Companies frequently use luxury or green as a brand extension strategy. The present research suggests that the success of the luxury or green brand extension depends on the parent brand’s core attribute-whether the parent brand is primarily luxury or green. In two experiments involving real brands (BMW, Prius, Chanel, Patagonia) across multiple product categories (automobile and bag), we investigated consumers’ evaluation of luxury green extension products (i.e., multi-attribute products with luxury and green attributes) whose parent brand is luxury (e.g., BMW) or green (e.g., Prius). Study 1 showed that luxury green products with luxury roots (i.e., parent brand is luxury) are evaluated more favorably than those with green roots (i.e., parent brand is green). Study 2 investigated the mechanism of perceived fit. Whereas luxury green product with luxury roots was perceived to have a high level of fit, the luxury green product with green roots was perceived to have a lower level of fit. Our findings encourage the luxury parent brand to extend green whereas discourage the green parent brand to extend luxury.

The objective of this paper is to: (1) examine the feasibility of using psychophysiological methods in luxury marketing; (2) compare the capability of psychophysiological methods to capture emotion beyond those measured by self-report methods; and (3) better under luxury consumers’ emotion processes. Measuring consumers’ emotion with self-report methods has remained a challenge in luxury marketing (Atwal & Williams, 2009; Kumar & Garg, 2010). In comparison to self-report measure, psychophysiological methods promise to provide a scientific, objective and sensitive measure of the neurophysiological basis of emotional processes (Karmarkar & Yoon, 2016; Li, Scott, & Walters, 2014; Wang & Minor, 2008). Yet, few studies in luxury marketing have used these methods. In this study, brain wave analysis, heart rate, skin conductance, and facial expression will therefore be used to investigate consumers’ emotional response toward luxury marketing stimuli. The findings of this study will therefore provide both researchers and managers a test of concept to apply multiple psychophysiological methods in luxury marketing. This provide potential avenues for managers to better understand and manage the unobservable psychological processes that underlie luxury consumers’ behaviour.

This research aims to the effect of a sexual signaling system for a mate attraction on luxury products purchase. Some research has examined priming of mating motives such as looking at pictures of attractive opposite-gender can increase males’ stated willingness to purchase luxury products. This research extends costly signal theory into promotional message or model. we suggest that men tend to purchase luxury products, exposed to ads with attractive women models rather than attractive men according to costly signaling. Likewise, women may tend to purchase luxury products, exposed to ads with attractive women according to intra-sexual competition theory. Three experiments are conducted to examine the hypotheses.

According to this tendency, Japanese fashion consumption was characterized as conventional and normative. From a historical point of view, the norms on which the Japanese based their fashion choices were mainly imported from American and European countries or the fashions of movie stars and fashion magazines. However, lifestyles and fashion consumption in Japan has increasingly become diversified and personality-driven, leading Japanese consumers to enjoy fashion based on their individual lifestyles. This has resulted in individuals considering various clothing norms and keeping away from fashion magazines depicting the latest fashion trends in Japan. This currently poses a serious threat to the fashion business, as magazines are the main marketing tools in this industry. Therefore, in addition to a rise in Internet media and decreasing incomes, the sales of many fashion magazines, with the exception of a few, continue to drop. However, some magazines have managed to increase their sales circulation slightly. Through interviews with directors of fashion magazines, I found that the key to increasing sales is focusing on non-celebrity endorsers. Existing studies (mainly advertising studies) declined that celebrity endorsers (e.g., actors, models, and spokespersons) lead to consumption (e.g., Atkin & Block, 1983; Baker & Churechill, 1977; Callcott & Phillips, 1996; Debevec & Kernan, 1984; Friedman & Friedman, 1979, Kahle & Homer, 1985; Langmetyer & Walker, 1991; McCracken, 1989; Pornpitakapan, 2003). This study observes the importance of non-celebrity effects on fashion consumption. I conducted internet research on the declining relationship between fashion consumption and non-celebrity effects. In addition, I compared celebrity and non-celebrity effects for readers of fashion magazines (n=613). As a result of ANOVA (comparing readers committing to foreign celebrity, foreign non-celebrity, national celebrity, and national non-celebrity), significant differences were confirmed in all items of consumer’s evaluation of endorsers

Foreign tourists inbound Japan have been over 24 millions in 2016. It was the result of the policy of “Tourism-oriented nation” which is pushed by Japanese Government. And the aim is increasing foreign tourists to 40 million by 2020 Olympic Game in Tokyo - “Inbound Japan” - the project of cooperation between state and people. It is not so surprised to the leading countries in tourism of the world, but that means foreign tourists will be over 6 times less than a decade from 2012 after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. It will boost GDP in macro economy extremely, but meanwhile, there are problems at the spots and local areas. We discuss the relations and gaps between foreign tourists and local residents as one of global issues and propose our solution for how to adjust both benefits, establish and keep a partnership relation for the mutual interest among respective parts concerned.

This research aims to examine the different types of consumers’ self-concept profiles towards nostalgic advertising. Furthermore, two moderators are proposed to enhance two different types of relationships. First, brand heritage moderates the relationship between nostalgia proneness and nostalgia intensity towards the ad (NIAD). Second, brand experiences moderate the relationship between NIAD and purchase intention. The effectiveness of nostalgic advertising is also assessed in times of economic slump and political tension.

Socialization agents are an important aspect of a consumer's tool set for determining how they interact with the market environment. These agents are traditionally thought to be members of one's family, peers, and mass media (Bush, Smith, and Martin 1999; John 1999). Research as shown how socialization agents play an important role in marketing research and how they affect attitude formation (Shin, Ross, and Moon, 2015) and brand/store switching behaviors (Shin, Park, and Ross, 2012). Culture defines social norms and forms what are acceptable or even desirable consumption goods within a society (Kaltcheva and Weitz, 2006). Through this definition, one can assume that culture likely has significant influences on a consumer’s shopping motives. Previous researches have attempted to divide culture into dimensions of vertical/horizontal and collectivism/individualism; where vertical individualism is made up of individuals who attempt to stand out from others in their uniqueness via competitive natures, a focus on success and achievements, and acquisition of power; horizontal individualism consists of individuals who tend to shun successful people as boasters and consider values of modesty respectable while retaining their individuality and personal goals apart from comparing to others around them; vertical collectivists are those who recognize a hierarchal form of society and seek to maintain the consistency of traditional authority structures within it; and horizontal collectivists hold views less related to hierarchal recognition and more related to values of equal cooperation with an honest and direct demeanor (Shavitt, Lalwani, Zhang, and Torelli, 2006; Kurman and Sriram, 2002; Triandris and Gelfland, 1998). However, the operational items utilized in research surveys, while successful in the west, such as in the U.S., have struggled to stand out and show significance in the Korean society. This research attempts to provide more useful survey items that embrace each aspect of culture type more clearly in order to reach levels of significance and distinction that are sorely needed in this field. In South Korea, which is thought to be a predominantly collectivist culture (Hofstede, 2001; Rhee, Uleman, and Lee, 1996), a study of discount shoppers found they are inclined to shop for the purpose of socialization either because they enjoy being in a crowd or to compare their current social status level with other shoppers in the same store (Jin and Kim, 2003). Collectivist consumers tend to shop with others among their social circles and spend more time shopping (Ackerman and Tellis, 2001). Consumers that spend more time shopping are more proactive in obtaining information while they are shopping (Bellenger and Korgaonkar, 1980). Risk averse shoppers attempt to increase their market knowledge (Mano and Elliott, 1997), and collectivists are thought to be more risk averse and attempt to avoid risk through various methods, such as price signaling (Shannon and Mandhachitara, 2008). In China, a largely collectivist society, consumers are quite price conscious and focused on thrifty spending habits (Kim, Forsythe, Gu, and Moon, 2002; Zhang, 2001; Weidenbaum, 1996), and they are more likely to engage in obtaining product information during shopping ventures than their individualist American counterparts (Ackerman and Tellis, 2001). Jin and Kim (2003) suggested that Korean shoppers are socially motivated to shop in order to compare their levels of accomplishments with other shoppers in the same venues. This falls in line with a competitive nature distinct in vertical culture types. Verticality in culture values is related to competition and moving up the social latter, while horizontal cultural values denote a more cooperative and passive stance on standing out (Triandis and Gelfand, 1998). It seems logical to assume that vertical culture values tend toward more hedonistic values rather than utilitarian. Utilitarian shoppers are more concerned about price competitiveness and convenience when shopping (Jin and Kim, 2003), implying that individuals of a horizontal cultural nature are more concerned with price comparison and the places that conveniently provide them with information needed to make purchase decisions in the store rather than through external information search, such as through social interactions. When shoppers lack socialization agents or collective cultures to help them make purchase decisions, they must turn to the stores themselves for assistance and information acquisition. Studies have shown that a lack of social interaction creates feelings of loneliness in elderly shoppers, whom will then turn to various mall shopping motivations, such as service consumption and diversion, in order to alleviate their loneliness (Kim, Kang, and Kim, 2005). This suggests that the shopping motivation to interact with service personnel in stores acts as a substitute for situations where socialization agents are lacking. Shopping malls have been shown to be help mitigate feelings of social isolation and emotional disconnect from society (Forman and Sriram, 1991; Mochis, 1996; Kang and Ridgway, 1996). As collectivists tend to highly desire social interactions for a variety of reasons, it is quite likely that such interactions will be a driving factor for their motivation to shop, especially when they lack the appropriate socialization agents that will provide the means to give such interactions outside of the market. Customer satisfaction leads customers to stronger emotional attachments to the stores they are satisfied with, implying that individuals form social bonds with the stores themselves; and this, in turn, increases the likelihood of these individuals becoming regular patrons (Shin and Park, 2014). There are a variety of shopping motives that have been used for studies in previous researches. In this research, we take a look at the motivations of social interaction (Tauber, 1972), information seeking (Bellenger and Korgaonkar, 1980), and price comparison (Groeppel-Klein, Thelen, and Antretter, 1999), and how they are affected by socialization agents, both personal and non-personal, as well as culture type and how they influence an individual's likelihood of emotional attachment to stores.

This study investigated aesthetic preferences for beauty types in women’s appearance among the East Asian cultures of Korea, China, and Japan through two-mode semantic network analysis with a cross-cultural viewpoint. Based on the results, this study proposed practical implications for appearance management industries and global consumer goods companies.

This article explores how the concepts of masculinity and socialisation influence the decision-making process young males undergo when purchasing and using typically feminine related products (Beauregard, 2007). We use socialisation theory to understand the varying differences in the progression and perceptions of males today with regard to masculinity and skincare products. The article utilises a scenario exercise to cross reference their attitudes to male skin care brands and we propose that male attitudes to skincare and their socialised background are inherently linked. The result show six latent themes driven by theory-led coding (Kotler, 2000; Otnes and McGarth, 2001; Kraft and Weber, 2012). The ‘act’ of masculinity and the ‘adoption of femininity’ explain the influences in early socialisation. Meanwhile, ‘efficiency’ (or practicality), ‘help’, ‘trust’ and ‘past experience’ are additional influencers in the decision-making process. Specifically, males with predominantly female skincare users in the home embrace skincare related products, whereas males who were brought up to ‘act’ like men, particularly without a father presence in the home, are more likely to adhere to the masculine stereotype and avoid using such products. Finally, males with a strong father figure in the home are found to differentiate from their fathers, either by avoiding the same brands or choosing not to use the products at all. These behaviours (social, psychological and personal) are the external factors which ultimately affect their final purchase choice. Overall, the article offers an extended understanding on these external influences that drive the purchase decision of this under-researcher consumer segment.

Consumers process and evaluate products every day in an increasing number of diverse presentations of products and brands across shop environments. Although consumers may think to react to attributes of the products and the shop environments, there are many contextual factors that influence consumers’ responses. Both products presentation and shop environments differ in visual complexity and ease of processing. For example, products such as fragrances and eyeglasses considerably diverge depending on the visual presentation across multiple stores. Research on processing fluency (e.g., Reber et al., 2004; Winkelman et al., 2003) shows that the processing of any stimulus can be characterized by a variety of parameters that are nonspecific to its content. This stream of work suggests that any variable that facilitates fluent processing results in increased liking, and other positive evaluations. Recent work on context complexity (Orth and Crouch, 2014) suggests that people process a package more fluently when it is presented in a low rather than high complexity context. Further, research on contextual cues (Zhu and Meyers-Levy, 2009) shows that the extent of feature overlap between a context and a target object determines whether a person interprets the target related or not related to the contextual data. Accumulating research suggests that a deeper understanding of the way consumers process multiple contextual cues promises to shed light on our understanding of many areas of consumer research. Although visual appeal is itself multifaceted (Bloch, 1995), much of the current discussion with respect to visual cues does not consider the interaction of multiple shop environments. Given the importance of processing fluency and context effects, we examine the extent to which consumers positively elaborate cognitive processes in relation to product context complexity. Following research in psychology, fluency is the subjective experience of ease with which a person processes a stimulus (Reber et al. 2004). High fluency elicits a positive reaction. We predict that less complex contexts of the product will be easier to process and produce more favorable evaluations of the product. Further, research on contextual cues (Aggarwal and McGill, 2007; Meyers-Levy and Sternthal, 1993) shows that consumers better overlap contextual cues when cues are moderately congruent rather than low congruent. This suggests that consumers respond more favourably to moderate congruent shop environments. Studies Two studies tested our prediction that product context complexity across shop environments affects consumer’s processing fluency, liking, and product evaluation. In both studies, participants were provided with pictures of real products and shop environments. Images were manipulated to disguise brand names. Participants were recruited online through the platform Prolific Academic. Study 1 tested the hypothesized negative effect of product context complexity on processing fluency, and liking. The final section of the survey asked for personal information, including gender, age, and style of reasoning. These variables had no significant impact on the dependent variables of interest and were excluded from further analysis. In study 1, ninety participants (mean age = 34.20, 63 females) were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (product context complexity: low vs. high). They viewed one randomly selected picture of cosmetics displayed on counter displays across two different stores. Cosmetics was chosen due to the large variance in products presentation across multiple retailers. In a pretest, 87 participants rated perceived complexity of the display to examine whether the display complexity differs across the two conditions. The manipulation was successful (Mlow = 2.32 vs. Mhigh = 3.68; F(1,85) =24.299, p < 0.001). Running one-way ANOVA with product context complexity as independent variable and processing fluency as dependent variable a significant main effect of the context complexity (M = 5.05 vs. M = 4.37; F (1,87) = 3.913, p < 0.05). To test our prediction that liking is mediated by processing fluency of product context complexity, a mediation analysis was conducted (PROCESS model 4: Hayes, 2014). Bootstrap estimation confirmed that processing fluency mediates the influence of product context complexity on liking (simple slope = 0.44, LLCI = 0.01, ULCI = 0.94). In study 2, our aim was to corroborate and extend study 1 findings by testing product context complexity in congruent and less congruent shop environments. One hundred seventy-seven participants (mean age = 35,31, 80 females) viewed one randomly selected combination of chocolate shop environments. As in study 1, we chose chocolate due to the large variance in products presentation across multiple retailers. Chocolate was displayed on tower displays (products context complexity: low vs. high), and matched with the overall in-store presentation of three chocolate shop environments (shop environment congruence: low vs. moderate vs. high). After processing the pictures, participants were asked to rate processing fluency, liking, and product evaluation. Similarly to Study 1, the final section of the survey asked for personal information, including gender, age, and shopping goal. Again, these variables had no significant impact on the dependent variables of interest and were excluded from further analysis. Two pretests confirmed that our manipulation of product context complexity (Mlow = 1.96 vs. Mhigh = 4.01, F(1,57) = 23.464, p < 0.001) and store processing fluency (Mlow = 3.50 vs. Mmoderate = 4.14 vs. Mhigh = 5.10, F(1,109) = 10.465, p < 0.005) were successful. Running a factorial ANOVA with processing fluency as dependent variable indicated a nonsignificant main effect of product context complexity. Shop environment congruence had a significant main effect (F(2,171) = 6.561, p < 0.005). Contrasts analysis revealed significant differences between the high congruence/context complexity condition and the low congruence/context complexity condition, and between the moderate congruence/context complexity condition and the low congruence/context complexity condition (all ps < 0.005). We then tested the prediction that processing fluency mediates the effects of shop environment congruence on liking and product evaluation through product context complexity as moderator. We used a moderated mediation analysis with the bootstrap PROCESS model 8: Hayes, 2014). There was a significant conditional indirect effect of shop environment congruence on liking though product context complexity in the high context complexity condition, b = -0.280, LLCI = -0.509, ULCI = -0.120. A similar estimation with product evaluation as the independent variable revealed that processing fluency mediated the relationship between significant shop environment congruence and product evaluation though product context complexity in the high context complexity condition, b = -0.375, LLCI = -0.631, ULCI = -0.153). Discussion Our findings demonstrated the influence of product context complexity on processing fluency and product evaluation. The results showed that less context complexity leads to an ease of processing. Study 1 confirmed the negative relationship between product context complexity and processing fluency. Further, study 1 demonstrates a mediation mechanism of processing fluency on liking. This result confirms prior work on processing fluency (Reber et al., 2004). Further. we extend previous work on visual complexity (Orth and Crouch 2014) by demonstrating that low congruence shop environments may influence consumer processing fluency. In study 2, we looked at how consumers respond to complex and less complex presentation of products in congruent and less congruent shop environments. Our results support research on contextual cues (Zhu and Meyers-Levy, 2009) by showing an interesting path of complex contextual cues. Complex contexts may affect consumer’s evaluation of products. This pattern is more pronounced in low congruent shop environments. Consumers may evaluate much less favorably visually complex contexts in low congruence shop environments than in congruent shop environment. Such behavior is due to the extent to which consumers overlap the shop environment and the target product. This research shed light on how consumers combine retail and product cues. By integrating research on processing fluency and contextual cues, our work allows a better crafting product design and retail strategies. Apart from the theoretical contributions, this research provides marketing manager with insights into how to develop easier to process shop environment for consumers. The results suggest that when products are presented with complex contexts, consumers respond less favorably to the visual appearance of their products. For retail managers, the results provide insight into why it might be especially difficult to process more complex settings of the products. The results suggest that to make a shop environment more favorable, managers have to find solutions to reallocate complex contextual cues of the products. This could be done through developing more congruent areas within the store. Given the growing importance of visual strategies in retailing, our research gives managers suitable solutions to allocate in-store resources.

This paper develops a conceptual framework merging evolutionary, cognitive and cultural dimensions on beauty. It proposes a research agenda for all three dimensions calling researchers to better understand the concept of beauty, as well as to take it into account and develop it in the field of consumer research.

City-branding is usually a topic that practitioners, official bodies and academic researchers have approached from the marketing perspective, i.e. the deliberate strategy set to better “sell” a city-location to various stakeholders, from tourists to investors. The idea is to shape the city image which, as any location image, is a multidimensional phenomenon involving cognition and emotions. It has been defined as the aggregate of impressions, expectations and thoughts related to a definite place (Kotler et al., 1999; Ulaga et al. 2002). However, some scholars have found that places are “like a blank canvas upon which a series of representation are layered producing a place that is uniquely identifiable” (Staiff, 2014). Such representations include poetry, painting, film, travel writing, postcards, novels, maps, guide books and advertising. They build some imaginary of the place with physical buildings as metonymic characteristics of it, producing in the end some hyperreal meaning of the city, an iconic one (Ellul, 1988; Staiff, 2014). Therefore, studying the successive ways of staging a city in advertising, one should be able to identify the iconic elements of the city, the overall city-image implicitly built (and congruent categories of products) and in the end the culturally-built current visual imagery of the city, i.e. the one being currently promoted by city-branding marketing strategies. Particularly, fashion advertising is, as a creative industry (Howkins, 2002), part of some cultural-expression and cultural-building processes. Regular reuse of a setting would simultaneously shape the imaginary of this setting, while borrowing some of its features and facets. The setting would thus become quite quickly an iconic representation of itself (Greimas, 1966), ultimately becoming hyperreal. We use Venezia as the field of study. Our objective is to show the hyperreal nature of the current city-image, with the disappearance of distinctions between signified and sign (Baudrillard, 1994), thanks to the successive reproduction of preceding reproductions of reality in fashion ads using Venezia as a setting. To do so, we use semiotics, building some analytic grid. Particularly, we study: the general impression/feelings when observing the ad; denotation; iconic semiotic analysis including gestalt elements; lexicographic analysis of the text present on the ad; enunciation and emitter’s position; whether the ad is opaque or transparent; the connotations that derive from all previous; and the ultimate classification of the ad depending on its ideology (Floch, 1990). The final results will be ready by the time of the conference. Some interesting trends already emerge, for instance the regular empowering nature of the city for human beings represented in the ad, or the transparent nature of the ad. Besides from providing interesting conclusion on Venezia and on fashion advertising systematically using some setting, we believe the added value of the research is also in the methodological approach that could be used by official entities to understand how their city is iconically represented and craft consistent city-branding strategies, esp. when the city has some historical linkage with fashion and luxury history. Similarly, fashion marketers and advertisers would benefit from knowing about the processes behind systematic reuse of a setting with insights for all fashion-related or luxury-related cities (Paris, Milan, Florence, New York, etc.).

Recent research has shown that many companies in the fashion industry are increasingly weaving close relationships with the art world, to appropriate art values and meanings to be associated with their own products and brands (Hagdtvedt & Patrick, 2008a; 2008b). Businesses related to the fashion luxury sector have been especially prone to using such strategies to transform their products into true artworks to address the issue of commodification resulting from high production volumes (Dion and Arnoult, 2011; Riot, Chameret & Rigaud, 2013). Over the past two decades, the luxury market has undergone huge structural changes through mergers and acquisitions that have transformed an industry made up of small, family businesses into major financial conglomerates and brand owners (Roux & Floch, 1996; Crane 2012). Secondly, globalization and openness to new fast-growing markets such as Asia, have led these luxury conglomerates to increase sales volumes, failing in one of the basic characteristics of such goods: rarity. But if the real rarity of luxury products is a promise that companies can no longer guarantee their own consumers, the elitism of these products can be ensured through an artificial rarity. Jean-Noël Kapferer used the neologism artification recently introduced by French sociologists Nathalie Heinich and Roberta Shapiro and applied it to the analysis of luxury goods (Kapferer, 2012; 2014; Heinich and Shapiro, 2012; Shapiro and Heinich, 2012). He stressed that a strategy based on art implemented by luxury companies is useful mainly to support the perception of rarity by the final consumer. Artification is based on the notion that art –related objects or persons are associated with positive values. Enhancing a corporate image in the consumer’s mind means building positive ties to the brand that will initiate a form of benevolence towards the brand, providing the legitimization of corporate actions and, in some cases, resulting in the purchase of goods and services produced and distributed by the company (Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1996; Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000; Keller, 2003). We decided to analyse the effect of Artification on brand value by focusing on the four dimensions of Awareness, Image, Quality and Loyalty by using the same CbBE ( Customer-based Brand Equity) structure previous authors tested on country of origin effect on consumers, based on the main hypotheses further explained (Pappu, Quester & Cooksey, 2006). The first hypothesis relates to the dimension of Awareness and aims to test the level of brand recognition in final consumers when the logo is modified by an artist. • H1 – Consumers’ awareness remains strong when the brand is ‘artified’. We analyze then the Image, as the second dimension of CbBE. Due to the complexity of this dimension, we posited two hypotheses connected to it: • H2a – Consumers’ free associations to the brand are connected to the artworld when the brand is ‘artified’ (e.g. consumers indicate words as art, contemporary art or the name of the artist). • H2b – Consumers’ evaluation of the brand image points to stronger positive associations when the brand is ‘artified’ The last two hypotheses we mention are connected to the dimensions of Quality and Loyalty: • H3 – Consumers’ evaluation of Quality increases when the brand is ‘artified’.  H4 – Consumers’ Loyalty to the brand increases when the brand is ‘artified’. • The analysis was conducted through a between-subjects randomized experiment and manipulated art presence (with art versus without art). Starting from the same panel, two groups were created: one including the treatment (visual arts) and one including no treatment at all. Furthermore, we limited ourselves in this experiment to images of products and pattern created by Louis Vuitton that are actually on the market, associating them randomly to the research units in order to obtain two statistically consistent groups subjected to the different treatment (with art or without art)4. The two groups were labelled ‘artified’ group and control group, the first grouping the respondents to the questionnaire containing images of Louis Vuitton Logo, pattern and product modified by art collaboration with Yayoi Kusama; and the second grouping the respondents to the questionnaire containing images of Louis Vuitton Logo, pattern and product in its standard design. The questionnaire was distributed between the months of May and June 2015 via Qualtrics survey software. It was divided into four distinct blocks: the first concerned the presentation of the survey, the declaration of authorization signed by the participants and the demographic information; the second and the third blocks of questions were identical, with the same series of questions but based on different images used. There were 880 respondents, 825 of whom correctly filled the questionnaire we submitted to them. The control group was made of 413 respondents, 73.13 % of whom were female and 26.87 % male. The ‘artified’ group was made of 71.60 % female and 28.40 % male. We analyzed the four dimensions of Awareness, Image, Quality and Loyalty individually and in a comparative manner between the control and ‘artified’ groups. In the CbBE model, dimensions are analyzed individually since Awareness and brand Image measures are not comparable because they are collected through different measure methods, respectively through multiple choice and open-ended questions. Such dimensions as Image, Quality and Loyalty which were raised through Likert scales were then subjected to mono multivariate statistical analysis. The main results are shown in table 1. By reading the results for CbBE, Hypothesis H1 [Consumers’ awareness remain strong when the brand is ‘artified’] has been confirmed. The aided brand awareness shows no important differences between the two groups, so visual artists may modify logos or the appearance of luxury products without the fear of compromising brand awareness in the final consumers. Hypothesis H2a [Consumers’ free associations to the brand are connected to the arts when the brand is ‘artified’ (e.g. the word art, contemporary art or the name of the artist)] was not confirmed. Hypothesis H2b was partially confirmed as Generic Associations and Brand Personality were impacted by the use of the visual arts, while Organizational Associations were not. Brand loyalty and Perceived Quality were not impacted by the Visual Arts either, so Hypothesis H3 and H4 were not confirmed. As a main result for CbBE analysis, the Visual Arts have an impact on Customer-based Brand Equity, limited to Brand Image dimensions. The fact that Brand Image is one of the most complex dimensions of brand value opens the way to the development of future analysis and research in the visual arts as external source for brand equity, especially for Brand Personality. The main results of our research show that an artification effect is visible especially at the level of brand image and brand personality, two complex and valuable components of Brand Value from a consumer perspective. This opens to further in-depth analysis of these two components for future research. Large luxury groups (such as Cartier and Prada) have long used an art-based strategy to increase the value of their products, avoiding the risk of a loss of prestige perceived by the final consumer who would no longer recognize the exclusivity of a product that seems to be increasingly more industrial than handmade. Art can therefore contribute to alter and rework the image and market position of a specific brand or an entire product line, ensuring the transition from an ordinary image to a prestigious one, or strengthening the existing prestigious perception (Hetsroni & Tukachinsky, 2005; Lee et Al., 2015). We believe that a strategy based on art implemented by luxury companies is beneficial mainly to support the perception of rarity by the final consumer. Luxury goods would have to be unique or at least not produced in too high volumes precisely because of their craftsmanship and the care with which they are made. Rarity is not compatible with the increase in sales volumes required by the financial holdings that own the same luxury brands (Roux and Lipovetsky, 2003; Kapferer, 2012; 2014; 2015). The artification process we researched would have exactly the dual purpose of improving the brand image of companies that apply it, while increasing the perception of luxury in end consumers. What is more, we believe that the luxury brands from the industry sector that belong to large financial conglomerates now have the strength to simultaneously apply all the components in the artification process, by sustaining activities of sponsorship, philanthropy or generic collaboration with artists. The fact that luxury products are an integral part of the world of visual arts combined with the fact luxury brands have now the strong support base of large financial conglomerates can ensure the right economic and cultural support needed for the application of such a strategy. In the case of fashion companies, we believe artification is a process in itinere. In our experiment free associations to the brand show that only 2 consumers out of 880 remembered or knew the name of the artist (Yayoi Kusama) and 10 people indicated the substantive ‘art’ or ‘contemporary arts’ as free associations in the ‘artified group’ (only 2 in the control group). This shows that luxury brands ‘art-based strategy cannot only concentrate on temporary collaborations with artists. Luxury brands as Louis Vuitton must act as art institutions able to display arts collections to the widest public and bestow art status and global recognition to collaborating artists (Masè and Cedrola, 2017). This strategy relies on LV ability to raise consumers’ awareness of the arts. While the art-oriented public recognizes artistic collaborations, the larger public does not yet is still very much aware of new designs. Novelty is equally perceived by both, but is partially decoded by one category of consumers.

Price has always had a key role in the luxury fashion market, because high prices are linked to the prestige of luxury products. Because of this, scholars have neglected the possible existence of unintuitive and controversial pricing strategies followed by luxury firms. This article deals with this literature gap, analysing the odd even price strategy. With the direct observation of physical and digital store windows of 20 luxury brands, this research examines the relationship between odd even price strategy and the luxury level of fashion brands considering both offline and online channels

Fast fashion refers to a strategy to respond to the latest fashion trends by short production and distribution lead times, limited supplies and rapid inventory turnover rates. Whilst research on fast fashion mostly investigates producers’ side, e.g. supply chain, scholarship exploring consumers’ side of fast fashion remains limited. In addition, research on fast fashion consumption tends to neglect similarities and differences of consumers (e.g. needs, wants, desires, and demographic characteristics) in different parts of the world, particularly developed and developing economies. The aim of this study is threefold: Firstly, by focusing on the emergent Turkish market and the established Finnish market, it analyses and compares fast fashion consumption of Turkish and Finnish consumers. Secondly, through qualitative and quantitative studies, it reveals the components of fast fashion consumption, which include appearance management, repeat visiting behavior, product use duration, interaction with social media, impulse buying, willingness to pay full price, hedonic consumption, and fashion involvement, and develops a scale for measuring fast fashion consumption. Thirdly, it evaluates the impact of each component and examines the influence of demographic variables on fast fashion consumption. The findings demonstrate both personal and national differences in the components of fast fashion and point to a need for an in-depth, cross-cultural study on ethical and environmental issues related to fast fashion consumption.

The main objective of this study is to compare the difference of consumers’ perception on brand context. The focal factors are brand equity, brand personality and perceived customer value. This would enhance the knowledge of cross-cultural brand equity and brand personality, especially in Fast-Fashion industry. In addition, the findings of this study show that, for a brand in different marketing context, how customers perceive the brand and contribute it to their value. The sample size of 800 consumers is applied (400 Japanese consumers and 400 Thai consumers. The focal brand is randomly selected by the researcher. The Structural Equation Modelling with multiple group analysis would be conducted for examining the differences of consumer perception on a Fast-Fashion brand. All major model fits indicator would be evaluated. Finally, the results of the study would be discussed.

E-commerce is a global phenomenon that reshapes retailing and the appropriate multinational corporations. The goal of this study is to get a better understanding of the relationship between online customer reviews (OCRs), sales and sales after returns in the cross-national and cross-cultural context. We discuss our hypotheses by empirically analyzing a large and unique data set from a European fashion e-commerce company. This study links a wide range of transaction data (0.8 billion page clicks, 17 thousand different products, 499 brands, 50 product categories, 22 million sold and 11 million returned items) from six different countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland) with a large set of OCRs (0.7 million). Our results show that positive OCRs can lead to higher sales and sales after returns with considerable cross-country differences. We argue that differences in culture provide a substantial explanation for these effects by using Hofstede's cultural framework.

Over the last decades, the global luxury business has become dominated by large conglomerates. Backed by the financial power of their parent companies, formerly small and often family-owned brands have expanded their presence around the globe. They have established themselves in some of the most expensive shopping districts, acquired illustrious testimonials, and sponsored prestigious events. Almost overwhelmed by the omnipresence of luxury, consumers are said to have begun looking for the “genuine” and “unique,” favoring smaller, less homogenized and more intimate luxury brands not necessarily known to the larger public. This study thus looks beyond the well-known players in the luxury market and explores the differentiating strategies used by independent niche luxury companies. It aims to identify factors contributing to their success in a global market otherwise dominated by ever-growing luxury giants.

The economic growth that East Asian countries (in particular China) experience led to a dramatic increase in the demand for luxury products. The widespread use of them has eliminated to an extent the scarcity effect that distinguishes luxury products from ordinary goods. Yet, these products are largely desired, sought after and distributed with a high price tag, thereupon establishing the new class of neo-luxury products. The current body of knowledge regarding the consumption of luxury products is mostly based on economic and marketing research. There is little reference to the design of luxury goods and even less reference to the effects of design on the perception of luxury goods. Often, marketing research uses terms such as authenticity and aesthetics when defining and describing luxury brands and goods. Nonetheless, “design” is almost completely overlooked in these analyses. Rather, there is an assumption that design is automatically considered an embedded part of luxury creation through words such as “authentic”, “aesthetic” and “heritage.” Nonetheless, looking at the heritage aspects of luxurious products design, one may identify the building blocks that have been present in this market for centuries to create successful brands and products and, during the recent global economic changes, have transform into the new category of "mass luxury". This new product category of neo-luxury products should be looked at and analysed as a class of its own, distinct from luxury goods. In this respect, the luxury segment of the Chinese market is particularly interesting, since it had not experienced this genre of consumerism during most of the contemporary history of the western luxury industry post WWII. Thereupon, the new luxury design that addresses this rapidly growing and relatively immature market does it by harnessing the heritage and the conventional framework of luxury and luxury goods in new ways that can referred to as neo-luxury. The role and position of luxury goods are somewhat questioned in today's mass market: Often, in past times, luxury was associated with rarity (or, at least, with singling out an individual user from the masses of consumers of a similar category product). The paper aims at identifying the attributes of the new, rising class of neo-luxury products that distinguish themselves from the “conventional” luxury goods by utilizing qualitative materials and design. In this respect, aspects of heritage play a major role in the strategic design of these products. Further, they assist in establishing, promoting and

This paper explores how socio-ecological strategy applies to the Swiss watchmaking field in its current turbulent causal texture given novel regulatory changes, the emergence of connected devices, volatile consumer behaviour and un-planned for currency changes. We explore how Fligstein and McAdam’s (2012) theory of fields extends the socio-ecological strategy approach, explain how turbulence is manifested in Swiss watchmaking and empirically investigate how the three strategic stances of socio-ecological strategy (preparation, relocating and reinventing collaboration) fare in the Swiss watchmaking field.