This study investigated how immersive VR store experience generated consumers’ urge to buy via self-imagery and pleasure. It also identified that the processing varied by the level of self-relevance to the VR store. The findings suggest that the impact of VR store experience can be expanded to impulsive/compulsive purchases.

This study attempts to investigate consumers’ perceptual process of influencer advertising and its impact on brand attitude formation on social media. Perceived congruence between the influencer and the product and sponsorship disclosure are manipulated as key independent variables. In so doing, this study examines whether consumers can infer two types of motives (affective vs. calculative) from different levels of perceived congruence (high vs. low) and sponsorship disclosure (present vs. absent). The impact of multiple motive inference on brand attitude is also examined in this study. The result indicates that perceived congruence of influencer and posting has a significant effect on the affective motive inference. When the posting is perceived to be relevant to and expected from the influencer, the participants infer the affective motive of the influencer. However, the participants do not infer calculative motives from the incongruent posting of the influencer. As native advertising can obfuscate the boundary between editorial and commercial contents (Conill, 2016), perceived congruence is significant to successfully cover the posting as a natural posting by influencer and induce affective motive inference. In addition, the disclosure of sponsorship did not reveal any effect on the calculative and the affective motive inferences. Even though the disclosure of sponsorship can make viewers recognize an advertising intent (Boerman, Willemsen, & Van Der Aa, 2017), the message did not induce motives inference behind it. It is significant to investigate whether there are intervening variables that moderate the linkage between sponsorship disclosure and motive inference processing. Furthermore, affective motive inference impacted the attitude for the brand whereas calculative motive inference exerted no significant effect. These findings suggest that when the product promoted in influencer advertising is congruent with the influencer, consumers form positive attitude toward the brand through affective inference processing. To successfully implement influencer advertising, marketers should design a content congruent with the influencer’s original postings and encourage audience to engage in affective motive processing.

Introduction For the past decade, luxury brands have become increasingly interested in portraying themselves as purveyors and curators of a “luxury lifestyle” (Dauriz & Tochtermann, 2013). Some of the world‟s largest fashion brands, for instance, have expanded their offerings to include lifestyle products and services such as housewares, furniture, fine dining, hotels, and private residences (e.g., Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Bottega Veneta, Hermès) (Mellery-Pratt, 2014). Given that “lifestyle” is now one of the major buzzwords in luxury marketing (Dauriz & Tochtermann, 2013), it is useful to attempt to provide a solid theoretical perspective on this topic. The objective of this paper is to deepen our understanding of “luxury lifestyle” in a contemporary context. To do so, we first examine the existing definitions of lifestyle as a marketing concept. Next, we link the concept of lifestyle to customer segmentation and provide an integrative conceptual framework on lifestyle segments within luxury marketing. Finally, we highlight key insights and important lessons concerning luxury lifestyle segmentation for both theoretical and practical applications. Literature Review Multiple definitions of lifestyle exist in the literature. In this paper, we focus on the major accepted definitions. The concept of lifestyle was first introduced by Lazer (1964) in marketing research. According to his pioneering work, lifestyle is a distinctive mode of living, embodying the aggregative patterns that develop and emerge from the dynamics of living in a society. Building on this notion, Plummer (1974) specifically conceptualized lifestyle as a unique behavioral style of living that includes a wide range of activities (A), interests (I), and opinions (O). His AIO framework served as an important building block in the development of lifestyle scales as shown in Table 1. Table 1. A Summary of Lifestyle Scales Since the introduction of Rokeach Value Survey (Rokeach, 1973), the concept of lifestyle has been combined with personal values as exemplified in VALS (Mitchell, 1983). According to Schwartz (1994), values are one‟s desirable, relatively stable goals that serve as guiding principles in life. In other words, values contribute to the formation of a certain lifestyle (Gunter & Furnham, 1992) in that: (a) values are transsituational in nature influencing a wide range of behaviors across many different situations; and (b) individuals prioritize their world views based on their values varying in importance (Seligman et al., 1996). In the context of consumer behaviour, values are commonly regarded as the most deeply rooted, abstract consumer traits explaining how and why consumers behave as they do (Vincent & Selvarani, 2013). In line with this perspective, we thus conclude that luxury lifestyle is a multi-faceted construct focusing on a luxury consumer’s personal values manifested in the consumer’s activities, interests, and opinions. Conceptual Framework We propose a new framework of luxury lifestyle segmentation, including Conspicuous Emulators, “I-Am-Me” Uniqueness Seekers, Self-Driven Achievers, Hedonistic Experientials, and Societally Conscious Moralists, based on the review of related literature (e.g., Mitchell, 1983; Vigneron & Johnson, 2004; He, Zou, & Fin, 2010). The description of each segment and related firm strategies are shown in Table 2. Table 2. Lifestyle Segmentation Framework for Luxury Marketing Discussion and Implications Lifestyle is now the focal point for the marketing activities of most luxury firms (Dauriz & Tochtermann, 2013). In this study, we focused on the concept of lifestyle, one of the most compelling and widely used approaches to luxury market segmentation. Our conceptual framework built on the notion that luxury markets are heterogeneous, consistent with prior research describing the heterogeneity of luxury consumers (e.g., Vigneron & Johnson, 2004; He, Zou, & Fin, 2010). Since the 1960s, lifestyle has been viewed as a key marketing concept and has been the focus of a significant part of the market segmentation literature. The basic concept of lifestyle has not been greatly altered. Many of the fundamental approaches to lifestyle research are still valid today. The essence of the AIO approach outlined by Plummer (1974) is still evident in the work by Ko, Kim, and Kwon (2006) that defines a fashion lifestyle. Other advances in lifestyle research use personal value theories to specify different consumer segments. Despite the underlying stability of the basic concept of lifestyle, recent advances in digital communications and social media platforms and the trend toward globalization are introducing a discontinuous change to the adoption and implementation of segmentation strategies in luxury markets. Information technology has dramatically affected the nature of the communication and distribution options for luxury firms. As exemplified in specific industry examples in Table 2, consumers now interact with luxury firms through myriad touchpoints in multiple channels and media. These changes are altering the concept of luxury lifestyle segmentation. Thus, there is much room for additional research to strengthen the overall conceptualization of luxury lifestyle segmentation. One important topic involves the question of whether specific lifestyle segments prefer specific forms of touchpoints. For example, Hedonistic Experientials may prefer social media platforms whereas, for other segments, traditional vehicles such as print advertising and flagship stores may still remain crucial. Given a sizable and growing number of global luxury brands, another important issue for future research is to investigate whether the five lifestye segments conceptualized in this study can be empirically replicated on a global scale. We conclude that the concept of lifestyle segmentation, once adjusted to reflect the impact of the digital revolution and the globalization of luxury brands, has a great potential to advance both theory and practice in luxury marketing.

Consumers’ perception of advertisements can affect brand attitudes, brand trust, and brand image (Meenaghan, 1995; Sheinin, Varki, & Ashley, 2011). Therefore, strategic selection of elements in advertisements becomes important, especially for luxury brands. Luxury brands tend to position themselves as artisans of a particular category or a product and highlight exclusivity (Fionda & Moore, 2008). When a luxury brand is known for a specific product, a less-known product of the brand in an advertisement would be perceived differently. The present study focused on exploring the different effects of iconic products and less-associated products of a luxury brand in the context of advertisements. Categorization theory, typicality effects, and conceptual fluency provided theoretical foundation in understanding the relationships. Typicality effects, simply put, occur when members in a category are graded, “with members ranging from very good (typical) members of a category to very poor (atypical) members of a category” (Loken, Barsalou, & Joiner, 2008, p. 153). In consumer studies, typicality had been examined in various dimensions and showed to effect consumer attitude (Goedertier, Dawar, Geuens, & Weijters, 2015; Loken & Ward, 1990; Ward & Loken, 1988). However, to our knowledge, the subject had not been covered in the luxury brand advertisement context. To test the effects of typicality, the study examined whether typical products in luxury advertising have a higher level of advertisement liking, pleasantness, and novelty than atypical products (H1), whether consumers’ advertisement attitude from luxury advertising have a positive effect on brand attitude (H2), and whether consumers’ product involvement moderated the relationship between product typicality and advertisement attitude. Before the main test, two pretests were performed; the first to select the luxury brand and products to be used in the main test; the second to ensure the brand-product association of the advertisements. A total of 123 undergraduate students participated in the experiment, a (typical vs. atypical) between-subjects design. Participants were exposed to one of the two experimental conditions and were asked to complete a questionnaire. They were provided with questions measuring advertisement liking, pleasantness, novelty, brand attitude, demographical questions, and manipulation checks. All questions, apart from the demographics and certain questions in the manipulation checks, were measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Reliability analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis were used in hypothesis testing. Results of the study revealed that typical brand products in luxury brand advertisements have a higher level of advertisement liking, pleasantness, and novelty. Additionally, advertisement liking and novelty have a positive effect on brand attitude but pleasantness had no effect. Finally, product involvement did not moderate the effects of product typicality on advertisement attitude. The study shows significance in that it supports the typicality effect in categorization theory by showing that there are certain products that consumers link with brands, and the closer the link, the more positive advertisement attitude becomes. Based on the results, it is recommended that luxury brands take caution in product placement and include iconic products in advertisements. There should also be focus on which products are in the advertisement, not the individual consumer’s involvement in a product. For future research, experiments exploring whether presenting typical products with atypical products in advertisements would strengthen the relationships between brands and atypical products is suggested. Also, studies on how luxury brands can elevate the status of atypical products to typical products by educating consumers would provide practical strategies for luxury brand marketers.