The luxury fashion industry is facing increasing scrutiny due to its negative environmental impact and unsustainable production methods. However, new business models in the form of second-hand commerce and renting are emerging as attractive options for consumers, reshaping the luxury fashion landscape. This paper examines the current state of second-hand luxury fashion and explores the business models adopted by companies in this sector. A review of existing literature reveals key themes pertaining to second-hand luxury, including consumer motivations and attitudes towards recycled luxury fashion, the evolving meanings and consumer identities associated with second-hand luxury, the impact on the traditional luxury fashion industry, the environmental benefits of recycled luxury fashion, and the business models and sustainability strategies of companies operating in this sector.

Despite the rise of digital media, trade shows have not lost their importance within the marketing mix. However, to this date, their specific impact has been hard to measure. To address this gap, this article aims to investigate the outcomes of knowledge creation, sharing, and acquisition occurring at trade shows by utilizing Return on Trade Show Information (RTSI) model (Bettis-Outland et al. 2010). The analysis supports the findings of Bettis-Outland et al. (2012) as well as shows that information quality has a positive impact on information dissemination and information, which then increases the value of this information.

This study will provide a new perspective on how customer experiences and their co-creation can be managed by studying the practices used to manage customer experience co-creation at festivals. Based on 22 interviews of Finnish festival organisers, a process model for customer experience management is proposed.

The market for luxury is changing with new competitors to the market, more modest growth, and new types of customers (Kim and Ko 2012, Ko, Phau and Aiello 2016) as well as the ubiquity of digital marketing channels (Okonkwo 2009). Moreover, social media has transformed the logic of fashion marketing by providing new ways of engaging, interacting, and connecting with customers (Dhaoui 2014) as well as enabling consumers to participate in branding process (Burman 2010). As a consequence, also luxury brands need to develop experience-based marketing strategies that emphasise interactivity, connectivity and creativity (Atwal and Williams 2009). What is more, despite of growing importance of social media marketing in luxury industry, extant research on the topic still remains quite limited (Ko and Megehee 2012). While the previous studies have well documented the benefits of luxury marketing on social media (Kim and Ko 2012, Kim and Ko 2010, Brogi et al. 2013, Kontu and Vecchi 2014, Godey et al. 2016), and their implications on luxury brand management (Dhaoui 2014, Larraufie and Kourdoughli 2014), and even co-creative marketing practices (Choi, Ko and Kim 2016, Tynan, McKehnie, and Chuon 2010), no studies to this date have looked at co-creation from consumer-perspective. This article provides a novel perspective on luxury branding, by following the resource-based theory of consumer (Arnould, Price and Malshe 2006) to study the brand identity as co-created in social media. To do this, visual frame analysis (Goffman 1974, Luhtakallio 2013) is applied on consumer generated images downloaded from Instagram feed of brand exhibition staged by luxury brand Louis Vuitton. Based on the analysis, a typology of co-created brand identities is proposed. The findings indicate that in the branded exhibitions, consumers co-create brand identity by utilising resources available in the experiential brandscape by taking and posting these objectifications of brand on social media (Presi et al. 2016) and in so doing create symbolic/expressive, and experiential/hedonic value (Tynan et al. 2010). Theoretically, this article provides a novel perspective on luxury brand as co-created and in so doing, demonstrates the dynamics of firm-consumer co-creation. What is more, to extend the emerging stream of visual analysis of luxury (Kim et al. 2016, Freire 2014, Megehee and Spake 2012), an application of novel is demonstrated in the article. Managerially, this explorative study provides new insights on luxury marketing in social media by suggesting that branded experiences should be designed in a manner that engages the consumer to actively use the resources available to them. The financial implications of this shift are also significant as according to McKinsey study, three out of four luxury purchases are influenced by social media (Hope 2016)

Introduction “The success of a 21st century business will be defined as much by who it is as what it does.” (Keller and Richey 2016, p. 47) Traditionally, branding has been a staple interest among fashion marketing research, although this has been mostly looked from the perspective of business-to-consumer markets. However recently, in the general marketing literature, there has been a growing interest towards understanding also the business-to-business aspect of branding (see Seyedghorban, Matanda, and LaPlaca 2016 for bibliometric review). By and large, this perspective of branding is also significant in fashion business as industrial customers have a double role as consumers and fashion professionals, as their decision-making process leans on both rational judgement and intuition. Recently, increased product and service homogeneity and digitalisation have been factors that have led to the emergence of a growing body of literature in business-to-business branding (see Leek and Christodoulides 2011a for review). This shift can be observed during trade shows, which are losing their significance in terms of sales, and, in turn, becoming more important for building relationships with customers and partners (Sarmento, Farhangmehr, and Simoes 2015) as well as cultivating the brand image of exhibitors (Hansen 2004). In particular, in fashion, trade shows are an example of activities that are inarguably geared towards building brand value among buyers and other actors in the market. By and large, previous work in marketing during fashion trade shows has been limited to few studies on trade show experience (Rinallo, Borghini, and Golfetto 2010), knowledge processes (Cheng, Koivisto, and Mattila 2013), market making (Rinallo and Golfetto 2006), semiotics of communication (2003), and their influence on fashion consumers (Aiello et al. 2016). However, while the importance of branding in fashion industry has been widely recognised, there is no studies on branding in business-to-business context in fashion. This forms an interesting research gap to observe branding in the context of international fashion trade shows. In this vein, the purpose of this article is to provide a new perspective to trade shows. The key research questions we hope to respond are: How does corporate branding occur in fashion trade shows? and What are the characteristics of branding in trade shows? To answer these research questions, 18 fashion start-up companies that have attended trade shows have been interviewed. Previous studies have shown how B2B brands should communicate the value of their brands to a range of stakeholders if they are to leverage their full potential (e.g. Mudambi 2002, Baumgarth 2010, Ohnemus 2009). In this light, recognizing and understanding the significance of business-to-business branding in the fashion industry is important, as it enables brands to engender trust and develop both cognitive and affective ties with stakeholders (Lynch and de Chernatony, 2004). Business-to-business branding Brand is defined as “a name, sign, symbol or logo that identifies the goods and services of one seller and differentiates them from others” (Webster and Keller 2004: 389). Moreover, brand implies ”a cluster of functional and emotional benefits that extend a unique and welcomed promise (de Chernatony and McDonald, 2003)” of the offering. Traditionally, branding literature has overlooked the significance of branding in business to business markets (Saunders & Watt, 1979, Sinclair and Seward 1988) due to the belief that industrial buyers are unaffected by emotional values corresponding to brands (Leek and Christodoulides, 2011b). However, recently the influence of branding has also been acknowledged in the more formalised B2B decision making processes (Lynch & de Chernatony, 2004) where branding increases buyers’ confidence in and satisfaction with their purchase decision (Low and Blois, 2002) and reduces their level of perceived risk and uncertainty (Bengtsson and Servais, 2005). Webster and Keller (2004) suggest that in business-to-business, it is advisable to use corporate branding strategy. Corporate branding takes a holistic perspective to branding as its focus is on managing the reputation of the whole company over individual product lines in order to add value to its offering (Harris and de Chernatony, 2001). Moreover, house branding has been common practice in luxury fashion, where it has been used to build customer loyalty and boost corporate reputation (Chevalier and Mazzalovo 2008). As branding practice, corporate branding is applicable to business-to-business branding as it emphasises the role of employees in the branding process and maintaining the brand reputation over time (Harris and de Chernatony, 2001). In this view, brand management involves managing the gap between corporate identity and reputation (de Chernatony 1999) to provide firm with sustainable competitive advantage and increased customer loyalty (Hatch and Schultz 2003). First, corporate identity is “organization's presentation of itself to its various stakeholders and the means by which it distinguishes itself from all other organizations” (Markwick and Fill 1997: 397). In the business to business context, the dimensions of brand identity include employee and client focus, visual identity, brand personality, consistent communications and human resource initiatives (Coleman et al. 2011). Moreover, key areas of corporate branding include brand vision and culture, positioning, personality, relationships, and presentation (Harris and de Chernatony, 2001). Brand equity refers to “buyers’ willingness to pay a price premium for their favourite brand [and] to recommend that brand to peers and give special consideration to another product with the same name” (Bendixen, Bukasa and Abratt 2004). Moreover, this consists of brand awareness, brand performance, brand preference, and long-lasting relationships (Keller 1993). In particular, the importance of relationships is considered the cornerstone of the brand in the industrial marketing literature (Campbell et al. 2010) due to the interpersonal nature of the market (Bengtsson and Servais, 2005). Moreover, it has been shown that customer experience has a positive effect on the four dimensions of brand equity in business-to-business setting (Biedenbach and Marell 2010). Branding in trade shows Business to business branding is an important concept to understand the role of trade shows in marketing. Trade shows have been defined as “short-term events, typically less than a week in duration that take place on a regularly scheduled basis. Trade shows enable various members of a certain market or industry to meet face- to-face and share ideas, new product innovations, technical updates, industry information, connect with customers and prospects, as well as, in some cases, consummate sales.” (Bettis-Outland et al. 2012, p. 385). For many fashion start-ups these are excellent ways of developing relationships with customers and partners (Sarmento et al. 2015), as well as to enhance their brand image (Hansen 2004), and collaborate with a variety of stakeholders (Cheng et al. 2013). Traditionally, trade shows have been instrumental in consummating sales (Kerin and Cron, 1987), but recently the role has been mostly shifting towards building relationships as well as to build product awareness and image (Pitta, Weisgal, and Lynagh, 2006). This holds true as casual contact with current customers, manufacturers and buyers can easily be made at one location in a relatively short time (Han and Verma, 2014). Moreover, trade shows and meetings with sales representatives greatly affect the earlier parts decision making process of buyers (Blombäck and Axelsson, 2007). This suggests that trade shows could well fulfil the purpose of forming new relationships with the long-term goals of selling. What is more, another non-buying objective for attending trade shows is promoting corporate image (Kerin and Cron, 1987). The facet of corporate visual identity, as part of B2B brand identity, refers to symbolism, symbols or logo and even more to physical cues such as clothes employees wear and their premises (Coleman et al., 2011). Methodology and data As the study was explorative in nature, qualitative research method was chosen (Silverman, 2006). The data collection consisted of two phases; primary data were acquired through semi-structured interviews, complemented by observational data acquired by means of an ethnographic observation at major trade events (Geertz, 1973). 15 Finnish fashion trade show exhibitors and 3 professional buyers were interviewed for the study. All of the respondents from exhibiting companies were responsible for sales and marketing activities, and took part in the trade shows in person. Moreover, for observation, the team attended four major fashion trade shows during September 2012 and January 2013: Premier Classe Who’s Next and Capsule in Paris, Gallery int. Fashion Fair CPH in Copenhagen, and Capsule in New York. As the study is explorative by nature, data-driven approach of grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin 1990) was applied in the analysis of the interview data. Here, the data collected thorough interviews and observations is analysed by utilizing a systematic set of procedures to develop an inductively derived grounded theory about a phenomenon (ibid.). Findings – branding elements in fashion trade show The research investigates business-to-business branding occurring at fashion trade shows and its perceived benefits. To better understand this, findings will be presented in three sections: (1) Main elements of branding at trade shows; (2) characteristics of business-to-business branding in trade shows. (1) Main elements of branding at trade shows From the data, elements of trade show branding include people, brand presentation, and brand story. In the following, these are briefly illustrated. Brand story. Brand image is conveyed through the brand story that is the essence of the brand and it differentiates the brand from the competitors: “The clients are looking at what you do, listening to story, because the story is the key right now. If you don’t have a story, they will go for some other cheap stuff.” This story ties together all the elements of a brand. During the trade show, the story of the brand is conveyed to the attendees through a variety of tangible brand elements such as people, products, stand decorations, and marketing communications. People. The people have a crucial role as mannequins for the brand. The first impression of the stand, which is mostly about the people occupying it, determines if there will be any further interaction as well as sets the tone for it. For this reason, give out the right image: “We receive a lot of feedback that we look and feel like the brand. It’s very important that the sales people can channel the brand into this kind of environment” explains the head of a shoe brand. Moreover, their behaviour has a crucial role in communicating the brand essence and for this reason it is important to maintain the right type of energy at all times: “If you stay sitting and do like that (plants head into hands) in terms of branding is a killer. You won’t give the right image. If you are standing up especially on the heel, that will give out the right attitude.”. What is more, the presence of the designer is an important part in this communication, too, as is described by one buyer: “The presence of the designer matters. It brings depth and meaning into the presentation. And it also shows that they have their feet on the ground, that they are willing to work. hard. In fashion, there is all this hype and glamour, even though it's a trade among others. I give extra points if the designer is there.” Finally, it is important to have the right people on duty to enable the right type of interaction. For instance, to build relationships with all stakeholders including customers in the recurring events: “It’s a big reason that we meet the customers half yearly and it’s really fun seeing, really genuinely, it’s super nice seeing people because most of them are so nice people”. Indeed, this ludic element and experiencing things together enables deeper, and more trusting relation, which in turn facilitates further collaboration between parties. Brand presentation. At the stand, the buyers and other stakeholders get to experience the brand in its all splendour. It is very important to set up the stand in such manner that it lures in customers and provides an extraordinary experience. For instance, one of the exhibitors we interviewed went over the top with their display: “We’ve used a bus where we can make a showroom at the back. That’s been useful in Berlin alongside the trade shows, directing people from the trade show to the bus with bar and drinks as a kind of lounge and extra that we are remembered for.” Indeed, one interviewee even went as far as claiming that a generic product set up in a gorgeous stand would attract more customers than a perfect product on a dull stand. In this vein, a lot of attention is given to the stand as it needs to be aligned with the overall brand image: “Because our look it pretty rough and manly, we’ve used a lot of wood and metal on the racks when building the stand. Materials are chosen so that they ooze our brand and we never order basic stuff. Last time, we used wood on walls and built a bar with raw metal on the floor. The look has to match and communicate the brand.” Another important element are the products that are on display. From an exhibitor perspective, it is important to choose the right products that communicate the key attributes of a brand to the buyers. Moreover, even though the buyers are not buying for their own needs, it is important to have the possibility to feel the quality and fit at the spot. This is further explained by one of the interviewed buyers “It’s of course an advantage getting to try on the product and when you get to put the hat on, you get the wow effect of how well it fits. It’s easier to sell the product this way when someone gets to try it on compared to just buying it online.” (2) Characteristics of business-to-business branding in trade shows For new brands in particular, trade shows are important places to get noticed. As many of our interviewees note, trade shows are no longer places where orders are written. Instead, buyers go there to get inspired and to spot new brands: “As a new label, it is very recommended you go to trade shows because there is no way you can get, if no one knows about you, visibility or even the contacts.” In this vein, one of the key branding functions of trade shows is building awareness for the brand. Subsequently, to position the brand, showing up in the right company is important. The decision on which trade shows to attend is of paramount importance: “It is important for the brand that you consistently go to the same trade shows that position you correctly, that you are there with brands that are on the same level as you are or in the higher scale and you are not there with brands that should not be associated with your brand.” Finally, to convince the buyers and to build relationships with all stakeholders, continuity is important: “Big customers don’t ever order when they see you the first time, they want to see continuum at least 3 times so you’ve built your presence, then they look at you more seriously because you don’t seem like a one-season case who might just disappear.” This consistency means making long-term commitments to both the trade shows attended as well as the branding activities. Corporate branding in fashion tradeshows is parallel to Keller’s customer based brand equity model (1993), where branding follows a four step process. First, brand identity entails raising the salience of a brand among stakeholders and creating association with products. Being visible at trade shows attaches brand to a certain product category and creates awareness among stakeholders. Second, brand meaning involves linking a variety of tangible and intangible associations to the brand in the customer’s mind. This involves telling the story of a brand and providing the opportunity to touch and try the products. Third, brand response conveys brand judgments and brand feeling, of which the former is more relevant in an organizational context (Kuhn and Alpert 2004). Here, the interaction with people and products occurring during the trade show plays and important role as they enable the formation of emotional and rational judgements of a brand. Final step is about establishing an active and intense relationship between stakeholder and a brand. This particular aspect has the most significance in business-to-business context (Kuhn and Alpert 2004), which is also highly salient in the fashion world. Conclusions In fashion, branding is a prominent practice with regards to business to consumer markets. However, it is worth noting that branding is and has to be done also on business to business context as the buying decision is not purely rational but relies greatly on intuition and relationships. Here, a successful B2B brand is of great importance – and a great commitment as well as it involves a long-term planning and resilience to attend trade shows from season to season. This exploratory article has provided a first glimpse to the branding activities occurring at fashion trade shows. First and foremost, business to business branding in fashion involves the brand relationship between buyer and seller as well the brand story conveyed through the holistic brand experience at the trade show. Indeed, the resulting trust and loyalty between the brand and a stakeholder have implications for further buying behaviour as well as then the further marketing efforts towards the end-consumer. In this vein, trade shows provide a great opportunity to increase brand value through their positive influence on brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty that are part of the brand equity construct (Aaker 1991) and can lead to increased trust and loyalty, which, in turn, help to moderate risk and decrease transaction cost (Ford 1980). Limitations of the study and further directions for research Although the study has been able to illustrate the branding activities occurring at fashion trade shows, there is still significant opportunity for improvement. The study is limited to only a handful of fashion start-ups and within a certain market. From this perspective, it would be interesting to study if branding also has similar significance for more established firms. Moreover, it would be interesting to study the performance outcomes of branding, how these efforts support the internationalisation, as well as the implications of business-to-business branding to business-to-consumer markets. Moreover, it would be interesting to compare the brand images between buyers and consumers in a given market. What are the things the consumers look at, and are the buyers different?

Luxury market is changing with new competitors to the market, more modest growth, and new types of customers (Kim and Ko 2012). To stay relevant, luxury houses need to develop experience-based marketing strategies that emphasise interactivity, connectivity and creativity (Atwal and Williams 2009). Subsequently, with the rise of digital marketing of luxury (Okonkwo 2009), consumers have been granted a more active role in the value co-creation of luxury brands. Indeed, adopting more inclusive and consumer-oriented marketing strategies has proven successful to iconic luxury brands such as Burberry (Phan, Thomas & Heine 2011), and Hermes (Robins 2016). Previously, value co-creation has been studied from consumer perspective following resource-based view (Arnould, Price and Malshe 2006) and practice theory (Schau, Muniz, and Arnould 2009). However, in the field of luxury marketing, research on co-creation has been limited to one case study of value co-creation processes (Tynan, McKechnie & Chhuon 2010). In addition, no previous research exists on the role of space and spectacular environment in value co-creation in luxury. This article extends these streams of researchby analysing 42 narratives (Polkinghorne 1995) from consumers that have attended two branded exhibitions of Louis Vuitton: SERIES3 held in London in the fall 2015 and Volez, Voguez, Voyagez in Paris in Spring 2016. In essence, luxury is about seduction; recreating a dream and providing meaningful, personal experiences for its consumers (Kapferer and Bastien 2009). Here, a branded exhibition provides a way to invite consumers to feel, see, and experience the brand in its full splendour. These encounters, in turn, transform the value-creation logic between the brand and the consumer from a one-way affair to a co-creational relation. This article demonstrates how exhibition context allows the consumer to participate in the value co-creation for Louis Vuitton, a prestigious luxury brand. Here, the brand provides a context and props for the consumer’s processes of value co-creation. This, in turn, then results into four types of value; utilitarian, experiential, relational, and symbolic. The contribution of this study is three-fold. First, this study extends the literature on value co-creation (Arnould et al. 2006) by demonstrating the role of space in the process of value co-creation. Second, our results extend previous research on luxury (Tynan et al. 2010) by illustrating the value co-creation from consumer perspective. From managerial perspective, the results show how brand exhibitions may act as platforms for content creation and enable rich self-expression with the brand.

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

In today’s global marketplace, few consumers would bat an eye at a Central European retailer selling products manufactured in the US from raw materials purchased in Asia and Africa. Recently, Finnish connoisseurs of local craft beer were shocked to discover that even their local microbreweries were getting in on the act, albeit somewhat involuntarily. Strict regulations that govern the sale of alcoholic beverages in Finland essentially prevent the smallest breweries from distributing their products in the local market. Ironically, the only way for these small businesses to reach their local customers is through internationalization – setting up an online store across the border and serving the Finnish market from abroad. Drawing on the context of alcohol policy in Finland as an illustrative example, this study demonstrates how global markets can offer small businesses a way to counter unfavorable or discriminative local public policy. The study also illustrates the potential impact that businesses can have on policy by drawing public attention to its shortcomings, and offers implications for practitioners by highlighting the importance of thorough evaluation of policies for possible inconsistencies and outlining possible indicators that such inconsistencies may be present.

The study tests a theoretical framework for examining the consumer decision-making process with regards to ethically questionable behavior. The results indicate that subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and self-efficacy are significant predictors of consumer intentions to engage in ethically questionable behavior. Attitude was not found to be a significant predictor.

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.

Various forms of consumer gatherings have been increasingly recognized to collectively organize new marketplaces where consumer value arises from shared experiences of social belonging and togetherness. One such rapidly globalizing retail phenomenon is Restaurant Day, where everyday citizens, in a form of tempered civil disobedience, suspend the rules and regulations of commercial retail to create a one-day restaurant carnival that takes the form of copious pop-up restaurants located throughout city-spaces. An ethnographic exploration of this retail spectacle allows us to reconsider many conventional notions of the retailing discourse and problematize the notion of consumer activism in such contexts.