In fashion marketing, celebrity endorsement is a widely-used strategy to gain attention and produce positive brand knowledge (Carroll, 2009). Luxury brands use their social media accounts to post pictures of celebrity endorsers using their products. This is an effective strategy because celebrity endorsement posts could encourage fans of the celebrity to repost, like or comment on this post. This is beneficial for the brand because this results in more brand exposures. The question is how luxury brands can use celebrity endorsements successfully in the digital age. For example, should luxury brands localize the celebrity endorsement in social media? The dilemma of standardization and localization becomes very significant when luxury brands are facing a culturally different market (Liu et al., 2016). This paper examines the effectiveness of localized celebrity endorsements for luxury brands in Chinese social media based on an analysis of online big data and two experiments. First, a multi-level analysis of the posts of 33 luxury brands suggests that localized (Chinese) celebrity endorsers trigger more social media interactions than standardized (Western) celebrity endorsers. Next, the following experimental studies reveal that local endorsers do not enhance perceived brand luxury and individuals’ level of patriotism moderates the effect of localized (vs. standardized) celebrity endorsements on perceived brand luxury. For people with lower level of patriotism, localized celebrity endorsements reduce the perceived brand luxury. In contrast, for people with higher level of patriotism, localized celebrity endorsements lead to higher perceived brand luxury.

In the current digital word, social media represent a relevant tool for marketing and communications strategies, which create new opportunities for firms to engage with their customers (Leeflang, Verhoef, Dahlström, & Freundt, 2013; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; Libai et al., 2010). Among the sectors that leverage on social media in their communications, the luxury industry represents a main one. As previous research has mainly analyzed the consumer-side (Godey et al., 2016; Jin, 2012; Kim & Ko, 2012) overlooking the firm-side, the aim of this study is to investigate the cross-cultural issues faced by foreign luxury brands in implementing their social media strategies in China by carrying out a qualitative inquiry. China is the setting of analysis as it represents an increasingly relevant luxury market, characterized by the role of digital media as main communications and sales channel. Data collected consist of semistructured interviews with managers from foreign luxury brands operating in China in order to understand the issues faced and the strategies implemented. Moreover, an analysis of their social media presence on Chinese platforms such as WeChat and Weibo is conducted by considering the type of response activated among users. As pointed out by Belk (2017), qualitative advertising research can provide a better understanding of consumer response to advertising also in the rapidly growing field of social media, which have been mainly unexplored by qualitative approaches (Hadija, Barnes, & Hair, 2012). Moreover, an analysis on the firm-side will fill a gap in the existing literature and provide relevant managerial implications for international firms that operate in China.

Introduction Social media continues to grow and presents in our everyday lives. Consumers can even know about celebrities’ personal lives and hear directly from celebrities through social media, such as Facebook and Instagram. Chung and Cho (2017) point out that social media provides a platform for a more open, close and frequent interaction between consumers and celebrities. According to Lee and Watkins (2016), by using social media, consumers can easily and quickly access user generated content which includes product information and reviews. People create video blog (vlog) and some have attracted a large number of followers, video bloggers (vloggers) upload videos about their personal life or reviews of product they use, therefore increasing browsing traffic from followers and other viewers. As a result, vloggers become vlog celebrities or key opinion leaders on social media nowadays. According to Horton and Wohl (1956), parasocial interaction (PSI) explains the relationship between media persona and media user, and it is referred to a media user’s reaction to a media persona, in a way that the media persona is perceived as an intimate conversational partner by the media user. The media persona may be considered by his/her audience as a friend, counselor, comforter and model, and PSI is considered as a “friendship” with a media persona (Perse & Rubin, 1989). As this “friendship” continues to grow, the media user will gradually treat the media persona as a trustworthy friend and rely on their suggestions as a trusted source of information (Rubin et al., 1985). According to Stever and Lawson (2013), PSI is an appropriate theoretical framework for studying the one-sided relationship between celebrities and fans; so the same argument can be extended to vlogger as suggested by Lee and Watkins (2016). As there is limited studies investigating the link between vlogger and marketing results in the literature, and researches examining the relationships between PSI and perceived brand quality, brand affect as well as brand preference are rare and lack empirical support, therefore, some research gaps need to be bridged. This study develops an integrated model according to the literature review. It is expected to help marketers to understand the influence of vlogger, and to develop efficient social media marketing tactics and branding strategies by using PSI as a brand management tool. Literature review and hypothesis development Parasocial interaction (PSI) explains the relationship between media persona and media user, and it is referred to a media user’s reaction to a media persona, in a way that the media persona is perceived as an intimate conversational partner by the media user. Previous studies indicate that PSI develops in ways similar to interpersonal relationships with friends (Horton & Wohl, 1956; Rubin & McHugh, 1987; Perse & Rubin, 1989), so the media persona may be considered by his/her audience as a friend, counselor, comforter and model, and PSI is considered as a “friendship” with a media persona (Perse & Rubin, 1989). Labrecque (2014) suggests that the development of PSI is not restricted to traditional media but also in an online environment. Labrecque (2014) points out that the higher the perceived level of openness and interaction in communication between consumers and brands on social media, the stronger their PSI with the brands. A direct relationship is also found to exist between social media interaction and parasocial behavior (Chung & Cho, 2017). Vloggers emerge as vlog celebrities or key opinion leaders who are active on social media, nowadays the media users can share their own thoughts with the celebrities and even comment the celebrities’ lives on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram freely, as if they have established a “friendship” with the celebrities (Chung & Cho, 2017), PSI is found to exist between vloggers and media users and is therefore fostered (Lee & Watkins, 2016). Attraction to a media persona results in enhancement of interaction or repeat viewing (Rubin & McHugh, 1987). If a person's physical appearance is considered to be aesthetically beautiful or pleasing, the degree of physical attractiveness is thus higher. Till and Busler (2000) suggest that physically attractive people are considered to possess more favorable personality traits such as intellectual competence, social competence and integrity. Both social and physical attractiveness to a media persona have been found to be predictors of PSI (Lee & Watkins, 2016; Perse & Rubin, 1989). This study thus postulates that: H1: The physical attractiveness of vlogger has a positive effect on PSI. Social attractiveness is referred to a media persona’s likability (McCroskey & McCain, 1974) and considering the media persona as a viable friend (Frederick et al., 2012). Media persona who is socially attractive leads to a stronger PSI, in both social and work context (Rubin & McHugh, 1987). Social attractiveness has been found to be a predictor of PSI (Lee & Watkins, 2016; Perse & Rubin, 1989). This study thus postulates that: H2: The social attractiveness of vlogger has a positive effect on PSI. According to Rubin and Step (2000), motivation is central to communication processes, and different motivations would lead to different behavior and communication choices. In the video sharing platform such as YouTube, YouTube users engage with YouTube for entertainment purposes (Haridakis & Hanson, 2009). Entertainment refers to any activities that provide diversions and amusements to fill time, gain pleasure, relax and have fun (Yuan et al., 2016). People not only watch vlogs for entertainment but are also widely influenced by the content of vlogs (Chung & Cho, 2017), as vloggers are viewed as more authentic and true-to-life (Lee & Watkins, 2016). This study postulates that: H3: Viewing motive with vlogger for entertainment has a positive effect on PSI. People use media not only for entertainment, but also for satisfying interpersonal needs (Armstrong & Rubin, 1989; Madianou & Miller, 2013; Rubin et al., 1985). As media user’s motivations for using media correlate with the development of PSI positively (Rubin et al., 1985) and the motivation of individuals to undertake relationship building by using social network service is found to be positivly correlated with parasocial behavior (Yuan et al., 2016), it is proposed that the more the media user’s motive to use social media involving vlog for relationship building, the stronger their PSI with vlogger. This study thus postulates that: H4: Viewing motive with vlogger for building relationship has a positive effect on PSI. More time spent with the medium encourages a participative and active culture, and higher online traffic implies more opportunities for online advertising and promotions (Hung et al., 2011). When media user is exposed with frequent messages enriched with personal information from a media persona, psychological familiarity and intimacy are enhanced, resulting in further development of friendship over time (Chung & Cho, 2017). This study thus postulates that: H5: The time spent with the medium has a positive effect on PSI. Mediating effect of PSI PSI explains the relationship between media user and media persona (Horton & Wohl, 1956) and is considered as a “friendship” with a media persona (Perse & Rubin, 1989). Previous study implicitly addresses the mediating role of PSI between the antecedents of PSI and brand perception (Lee & Watkins, 2016), however, the mediating role of PSI between the relationship of the antecedents of PSI and perceived brand quality, brand affect as well as brand preference has not been investigated. Specifically, PSI decreases uncertainty (Perse & Rubin, 1989) and consumer’s confidence has been shown to be a key component of forming positive perceived brand quality (Kayaman & Arasli, 2007). Moreover, social media strategies are often used to build positive brand attitude through enhanced consumer engagement and consumer likeability towards a brand, making brand affect metric relevant to social media marketers. Finally, Grimm (2005) suggests that attitude can predict preference and preference is influenced by emotional and personality responses to the brand. Feelings of bonding with brands are fostered by PSI, as a result positive brand attitude is enhanced (Knoll et al., 2015). Moreover, evidences show that celebrity endorsement can help to positively influence consumer’s brand preference (e.g. Kamins et al., 1989). Thus, it is predicted that PSI mediates the effects of the antecedents of PSI: physical attractiveness, social attractiveness, viewing motive for entertainment, view motive for building relationship and time spent with the medium on perceived brand quality, brand affect and brand preference, and has the following direct effects on perceived brand quality brand affect, and brand preference. H6: PSI has a positive effect on perceived brand quality H7: PSI has a positive effect on brand affect. H8: PSI has a positive effect on brand preference. H9: PSI mediates the relationship between antecedents of PSI and a) perceived brand quality; b) brand affect; and c) brand preference Methodology In this study, the measurements are adopted from well-established scales of previous literatures. Physical attractiveness was measured using a three-item scale based on McCroskey and McCain (1974), which has been applied by Lee and Watkins (2016). As homophily, or the belief that two parties share similar beliefs, is grounded in social attractiveness between the parties (Turner, 1993), attitude homophily, and social attractiveness are similar constructs. Based on the measurement scale from Lee and Watkins (2016), attitude homophily and social attractiveness were merged into one factor and was measured using a ten-item scale in this study. Viewing motive for entertainment and viewing motive for building relationships were measured using the motivation scale proposed by Yuan et al. (2016). Viewing motive for entertainment was measured using a seven-item scale while viewing motive for building relationships was measured using a six-item scale. Time spent with the medium was measured using a two-item scale from Hung et al. (2011), which assesses the average weekly frequency and the average weekly duration of browsing vlogs. Parasocial interaction was measured using an eight-item scale relating to vloggers from Lee and Watkins (2016). Perceived brand quality was measured using a six-item scale from Yoo et al. (2000). Brand affect was measured using a three-item scale from Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001). Brand preference was defined as the relative preference for selecting and using a particular brand (Yoo et al., 2000), brand preference was measured using a four-item scale based on Yoo et al.’s (2000) overall brand equity scale which was adopted by Liu et al. (2014). Besides time spent with the medium, each item was assessed on a five-point Likert-type scale. The wording of each item was altered to better suit the context of using vloggers for social media marketing. Only female and those who have watched beauty vlog previously were qualified to participate in the survey. Respondents were shown a beauty product review video by the selected vlogger from YouTube, the brand name of the beauty product in the video was eliminated so as to prevent brand bias. In the online questionnaire, the qualified respondents were only allowed to start filling in the next part of the questionnaire after watching the whole video. Data for this study were collected via online survey to simulate the environment of vlogs and social media. Convenience sampling method was utilized in this study due to its non-probability sampling technique and convenience accessibility. The online questionnaires were distributed through social media platforms, including Facebook and WeChat etc. The data collection process was conducted from August to September of 2017 in Macau, a total of 756 samples were collected. After removing the incomplete and disqualified questionnaires, 401 questionnaires were identified as eligible for formal analysis. Pearson’s correlation test was employed to test the relationships between all variables. Multiple regressions with the ordinary-least-squares (OSL) estimation was used to test the relationship between antecedents of PSI and PSI (i.e. H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5), and the relationship between PSI and brand evaluations (i.e. H6, H7, H8). To investigate the mediating effect of PSI between each antecedent of PSI and perceived brand quality, brand affect, and brand preference (i.e. H9a, H9b, H9c), the PROCESS macro bootstrapping procedure (n = 5000, model 4; Preacher et al., 2007) was performed for each variable. Bootstrapping is a nonparametric resampling procedure for testing mediation that does not impose the assumption of normality of the sampling distribution (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). Moreover, a Sobel test was used to further demonstrate the significance of the mediation effect of PSI. Results Multiple regression analysis is performed to tests relationships between PSI and the antecedents of PSI. PSI as a dependent variable, the main effects of the antecedents of PSI on PSI are all significant (F (5, 395) = 87.25, p < 0.001). Specifically, physical attractiveness (β = 0.271, p < 0.001), attitude homophily/social attractiveness (β= 0.335, p < 0.001), viewing motive for entertainment (β = 0.194, p < 0.001), viewing motive for building relationship (β = 0.163, p < 0.001) and time spent with the medium (β = 0.062, p < 0.001) are positively related to PSI. Results support H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5. Moreover, results found (1) PSI fully mediates the effect of physical attractiveness (β = 0.052, p < 0.001) on perceived brand quality; PSI partially mediates the effects of attitude homophily/social attractiveness (β = 0.064, p < 0.001), viewing motive for entertainment (β = 0.037, p < 0.01), viewing motive for building relationship (β = 0.031, p < 0.01) as well as time spent with the medium (β = 0.012, p < 0.05) on perceived brand quality. (2) PSI mediates the effect of physical attractiveness (β = 0.079, p < 0.001), attitude homophily/social attractiveness (β = 0.098, p < 0.001) and time spent with the medium (β = 0.018, p < 0.05) on brand affect, while partially mediates the effects of viewing motive for entertainment (β = 0.057, p < 0.01), viewing motive for building relationship (β = 0.047, p < 0.01) on brand affect. (3) PSI mediates the effect of physical attractiveness (β = 0.110, p < 0.001), attitude homophily/social attractiveness (β = 0.136, p < 0.001), viewing motive for building relationship (β = 0.066, p < 0.001) and time spent with the medium (β = 0.025, p < 0.01) on brand preference. And PSI partially mediates the effects of viewing motive for entertainment (β = 0.079, p < 0.001) on brand preference. In this sense, H6, H7, and H8 are supported. Discussion The results of this study provide recommendations that customers’ perceived brand quality, brand affect and brand preference could be enhanced by social media marketing practices by using vlogger. Various antecedents of PSI have been proven effectively influencing PSI and the findings of this study consistently demonstrate that physical attractiveness, attitude homophily, social attractiveness, viewing motive for entertainment, viewing motive for building relationship as well as time spent with the medium are influential elements to build a stronger PSI, which are essential to foster the “friendship” between media user and vlogger. This study confirms the mediating role of PSI between the antecedents of PSI and the brand variables. Long-term relationships with consumers is a viable marketing strategy (Berry, 1995), and the overall result supports that PSI can be used as a brand management tool to establish connections with consumers. Establishing a relationship with consumers via online brand ambassadors could eventually enhance perceived brand quality, brand affect and brand preference, and may lead to increase of the likelihood of future purchases.

The use of brand communities have been hailed as an effective tool for marketers to develop relationships between their brands and consumers, with the ultimate goal to create and sustain brand loyalty. The majority of theoretical assertions regarding brand communities are underpinned by the use of social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982). Social identity theory posits that individuals have a need to construct and display a ‘self-concept’ and a strategy to communicate this is the process of identification with groups. As the focus of a brand community is the brand itself it is clear that brand community identification and brand identification must be correlated, but little research has explored this relationship or its effects. This study aimed to fill a gap within the knowledge by further exploring the relationship between brand identification and brand community identification by providing more insight into the role which an individuals’ identification with a brand community (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001) has within their relationship with the focal brand and their loyalty to that brand. Specifically, this research aimed to gain a greater understanding of the different effect brand community identification had upon the relationship between brand identification and both public and private brand loyalty. This was explored through the utilisation of a survey of fans of a professional basketball team within the UK (n=298). The data and subsequent analysis supported the hypotheses that individuals’ brand community identification has a positive relationship with both public and private forms of brand loyalty. More importantly it also presented brand community identification as a mediator in the relationship between brand identification and public brand loyalty. Therefore, this study is the first to present brand community identification as critical within consumers’ development of publicly displayed brand loyalty. Managerially this understanding provides support for the proactive utilisation of brand communities by marketers. It also provides guidance for the context in which brand communities are critical for the success of the brand. This research delivers support for marketers, to utilise brand communities proactively when trying to motivate consumers to participate in publicly displayed pro-brand behaviour. This guides the re-allocation of budget away from pure brand identification activities to brand community engagement strategies.

New product entails risk, causing resistance to adoption. The recommendation system may decrease the psychological risk by guiding decision making process to be more efficient (Häubl and Trifts, 2000). AI (Artificial Intelligence) has been getting smarter and smarter and widely applied to the recommendation system. Even while you are browsing on your Facebook, AI recommends you the products that you may like based on the customized analysis of your interest. However, do people always love to adopt the smart recommends from AI? Definitely no! Then when and why people reluctantly accept AI recommendation? We assume that the product or service where the sense and feeling is important, people might be reluctant to accept the recommendation from artificial intelligence. This is because people might feel threatened when the AI challenges against human uniqueness (Gray and Wegner, 2012). Thus, in this study we investigated how the recommendation system types (AI vs. Human) affect brand attitude depending on the brand image (Symbolic vs. Functional). We found consumers are reluctant to accept a recommendation from AI in symbolic brand where human sense and feel are considered to be critical factors (Study1). This effect was further explained by uncanny-feeling toward the AI recommendation system (Study2). This research is meaningful in that it is the first attempt to apply the artificial intelligence recommendation concept to the marketing strategy by incorporating the concept of brand image. We predicted and found AI based recommendation system is reluctantly accepted for symbolic brand. Furthermore, we discovered the underlying process for this phenomenon as uncanny feeling. People seemed to have uncomfortable feelings against AI recommendation when the brand image is related to sense and feel considered as nature of human uniqueness. Thus, marketers should be very cautious when utilizing the AI recommendation system not to threaten human uniqueness area.

In this research, we explore the role of interpersonal personalization in brand offerings in engendering the representations of ‘which dimension’ of brand personality (Aaker, 1997) and the subsequent effect on consumer attitude toward and connection with the brand (Fournier, 1998). Experiment 1 reveals that interpersonal personalization is different from customization with unique benefit in developing sincerity in brand personality. It demonstrates the positive effect of personalization on brand attitude through formulation of a sincere brand. Experiment 2 provides empirical evidence that personalization encouraging consumer’s involvement in the product design process allows consumer’s greater engagement with and investment towards the brand, which then manifests favorable brand attitude. The findings of this research offer insights on how brands can take advantage of personalization practice in their product or service offerings to engage consumers, and subsequently develop a close relationship with them. This research makes an important contribution to the brand personality literature through identifying a specific marketing approach (i.e., interpersonal personalization) as an effective strategy in developing a specific type of brand personality (i.e., sincerity). In sum, this research offers new view on how to manage close relationship with consumers, which is a significant practical implication for marketing managers.

Customers’ cognitive and affective responses evoked during shopping are closely linked to their attitude toward a brand (Kim, Park, Lee & Choi, 2016). Furthermore, personal traits have been known as important moderators. Studies on the antecedents of customer attitude have focused on the main effects of specific predictors and are yet to examine the combined effect of cognitive and affective responses during shopping and personal traits (Fiore & Kim, 2007). Using complexity theory, this study intends to fill this gap in the research, particularly in the luxury fashion retail context. Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study offers 6 combination patterns of cognitive responses, affective responses, and personal traits leading to positive brand attitude. The results reveals three major findings. First, to shape a customer’s positive attitude toward a luxury brand, managing cognitive responses is more important than managing affective responses. Second, results show that avoiding negative feelings is more important than evoking positive feelings. Third, the combinations that lead to positive attitudes differ by the level of brand familiarity. This study contributes to the S-O-R literature by demonstrating the intertwined relationship between components of the organism (O) (i.e., cognition and emotion). The identified configurations can help luxury retail managers recognize patterns of influential factors on customer attitudes and better design retail experiences.

Purpose Increasingly Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are facing uncertainties and pressures with a strong emphasis to differentiate from competitors with a clear offering to multiple stakeholders (Amber et al., 2016; Anctil, 2008; Chapleo, 2010; Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006). Universities in particular are viewed as “businesses” operating in a competitive global marketplace where differentiation plays a key role in attracting students and funding (Walton, 2005; Bunzel, 2007). One subject area that seems to address some of the uncertainties and pressures is the topic of corporate branding. Corporate branding can alleviate universities from a complex set of multi-faceted features (Hemsley-Brown and Goonawardana, 2007) which include among others, accreditation, tuition fees, positions in league tables and status in the global marketplace, and reinforce an institution’s unique selling point to multiple stakeholders, such as students, academics and funders (Whisman, 2009; Chapleo, 2010). Thus, a strong corporate brand can support, for example, charging higher tuition fees, recruiting leading academics and attracting students from underrepresented groups (Chapleo, 2010; Croxford and Raffe, 2015). Despite a move towards “marketisation”, it is unclear whether corporate branding has allowed universities to develop authentic, convincing brand identities, which would help to alleviate these pressures as HE, unlike the private sector, has typically less resources to implement branding strategies and has a tendency to be internally focused, unsure what is important for their brand and stakeholders (Jevons, 2006). The limited studies in this area call for more research and understanding into the application of corporate branding in the context of higher education (Anctil, 2008; Chapleo, 2010; Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006). Dibb and Simkin (1993: 26) discuss the branding variance of intangibility in different services placing “education” at the extreme end of the continuum questioning: ‘what is the product, the institution, the course; the experience or the qualification?’ It could be these different specialisms may be the very source of differentiation that can ensure the success of a HE corporate brand. Although ‘higher education and branding go back a long way’ (Temple, 2006: 15) those branding studies that have been conducted in universities have had limited application in specialised areas (Hankinson, 2004; Chapleo, 2011) such as the sciences or teacher education, as opposed to a business school where most marketing research is generally undertaken. Balmer and Liao (2007:368) point to other ‘institutional settings’ such as the Department of Music, at the University of York, which warrant a study with students into their identification with a university’s corporate brand. This highlights the complexity and challenges of managing multiple sub-brands within a corporate brand (Spry, 2014; Chapleo, 2015) and presents a unique opportunity for the research proposed which will consider relationships between a university corporate brand and sub-brand. As corporate branding can be described as the process of framing the organisation’s identity, which is derived from its culture, values, strategy and tangible cues (Balmer, 2001) it is brand identity that is the ‘unit of analysis’ (Uggla, 2006:78) and the focus of this study. Specifically, corporate brand identity relates to ‘what the organisation is and what it seeks to be’ (Abratt and Kleyn, 2012: 1051). Similarly Steiner et al. (2013: 411) maintain that a university’s identity is ‘who we are’. Since Albert and Whetten’s (1995) study on organisational identity and the authors’ claim that it is an evolving, collective phenomenon, there has been an increasing interest in institutional identity. Indeed, the link between corporate brand identity and shared values amongst stakeholders has been extensively documented (Harris and de Chernatony, 2001; Balmer and Gray, 2003, Kay, 2006; Chapleo, 2010). These ‘ bundle of values…’ (Balmer and Gray, 2003: 981) give the organisation its uniqueness and ‘….a sense of individuality’ (Harris and de Chernatony, 2001: 442). Balmer (2001) maintains that the values of an organisation’s identity as can be both tangible and intangible. However, with increasing competition in the marketplace and the rapid progress of modern technology organisations are looking to differentiate the emotional, rather than functional characteristics of their brand (Harris and de Chernatony, 2001). Gutman and Miaoulis (2003:106) describe these emotional values as those ‘that underlie important goals of students ….’ which ‘deal with the end states of our existence or the ultimate goals that people wish to achieve in their lives’ (Durvasula et al., 2011: 33). Thus the corporate brand becomes ‘the interface between the organisation’s stakeholders and its identity’ (Abratt and Kleyn, 2012: 1053) and a transition occurs from university identity to image (Steiner et al., 2013). It is therefore an organisation’s “values” that should correspond with the emotional needs of both employees and external stakeholders (Chapleo, 2010; Harris and de Chernatony, 2001). However, Steiner et al (2013) maintain that university faculties may not see themselves as part of the university’s overall identity which Brookes (2003:139) argues is due to marketing concepts being ‘theoretically uncomfortable’ for most academics or even ‘insulting’ (Waeraas and Solbakk, 2008). Traditionall, centralised corporate branding has played a less visible role in HE which has allowed different departments to develop strong brand identities of their own, referred to as the ‘house of brand approach’ (Hemsley-Brown and Gonnawardana, 2007: 946). This approach is one of three key branding strategies outlined by Ollins (1995) and Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000), which relate to the discipline of brand architecture and is one which puts distance between the corporate brand and the businesses and products such as the Virgin Group. The second approach is that of the branded house where a single Masterbrand unites the company and its businesses and products, such as the Virgin Group. Hemsley-Brown and Gonnawardana (2007: 945) refer to this approach as ‘corporatization’ in universities and is when branding practices change and departments are encouraged to align their identity with that of the university; hence they lose their individual branding. This particularly affects departments operating in niche markets and presents a difficult challenge for universities where understanding and expressing a single identity ‘may be too complex and fragmented’ (Waeraas and Solbakk, 2009: 459) as multiple identities and values held by staff may provide uniqueness to the university. Jevons (2006) cites the University of Cambridge in the UK where the identity of their colleges is much more distinct than the entire University. The endorsed brand strategy is when a company’s businesses and products are endorsed with the corporate brand (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000) and a common identity such as Courtyard by Marriott. Sub-brands are also part of the brand architecture arena and similarly to endorsed brands can stretch across products and markets with an offering that is different and new (Uggla, 2006). While Ollins (1995) did not distinguish between sub-brands and endorsed brands, Hemsley-Brown and Gonnawardana (2007) refer to university faculties/schools/departments as sub-brands where the university simply provides brand endorsement to the sub-brands. However, several authors maintain the difference between sub-brands and endorsed brands is subtle (Devlin, 2003); in the latter case the Masterbrand plays a far less dominant role than that of the former which allows the Masterbrand to compete in markets than would otherwise be the case (Hsu et al, 2014). If the Masterbrand is more distant as in the endorsed approach, it acts as ‘a powerful cushion against contamination and risk' (Hsu et al, 2014). Devlin (2003) cites the key reason for putting distance between the corporate brand and businesses and products as being to maintain relationships and indicate distinctive competencies to different target markets. For example, and in the context of HE, w hile a University has key stakeholders, such as the Government, the general public and media it would seem worthy of consideration that the corporate brand might shape different images for these stakeholders while allowing different specialisms, particularly those with strong but different external influences, to nurture relationships with specific target markets (Muzellec and Lambkin, 2008). Although clear brand architecture models have been developed over time in the literature there appears to be a conflict of views and a lack of context-specific approaches. For example Chapleo (2015) found in his research that university departments often displayed qualities of sub-brands for specific target markets. However, there is no literature that has applied these different brand architecture approaches to the context of a university and more specifically a particular area of specialism. Indeed Chapleo (2015:159), who maintains that brand architecture is an approach 'with which universities struggle’, calls for more research into its applicability. Responding to the identified gaps in the body of knowledge this research, which provides a unique insight into an under-researched area, seeks to examine a university’s identity, related values and considers the development of an operational framework. The framework will investigate the complex nature of corporate brands in the context of HE in order to identify a coherent and effective brand architecture (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000) which signals a differentiated offering? Although Spry (2014) responded to these gaps by qualitatively exploring perceptions of staff and students in a UK university and found significant relationships between the corporate brand and sub brand there is a need for a quantitative study that examines the suggested relationships further. The context is a university in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) focusing on a College of Nursing. The findings will offer internal university management advice on how best to investigate and potentially manage multiple sub-brands and ensure consistencies and coherencies with the corporate brand. Therefore the following objectives for this study have been developed: • To explore perceptions of corporate brand identity-image by students in both the context of a university and that of a university department • To examine the role that corporate brand identity plays in shaping perceptions of emotional and functional values • To conceptualise a framework that university practitioners can assimilate in order to develop appropriate brand architectures. Research Design Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses In keeping with objectives developed in the previous section, the following conceptual model has been developed. So as to gain a more detailed understanding of the relationships highlighted in figure 1, including the strength of the causal relationships and differences, the follow three hypotheses have been developed: H1: University corporate Identity will positively influence Emotional Values H2: College identity will positively influence Emotional Values H3: Emotional Value will positively influence Functional Values In addition, two further hypotheses have been developed to test if emotional values act as a mediator between Identity and Functional Values. This will measure the importance of Emotional Values as a key element of branding strategies to be considered by University management: H4: Emotional Values mediate a positive relationship between University Corporate Identity and Functional Values H5: Emotional Values mediate a positive relationship between College Identity and Functional Values Method All validated items of the variables in the conceptual framework were heavily influenced by the work of Lages and Fernandes (2005). A total of 165 questionnaires were collected from final year undergraduate students and Masters students, studying at the College of Nursing, in a University in the RoI. The majority of respondents were female (84%) and aged 22 – 30 (76%). One respondent was dropped from the study after data cleaning and as a result, data from 164 respondents was used to test the hypotheses. Hair et al. (2010) maintain that a minimum sample size for a model with five or fewer constructs is 100. This study uses Amos 23.0 to test the model and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) will be employed to assess the model fit and test the hypotheses respectively. Further, this study follows the bootstrapping method developed by Preacher and Hayes (2008) to test the mediating role of Emotional Values. University and that of the College of Nursing in terms of values. Specifically, the questions posed to students will provide an understanding on how they view the University’s identity compared to that of the College of Nursing. This will also help us to understand how successful the university has been in implementing its corporate branding initiatives and whether or not the corporate brand values align with that of the School of Nursing. In other words, do College staff perform in a way that the University (identity) and the students (image) expect? More specifically, do the values of the University, and that of the College of Nursing align with those of the students or are they viewed as separate entities with different perceptions as a result? Therefore is there a gap between the communicated corporate HEI brand identity and understood image? Further, can any relationship be identified between the corporate brand identity and emotional and functional values? Specifically, we are interested to see if emotional values mediate a positive relationship between corporate brand identity and functional values. In addition, does this suggest a sub-culture (sub-brand) within the corporate brand? If this is the case is it possible that different specialisms may provide the very source of differentiation being sought by universities across the globe? It is proposed to develop and test a framework that can be applied to HE and other organisations where there may be different departments with different sub-cultures operating in different environments. HE institutions will be able to use the proposed framework as a mechanism to understand the interplay, relationships and identity-image of the corporate brand and sub- brands. This in turn will enable HEI’s to respond to findings and develop-refine HE branding strategies for future development to shape, direction, values, vision etc. and highlight the most appropriate brand architecture to develop. The framework will also offer corporate brands within and beyond the HE context on how to evaluate their corporate brand and ascertain whether a house of brands or branded house approach is suitable for long term development. Conclusion It is proposed that research will add to the limited studies in HE and corporate branding both in terms of context and furthering the concept of corporate brand identity and, in particular brand architecture where HE literature is virtually non-existent. This study will also contribute to educational branding theory through demonstrating an understanding of those values that are most important to students therefore advancing understanding the development of global ‘educational brands’. Future comparative studies could be conducted to assess the transfer potential of the proposed framework to national and international settings and make adaptations if required. This research forms part of a larger study and qualitative data has been collected from employees in the College of Nursing which would also support these findings. If time allows findings from this would also be presented at the conference.

Despite of its strategic role in shaping corporate image, Instagram predicts that 70% of its contents are not seen by users due to content overload and saturation problems. As more than 95 million photos are shared on Instagram on daily basis, when accessing Instagram, users are bombarded with a lot of visual information and consequently tend to selectively choose photos to pay attention to. Therefore, it is important for marketers to design an ads that has the ability to stop consumers and hold their attention for enough time to be processed cognitively before they scroll up or down to see other photos. This study investigates how visual aesthetic, vividness, and message type of pictures posted on Instagram affects customer responses. A content analysis of 3,952 brand content posted between July and December 2017 was conducted from the official Instagram accounts of seven global luxury brands. The top-listed brands on the Luxury Fashion Social Index namely Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Prada; were investigated as they were considered as good representatives of luxury brands with good social media presence. The coding guide in this study included the numbers of consumer responses (likes and comments), visual aesthetic (classical and expressive), vividness (high and low), and message type (literal and symbolic). For the independent variables, binary coding was used. ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses. Findings suggest that brand posts using expressive aesthetic image received more likes and comments on Instagram than the ones with classical aesthetics. Brand posts with high level of vividness receive more likes and comments than the ones with low level of vividness. Brand posts adopting using symbolic message receive more likes and comments than the ones implementing literal message. The results also suggest that there was a significant interaction between visual aesthetics, vividness, and message types in generating likes Brand content on Instagram using a combination of expressive aesthetic, high vivid, and symbolic message generates more likes and comments than any other combinations. Instead, the content adopting a combination of classical aesthetic, low vivid, and literal message produced the least responses. From theoretical perspective, findings can extend and modify media richness theory to luxury brand and social media contexts. Instagram can be used to display brand contents with various levels of vividness. This study imply that luxury consumers favor expressive aesthetics and symbolic message more positively indicating that they tend to have high level of need for cognition in consuming brand messages. Luxury brand marketers can increase their cognitive load by increasing the level of information complexity increasing the number of colors or patterns, using metaphoric statements, or crafting symbolic messages when creating brand posts on Instagram.

Celebrity endorsement has been traditionally considered as a strategic promotional tool by marketers. Actually, advertising scholars generally found a positive influence of celebrity endorsement on brand equity and, consequently, on consumer purchase intention. On the one hand, literature interprets celebrity source and endorsement factors as related to celebrity-brand fit, perceived celebrity motive, and celebrity expertise. On the other hand, consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) has been usually referred to brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness, and brand associations. Despite such a growing interest, there is limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms linking celebrity endorsement to CBBE. Building on consumer psychology and brand signaling theories, this study develops a conceptual model which hypothesizes consumer-based brand authenticity (CBBA) and brand credibility as mediating variables of the aforementioned relationship. First, CBBA is interpreted as a multidimensional construct composed of a brand’s quality commitment, sincerity, and heritage. Second, credibility refers to a brand’s ability – e.g. expertise – and willingness – e.g. trustworthiness – to reliably keeping its promises to consumers. Moreover, this study hypothesizes that the influence of CBBA and brand credibility on CBBE vary according to consumers’ advertising evaluation. Hence, communication effectiveness is considered as a moderating variable of these relationships. The conceptual model is empirically tested using bootstrapped moderated mediation analysis on a sample of Millennial consumers. In fact, Millennials very well describe postmodern consumption and communication, which increasingly emphasize the need of “real” and authentic communication by credible endorsers and endorsed brands. By stressing the significant role of brand authenticity and credibility in the context of celebrity endorsement, this study provides both theoretical and practical implications to marketing communication literature.

This study presents a machine learning approach using conditional inference tree (Ctree) to determine how brand equity can be used to factually engage consumers into social media brand-related activities. Using the Ctree algorithm (Hothorn, Hornik, & Zeileis, 2006), a predictive model was computed using self-reported data on consumers’ perceptions of brand equity (Aaker, 1991) and engagement into social media brand-related behavior (Muntinga, Moorman, & Smit, 2011) from a sample of 690 individuals. The predictive modeling analysis revealed 5 different rules (patterns) that trigger social media brand-related behavior. Each rule comprises behavioral engagement discriminating low, medium, and high levels of consumption, contribution, and creation of brand-related social media content. Additionally, the analysis portrait 5 subtypes of consumers according to their behavior. This study has incremental explanatory power over preceding consumer brand engagement studies, in that it demonstrates how to manage brand equity to factually engage consumers into social media brand-related activities, therefore, generating valuable insights that may be used to support business.

The current study aimed to segment Mongolian female consumers based on luxury consumption values and to compare lifestyle, demographic characteristics, purchase behavior, and perceived brand personality among the segments. The survey was administered to consumers who had purchased luxury products in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A total of 184 surveys were used for data analysis. Exploratory factor analysis revealed five luxury values: quality value, hedonic value, conspicuous value, social value, and unique value. Using the five luxury values, clustering analysis was conducted, showing that there were four distinct segments: passive shoppers, showoffs, rational value groups, and hedonists. ANOVAs and chi-square analyses revealed that these four segments differed in consumption values, demographic characteristics, lifestyle dimensions (including appearance consciousness, leisure orientation, life enjoyment, and achievement orientation), and purchase behavior (including purchase frequency, price of products purchased, and product selection criteria). Moreover, value segments showed differences in five dimensions of luxury brand personality: sincerity, professionalism/attractiveness, excitement, materialism, and sophistication. The results suggest that consumption values serve as a significant basis for segmentation. Furthermore, the current study indicates that value segments can be described as consumers’ perceived brand personality. The study concludes with a discussion of the results, theoretical and practical implications, and limitations.

As the number of SNS(Weibo) users in China is growing rapidly, Chinese fashion brands are heavily dependent on SNSs as a fashion marketing communication tool. For this reason, the characteristics of SNS accounts and their influences on SNS users’ responses need to be studied. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the influences of the characteristics of Chinese fashion brands’ SNS accounts(Weibo) on the perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with the SNS acount, and brand loyalty. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey of men and women living in Beijing or Shanghai aged from 18 to 49 with experience of SNSs(Weibo). After a pilot survey of 70 subjects, the preliminary questionnaire was revised and then translated into Chinese. The questionnaire translated into Chinese was back-translated into Korean to ensure the translation was correct. The final questionnaire was administered to 600 subjects. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, reliability analysis, and structural equation model analysis were conducted for data analysis. The results of this study were as follows: Five factors were extracted for Weibo characteristics: interaction, information provision, information recency, information reliability, and information playfulness. The information reliability, information playfulness, and interaction of SNS accounts(Weibo) had significant influences on perceived usefulness. The information playfulness, information reliability, and information recency showed significant influences on satisfaction. The perceived usefulness exerted significant influences on satisfaction and brand loyalty. The satisfaction also had statistically significant influences on brand loyalty.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the senior people in our aging society. This paper will give an account of the current cases of senior shift. The first section of this paper will examine a conceptual approach based on a literature review and analyze case studies of senior shifts by national fashion and beauty brands. It will be helpful for the ‘New Senior’ consumer group, which in emerging in an aging society. The research methods applied were a literature review and a case study, and a database search was conducted to determine the current situation of global brands. The results of the literature review showed that seniors can be classified into four types based on their physical aging condition and emotional tendency: Prime Senior, Smart Senior, Rational Senior, and Slump Senior. The first thing that needs to be said is that the Prime Senior type is found commonly in as a way to appoint a senior model in order to switch brand image. Cases of the Smart Senior type appeared only in the beauty field, which attempted multilateral approaches such as launching products exclusively for seniors and offering make-up services after improving the usability and functionality in response to senior consumers’needs. However, as no cases of senior shift were found for the Rational Senior and Slump Senior types in either the fashion or beauty field, future studies should explore the market approaches used in those categories.

본 연구는 중국 시장에서 소비자 세계주의가 외국 브랜드 구매 행위에 미치는 영향이 브랜드 원산지와 명성에 따라 달라질 수 있음을 검증하는 연구이다. 구체적으로 세계주의 성향이 높은 소비자는 상대적으로 소비자 적대감이 높은 원산지의 브랜드와 문화적 이질성이 높은 원산지의 브랜드를 수용하는 경향이 높은지를 살펴본다. 동시에 소비자 세계주의의 혁신성과 관련하여서도, 세계주의 성향이 높은 소비자는 인지도가 낮은 외국 브랜드에 대한 선호도가 높은지도 검증한다. 중국 소비자를 대상으로 실험 설계를 통한 소비자 세계주의의 효과를 검증한 결과, 위의 차별적 효과가 확인되 었다. 흥미로운 점은 세계주의 성향이 높은 소비자는 서양권 브랜드는 선호하나, 문화적으로 유사한 동양권 브랜 드, 특히 유명 브랜드에 대한 선호도는 높지 않는 것으로 발견되었다.

As many companies are performing brand management as a marketing strategy to establish long-term relationships with their customers, consumers decide the actual purchasing behavior by understanding the brand attributes of the relevant company based on an evaluation standard of the products. This paper provides the basic data for improving the competitiveness of the coffee shop market continuously, and analyzes the influential relationships between each variable by limiting the brand attributes of the coffee shop and the price fairness factor that would be expected to affect the consumers' purchasing behavior as the cause variables. The results showed that the-out of brand attribute factors of the coffee shop, the brand awareness and perceived quality had significant effects on the price fairness while the influence of the shop image on the price fairness was not verified. In addition, all the brand awareness, shop image, and perceived quality had significant effects on the purchasing behavior while the statistical significance between price fairness and purchasing behavior was verified. The rationality of the price presented by the coffee shop could be judged depending on the quality perceived by the consumers. Similarly, once consumers classified the propriety of price and then perceived that a suitable price had been set up regarding the quality and service provided by the coffee shop, it was highly possible for them to include it in their actual purchasing behavior, despite the higher price than other brands'. Further research on the psychological variables affecting the purchasing behavior by securing more diverse consumers to understand their purchasing behavior for a wide range of research subjects and the generalization of research results, will provide useful data for establishing marketing measures necessary to form strong relationships between consumers and brand in the currently-saturated coffee shop market.

본 연구는 스마트미디어를 통해 시간과 공간의 한계를 극복한 방송 콘텐츠의 소비가 동시다발 적으로 이루어지는 다매체 다채널 시대, 방송 시장에서 경쟁의 우위를 차지할 수 있는 방안으로 브랜드 자산 관리의 필요성과 중요성을 강조하고자 하였다. 이에 지상파와 케이블, 종편 채널 등 방송 유형별로 어떠한 브랜드 자산을 형성하고 있는지를 파악하고, 방송 시청 선택 과정을 설명 하는 구조적, 개인적 차원의 브랜드 자산 구성요소(채널 및 프로그램 인지, 프로그램 장르별 품질 평가, 채널 이미지, 채널 및 프로그램 충성도)간 영향 관계를 설명하였다. 또한 브랜드 자산의 순 차적인 형성 과정을 설명하기 위해 채널 브랜드 인지 및 장르별 품질 평가가 브랜드 충성도에 미치는 영향 관계를 브랜드 이미지가 어떻게 매개하는지를 살펴보았다. 마지막으로 방송 유형별 브랜드 자산의 구성요소가 어떠한 과정을 통해 특정 채널 및 프로그램의 지속적인 이용의도로 이어지는지를 파악함으로써 본 연구가 갖는 학술적, 사회적 의의를 강조하고자 하였다. 분석 결과 첫째, 지상파와 케이블의 경우 종편 채널에 비해 채널 인지도 및 프로그램 인지도, 채널 이미지, 채널 및 프로그램 충성도와 관련하여 더욱 명확한 인식 혹은 긍정적인 태도를 구축 하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 방송 채널 유형별로 차이가 있긴 하지만 일반적으로 선행연구 에서 제시된 바와 같이 방송 브랜드 자산은 특정 채널 및 프로그램에 대해 형성된 방송 시청자의 인식과 태도, 행동의 순차적인 단계를 거쳐 형성되는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 방송 유형별로 구축 된 브랜드 자산은 각자의 경로를 통해 특정 채널 및 프로그램에 대한 충성도에 상이한 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인되었다. 넷째, 방송 유형별로 브랜드 자산의 구성요소는 상이한 구축 경로를 통해 채널 및 프로그램 지속적인 이용의도가 강화되었다. 이처럼 본 연구는 방송 채널과 프로그 램에 대한 브랜드 자산과 관련한 경험적 연구를 통해 브랜드 자산 구축의 중요성을 강조하고 전 략적 활용 등을 제안함으로써 연구의 의의를 찾고자 하였다.

The aim of this paper is to find which types of pop-up store positively influence consumers and to analyze the factors that affect brand attitude and behavioral intention across different fashion pop-up store formats. The data was collected from 217 respondents in their 20s and 30s and then subjected to descriptive statistical analysis, oneway ANOVA and regression analysis using SPSS Statistics. The results of the oneway ANOVA test indicated that the 'Pop-up store of alliance with different kinds of industries' is the most effective type for increasing brand preference and brand recognition amongst consumers. Some further insights can be made from the regression analysis results. There are differences between pop-up store formats in terms of the cognitive factors influencing brand attitude and behavioral intention. Moreover, there are differences between pop-up store formats in terms of brand attitude factors influencing behavioral intention. Through the results of this study, fashion companies can determine the best type of pop-up store to open depending on their aims. In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights to fashion marketers, helping them to determine the appropriate factors to consider when planning fashion pop-up stores. Academically, this paper contributes to expanding the range of research on fashion pop-up retail by studying consumer experiences of different pop-up store types.