs are evaluated on functionality, such that novel designs are perceived as more functional in the value (vs. luxury) brand positioning (H1). Also, we predict that consumers of luxury brands will prefer prototypical designs to novel ones (H2). Recently, Stanton, Townsend, and Kang (2015) analyzed automobile market and showed that consumers prefer novel designs if their consideration set includes allpossible automobiles, but changed to prototypical designs, when the consideration set was entry-level automobiles. In addition, Hagtvedt and Patrick (2014) revealed that altering the form of a product has a more positive impact on product evolutions in a utilitarian context rather than a hedonic one. This is because luxury brands have a greater capacity to be extended into other product categories due to their hedonic potential, namely their ability to provide emotional benefits (Hagtvedt and Patrick 2009). Based on these findings, we postulate that brand positioning will moderate the influence of product design on functional evaluations and perceived comfort, such that only under the value (vs. luxury) brand positioning, individuals will prefer novelty over typicality. Lastly, given the consumers’ motivation of luxury brands for conspicuous consumption and desire for authenticity (Beverland and Farrelly 2010), we predict that consumers will avoid novel designs in a luxury brand. We believe this to be true because in order to convey the status which such consumers seek, the brand must be instantly and easily recognizable to others. In this case, a novel design can be a threat to this transmission of status, and may bring about less favorable evaluations of the brand. As a result, a novel design, even a moderately incongruent one, will be seen as a violation of the brand’s authenticity and the diminished authenticity will therefore explain the less favorable evaluations. Thus, we expect that for value (vs. luxury) brand positioning, brand authenticity will mediate the effect of product design on evaluations (H3). To test our hypotheses, a pilot study was conducted in advance to identify whether luxury positioning would influence the perceptions of functionality when evaluating the same novel design. Participants (N = 102; 63.7% female; Mage = 35.78) were recruited in an online panel and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions of brand positioning: a value brand positioning or a luxury brand positioning. The experiment was a between-subjects factorial design and from the pretest, Serafini brand was chosen as a luxury brand and New Balance brand was chosen as a value brand. Then, Participant saw an advertisement that featured the novel shoe design and indicated their perceived functional efficacy, the concept (value-luxury) of a presented product, and perceived status conferred by purchasing the product. As expected, participants saw Serafini as more of a luxury brand (M = 4.76) than New Balance (M = 3.92) and indicated that purchasing the same product by Serafini conferred more status to someone (M = 4.83) in comparison to purchasing the same product by New Balance (M = 4.22; t(100) = 2.18, p < .05). Importantly, participants viewed the novel design featured in the luxury brand advertisement of (Serafini) as less functional (M = 4.95) in comparison to the novel design featured in the value brand advertisement (New Balance; M = 5.50; t(100) = 2.19, p < .05) although the design of the two products were the same (H1 supported). Next, in Study 1, we intended to identify whether brand positioning would influence typical designs of a product in the same way that it would novel designs. Participants (N = 263; 59.7% female; Mage = 38.03) were recruited in an online panel and were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (brand positioning: value vs. luxury) × 2 (product design: typical vs. novel) between-subjects factorial design. In this study, however, we used a fictitious watch brand (Dali) to manipulate the brand positioning. Manipulations were adopted from Hagtvedt and Patrick (2009). Like pilot test, pretestconfirmed that the manipulations worked as intended (Mvalue = 4.85; Mluxury = 5.67; t(39) = 2.19, p < .05) and participants rated Dali as having different abilities to confer status (α = .81; Mvalue = 4.43; Mluxury = 5.26; t(39) = 2.68, p < .05). After, each participant saw an advertisement that featured the new product and that corresponded to the randomized condition that they were assigned and responded to the questionnaires asking their perceived functional efficacy, overall attitudes toward the product, perceived comfort as well as the measures for the manipulation checks. As expected, result showed that in the absence of luxury brand positioning, the novel design was evaluated more favorably (M = 5.00) than the typical product design (M = 3.90; F(1, 259) = 18.74, p < .001). This effect was consistent with past studies that demonstrate the moderate incongruity effect (Noseworthy and Trudel 2011; Meyers-Levy and Tybout 1989; Mandler 1982). However, in the presence of the luxury brand positioning, this difference was not significant (Mnovel = 4.46 vs. Mtypical= 4.25; p = .41). Also, an analysis of functionality indicated that in the value brand condition, the novel design was perceived to be higher in functionality (M = 4.88) than the typical product design (M = 4.39; F(1, 259) = 4.25, p < .05). However, in the presence of the luxury brand positioning, this difference was not significant (Mnovel = 4.57 vs. Mtypical= 4.79; p = .35). Finally, analysis of comfort indicated that in the value brand condition, the novel design was perceived to have more comfort (M = 4.45) than the typical product design (M = 3.82; F(1, 259) = 6.97, p < .01). However, in the presence of the luxury brand positioning, this difference was not significant (Mnovel = 4.14 vs. Mtypical= 4.33; p = .44). Thus, the results supported H1 and H2. To replicate the observed effects and to identify the underlying mechanism, Study 2 was followed. Same recruitment method and experimental design in Study 1 was used with a fictitious camera brand OLEG. Pretest confirmed that the manipulations worked as intended. Experimental procedures were similar to Study 1. However, this time, brand authenticity was measured (Morhart et al. 2015) in addition to the measures used in Study 1. Again, result indicated that in the absence of luxury brand positioning, the novel design was evaluated more favorably (M = 4.85) than the typical product design (M = 3.92; F(1, 209) = 10.30, p < .005) and in the presence of luxury branding, this difference was not significant (Mnovel = 4.50 vs. Mtypical= 4.57; p = .80). Also, result showed that in the value brand condition, the novel design was perceived to be higher in functionality (M = 4.79) than the typical product design (M= 3.89; F (1, 209) = 11.75, p < .001) and in the presence of the luxury brand positioning, this difference was not significant (Mnovel = 4.44 vs. Mtypical= 4.51; p = .79). Regarding comfort, in the value brand condition, using the camera with the novel design was perceived to be more comfortable (M = 4.49) than the typical product design (M= 3.82; F(1, 209) = 6.34, p < .01). However, in the presence of the luxury brand positioning, this difference was not significant (Mnovel = 4.06 vs. Mtypical= 4.25; p = .46). Lastly, mediated moderation analysis (Hayes 2012; Model 8; bootstrapped with 10,000 draws) found that only when design presented was typical, was there mediation through authenticity (95% confidence interval [CI]: .07, .86), but not when presented with the novel design (95% CI: -.60, .24) and thus, provided support to H3.Overall, three studies showed that while product evaluations and functional inferences with novel designs are higher for value brands, they are not for luxury brands. Also, we provided perceived authenticity as an underlying mechanism. From our findings, we provide four theoretical contributions. First, by showing that only value, not luxury brands benefit from novel product design, we demonstrated that brand positioning is another moderator to the effect of schema incongruity that consumers prefer a moderately incongruent product design over a congruent design or an extremely incongruent design (Noseworthy and Trudel 2011; Meyers-Levy and Tybout 1989; Mandler 1982). Second, although the research in product design and innovation has shown that the novelty in perceptual cues may signal innovativeness to consumers and thus engender favorable product evaluations (Gregan-Paxton, Hoeffler, and Zhao 2005; Cox and Cox 2002), we found that such novelty in perceptual cues in product design may not work in certain circumstances – when the product is positioned as luxury. Third, this research contributes to the understanding of luxury branding by offering evidence that prototypical designs benefit luxury brands because they increase perceived authenticity. Fourth, we broaden the research on authenticity in the aspect that merely having a novel or fashion forward design may impair authenticity and cause unexpected results. Managerially, we provide guidelines in that although brands benefit from novel designs in general, the manager of a luxury brand should be cautious when changing the design of a luxury good, especially ones in which functionality and comfort are important attributes. In other words, a luxury brand manager should adopt fashion and design in a way that is beneficial to the consumer. Some luxury brands, such as Porsche, are well-respected for their innovation, while other luxury brands, such as Louis Vuitton create value through promotion of a particular lifestyle (Reddy and Terblanche 2005). For brands that are particularly sought for their functional benefits, like Porsche, the importance of the impact of novel designs on perceptions of authenticity is particularly important. In addition, managers must be aware that novelty is not always perceived the same way. Consumer inferences on functionality and comfort can be elicited for fashion forward designs for value brands, where the novelty of design is used as a strategic tool. Nevertheless, when it comes to the luxury products, this effect might not appear and impairs brand authenticity. To extend our research, potential future research may examine the effect of novel designs on inconspicuous luxury goods. When conspicuous consumption is decoupled from the luxury brand, it is doubtful that prototypical designs would still be favored among consumers of luxury brands. Also, future research could examine the effect of other kinds of innovation. In our research, we mainly examined the product form and design as a method of innovation. However, it is possible that other kinds of innovation method can be used (i.e., change in product concept) and thus, can be potential future research topics. Finally, we believe that how other kinds of positioning might influence the relationship that we revealed could be studied further. For example, there are instances where value brands try to create a luxury line. In such instances, the effect of authenticity may differ from what we observed.

When apparel brand managers attempt to raise their brand value, store location is a big concern since they consider it to influence their brand value. Brand managers expect that their store operations in high status location will raise brand status and attractiveness even when the expected rate of return directly generated by the store is very low. In this case, they regard the new store as an effective brand contact point of their marketing communication and expect its comprehensive impact on their business to be positive. In actual business, however, this influence is difficult to compute quantitatively but common to estimate based on brand managers’ experiences: this creates uncertainty for apparel companies whether their investment in the new store is appropriate or not. Besides, it is not certain whether non-luxury brand status is raised by store location status as with luxury brands where store location status is identified as a key marketing driver (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). This paper focuses on the status of shopping malls and adjacent stores as store location factors and assesses their effects on perceived brand status. In this study, consumer research on three brands with different characteristics (a luxury, a non-luxury, and an unknown brand) was conducted in Japan and the variation of perceived brand status and attractiveness in four location frames (two levels of shopping mall status × two levels of adjacent store status) was analyzed. The result of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) suggests store location prestige influences perceived brand status and attractiveness of luxury brands more than in the case of non-luxury ones. Moreover, store location status is confirmed to influence unknown brands only very slightly. This result implies that raising the status of non-luxury is difficult just by constructing a new store in high status location following luxury strategy. Also, it may be impossible for a brand whose status is not high to pretend to be a high status brand by launching a new store in high status location of the new market.

Brand equity, “the marketing effects uniquely attributable to the brand” (Keller, 1993, p. 1), is at the heart of competition in the luxury goods market (Keller, 2009). While firms competing in this segment have come up with sophisticated ways to build brand equity, they are currently challenged by the increasing importance of the internet in consumers’ journeys (Kapferer & Bastien, 2012; Okonkwo, 2009). With online sales of luxury goods showing a twelvefold increase over the past 11 years (D’Arpizio et al., 2014), it is evident that luxury brands have to be present somehow in the digital environment today (Heine & Berghaus, 2014). The strategic purposes, business potentials, and consequences for brand equity of this presence, however, are still largely unexplored and remain a paradoxical topic. As a luxury brand’s website is the brand’s most valuable digital asset (Heine & Berghaus, 2014) and as there appears to be a consensus that luxury brands can use their websites to present their products in the digital environment, at least for purposes of communication, the question arises which products are most suitable for reinforcing the brand’s image. The roles a luxury brand’s products can play in relation to brand management can be classified between four poles spanning two dimensions, which this research terms ‘accessibility’ and ‘contemporariness’, in relation to Kapferer and Bastien’s (2012) luxury brand architecture map. Empirical evidence of these dimensions is, nevertheless, scarce, and yet no prior research has investigated these product roles in an e-commerce setting. The current study develops a model to test how an online purchase option and the contemporariness as well as the accessibility of the product assortment offered on the websites of luxury brands affect specific brand equity dimensions of luxury brands. Data of a 2x2x2-online scenario experiment were analyzed, showing that prestige and uniqueness value are non-significantly affected by offering an online purchase option, while functional value increases significantly. Regarding the displayed product assortment, the brand equity dimensions of functionality, prestige, and uniqueness are found to be significantly affected by the inaccessibility of the products, while their contemporariness elicits significant changes in uniqueness value. The study also assesses the mediating role of the brand attributes of availability, price premium, aesthetics, and innovativeness, as well as the moderating role of consumers’ prior brand ownership, for these effects.

In recent years, the spread of social media and other digital tools and its massive acceptance have revolutionized marketing practices such as advertising and promotion (Hanna, Rohn and Crittenden, 2011) by changing the approach of communication between consumers and brands (Henkkig-Thurau et al. 2004) and the sources of information about products, services or brands for consumers (Kozinets, 1999). On the one hand, these changes have provided consumers of the additional power to influence other buyers by sharing ideas and experiences about products, services or brands (Ioanăs & Stoica 2014). On the other hand social media websites allow business to engage and interact with users by increasing sense of intimacy with consumers and building strong relationships with potential customers (Mersey et al. 2010). Therefore, the incomparable efficiency of social media has induced industry leaders to participate in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, with the aim to succeed in online environments (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). Furthermore, brands are motivated to develop social network campaigns for gathering consumers’ personal information useful to targeting or personalising future marketing strategies (Noort, Anthenius and Verlegh, 2014). This situation have brought many authors, especially interested in luxury industry, to investigate on social media as a new way for luxury firms to communicate with consumers and influence their purchases. One of the main objectives for literature was to understand if luxury products, related to prestige, uniqueness and exclusivity values, could be express using channels accessible to everyone, such as social media. Indeed, in this era of the “democratization of luxury” (Atwal and Williams 2009), luxury brands are dealing with the challenge of using mass marketing tools and at the same time emphasizing the exclusivity dimension of their products (Okonkwo 2010). So as Hennigs states: “As the virtual environment is a place where images, videos and opinions circulate regardless of brand ownership, is it possible to keep a sense of exclusivity around a luxury brand?” (Hennigs, Wiedmann and Klarmann 2012 p. 30). In Italy, the digital population keep growing and the time spent in front of digital devices is increasing; people is becoming more familiar with e-commerce and as a consequence the communication of firms is more transparent (The Boston Consulting Group 2011). In this perspective, this paper aims to analyse the impact of social media marketing on brand equity and consumer behaviour within the Italian luxury economy. Our research has tried to understand this phenomenon from two perspectives; on the one hand, authors have observed digital marketing strategies of some luxury firms, emphasizing the way these brands use social network to promote their products, their special events or their stories. On the other hand, researchers have studied consumers’ approaches to social networks through a survey (Chisnall 1993) delivered to a sample of Italian respondents. The goal of the research is to show how social media have been used by five luxury brands and how they can influence luxury brand equity, by affecting Italian consumer behaviour. With this objective, the authors have analysed the composition of the sample that is active on social networks in order to gather useful demographic information about users. Moreover, this research has been important to discover the most popular platforms for Italian users and the response of some of the major international luxury brands in terms of contents shared on specific social networks. In addition, the survey has represented a great opportunity to understand the influence of social network on consumer behaviour, seeking to measure cognitive, affective and conative responses (Laroche and Mourali 005).

The study investigates the influence of “country of ingredient authenticity” towards product and brand evaluations of luxury brands and ultimately how these constructs influence the willingness to buy and recommend luxury brands.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of the utilitarian, hedonic and symbolic benefits of consuming sportswear on consumers’ purchase intention and willingness to pay. Also, the potential moderating role of the type of brands (i.e., luxury vs. regular brands) is examined. A multiple regression was performed to examine the impacts of the perceived utilitarian-, hedonic-, and symbolic benefits on individuals’ purchase intention, while controlling for descriptive norm, financial constraints, prior brand attitude and familiarity, prestige sensitivity, fashion consciousness, and demographics. It appeared that respondents who indicated that the advertised sportswear fulfilled their hedonic, utilitarian, and symbolic benefit had greater purchase intention. A log-linear regression analysis was performed to examine the impacts of the perceived utilitarian-, hedonic-, and symbolic benefits on individuals’ willingness to pay for sportswear, while controlling for the descriptive norm, financial constraints, prior brand attitude and familiarity, prestige sensitivity, fashion consciousness, and demographics. As respondents’ willingness to pay was logarithmically transformed in order to correct its skewed bias from the normal distribution, the findings indicated that those who indicated that the utilitarian and symbolic benefits were fulfilled were likely to pay 35% and 19.4%, respectively, more for the sportswear. In order to explore the potential moderating role of the type of brands, we examined the influences of utilitarian, hedonic, and symbolic benefits on purchase intention and willingness to pay for two split samples—one for the two luxury sportswear brands, and the other for the regular sportswear brands. After estimating coefficients for luxury and regular sportswear brands, respectively, a series of z-tests was performed to examine whether the magnitude of coefficients varied across the luxury vs. regular brands. The impacts of hedonic and symbolic benefits on purchase intention were greater for the luxury brands than for the regular brands, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for the utilitarian benefits. Similar patterns of relationships were observed for consumers’ willingness to pay, although the hedonic benefits did not have any significant impact. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed along with future research directions.

Consumers and sources are embedded in cultural contexts that influence how those sources are read. We examine how consumers stigmatized for being fat collectively read advertisements for luxury fashion brands featuring plus-sized sources. We unveil individual and cultural resources stigmatized consumers rely on to collectively develop readings of advertising sources.

Luxury consumption is intrinsically related to unusual expectations from the consumers, among which some are equally shared around the globe. For instance, Europeans, Americans and Asians claim that luxury products should be flawless and their producers (i.e. the luxury brands) should have some history and heritage (Wiedmann et al., 2007). What they put behind these two last notions can fluctuate, but they are systematically stressed out in studies, be they academic or applied, qualitative or quantitative. Therefore, it sounds fundamental for the luxury Maisons to communicate on their heritage and history (Wiedmann et al., 2012). While until the end of the XXth century brands could rely upon different message content and copy to do so, due to localized options of communication, the Internet has implied to complete revision of their approach. The Maisons’ websites, even if available in different languages, are unique platforms to showcase the brand’s history, ambience and offering to a worldwide audience. They should be able to reach consumers, both cognitively and emotionally, recreate the store atmosphere, while simultaneously stimulating some desire to discover new collections. They stand for an open-window on a boundary-free world, be it from the geographical or from the time point of view. However, as pointed out by academics and professionals from the very beginning, the road is paved with risks, especially in terms of brand image management (Geerts & Veg-Sala, 2012). This comes from the apparent non-compatibility between luxury and the online environment. However, such discrepancies have led to a complete redefinition of the luxury concept, with its new semiotics economy (Maman & Kourdoughli, 2014). Part of it is ‘heritage and history’, with little surprise. We can therefore raise the issue of a lack of academic research regarding how such Maisons communicate about their history (even if short) and heritage on their website, be it an institutional or a transactional one. The only studies we have found deal with the automotive sector (Wiedmann et al., 2011) or watch one (Baum, 2011), the second one being a Master’s thesis. It is the objective of the present study to fill in this gap, and to uncover the various ‘signs’ used by luxury brands to communicate their heritage and heritage to their worldwide audience. Besides, we wanted to understand whether different semiotic systems were used by French vs. Italian luxury brands, and whether other variables such as the place of origin or the ‘age’ of the Maison would lead to different signs. To reach this goal, we used a two-pronged approach. First we gathered data from 56 websites of fashion luxury brands, using an inductive approach of content analysis (Kim & Kuljis, 2007). A coding grid was thus built while data was collected, with a back and forth coding process. We also built upon the Gestalt principles to ‘judge’ whether the websites were more focused on 1) current fashion trends, 2) the brand itself or its designer(s), 3) the products offered, or 4) the past of the brand. A first researcher built the grid and filled it in, while a second one directly used the grid for coding. The two coding outcomes were confronted and discrepancies discussed until agreement was reached. Then, major trends and clusters were identified from the data, leading us to understand the various sign-systems used by the Maisons, using Peircian semiotics. We end-up our study with theoretical conclusions regarding the online communication of luxury fashion brands, and with practical recommendations for luxury brand managers.

The notion of brand mimicry is not a new one. Drawing its roots from Darwin’s theory of evolution, Bate (1862, 502) described mimicry as a visible “resemblance in external appearance, shapes and colours between members of widely distinct families”. Further development of the theory led it to the concept of natural selection and the survival of the fittest. In order to survive, many organisms in nature employ mimicry (Vane-Wright, 1976). This strategy is similarly reflected in marketing (Kapfarer, 1995; Shenkar, 2010; 2012) and has been deemed as a form of “imitative innovation” (Levitt, 1966). Based on the accounts of the rampant copying in the industry, there is evidence that there are observed parallels between the types of mimicry identified in the discipline of biological and natural sciences and mimicry in marketing. However, there is still very little that is known within this area at present. In addition, based on the review of the key classification studies within the discipline of biological and natural sciences (Vane-wright, 1976; 1980; Pasteur, 1982), Vavilovian mimicry was identified. Vavilovian mimicry was found to convey a close resemblance to mimicry in marketing. Therefore, the development of a scale serves as a foundation to conceptualize the theory of mimicry further into the luxury-branding context within marketing. Mimicryis defined as the visible “resemblance in external appearance, shapes and colours between members of widely distinct families” (Bates, 1865, 502). There are three key roles in the system of mimicry, which are namely the model, the mimic and the signal receiver (dupe/operator) (Pasteur, 1982; Vane-Wright, 1976). The mimic, is the imitating organism that can be any species of organism produces a mimetic signal; the model, is the entity that is being imitated; and the signal receiver or operator (Vane-Wright, 1976), or sometimes termed as the dupe is the organism that is duped to believe similarities between the mimic and the model. Vavilovian mimicry in nature Vavilovian mimicry is classified as a form of crop mimicry (Pasteur, 1982; Barrett, 1983) that involves weeds, such as rye (Secale) that mimicked the first crops of man (dupe) through their evolution in the wheat (model) fields (Williamson, 1982). Subjected to the methods of man to gather and separate weed from wheat, rye have developed seeds and seed dispersal mechanisms that mimicked those of wheat (Williamson, 1982). Through such means, rye has forcefully made its way into being accepted by man and to compete with wheat in the fields. Based on Vavilov’s (1951) explanation, he calls the cereals (e.g. rye, domestic oats, rye, etc.) that originated from mimetic weeds as secondary crops. This form of mimicry is the result of unintentional selection by human beings due to the close similarities between the mimic and the model (Barrett, 1983). Therefore the mimic can evade eradication as a result (Vane-Wright, 1976). Vavilovian mimicry in marketing There are a number of parallels found within marketing that can serve to explain Vavilovian mimicry. One of the brands that employed the Vavilovian mimicry strategy lies within the beverage sector and is none other than Nudie Juice. Nudie Juice (mimic) started in 2002 by employing similar strategies to that of Innocent Juice (model) from the UK (Diagram 2). Nudie Juice has drawn many similarities from Innocent Juice such as the brand character (a small child like character), the packaging, and the concept of offering “premium fruit juice”. While many critics and consumers have suggested high level of similarities between the two brands (Ho, 2005), the founder Tim Pethick argued that they are not the same. It was suggested he initially drew inspiration from Innocent Juice but has evolved the brand from being similar to “something different” (Ho, 2005). After more than a decade in the Australian market, the Nudie brand has evolved from juice to beyond just another juice brand to differentiate from Innocent Juice. Therefore, based on the above examples, Vavilovian brand mimicry is when the mimic deceives or possibly confuses the signal receiver through symbolic and functional similarities, but as a result evades prosecution. Subsequently, it evolves, innovates and establishes itself away from the model brand over time and becomes an independent brand. They are often moderately similar mimics or so called imitative innovations. Method and Results Two studies were designed to develop the Vavilovian mimicry scale. All the studies were based on an experimental approach and were conducted in a classroom style setting using a homogenous sample aged between 18 to 35. Study One The purpose of Study One was to explore the concept of Vavilovian mimicry. In line with the scale development outlined by DeVellis (2003), it is important that existing theory should be reviewed and consulted prior to developing the scale. This study will closely follow the procedures set out by DeVellis (2003), Churchill (1979) and Li, Edwards and Lee (2002) using three methods to generate potential scale items which are 1) a thorough literature review, 2) thesaurus searches, and 3) expert surveys. Through the three techniques, an initial pool of 55 items was identified. The pool of items that was initially generated for Vavilovian mimicry scale was tested using a series of stimuli of real life brands befitting the concept of Vavilovian mimicry within the luxury branding industry (e.g. Lacoste vs. Crocodile, Rolls Royce vs, Geely). The product stimuli were pre-tested on a group of judges to ensure that the concept of Vavilovian mimicry is accurately measured. The stimuli were kept constant in the number of pairs of brands, and the duration to the stimuli that the subjects are exposed was all controlled for in the experiments. The first set of scales developed for Vavilovian mimicry was administered to a sample size of 195 respondents. Students were used as it has been indicated in past studies that students are appropriate subjects for scale development as they serve as surrogate consumers (Yavas, 1994). The data is checked for missing values and responses that are either incomplete or inappropriately completed are removed. Hence, only 177 useable responses were retained. Results of EFA As the study intended to develop scales to measure Vavilovian mimicry, the initial pool of items were cleaned to reveal five factors that seem to qualify as potential items for use. Items with double or triple loadings and that show factor loadings below .3 were eliminated. The items in the other unexpected factors were examined and items that were found to have little relevance to the study were removed. From the 55 items that were factor analyzed, 23 items remained within that is used to measure Vavilovian mimicry (α = .947; KMO and Bartlett’s test =.000; .808). From the factor analysis, the inconsistent items were also removed based on the co-efficient alphas (Nunnally, 1978). The initial Cronbach’s alphas for the factors were above .7, suggesting that the initial scales are still considerably long. As such, the next stage will be to optimize the scale length and to purify the data. Study Two This stage was performed to examine the dimensions of the scales in Study One, and to further purify the items. Churchill (1979) suggested that the scale purification step is to examine the dimensionality of the items. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has been used to reduce scales by identifying the items that needs to be trimmed from the scale, which assists by confirming the scale in its final form (Netemeyer, Bearden & Sharma, 2003) using AMOS 19. A new survey instrument is produced consisting of the 23-item Vavilovian mimicry items, as well as the demographics collected in Study One. Respondents were exposed to only stimulus (pair of brands) that is tested to show Vavilovian mimicry and asked to respond to a self-administered survey. The respondents are students who fall between 18 to 35 years of age. Useable responses for this study was 206. Results of CFA Prior to completing the measurement model, the congeneric model for each of the factors within the Vavilovian mimicry scale is tested to ensure model fit before testing it as a measurement model. CFA further refined the scales resulting in three dimensions, which are namely symbolic characteristics, physical characteristics and beneficial characteristics. Symbolic (Chi-Square =9.390, Degrees of Freedom = 8, Probability level = .310, RMSEA = .029, RMR = .033, AGFI = .956, CFI = .998) and physical characteristics (Chi-Square =12.571, Degrees of Freedom = 11, Probability level = .322, RMSEA = .026, RMR = .029, AGFI = .954, CFI = .998) dimensions resulted in seven items each and beneficial characteristics (Chi-Square =3.203, Degrees of Freedom = 2, Probability level = .202, RMSEA = .054, RMR = .018, AGFI = .954, CFI = .997) resulted in five items. According Raubenheimer (2004), multi-dimensional scales should have a minimum of three items to load significantly on each factor in order to be successfully identified. Based on the congeneric models for the three dimensions of Vavilovian mimicry, it is shown by the results to achieve acceptable measures (Hu and Bentler, 1999). These three factors are then being used in the measurement model to ensure that the three dimensions of the scale are of acceptable measures. In the next step of the measurement procedure, the three-factor structure was tested using CFA (Kelloway, 1998). Based on the measurement model (Figure 1), model identification was achieved with the 15 items and the model fit statistics are found to be of acceptable range and can be used for further analysis (Hu and Bentler, 1999) Chi-Square =104.183, Degrees of Freedom = 83, Probability level = .058, RMSEA = .035, RMR = .063, AGFI = .914, CFI = .989).These 15 items have indicated a good model fit within three dimensions. The scale items were validated using predictive, nomological, convergent and discriminant validity tests. The paper is one of the first (at the time of the study) to develop a scale to measure Vavilovian mimicry. The final 15 items for the scale fills an important gap in the literature as it conceptualizes and measures a specific type of mimicry that is abundant in the marketplace. At present, studies have yet to extend the established theory of mimicry from the discipline of biology and natural sciences. In addition, the scale allows the model brand managers, mimic brand managers and policy makers to better identify the type of mimicry that are in question. In addition, rather than only addressing mimicry from the luxury brand owners’ perspective, the Vavilovian mimicry scale allows mimic brand managers to understand if Vavilovian mimicry is an effective innovation strategy to deploy. Typically, policy makers have often struggled in copyright laws and identifying different types of infringement in the marketplace, especially when understanding consumer confusion in relation to brand “copycats”. This Vavilovian mimicry scale can be used to measure and identify mimics more effectively and therefore to have better strategies in either educating consumers or to formulate policies and strategies. This study provides insights into means to address competition from mimic brands especially in countries such as China. However, at present the scale is currently still under development and requires further validation and generalization. Future studies will need to measure construct, criterion, discriminant and convergent validity. Furthermore, the scale warrants generalizability across specific product luxury product categories such as cars, jewellery, clothing and so on. In addition, the scale will need to be tested in relation to other constructs such as brand familiarity, consumer perceptions and evaluations in order to understand the true extend and influence of brand mimicry. Lastly, this study attempts to bridge the gap in the literature and pave the foundation to better understanding of brand mimicry.

Tablets and the omnipresent mobile environment create opportunities and challenges for m-commerce (mobile commerce) vendors, seeking to increase their profits. Understanding factors that affect that consumer behavior, positively and negatively, in tablets is essential for vendors in order to provide a fruitful m-commerce customer experience. The objective of this paper is to facilitate the understanding of consumers’ perceptions and behavior in m-commerce and social media on tablets and explore the potential of tablets for m-commerce purposes. The paper reports the findings of two exploratory research studies on wine and luxury goods. The first study examines consumer perceptions of the use of tablets and social media, in the context of m-commerce of wine. The second study relates to selling of luxury goods through the Internet. The results of our qualitative analysis show that user experience and design aspects, such as ease-of-use, are important factors for tablet adoption and use for m-commerce and social media. Adapting web content to tablets is, therefore, critical to enable effective m-commerce on this popular device. Business opportunities enabled by tablets and social media in m-commerce and how these can be leveraged in the wine and the wider luxury goods context are discussed.

This paper identifies the key antecedents and moderators with regard to brand attitude and purchase intention of luxury brands. The findings suggest that is a strong importance of status seeking, as well as informational influences towards consumer brand attitude of luxury brands for both subtle and prominent brands. In addition, the moderating results indicate that consumer need for subtle branding only moderated the relationship between informational influences and consumers band attitude for subtly branded luxury products.