Introduction Consumers throughout the world, including Asia, are showing increased concerns about food safety. Public policy, industry, and academic researchers are turning increased attention to the effects of food labeling requirements. General food labels provide information about serving size, servings per container, total calories per serving, calories from fat, and minimum daily nutritional value. Consumers must then use the food labeling information to make individual dietary choices. Thus it is appropriate for researchers to ask how consumers formulate product choices and evaluations according to food labeling information including calorie counts and standardized nutritional information (Ford et al. 1996; Keller et al. 1997; Roe, Levy, & Derby 1999). Long-term strategies are critically needed to find ways to protect public health and to assure food safety. Health practitioners and governmental regulators have increased their efforts to address the growing problem by sponsoring programs for food safety and by requiring nutritional labeling. In answer to the need for further research in food consumption behavior (RFC), this study was conducted to investigate how manufacturers might use consumers’ perceptions of risks and involvement for planning the most effective food labeling. Theoretical Framework To find ways to promote general and social marketing healthful consumer use of food labels (Lefebvre, 1988; McDermott, 2000), this study utilizes consumer segmentation techniques in which consumers are categorized according to psychological and demographic profiles (Slater, Kelly, & Thackeray, 2006). That is, they are segmented based on essential homogeneous responses (Forthofer, 2000; Kotler, 1971) and demographic characteristics, including age, gender, income and social class, although demographics may be less effective than psychological differences for predicting responses to health promotions (Lefebvre, 1988; Slater, 1991). The psychographics approach to consumer segmentation, derived from marketing techniques, selects variables that predict health behaviors; that is, consumers are segmented according to how they process communication channel properties and message features (Rimal & Adkins, 2003). By focusing on consumer segmentation we elucidate how consumers react to food labeling designed to promote health and food safety. Consumer segmentation should help us understand why consumers might reject risky unhealthful behaviors and adopt protective healthful behaviors (Slater, 2006). The risk perception attitude framework (Garretson & Burton, 2000; Rimal & Real 2003; Turner, Rimal, Morrison &, Kim, 2006) is a theoretical perspective for segmenting consumers based on their perceptions of risk and their beliefs about personal efficacy. According to the risk perception attitude framework, risk perceptions are usually insufficient to motivate behavior, but when high risk perceptions are coupled with strong efficacy beliefs, people are more motivated to engage in self-protective behaviors. Social cognitive theory and the extended parallel process model also support the importance of efficacy beliefs as moderating risk perception effects on self-protective behavior (Bandura 1986; Witte 1994). Using the risk perception attitude framework for purposes of this study, consumers are classified into four groups according to their risk perception and self-efficacy as indicated by their involvement in health concerns. 1) The "indifference" group comprises study participants who have low risk perceptions and low involvement; they believe they face few risks, lack control of their actions, and are thus not motivated to undertake protective behaviors. 2) The "responsive" group comprises study participants who have high risk perceptions and high involvement and thus are motivated to undertake extensive self-protective behaviors. 3) The "proactive" group comprises participants who have low risk perception but high involvement; they believe strongly in their personal abilities to take control, but perceive low risk and are thus not motivated to engage in self-protective behaviors. 4) The "avoidance" group comprises study participants who have high risk perceptions and low involvement; they are concerned about the need to counter risks but lack the self-efficacy and involvement to follow recommendations. Research Questions To examine the risk perception attitude framework in the context of research on food consumption behavior (RFC), three central research questions are posed: RQ1: How are consumers classified according to their level of perceived risk and involvement? RQ2: Do different consumer types show different attitudes toward paying higher prices for safer food and toward paying attention to food labels? RQ3: What factors influence consumer classifications? Methods Data for this study came from research on food consumption behavior (RFC) conducted by Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) in 2014. In 2013, the KREI began gathering data regarding food consumption behavior to help the food industry develop more efficient use of food resources. RFC data are appropriate because they include data about various consumption patterns regarding food lifestyles, purchases, and food safety. Specifically, RFC for this study, we gathered data for a stratified sampling of 6,311 consumers, 19 to 75-years-old, living in 16 metropolitan city-regions in South Korea. Table 1 shows general features of the research participants. Among the respondents, 44.2% were men; 55.8% were women; 10.7% were 19 to 25-years-old; 37.6% were high school graduates; 46.9% had lower than middle school graduation levels, 21.9% were college graduates, 2.3% had post-graduate levels, 1.1% were uneducated; 36.5% had average monthly family incomes of 200~399; 1.3% had the highest rate of 1000 and more; 1.0% had low to moderate interest in health; 42.8% reported that they bought food two or three times weekly; 0.7% reported buying food once a month. Respondents reported an average 3.93 regarding risk perceptions for food safety. Their reported average level of involvement was 3.32; average of intention to pay higher prices for safe food was 3.37, and their average likelihood of checking food labels was 3.15. Measurement To score education levels, the uneducated group = 1, less than middle school = 2, high school graduates = 3, college graduates = 4, and postgraduates = 5. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to measure participants’ interest in their health (1 = complete indifference to 5 = very much interested). Also a five-point Likert scale was used to measure perceived risk for twelve items related to food safety: foreign substances, pesticide residue, use of antibiotics in livestock and fish, natural toxicity, food additives, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, bacterial contamination, livestock disease, GMO, irradiation, packing hazards, and allergens (1 = not concerned at all to 5 = very concerned). Involvement was measured for three questions regarding food origin, food materials, and eco-friendly products (1 = not concerned at all to 5 = very concerned). Intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels were measured from 1 = not at all to 5 = very positive. Results Four consumer groups were classified according to their level of perceived risk and involvement. We followed previous RPA model studies (e.g., Sullivan et al., 2008; Jo & Yoo, 2011) and classified groups based on median perceived risk and involvement: (≥4.00) for high perceived risk, (<4.00) for low perceived risk, (≥3.333) for high involvement, and (< 3.33) for low involvement. The responsive group had high perceived risk and high involvement; the proactive group had low perceived risk and high involvement; the avoidance group had high perceived risk and low involvement; and the indifference group had low perceived risk and low involvement. Additionally, ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey test was conducted to examine the average difference among the four groups regarding their intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels. Multinomial logit regression was performed to discover the factors that influence classification of consumer types. Classification of consumer types according to perceived risk and involvement Table 1 shows the consumer classifications according to the level of perceived risk and involvement: 1,198 participants, 21.8%, were in the indifference group with low perceived risk and low involvement; 1,254 participants, 22.8%, were in the proactive group with low perceived risk and high involvement; 1,125 participants, 20.5%, were in the avoidance group with high perceived risk and low involvement; 1,924 participants, 35.5%, were in the responsive group with high perceived risk and high involvement. Among the four groups, the responsive group had a statistically significant relatively high ratio: χ2 value for group classification was 79.695 (p <.001). Consumer classification differences in purchase intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels Table 2 shows differences in intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels. The proactive group showed the highest average intentions to pay higher prices for safe food at 3.52, followed by the responsive group at 3.51, the avoidance group at 3.25, and the indifference group at 3.16. The differences among the groups were statistically significant. A Tukey post-analysis showed that the high involvement group, in contrast with the low involvement group, showed higher average intentions to pay higher prices for safe food. Among the low involvement groups, those with high perceived risk had higher average intentions than those with low perceived risk. The responsive group showed the highest average intentions to check food labels at 3.44, followed by the proactive group at 3.43, the avoidance group at 2.74, and the indifference group at 2.27. The differences among the groups were statistically significant. A Tukey post-analysis showed that high involvement groups, in contrast with low involvement groups, showed higher average intentions to check food labels, but no difference was found according to the level of perceived risk. Influential factors of consumer segmentations Table 3 shows the results of examining the factors of gender, age, education, monthly average family income, and interest in health that are typical in consumer segments. Comparing all groups with the responsive group, the indifference group was most likely to comprise young women who had lower educational levels, lower monthly income, and less interest in health. The proactive group was most likely to be made up of men. The avoidance group was most likely to be made of young men who had lower educational levels, lower monthly incomes, and less interest in health. Discussion This study is an investigation of the theoretical framework of risk perception and involvement according to indifference, proactivity, responsiveness, or avoidance consumer segments. The study centrally indicates that the four risk perception–involvement framework groups differ in their perceptions of risk and the extent of their involvement. By revealing the importance of high involvement as a fruitful intervention strategy, the results suggest practical implications for public policymakers and marketers who strive to devise appropriate food labeling. Social cognitive theory has long stressed the importance of enhancing personal involvement (Bandura 1986). That insight can be applied to the risk perception attitude framework for identifying particular audiences who will respond to involvement-enhancing messages. Our findings suggest that a useful strategy in promoting change is to recognize that consumers will react differently according to their tendencies toward indifference, proactivity, responsiveness, or avoidance.

A fashion social platform is a system that leverages the power of social connectivity to enable individuals to interact, accumulate information and create social values in fashion marketing. Fashion social platform participants, through their collective intelligence, give social platforms essential competence to solve economic and social issues, gather social capital, and create customer value. This study highlights the critical value of fashion social platforms and explains the relationships between knowledge sharing, social capital, and sustainable customer value. They examine (1) the effects of social network properties on knowledge sharing in fashion social platforms, (2) the effects of knowledge sharing on social capital, and (3) the effects of social capital on customer value in fashion social platforms. In the context of social platforms, this study clarifies the concept of customer value, the role of knowledge sharing, and the relationships between social capital and customer value. The study constructs a theoretical model regarding fashion social platforms and sustainable customer value that offers possible implications for fashion marketing practitioners.

Luxury brand marketers and advertisers are turning recent attention to social brand communities among users of luxury fashion brands (Ko & Megehee, 2012). Corporations or consumers build social brand communities to create authentic customer experiences, inspire interactivity, and enhance attitudes toward brand, brand loyalty, and purchase behavior. We look to structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) for providing new conceptual foundations for studying luxury brand communities (LBC) in the social media context. Our aim is to show that LBC strategies are effective for promoting luxury brands. Using structuration theory, we indicate that structure, integration, and interactivity provide conceptual frameworks for integrating and conceptualizing LBC. Our study is the first to use structuration theory concepts to develop a theoretical framework for LBC in the social media context. Through this study, we clarify (1) LBC structure, integration, and interactivity based on structuration theory in the social media context, (2) actual interaction and perceived interactivity of social media-based LBC, (3) structure, integration, and interactivity as they affect attitude, purchase intention, and brand loyalty as outcomes. Our clarifications suggest possible implications for luxury brand management practitioners. Marketing practitioners know that LBCs amplify customer relationships. Through this study, we offer insights to help luxury brand management practitioners understand customer behaviors in LBCs. Marketing practitioners will benefit from new ideas regarding how to develop and manage luxury brand strategies by understanding structure, integration, actual interaction, and perceived interactivity.

This study explores relationship between social responsibility in advertising and brand attitude in luxury products. This study investgates how psychological constructs of attitude towards advertising affect brand attitude and purchase intention of luxury brand consumer and how it can lead the sustainable development of luxury products. Consumers no longer purchase products only but depend on quality and price of product. With globalization and rapid growth, corporate social responsibility becomes important issue. And the advertising represents corporate image and management concept. More recently, and coinciding with some major corporate ethical disasters, many companies have been including sections on governance, ethical practice, and social responsibility (David S. Waller & Roman Lanis, 2009). According to David S. Waller & Roman Lanis (2009), Corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure has been the subject of substantial academic accounting research (Farook and Lanis 2005; Gray, Owen, and Maunders 1987). Advertising is one of the typical means that can represent a corporate image. As defined by Lutz (1985, p. 53), attitude toward advertising in general is “a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner to advertising in general.” In his framework, Lutz viewed attitude toward advertising in general as being directly influenced by general perceptions of advertising (Srinivas Durvasula et al., 1993). Authors would like to study following issues in this research. (1) How perceived social responsibility influences Attitude toward advertising. (2) How fashion consumer behavior influences Attitude toward advertising. (3) How attitude toward advertising affects brand attitude and purchase intention. (4) How proximity plays a moderating role among perceived social responsibility, attitude toward advertising and brand attitude.

These days, thanks to lots of smart devices and advanced communication technologies, consumer’s recognition and relations have been changed. They, beyond relying on information and services which are produced by experts, produce information and knowledge by themselves via SNS or web that they want to know. As consumer’s recognition is changing like this, SNS is evolving into social platform. Therefore, this paper is intended to clarify overall relationship between network characteristics in social platform, knowledge sharing, social capital, social innovation and customer’s value. This paper has clarified influences between variables related to consumer’s behaviors in social platform and the results are summarized as following: First, network characteristics in social platform are found to positively affect knowledge sharing efforts of social platform. Second, knowledge sharing has been found to positively affect social capital and innovation in social platform. However, enjoyment in helping others i.e a sub variable is found to positively affect social capital and innovation through anticipated reciprocal relationships. Third, social capital and innovation in social platform have affected customer value in social platform positively. Consequently, this paper is intended to solve various problems found from overall societies and industries through social innovation and also to advance them. For these purposes, social platform is believed to prompt sharing idea and knowledge based on interactions between users and social relationship. These actions become social capitals resulting in social innovation. Moreover, these would create new businesses and marketing opportunities across various areas in the processes that innovative activities form customer values.

Sustainable marketing, as recently noticed by academics and practitioners, refers to a form of marketing that makes a net positive contribution to society in terms of environmental, social, and economic developments. Firms’ interest in sustainability as part of business performance beyond mere financial goals has been increased. Various sources, including societal mandates incorporated into regulations, concern about loss of sales, and a potential decline in corporate reputation pressures companies into implementing proper sustainability management. The purpose of this study is to clarify measures of perceived sustainability from the marketing perspective, analyze the effects of perceived sustainability on customer equity, and develop the recent theoretical frameworks and implications that will enable sustainable marketing concepts to be globally competitive. The measures of perceived sustainability items enable researchers to examine relationships among perceptions of sustainability and other key customer equity variables, such as value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity. For this and other reasons, the MPS may have value to practitioners. By understanding perceived sustainability, they can develop economic, social, environmental and communication performances that effectively utilize sustainability. The measures of perceived sustainability offers researchers a tool for measuring perceived sustainability that is consistent with the literature on sustainability, while recognizing the reality that sustainability is a multidimensional construct. The rigor reflected in the multiple methods for generating scale items and the multiple stages in the scale development process results in a scale that should be useful to both researchers and practitioners.

The purpose of this study is to identify operational definition and measurements of sustainability for eco-design. The measures of perceived sustainability items enable for eco-design researchers and practitioners to clarify relationships among perceptions of sustainability and other key customer equity variables, such as value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity. The multiple methods for generating scale items and the multiple stages in the scale development process results in a scale that should be useful to both eco-design researchers and practitioners. This study offers a valuable tool for measuring perceived sustainability for eco-design researchers and practitioners from the sustainable marketing perspectives.

Introduction Driven by the rapidly evolving media landscape, firms extensively use social media to engage with their customers (Avery et al., 2010). Today, social media is an integral part of an individual’s daily life, which makes a vital venue through which companies connect with customers (Men & Tsai, 2011; Utz, 2009). Given the increased use of social media, recent studies have investigated how social media cultivates customer relationships with celebrities and/or media personalities (e.g., Smith, 2010). In light of the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool, it is noteworthy to analyze the source power of celebrities and social relationships and consider how to take advantage of the power. The parasocial relationship is founded upon the communication process, which is an important factor in understanding the relationship between media and users. Parasocial relationships differ according to the motives for using social network service (SNS), while connection and attachment to celebrities, such as having empathy for a particular celebrity, is affected by celebrity source credibility. (Ohanian, 1990). The purpose of this study is to clarify the relation between parasocial relationships and customer equity in the social media context. The study investigates effects of motivations to use SNS and source credibility on parasocial relationships, as well as the effects of parasocial relationships on attitude and customer equity, and customer lifetime value. Theoretical Frameworks In this study, parasocial relationship refers to a virtual intimacy between a media personality and the media users, in other words, it is a psychological, interpersonal relationship unilaterally formed by users based on proximity, similarity, and attraction to the media personalities (Rubin & Step, 2000). When a parasocial relationship is formed, the media consumer appreciates the values and motives of the media character, often viewing him or her as a counselor, comforter, and model (Horton & Wohl, 1956). When using an SNS, users’ communication habits and their selection of social network services vary according to their motives, which in turn affect the parasocial relationships with celebrities via SNS. Motives for using SNS, specifically, information seeking, entertainment, and social connection may have a positive relationship with parasocial relationships. Source credibility, the positive characteristics of a communicator that affect the receiver’s acceptance of a message, positively influences parasocial relationships (Ohanian, 1990; McCracken, 1989) based on expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness of the media celebrities. In the social media context, a parasocial relationship has positive influence on attitude toward using an SNS. Social media users engage in finding people with whom they have an offline connection (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Social media enables individuals to connect with others all around the world easily, it is not surprising that parasocial relationships influence users’ attitude toward using social media, offering environments to enhance connections (Byod & Ellison, 2008). Further, it is worthwhile to note that parasocial relationships may have a positive influence on customer equity. The key to customer equity lies in understanding the customer lifetime value concept, which refers to the net present value of a customer’s profit stream (Rust, Lemon, & Zeithaml, 2004). Parasocial relationships positively influence brand, value and relationship equity, with the emergence of brands as one of the key organizational assets (Gummesson, 2004). Parasocial relationships explain relationships between individuals and brands, product, symbols, objects, and corporate identities. Such relationships allow individuals to have bonds with brands, trademarks and other symbols, politicians, sportsmen or even actors (Gummesson, 2004). Thus, they positively influence customer equity including brand equity, value equity, and relationship equity. Focused on effects of motivations to use SNS and source credibility on parasocial relationship as well as the effects of parasocial relationship on attitude, customer equity, and customer lifetime value, this study tests the following hypotheses: H1: Motivations to use SNS will have a positive influence on parasocial relationship. H2: Source credibility will have a positive influence on parasocial relationship. H3: Parasocial relationship will have a positive influence on attitude toward using SNS. H4: Attitude toward using SNS will have a positive influence on customer equity. H5: Parasocial relationship will have a positive influence on customer equity. Methods This study used a survey to investigate key questions about the associations between parasocial relationships and customer equity. A total of 350 social media users recruited from Hong Kong and Macau in China participated in the survey. Of the 350 participants, 129 were men (36.9%) and 221 were women (63.1%), with ages ranging from 21 and 35 years old (mean = 25.6 years). This study measured motivations for using SNS on a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree), which was adapted from an existing motivation scale (Leung, 2009; Leung & Wei, 1998; Sheldon 2008). To measure source credibility, this study used a five-point Likert scale, which was also adapted from an existing source credibility scale (Eisend & Langner, 2010; Priester & Petty 2003). Parasocial relationships were measured on the basis of user responses to 17 items on an existing five-point scale that assessed parasocial relationships (Koeppel et al., 1993). This study measured attitude toward using SNS through an existing scale (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003). Customer equity was measured using an existing five-point scale (Keller, 2003; Rust et al., 2004) that elicited user responses to 13 items. Customer lifetime value (CLV) was calculated only for the customers in the sample, and CLVs were calculated separately before the average was taken by using the equation below: The CLVij of customer i to brand j, is given as: Tij= Frequency of purchases by customer i for a specific period of time dj= The rate of discount offered by company j fi= Annual average frequency of purchases by customer i for a certain period of time Vijt= The amount of purchase of brand j by customer i for a period of time t πijt= Expected profits by purchase unit of brand j by customer i for a period of time t Bijt= Probability that customer i buys brand j in purchase t Results The overall goodness-of-fit for this measurement model was acceptable (Chi-square = 8.218, df = 5, p = 0.145, GFI = 0.992, CFI = 0.991, RMR = 0.095, RMSEA = 0.043). The reliability coefficients of all 20 motivation measures were 0.885, and they were based on three factors of information seeking, entertainment, and building relationships. The reliability coefficients of all 16 source credibility measures were 0.924 with three factors of attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness. The reliability coefficients of all 17 parasocial relationship measures were 0.866 with three factors: proximity, similarity, and attachments. The reliability coefficients of all 13 customer equity measures were 0.838 with three factors of value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity. Cronbach’s alpha for attitude was 0.792. The coefficients indicate the acceptable reliability of the measures. Motivations to use SNS showed statistically positive effects on parasocial relationship (β = 0.151, p < 0.001). Specifically, entertainment (β = 0.148, p < 0.01) and building relationships (β = 0.093, p < 0.05) motivations showed significant positive effects on parasocial relationships while information seeking motivation did not show significant effects on parasocial relationships (β = 0.074). Source credibility showed statistically positive effects on parasocial relationship (β = 0.316, p < 0.001). Thus, the results supported H1 and H2. Parasocial relationships showed statistically positive effects on attitude (β = 0.295, p < 0.001) and customer equity (β = 0.272, p < 0.001). Attitude showed statistically positive effects on customer equity (β = 0.172, p < 0.001). Thus, the results supported H3 and H4. Customer equity showed statistically positive effects on customer lifetime value (β = 3.452, p < 0.001). Thus, the results supported H5 (see Table 1, Figure 1). Discussion This study contributes to clarifying parasocial relationships in the social media context and determining the relationships between parasocial relationship and customer equity. This study contributes to the theoretical foundation and implications of parasocial relationships and customer equity. Specifically, motivations to use SNS and source credibility positively influence parasocial relationship. Parasocial relationships have positive effects on attitude and customer equity. Customer equity, in turn, has positive effects on customer lifetime value. The study is the first of its kind on the effects of parasocial relationships on customer equity in the social media context. The study finds that motivations and source credibility are important antecedents of consumers’ parasocial relationships formed via social media. Parasocial relationships have a positive effect on attitude and customer equity, and customer equity leads to increased customer lifetime value. This study suggests that parasocial relationship is one of the strong influential variables on customer equity as it improves customer lifetime value. Thus, marketers should definitely consider parasocial relationship management in the social media context while tailoring their brand communications to their most profitable customers and enhance their customer lifetime value.

The purpose of this study is to offer conceptual foundations of social brand community by developing an integrated overview of the current research. Concepts from the Structuration theory are used for synthesizing the consumer behavior literature. This study attempts to find and fill the gaps between brand community and social brand community. To fill the gaps in the literature, potential research questions and future research directions are suggested. This study offers foundations to develop a conceptual model of social brand community by considering the basic concepts in the Structuration theory and critical characteristics of the social media environment.

Driven by the consumer demand for companies to be socially responsible, companies are increasingly relating their brands to causes and charities in order to accomplish nonprofit objectives and corporate sustainability. In a social marketing campaign, the consumers’ choice of the cause can influence their reactions through the processes of choice. Allowing the consumers to choose the cause may also reinforce their personal role in the donation process, which may result in a better outcome. Further, advertisers are paying increasing attention to the launch of social marketing campaigns via social media, since social media has recently become an essential part of daily life and therefore an imperative venue through which companies connect with consumers. Focusing on the rapidly evolving social media landscape, this study primarily clarifies (1) how choice influences consumers’ perceived interactivity with a social marketing campaign in the social media context, and (2) consumer involvement, as consumers’ individual differences can enhance or limit the effects of a social marketing campaign with choice. Using field experiments, this study investigates the relationships between the consumers’ choice, perceived interactivity, attitude, and purchase intention, and considers the moderating effects of involvement on those relationships. This study’s contributions are that it illuminates (1) the effects of choice on the perceived interactivity of social marketing campaigns in social media contexts, (2) the role of involvement in social marketing campaigns as a moderator, and (3) attitude and purchase intention as outcomes that can facilitate the construction of a theoretical model for social marketing campaigns with choice in the social media context and offer possible implications for advertising practitioners.