The aim of this exploratory research is to investigate whether luxury brands social media activities (Kim & Ko, 2012) – which are online activities that could potentially engage customers in digital environment (Sashi, 2012) – are capable of transmitting the sense of heritage of such brands to the customers. Moreover, the authors will observe whether the aforementioned activities are capable of transmitting the sense of exclusivity, which will be measured through the customers’ perceptions of the brand prestige (Hwang & Hyun, 2012), to the latter. In order to explore such a phenomenon, the authors have selected structural eqation modeling (SEM) as the main methodology of the research (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988). The theoretical foundations of the present research are related with three streams of marketing literature, namely (1) luxury brands social media marketing activities (Kim & Ko, 2010; Kim & Ko, 2012), (2) luxury brands heritage (Ciappei, Zollo, Boccardi, & Rialti, 2016; Hudson, 2011; Rialti, Zollo, Boccardi, & Marzi, 2016) and, finally, (3) luxury brands customer-based prestige (Napoli, Dickinson, Beverland, & Farrelly, 2014). In particular, building on the concept of social media marketing activities (Kim & Ko, 2010), we aimed at observing how the latter could influence customers’ perceptions of the brand by engaging them in online activities and conversations (Sashi, 2012; Zaglia, 2013). Specifically, we investigated if engagement in online activities or in online communities is related with a positive perception of luxury brands’ heritage and prestige. Hence, customers’ online engagement deriving from social media activities has been considered as an antecedent of customer perceived heritage and prestige (Phan, Thomas, & Heine, 2011; Hamzah, Alwi, & Othman, 2014; Riviezzo Garofano, & Napolitano, 2016). Luxury brands have been selected as the context of research since heritage and prestige have emerged as relevant strategic marketing levers for luxury brands’ brand strategist. As a proof of that, recently, luxury brands’ strategist and product managers are increasingly focusing brands’ strategies on the history of the brands in order to transmit customers a feeling of exclusivity and elitism (Hudson, 2010; Balmer, 2011). Thus, luxury brands heritage perceived by costumers emerged as a fundamental component of brand identity and, in addition, it may be considered as a form of competitive advantage increasing brand equity (Van Riel & Balmer, 1997). The main findings of the present research are related with the fact that social media marketing activities may engage customers online (Sashi, 2012). Moreover, it emerged how social media strategies are capable to engage customers and transmit them the sense of heritage and prestige. Hence, social media marketing strategies focused on developing a relationship with customers emerged as crucial in order to enhance customers’ perceptions of a brand heritage and prestige. Finally, the development of such a kind of social media marketing strategies is the principal implication for marketing managers. Due to the aforementioned results, this exploratory research contributes to online luxury brand management literature (Kim & Ko, 2010). In particular, due to our results it is possible to assess that social media activities, which are capable to engage customers online, are able to transmit the sense of heritage and of prestige. Future researches should explore better this phenomenon. In particular, on the one hand we suggest scholars to investigate through qualitative methodologies which kind of communications are capable to transmit sense of heritage and prestige. On the other hand, we suggest scholars to compare traditional form of communications with online form in order to understand which one is more capable to influence customers’ perceptions. The principal limitation of this research is related with its exploratory nature and with the traditional limitations of SEM methodology.

Despite the positive outcomes of brand-consumer interactions on social media documented in the literature, an important question still remains: Are active brand-consumer interactions always beneficial to luxury fashion brands? This study argues that such interactions may undermine the core perceptions of the brands by making consumers feel too close to the brands. Drawing upon construal level theory of psychological distance, the purpose of this study is to examine the negative effects of brand-consumer interactions on perceptions of luxury fashion brands (i.e., social perception, uniqueness perception, quality perception) in a social media context. Two experimental studies were conducted. The purpose of Study 1 was to test the hypothesis that luxury brands, compared to mainstream brands, will be perceived as more psychologically distant and abstract. Study 1 used a 2 (brand category: luxury vs. mainstream) x 2 (brand replicates) mixed-model design in which the brand category was a between-subject factor and the brand replicates were a within-subject factor. Fifty-nine subjects recruited from Amazon MTurk participated in the study. The results of Study 1 revealed that luxury brands are inherently psychologically distant than mainstream brands. The purpose of Study 2 was to test the impact of brand-consumer interactions (i.e., high vs. low) and the mediating role of psychological distance on the three perceptions of luxury brands (i.e., social perception, uniqueness perception, quality perception) on social media. A single factor between-subjects design was used, and a total of 74 participants were recruited from Amazon MTurk. To manipulate the level of consumer-brand interaction (high vs. low), two versions of a luxury brand’s mock Facebook pages were created. For the high interaction condition, the brand responded to consumers’ posts in a friendly way and displayed the images of user photos. For the low interaction condition, the brand did not respond to consumers’ posts and displayed no images of users. As predicted, the results showed that participants indicated lower brand perceptions when the brand’s social media page displayed a high level of interactions than a low level of interactions. Moreover, formality, a measure of psychological distance, partially mediated the relationship between brand-consumer interactions and all the three brand perceptions. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence that active consumer-brand interactions on social media do not necessarily benefit luxury fashion brands, rather they can damage consumer perceptions of the brands. This study provides important implications that luxury fashion brands should maintain a sacred distance on social media; otherwise it will undermine important perceptions of the brands such as status signaling, exclusivity, and quality.

This study aims to investigate the role of luxury brand attachment on consumer brand relationship by examining the relationship with trust, commitment, satisfaction and loyalty. This also examines the interrelationships among trust, commitment, satisfaction and loyalty from luxury branding context which provides a good number of theoretical and practical implications. Introduction The global luxury market exceeded $1 trillion in the year 2015 with a 5% annual growth (Bain & Co., 2015). However, industry experts predict that the luxury industry will face challenges in upcoming year primarily due to the economic instability and turmoil in the global foreign exchange market (Robert, 2015). Therefore, the luxury brand executives should carefully target their future consumer segment to sustain the current growth (Luxury Society, 2015). Earlier studies demonstrate that consumers seek various types of emotional benefits from luxury brands such as status seeking (Nelissen & Meijers, 2011), hedonic pleasure (Tsai, 2005), feeling good (Aaker, 1999), pleasurable experience (Atwal & Williams, 2009), mental peace (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003), and impressing others (Wiedmann, Hennigs, & Siebels, 2009). Moreover, these emotional benefits create a comprehensive and memorable experience in terms of ownership and consumption of luxury brands (Choo et al., 2012). Therefore, luxury brand marketers should emphasize more on emotional attachment for building a long term and sustainable customer relationship (Orth et al., 2010). Research Gap Existing literature on consumer-brand relationship mostly considers cross-cultural issues (Chang & Chieng, 2006), reviving brand loyalty (Fournier, 1997), consumer attitude (Aggarwal, 2004), satisfaction (Sung & Choi, 2006), self-brand connection (Cheng et al., 2012), trust-based commitment (Hess & Story, 1995) and such other dimensions on brand evaluation (e.g. Swaminathan et al., 2007). Few studies have considered luxury products (Hodge et al., 2015) and the role of emotional aspects (Hwang & Kandampully, 2012) in the consumer-brand relationship. Still, there is a lack of empirical support for understanding the role of luxury brand attachment into the construct. This research will attempt to fulfil these research gaps. Conceptual Model and Hypotheses Psychological theories explain attachment as the tie between a person and an object or any other components (Bowlby, 1979; Hazan & Shaver, 1994). Brand attachment is defined as a long-term and commitment oriented tie between the consumer and the brand (Esch et al., 2006). The conceptualization of luxury brand demonstrates that the inherent traits of luxury brands are distinctiveness, high transaction value, superior quality, inimitability, and craftsmanship; and luxury brand consumption is mostly emotion laden (Nueno & Quelch, 1998). Based on the existing attachment concepts and theories, we define luxury brand attachment as the emotional bond that connects a consumer with a specific brand and develops deep feelings toward the brand. Several past studies have found that brand attachment reinforces brand trust and there is a positive relationship between brand attachment and trust (e.g. Belaid & Behi, 2011). In addition, Esch et al. (2006) argue that brand satisfaction and brand attachment are interrelated and satisfaction results long-term consumer-brand relationships (Gladstein, 1984). Moreover, strong commitment from the consumers has been identified as a critical factor of long lasting brand relationship (Li et al., 2014; Sung and Choi, 2010). Further, Thomson et al. (2005) find that brand attachment creates behavioural loyalty for which consumers are also willing to pay higher prices. Expecting similar relationship from luxury branding context, we propose that H1: The higher the luxury brand attachment, the greater the consumers trust in that brand. H2: The higher the luxury brand attachment, the greater the consumer satisfaction for that brand. H3: The higher the luxury brand attachment, the greater the consumer commitment to that brand. H4: Higher luxury brand attachment leads to higher behavioural loyalty to that brand. Scholars explain that satisfaction is an essential element of brand loyalty and both the constructs are positively related (e.g. Agustin and Singh, 2005). Past researches find that highly satisfied consumers demonstrate repeat purchases (e.g. Bennett et al, 2005). Past studies also show that trust toward the brand results brand loyalty and strengthen the relationship (Bansal et al., 2014; Belaid & Behi, 2011). Fournier (1997) identify brand trust as the key determinant of brand loyalty. Thus, we propose that H5: Higher satisfaction to the luxury brand leads to higher behavioural loyalty to that brand. H6: Higher trust to the luxury brand leads to higher behavioural loyalty to that brand. Ganesan (1994) argue that a satisfied customer develop trust toward a specific brand. In support of this, Belaid & Behi (2011) state that if a brand becomes successful in fulfilling the promise with consistence performance, the consumer will have satisfaction and positive feeling about the brand. In addition, the authors find a positive relationship between brand commitment and behavioural loyalty. Expecting similar relationship from luxury branding context, we propose that H7: The higher the trust in luxury brand, the more customer satisfaction in that brand. H8: Higher commitment to the luxury brand leads to higher behavioural loyalty to that brand. Summary of the hypothesised relationships are illustrated in Figure 1. Methodology The simple random sampling will ensure proper representation of the target population and eliminate the sampling bias (Cook & Campbell, 1979; Zikmund, 2002). The sample population will be 300 young Australian consumers aged between 20-30 years. Previous studies have found that there is a growth in luxury brand purchase by individuals in younger age groups e.g. 20 – 30 (Hung et al., 2011). Therefore, this is representative of the possible drift in the ages of consumers in the market for luxury brand purchase (Han et al., 2010). A consumer panel from Qualtrics database will be used and the sample frame consists of consumers who have higher brand likeability (Martin & Stewart, 2001). Established scales will be used to measure the constructs. All items will be measured on a seven-point Likert scale with 1 representing “strongly disagree” and 7 representing “strongly agree”. Research Significance This would be the very first study to investigate the role of luxury brand attachment in consumer brand relationship. This research will provide meaningful insights for the brand managers, brand strategists and advertising managers. This research will assist luxury brand managers in allocation of resources for the action plans that will ensure a stronger tie with the consumers in a cost efficient way. For brand managers luxury brand attachment may help them with segmentation process and well as providing direction on improving attachment to the consumers to influence trust, commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty.

As a contemporary, postmodern marketing strategy, digital storytelling is the virtual means by which a story can be organized. Less traditional than a conventional beginning, middle, and end narrative, the genre suggests that individuals connect the dots of a story by comparing their reading with others. This research examines Christian Dior’s Secret Garden IV campaign film as it is broadcasted on YouTube for six weeks and diffused through Instagram. Through a grounded theory approach we measure and analyze audience engagement and key themes expressed through user-generated content on YouTube and Instagram. Manual coding and three computer-aided text analysis programs are used to analyze the data and triangulate results. This research contributes to the literature on consumer engagement in digital storytelling, online brand communities, and celebrity endorsement. Introduction Digital technologies have improved the aesthetics of content creation, enabling brands to develop deeper levels of engagement with consumers through social channels (Merrilees, 2016). Every day hundreds of millions of hours of video are consumed on YouTube and the number of high performing channels has been increasing by 50% per year (YouTube, 2017). Instagram’s monthly active users have grown from 300 million in December 2014 to 600 million in December 2016 (Statista, 2017). Within the social media sphere, commercial and individual users connect through multiple platforms and devices to share ideas and information without the constraint of time and space (Gruzd & Wellman, 2014). The digitization of visual culture provides users with so much content that it may even result in information overload (Babin et al., 2017). This research focuses on the fashion sector and social media platforms that cater specifically to visual imagery and video content. The logic is twofold: the fashion industry is inherently visual and research on a study of eighty-three fashion brands indicates a shift from traditional advertising to video products, especially on social media (L2 Inc., 2016). We examine elements of French luxury goods company, Christian Dior’s Secret Garden omni-channel marketing campaign. As a collection of short films shown on YouTube and in other media, the campaign had four annual installments beginning in 2012. The Secret Garden series explores the brand’s past and present within the context of the 21st century Palace of Versailles. Our focus is on Secret Garden IV, launched in May 2015, featuring singer/songwriter Rihanna as the protagonist. Dior’s portrayal of Versailles throughout the Secret Garden series reflects undertones of its monarchial heritage and its high fashion prestige. In Secret Garden IV, there is a juxtaposition to this theme when Rihanna’s subculture persona and celebrity status (Fleetwood, 2012) presents a misalignment between luxury ideals and Rihanna’s position in popular culture. Table 1 provides an overview of the history of the campaign. This research measures and analyzes audience engagement and key themes expressed through users’ comments on YouTube and Instagram for the pre-launch and launch of the Secret Garden IV campaign. Through a grounded theory approach we identify, analyze, and validate keywords and group them into themes utilizing both manual coding and computer-aided text analysis (Lai & To, 2015). We utilize three software programs (Tableau, NVivo 11, and Leximancer) to triangulate results. The scholarly literature on fashion luxury goods is scant and this methodological approach is sound (Neuendorf, 2017). Five recent scholarly articles on luxury fashion goods and social media were identified. One relates to storytelling and is visually-focused (Megehee & Spake, 2012); three develop models (Kim & Ko, 2010; Kim & Ko, 2012; Brogi et al., 2013); and one uses the case study approach (Phan et al., 2011). This research fills both a theoretical and a methodological gap. We examine a digital storytelling campaign across social media platforms with the prospect of new theoretical insights. According to Snelson (2016) there is scant social media research on YouTube and Instagram and social media research using a grounded theory approach is also limited. Theoretical background Digital Storytelling Digital storytelling uses technology as an extension of oral and written stories “…to solidify our cultures and share knowledge for the future” (Irwin, 2014, p. 40), placing engagement with digital media as an extension of the self. People naturally think in narratives and stories, rather than arguments and paradigms (Megehee & Spake, 2012) and may use digital storytelling to order otherwise disconnected experiences into interrelated, meaningful episodes (Vannini, 2012). By connecting the dots of a story on social media users have the opportunity to formulate meanings of their own and build interpretations by comparing their “reading” with that of others. Social media has empowered the consumer by enabling communication that is multi-way, multi-directional, and led by the consumer (Tuten & Solomon, 2015). The fashion film on the internet has been viewed as “a genre that is not is not simply a tool to stimulate consumption, but is something that is set to change our notion of fashion as a moment in time” (Khan, 2012, p. 236). In her review, “100 Years of the Fashion Film,” Marketa Uhlirova posits that contemporary technologies aimed at a film’s “potential to promote fashion” turned into “the medium’s ability to recast consumption as seductive visual entertainment,” devaluing a fashion film’s potential for not only entertainment and visual pleasure, but also for experimentation and innovation (Uhlirova, 2013, p. 140; p. 153). Online Brand Communities As a hub of value creation in the consumer marketplace, brand communities are an enthusiastic, passionate group of customers who express similar commitment towards a brand or product and may not be geographically bound (Muniz Jr. & O’Guinn, 2001; McAlexander et al., 2002). In brand communities created by marketers, organizations may stimulate engagement, brand loyalty and the expression of positive emotions and trust (Bagozzi & Dholakia, 2006; Jung et al., 2014). Customer engagement behaviour pertains to a variety of online and offline behaviours (e.g. word of mouth, blogging, customer reviews) that are not transactional, but can be measured (Verhoef et al., 2010). Although positive word of mouth and brand advocacy are not guaranteed, an organization’s most engaged social customers have the potential to communicate messages that are perceived as more credible than those generated by the organization (Kozinets et al., 2010). A high level of engagement may be described as delight or joy. Engagement requires strong emotional and relational bonds (commitment and trust), and may transform customers into loyal “fans” or co-creators of value (Hawkins & Davis, 2012). A study of customer engagement behaviour in a social media environment is complex because engagement behaviour in different channels may vary considerably, with a different effect on value creation or purchase intent. For example, if a customer tweets on a mobile device his/her engagement and purchase intent may differ from engagement and purchase intent as a result of interaction with a video or blog (Libai et al., 2010). Celebrity Endorsement A celebrity endorsement is defined as “an agreement between an individual who enjoys public recognition (a celebrity) and an entity (e.g., a brand) to use the celebrity for the purpose of promoting the entity” (Bergkvist & Zhou, 2016). Celebrity endorsements previously were associated primarily with consumer goods and services advertised through traditional media, such as print and television. More recently, these endorsements encompass any mode of communication as well as business-to-business goods and services. This update is significant considering the addition of advertising on the Internet, in social media, “stealth marketing” on TV talk shows (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2004) and red carpet appearances (Carroll, 2009). Theories related to celebrity persuasion that have application to the fashion industry have examined the way consumers process information from marketing communications and relate it to their self-concept (Carroll, 2009). To the consumer, the celebrity represents a meaning, based on the recognition s/he has received in the symbolic environment and his/her persona. This meaning is transferred to the product when the celebrity is seen in the marketing communication. In the final stage, the meaning moves from the product to the consumer, who transfers the meaning into his/her notion of the self-concept (Carroll, 2009). This transference effect benefits the brand (Tuten & Solomon, 2015) and the consumer who may use products to reveal their self-concept to others (Babin, et al., 2017), especially in high involvement consumption situations (Ahuvia, 2005). Method Sample Instagram and YouTube data were collected using Netlytic (Gruzd, 2016) for the period May 14 – June 24, 2015 for the purpose of capturing data before and after the official release of the film (May 18, 2015). A total of 8,986 records (uncleansed) are in the Instagram (#SecretGarden4 and @Dior) database and 426 records (uncleansed) in the YouTube database. Multiple URLs were used for YouTube because there were four previews, and short and long versions of the film. Procedures The data was cleansed (236 YouTube posts; 6,763 Instagram posts). To measure sentiment and engagement, a text analysis was performed using an adaptation of Dann’s Twitter (2010) classification. Through a grounded theory approach (Lai & To, 2015) key words, concepts and themes were identified and triangulated using Tableau, NVivo 11, and Leximancer software programs. Concluding Remarks As a multi-year campaign, Dior’s Secret Garden was meticulously crafted to project an understanding of Dior’s brand image and to create an air of anticipation for consumers. Within the context of digital storytelling we delve deeply into how the last installment of this campaign resonated with consumers who watched the film on social media and responded to Dior’s Instagram initiatives. Through our mixed methods research approach, we develop theoretical and methodological contributions that benefit academics and fashion marketers.

Have you ever seen images of an elegant woman dressed in period clothes, threatening to stab another woman through the neck; a model facing a leopard behind a mannequin hand; or a lady using a hook to fish a purse out of a pool, while a seemingly dead man is floating in the water? The descriptions of these scenes might sound dark and absurd, and provoke disgust or displeasure; but the fact is, these images have been used in real advertisements for prestigious fashion brands such as Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, and were featured heavily in various fashion magazines. Recently, advertisers have sought to differentiate their products by using grotesque imagery in their ads as a strategy to get consumers’ attention and stimulate their curiosity. Although growing attention is being paid to ads that are not conventionally ‘pretty’, very little research has tried to empirically document the effect of grotesque imagery on the persuasiveness of luxury brand advertising, or unveil the psychological mechanism underlying the effect. The purpose of this research is to investigate how grotesque imagery used for luxury products appeal to consumers, and why the ads affect the consumers’ behavior. We empirically demonstrated that the grotesque imagery used to promote luxury products enhances consumers’ purchase intention because it facilitates consumers to better experience the brand by transporting them to the narratives that are portrayed in the ads. This process occurs because a correspondence between grotesque imagery and luxury branding generates the fit effect, which leads to fluent processing and feel right experience, and in turn induces engagement to the ad. Grotesque Advertisement Grotesque was the word indicating the style of ancient decoration that depicted fantastic combinations of human and animal forms, interwoven with strange fruits and flowers. The Cambridge Dictionary of English now defines grotesque as a general adjective that describes anything “very strange and unpleasant, especially in a ridiculous or slightly frightening way.” Evolutionary psychology provides us a hint for the reason why emotionally provocative and fear-evoking grotesque imagery captures consumers’ attention. The faster attention to negative stimuli than to positive stimuli is an automatic tendency developed as means of evolutionary adaptedness for survival because negative stimuli signal danger and cause alert to prompt defensive reaction (Ohman, Flykt and Esteves, 2001; Schoemaker 1996; Tan 2008). Another explanation for grotesque imagery’s attention grabbing power arises from our complex emotional system—i.e. human enjoys fearful horror or heartbreakingly sad films, because such negative emotions often stem from a challenging situation filled with risks, threats, and tension and generate an active interest in it (Bartsch, Apple and Stroach 2010; Oliver 1993; Tan 2008). Frightening, disgusting, or tragic emotions are mixed with a relief that comes after a perception of reality. Because human has an ability to distinguish their real life and the situation in the film or drama, we feel interests while being frightened or disgusted or heart-broken with pleasurable enjoyment (Tan 2008). Prior research by Phillips and McQuarrie (2010) brought to light the concept of grotesque in the context of fashion marketing. They described grotesque imagery using words with common etymological meanings—bizarre, surreal, deviant, absurd, discrepant, peculiar, and odd—and suggested that it could lead viewers to engage in the ad through transportation or immersion to the story world of the ad. Through the narrative transportation, grotesque imagery persuades consumers to better experience the brand featured in the ad. Based on their conceptualization of grotesque and its persuasive power, we empirically test whether grotesque imagery used in an ad might work as a strong trigger of fantasy, stimulating viewers to be transported into the narrative depicted in the ad image. Transportation Transportation is defined as ‘a convergent process where all mental systems and capacities become focused on events occurring in the narrative’ (Green and Block 2000, p. 701); it represents the extent of absorption into the narrative flow of the story as it unfolds. Transportation occurs whenever the consumer experiences a feeling of entering a world brought to mind by the story, because of their empathy for the story characters and imagination of the story narratives (Van Laer et al. 2014). Previous research suggests that transportation induces favorable attitudes toward the related product (Escalas 2004), and enhances the persuasiveness of advertising messages through the connection between the self and the ad content (Escalas 2004). Fit Between Grotesque Imagery and Luxury Branding The effect of fit, which means a relevant and logical connection between ad contents, has been widely studied in advertising and marketing literature. Fit messages are readily accessible, and processed through simple cognitive information processes. Macinnis and Park (1991) argue that the fit effect is caused by consumers’ perception of the stimuli in ads as a whole, rather than distinct individual elements. The processing of fit (vs nonfat) messages is easier, so more fluent (Lee and Aaker 2004; Labroo and Lee 2006), and fluent processing of fit messages offer a feel right experience (Camacho, Higgins, and Luger 2003; Lee, Keller, and Sternthal 2009). This subjective experience of feeling right increases engagement (Lee, Keller, and Sternthal 2009), willingness to pay, favorability of brand attitudes, and brand choice (Lee and Higgins 2009). In this research, we posit that persuasive effect of grotesque ads is more likely to occur when grotesque imagery is used for advertising luxury brands. Previous research explained the motivations to purchase luxury brands as scarcity, uniqueness, distance, high price (Dion and Arnould 2011; Dubois and Duquensne, 1993), and signaling of social status (Belk 1988; Zhou and Belk 2004; Han, Nunes, and Drèze 2010), which intersect with the characteristics of grotesque. People purchase luxury goods because they are relatively exclusive and limited, providing the consumer with more emotional distance from mass produced products (Hansen and Wänke 2011). In addition, positioning a brand using mythical and abstract concepts is known to be more effective in building strong prestigious brands (Arsel and Craig 2011). Because grotesque is perceived to be distant from reality, incongruent, and discrepant, these characteristics of luxury branding could overlap with that of grotesque. Furthermore, support for our prediction of a fit between grotesque imagery and luxury branding can be found in some other common features of both. Dion and Arnould (2011) argue that luxury brands possess hedonic appeals based on multisensorial pleasure, artistic aura, and charismatic stories which transport consumers into the magical world of the luxury brand. In support, Kim, Lloyd and Cervellon (2015) found that luxury brand advertising stimulates fantasy, and this is one of the dominant themes through which consumers were engaged with the brand. They showed that being part of the narratives in the ads, participants experienced escaping from their everyday lives, traveling around the fantasy world, and feeling that their myth, fantasies or dreams become real. As luxury brand advertising has a power to transport consumers into fantasy, grotesque imagery also carries consumers away into magical world through narrative transportation (Phillips and McQuarrie 2010). Hypotheses In light of the prior research, we posit that when grotesque imagery is used in ads for luxury brands, the fit generates feel right experience and easy and fluent processing of messages, because grotesque imagery and luxury brand advertising commonly have a power to transport viewers to fantasy world distant from reality. In addition, previous research has suggested positive downstream effects for transportation to enhanced brand experience. As the level of experience is enhanced, familiarity and satisfaction with the brand are heightened as well (Ha and Perks 2005). A deeper level of brand experience generates brand trust and accelerates loyalty to brands (Lglesias, Singh, and Batista-Goguet 2011). Thus, we propose the following hypotheses: H1: Luxury brand advertising with grotesque imagery will facilitate transportation, which will in turn enrich brand experience and increase purchase intention of the featured product. H2: There will be a perceived fit between grotesque imagery and luxury branding. H3: The fit between grotesque imagery and luxury branding will enrich brand experience which in turn enhance purchase intention. Study 1 The goal of Study 1 was to show that a grotesque ad is perceived to be better-matched with brands described as prestigious. Stimuli. We designed two versions of a print advertisement for a fictitious fashion brand to manipulate grotesque (vs. non-grotesque) ad style. We created the ad by modifying the content from an existing Jimmy Choo advertisement. The print ad featured a man, a girl, a car, and a handbag placed in the middle of a desert. In the grotesque imagery condition, the girl is placed in the truck of a car, appearing dead since the man sitting next to her is holding a shovel that he seemingly used to dig a hole in the ground to bury her. In the non-grotesque imagery condition, we replaced the shovel to a cane. In the prestige condition, we introduced the brand as one with a prestigious image similar to those of Louis Vuitton and Hermes. In the non-prestige condition, the brand was described as having a brand image similar to Zara and H&M. Procedure. 171 undergraduates (average age = 22.8 years; 171 females) participated in the study for a course credit. Participants were informed that they would be asked to complete an ad evaluation study, and were randomly assigned to be presented with one of the four print ads featuring a handbag. Participants were asked to indicate how likely they would be to purchase the handbag product (1 = very unlikely; 7 = very likely), and how well-matched the ad is to the product and the brand image on two items (‘the ad goes nicely together with the handbag’ ‘the ad looks well-matched with the image of the brand’; 1 = not at all ~ 7 = very much). Then, they completed two item transportation measures (‘While I was looking at the ad, I could easily picture the events in it taking place,’ ‘I had a vivid image of the man sitting next to the woman’; 1 = strongly disagree ~ 5 = strongly agree) adapted from Green and Brock (2000). Next, participants responded to twelve items of brand experience measure from Jos ̆ko Brakus, Schmitt, and Zarantonello (2009) (e.g. ‘This brand results in bodily experiences’, ‘This brand stimulates my curiosity and problem solving’; 1 = strongly disagree ~ 7 = strongly agree). They also rated how grotesque the ad was on seven items (‘bizarre,’ ‘surreal,’ ‘deviant,’ ‘absurd,’ ‘peculiar,’ ‘odd’, ‘discrepant’; 1 = not at all ~ 7 = very much). To rule out an affective account for participants’ evaluation, we assessed participants’ mood (1 = negative mood, bad mood, sad, irritated ~ 7 = positive mood, good mood, happy, relaxed) and their arousal (1 = not at all aroused ~ 7 = very aroused). Results: Perceived fit. The two perceived fit items were averaged to form a fit index. A two (ad style: grotesque vs. non-grotesque) by two (brand reputation: prestige vs. non-prestige) between-subjects ANOVA revealed a significant ad style by brand reputation interaction effect (F(1, 167) = 5.69, p = .018). Planned contrasts indicated that, in the grotesque imagery condition, participants rated the ad as more well-matched when the product was described as a prestigious brand (M = 4.14) than when it was a non-prestigious brand (M = 3.53; F(1, 167) = 4.15, p = .043). In contrast, in the non-grotesque imagery condition, participants rated the ad as less well-matched when it was described as a prestigious brand (M = 3.60) rather than non-prestigious brand (M = 4.00), but the effect was not significant (F(1, 167) = 1.79, p = .183). Because the perceived fit results confirmed that participants rated the ad as more well-matched when the product was described as a prestigious brand, we created an imagery fit variable coding the well-matched conditions (grotesque imagery for prestige brand and non-grotesque imagery for non-prestige brand) to be 1, and the less well-matched conditions (grotesque imagery for non-prestige brand and non-grotesque imagery for prestige brand) to be 0. As predicted, an ANOVA revealed that the well-matched conditions showed higher perceived fit (F(1, 169) = 5.79, p = .017), such that those in the matched condition (M = 4.07) rated higher on perceived fit than those in the mismatched condition (M = 3.57). Transportation. Participants’ ratings on the two transportation items were averaged to form transportation scores. A two way ANOVA revealed a significant ad style (grotesque vs. control) by brand reputation (prestige vs. non-prestige) interaction effect on transportation (F(1, 167) = 4.35, p = .039). Planned contrasts indicated that, in the grotesque condition, participants reported higher transportation scores when the product was described as a prestigious brand (M = 3.22) than a non-prestigious brand (M = 2.78; F(1, 167) = 4.28, p = .040). In contrast, in the non-grotesque condition, participants reported lower transportation scores when it was described as a prestigious brand (M = 2.62) rather than a non-prestigious brand (M = 2.81), but the effect was not significant (F(1, 167) = .78, p = .378). Mediation Effect of Transportation on Brand Experience. Participants’ ratings on the brand experience scale were averaged to form brand experience scores. A series of regressions showed that the ad style by brand reputation interaction activated transportation (β = .632, p = .034), which then yielded greater brand experience (β = .360, p <.001). The bootstrap procedure for a conditional mediation model (PROCESS Model 7; Hayes 2013) using 5,000 samples revealed a significant conditional indirect effect of grotesque imagery on brand experience through activation of transportation when the product was described as a prestigious brand (95% CI [.067, .390]). This conditional indirect effect was not significant when the product was described as a non-prestigious brand (95% CI [–.189, .138]). Multiple Mediation Effect. Our prediction was that grotesque imagery used in luxury brand advertising would lead to higher perceived fit, which facilitates narrative transportation and in turn enhances brand experience leading to greater purchase intention. Multiple mediation analyses using PROCESS Model 6 (Hayes 2013) with 5,000 resamples confirmed that the perceived fit → transportation → brand experience path mediated the effect of imagery fit on purchase intention. The imagery fit variable was created as a binary variable (1 = grotesque imagery for prestige brand or non-grotesque imagery for non-prestige brand; 0 = otherwise). First, the path from imagery fit to perceived fit was significant and positive ( = .504, p = .017), as was the path from perceived fit to transportation ( = .149, p = .007), the path from transportation to brand experience ( = .326, p < .001), and the path from brand experience to purchase intention ( = .344, p = .014). The 95% CI of the bootstrap procedure ([.001, .030]) confirmed that the indirect effect of imagery fit on purchase intention through the three mediators—perceived fit, transportation and brand experience—was significant. Study 2 The objective of Study 2 was to test the robustness of the mediating role of transportation for the effect of grotesque imagery fit with luxury brand. In addition, we checked whether the grotesque manipulation affected the extent to which participants perceived the brand as luxurious. Stimuli. Two versions of print advertisement were created to manipulate grotesque (vs. non-grotesque) ad style by modifying an existing Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign. The print ad featured two women, a man, and handbags placed on the floor of a classically decorated room. In the grotesque imagery condition, one of the girls wearing a ball gown is holding a knife and seemingly about to stab another girl. In the non-grotesque imagery condition, we replaced the knife with a bottle of perfume. All participants were provided with the print ad that contained a cover story about the ad evaluation task, describing the brand as either a prestigious brand that is similar to Louis Vuitton and Hermes or a brand with an image that is similar to Zara and H&M. Procedure. 165 undergraduate students (average age = 23.8; 66 females) were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions. Participants were first asked to indicate how likely they would be to purchase the featured handbags (1 = very unlikely; 7 = very likely). Then, they responded to two transportation items (‘I wanted to learn how the story in the ad ended’, ‘The story in the ad affected me emotionally’, ‘I found myself thinking of ways the story in the ad could have turned out differently’; 1 = not at all ~ 5 = very much). Next, participants responded to the same twelve-item brand experience scale, seven item grotesque measure, four mood items, and an arousal item used in Study 1. In study 2, they were also asked to rate their impression of the product as luxurious, prestigious, and high class (1 = not at all; 7 = very much). Results. The grotesque manipulation did not affect the extent to which participants perceived the brand as luxurious, and when the product was described as a prestigious brand, participants in the grotesque condition reported higher transportation scores than those in the non-grotesque condition. Multiple mediation analyses reconfirmed that the transportation → brand experience path mediated the effect of imagery fit on purchase intention. General Discussion Through two studies, we demonstrated that grotesque ads can be effective in persuading consumers to purchase luxury fashion items. We found that grotesque ads trigger transportation when the brand is described as prestigious, enriching brand experience, and in turn heightening consumers’ purchase intention.

There has been an emerging interest in the effective luxury advertising, which has been conducted within and across national borders. Unlike earlier studies on luxury brands that focused on the behavior and opinions of luxury consumers (e.g., luxury motivations, value perceptions, etc.), this nascent stream of research queries an important role that advertising exerts on luxury consumers (Freire, 2014). Informed by these developments, our study examines how luxury brand marketers can design effective social media messages for their consumers. In particular, we draw on recent research in consumer psychology to shed new light on (1) how consumer feelings about the psychological distance of luxury consumption may influence their evaluation of different types of message appeals on social media and their intention to share these messages with others; and (2) we address how this process varies depending on (a) the perceived tie strength between consumers on social media, the functional attitudes of luxury brands, and across different cultural milieus.

This conceptual paper discusses the influence of brand knowledge through various components of personal luxury products’ towards the purchase intention. Rapid shifts in luxury consumers’ behaviours is one of the predominant drivers contributing to the growth of the modern luxury market. In response to this, luxury consumers’ characteristics and profiles need to be reexamined. In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in global luxury consumption with the rise in number of luxury consumers from 140 million to 350 million globally (Bain & Company, 2015). Such a phenomenal growth in the luxury market leads to a widely increased interests among researchers across all disciplines (Truong et al., 2008; 2009, Tynan et al., 2010; Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2016). In particular, personal luxury goods market is forecast to continue to grow between 2-3 percent through 2020 (Bain & Company, 2016). Despite the fact that personal luxury goods is a major driver of the entire market, there is a limited research in this product category. Two factors of this fast-growing trend stimulate the need for additional research into consumers’ behaviours. First, there has been a shift in luxury consumers’ profile (Hanna, 2004; Fionda & Moore, 2009) and purchasing patterns (Bain & Company, 2015; 2016) where social influences (Dubois et al., 2001; Berthon et al., 2009; Cheah et al., 2015; Yang and Mattila, 2014; Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2016) and people’s needs for materialism, appearances to enhance their ego and self-concept (Phau & Prendergast, 2000; Kapferer, 2006) are having greater impact on how consumers make their luxury purchase decisions. Second, it appears that the characteristics of the traditional luxury consumers as well as old marketing models from many decades ago need to be redefined (Bain & Company, 2015). Danziger (2005) indicates that the changes in luxury consumers’ purchase decision has created a dramatic shift in the purchase behaviour as a whole, making it difficult for luxury marketers to recognise the trend. To date, existing literature on luxury purchase intention focuses mainly from the cultural, economic, psychological perspectives (Leibenstein, 1950; Veblen, 1899; Bian & Forsythe, 2012; Liu et al., 2012; Wong & Ahuvia, 1998; Vigneron & Johnson, 2004; Shukla, 2012; Cheah et al., 2015) but remains limited on investigating luxury consumers’ behaviours through the integration of brand knowledge domain. Major works from marketing scholars on luxury value perceptions (Wiedmann et al., 2007 and 2009; Vigneron & Johnson, 2004; Shukla, 2012; Shukla & Purani, 2013; De Barnier et al., 2006; Hennigs et al., 2012 and 2013) suggest that they are important in explaining the whole picture of luxury consumption but insufficient in explaining purchase intentions (Shukla, 2012). Kapferer (2006) discusses that it is typical for consumers to identify which brand belongs to the luxury category, however, it could be more complex for the precise definition of luxury to be identified and understood. Therefore, this study seeks to incorporate the branding aspects into the investigation on the significance of brand knowledge towards the intention to purchase personal luxury products. Literature Review The concept of luxury is first explained by Veblen (1899) that the consumption of luxury goods is primarily considered by the affluent consumers with the desire to display their wealth to the relevant significant others. Even though the concept of luxury remains obscure, the clearer definition of luxury is given by Nueno & Quelch (1998) as the “ratio of functional utility to price is low while the ratio of intangible and situational utility to price is high” and that luxury products are beyond an ordinary expensive goods but “an ephemeral status symbol”. Shukla (2010) also defines luxury as the consumption that is not for just oneself but a socially-oriented type of consumption that fulfils the consumers’ own indulgence as well as to serve the “socially directed motives”. The aforementioned definitions of luxury show it is an “elusive concept” (Kapferer, 1998) with “fuzzy frontiers” (Kapferer, 2006). The luxury concept is describes as “incredibly fluid, and changes dramatically” over time and varied among different cultures (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie 2006). As consumers become richer (Fionda & Moore, 2009) and are able to afford more luxury brands (Nueno & Quelch, 1998), luxury is no longer reserved for the rich but also includes the rising number of aspiring middle-class consumers (Shukla, 2012) who enjoy material comfort (Yeoman & McMahon-Beattie, 2006; Yeoman, 2011: Granot et al., 2013). This change makes the term luxury even more difficult to define (Shukla, 2010) and will continue as an ongoing debate among research scholars (Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2016). Dubois & Paternault (1995) mention that “luxury items are bought for what they mean, beyond what they are”, this statement defines the nature of luxury brands where consumers often purchase luxury products not merely because of their outstanding quality but because of the name and the symbolic identity the brand provides. Kapferer (1998) recognises the importance in exploring the perception of luxury brands from the end-users themselves because they know best. This also adds to the ongoing complexity and difficulties in giving luxury a discreet definition (Kapferer, 1997 and 1998). The work of Grotts & Johnson (2013) investigates the status consumption of millennial consumers and indicates that it is highly possible that the consumers may not express any interest on the quality of the products but are placing greater emphasis on the ability of the handbags to be recognised and generate attention from their reference groups. With regard to marketing strategy, luxury marketers react to the rapid increase in demand to maintain their position of exclusivity by increasing the price every year in order to secure their clientele (Kapferer, 2015b). Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and Christian Dior increase the price of their products every year to sustain the dream value of the consumers (Kapferer, 2015a; 2015b). It is apparent that most luxury companies are managing the dilemma of maintaining the exclusivity of its products while increasing brand awareness as well as focusing on securing more market share and revenue (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012; Berthon et al., 2009). Despite the recognisable shifts in luxury consumption pattern, the sector will continue to grow with the majority of affluent consumers as discussed by Steve Kraus of Ipsos (King, 2015). The most recognisable shift in luxury marketing strategy is on the increasing number of luxury companies offering lower-price products in response to the rising level of demand for luxury consumption by the enthusiastic middle class consumers (Truong et al., 2008; Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012). Luxury was once reserved for the “happy few” (Veblen, 1899) but this notion is no longer practical for today’s luxury environment where luxury products are “consumed by a larger aspirational segment” (Granot et al., 2013). Democratisation of luxury refers to when luxury brands create a lower-priced accessory items in order to appeal to the broader market, making luxury accessible to those “who could never afford to purchase the principal items in the line” (Nueno & Quelch, 1998) or the new luxury consumers who seeks recognition from luxury purchase. Han et al. (2010) discusses that different classes of consumers can now be distinguished by the brands of purses, watches, or shoes that they own. They let the brands speak for them, whether they prefer the loud Gucci logo or displaying the consumption of a “‘no logo’ strategy” by carrying a Bottega Veneta bag (Han et al., 2010). As Husic & Cicic (2009) state, an important question on today’s luxury consumption that if it is possible for everyone to obtain luxury items, are the brands still considered luxury? This is one of the important agendas concerning luxury consumption that prompts researchers to investigate this changing behaviours and perceptions of luxury consumers. It is also significance to note that the increase in global demand in luxury market is not necessarily positive but could be negative if the demand is not being managed efficiently (Hennigs et al., 2015). Despite frequent changes in luxury consumption patterns, Kapferer & Valette-Florence (2016) argues that it is vital to understand how consumers behave in order for the brands to create and maintain trust and reputation among its consumers. Danziger (2005) argues that the notion of “past behaviour predicts future behavior” may not be applicable to the luxury market. However, the foundation remains where the marketers need to understand the basics about the past and present behaviours in order to offer the products and services at the price that luxury consumers are willing to pay. It is partly due to the minimisation of the possible risks that might occur in purchasing luxury products as stated by Kapferer & Valette-Florence (2016) that “in luxury, no one wants to buy the wrong brand”. In light of these changes in the demand and strategies, a new framework of luxury purchase intention will be presented. This framework integrates brand knowledge in order to accommodate the traditional consumer, who appreciates the brand and its exclusivity, as well as the new buyer who wants recognition. This attempt in merging the two groups of luxury consumers together will highlights how traditional and new luxury consumers make their purchase decisions based on different components of luxury product characteristics as well as different value perception, or that is to say, based on a different levels of brand knowledge. Conceptual Framework Over several decades scholars attempted to agree on a single comprehensive definition for the term ‘luxury’ but have not yet reached that goal because the concept of luxury is highly individual and the market itself is heterogeneous (Hennigs et al., 2013). The definition of luxury, therefore, is very complex to define (Vigneron & Johnson, 1999; Dubois & Duquesne, 1993) due to its “subjective character” (De Barnier et al., 2012) with many diverse facets (Phau & Prendergast, 2000). This study provides a new perspective by looking at the factors that influence luxury purchase intention. Based on the original work of Keller (1993), it is important to understand the structure and content of brand knowledge because these dictate what comes into the consumer’s mind when they think about a brand and what they know about the brand (Keller, 2003). Consumer brand knowledge is defined as the “personal meaning about a brand stored in consumer memory, that is, all descriptive and evaluative brand-related information” (Keller, 2003). Strong, unique, and favorable brand associations must be created with consumers (Kotler & Keller, 2012 and 2016). In luxury consumption, different consumers seek different emotional and functional benefits from luxury brands (Kapferer, 1998), which makes it relevant and significant to investigate the level of influences of brand knowledge and value perceptions on the intention to purchase luxury products. The proposed conceptual framework for this study is presented in Figure 1 in the Appendix section. Managerial Implications This study provides both theoretical and managerial implications. On theoretical grounds, this study provides an enhanced model in investigating the influence of luxury brand knowledge towards luxury purchase intention considering luxury brand characteristics and luxury value perceptions. On managerial perspective, this study provides an update in the modern luxury consumers consumption pattern in terms of what specific characteristics of luxury products they would consider when they intend to purchase. At the same time, this study analyses the types of luxury value perceptions acknowledge by modern luxury consumers towards their purchase decision. In addition, the proposed conceptual framework will take into account the behaviours of traditional luxury consumers, who seems to have been lost due to the increased demand among the new luxury consumers. According to Keller et al. (2012), the marketers of the brand needs to acknowledge the insights to how brand knowledge exists in consumer memory. From the model, marketers can plan and execute efficient marketing and communication strategies for modern luxury consumers given their fast-changing preference in luxury consumption. Following the suggestion from Kapferer & Valette-Florence (2016) which indicates that “luxury is made by brands” and apart from selling luxurious products, the dream is what is attached to the brand logo and name. Therefore, by investigating the relationship between luxury products characteristics along with luxury value perceptions, this study aims to provide a refreshing analysis of today’s luxury consumers and what stimulates them to buy personal luxury products. Further Research A questionnaire will be developed by the integration of the established measurements and scales from the existing luxury consumption and branding literature. A draft of the questionnaire will be reviewed against the literature and the practical insights obtained from the sales associates and experts in the luxury industry for the suitability and clarity of the questions. The final draft of the questionnaire will be pre-test on a small number of respondents from the target audience. The target population for the study is among general luxury consumers. The data collected from the survey will be analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach to model decision process and validate the proposed conceptual framework. Cluster analysis will be used to identify segments of consumers as recommended by Aaker et al. (2013). The anticipated research findings will expand on the degree of influences of the brand knowledge towards the willingness to purchase of personal luxury goods. It is also expected that the research findings will be useful in redefining the existing types of luxury consumers to represent today’s luxury consumers.

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

The counterfeit market makes up as much as seven percent of worldwide trade and is estimated as a $650 billion industry. Due to consumer demand, this phenomenon has grown over 10,000% in the past two decades and presents a serious threat to the global economy. Many luxury brand managers assume that counterfeiting damages brand image, however some experts have indicated that luxury houses use counterfeit sales to predict demand for their own brand. In this sense, brands are reacting to the effects of counterfeit purchase and need to develop a proactive strategy for preventing it. By understanding consumers’ perception of brands and how it relates to their counterfeit consumption, brand managers can better plan their marketing strategies to build relationships with consumers for increasing loyalty and preventing possible loss in sales. The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of branding on non-deceptive counterfeit consumption of luxury brands by proposing that brand equity plays a moderating role in the relationship between attitudes toward counterfeits and purchase intentions and in the relationship between social factors and purchase intentions. Specifically, this study conceptualizes the customer-based brand equity model with the Theory of Reasoned Action to develop strategic marketing implications for luxury brands. Previous research has resulted in managerial implications for combatting the counterfeit phenomenon, but it is more effective to prevent the increase in demand for counterfeits than to react to that demand. This study examines the role of brand equity to help brand managers focus their marketing strategies on specific levels of customer-based brand equity to build stronger relationships with consumers and reduce the demand for counterfeit products. Previous studies have examined the effects of counterfeits on brands, but research on the effects of brands on counterfeit consumption is very limited. This study adds to literature on counterfeits by understanding how branding can affect counterfeit purchase. Studies have used the Theory of Reasoned Action for understanding consumers’ intention to purchase counterfeit products. Drawing on the customer-based brand equity model, this research proposes brand identity, brand response, brand meaning, and brand relations as moderating variables in addition to the basic constructs of the model to extend previous literature, as no previous research has used customer-based brand equity for understanding counterfeit consumption. Previous studies have conceptualized customer-based brand equity for building relationships with customers, but this concept has never been used in the counterfeit context. This study is the first to use brand equity for understanding consumers’ counterfeit purchase intentions. This study suggests important implications for luxury brand marketers. By understanding how consumers associate with a brand, marketers can target specific levels of brand equity as part of their marketing strategies to deter counterfeit purchase. The proposed model serves as an initial step for understanding how brand equity affects non-deceptive consumption of counterfeit luxury goods. Future studies include empirically testing this proposed model and quantifying how much each level of customer-based brand equity contributes to consumer’ perception of brands. Future studies could also test the impact of branding on specific product types to analyze differences in consumers’ brand associations based on product category, as some product categories are more favorable to counterfeit consumers than others.

Luxury brand marketers have recently turned their attention to luxury brand consumers and their social brand communities devoted to the brands. Luxury brands appeal to customers by enhancing their images regarding heritage, quality, and artistic value. Luxury fashion brands also establish social media communities to communicate their images more effectively. This study uses the key concepts of integration and interactivity to provide theoretical foundations to investigate luxury brand communities (LBCs) in the social media context. A survey was given to 252 members of Facebook fan pages for luxury brands from South Korea. This study examines effects of interaction as a process on perceived interactivity of LBCs in social media, and consequences, attitude, purchase intentions, and brand loyalties, hence offering implications for luxury brand management academics and practitioners

Introduction Luxury is an intriguing and alluring concept. The word ‘luxury‘ is used very often in advertisement, indicating something positive, some-thing worth striving after, something worth desiring. This thesis will focus on how luxury, and particularly luxury brands, are created, represented and consumed in an online environment. The Internet has proven to be of great importance for many types of brand when it comes to communicating and providing information to consumers and potential consumers. Luxury brands, however, work on different premises than other brand categories. Thus, luxury brands on the Internet would seemingly be an oxymoron. Given the growing importance of the luxury goods industry in economic terms and the increasing scholarly interest for not only the phenomenon of luxury brands but also luxury brands online (c.f. Dall‘Olmo Riley and Lacroix, 2003), it would seem that more systematic research is warranted on how brands, and luxury brands in particular, are handled on the Internet. The consumption of luxury brands, as opposed to the consumption of physical goods, lies in the difference in ownership. A luxury brand can be ‘consumed’ without the actual owning of a physical good produced by the brand. This type of consumption is instead a sort of merging of the consumers‘ view of themselves with their image of the luxury brand. This relatively new way of viewing consumption is of central importance when viewing brands online. The virtual ownership or ‘consumption‘ of luxury brands also brings with it new forms of expressing ownership or kinship with the luxury brand, as well as with other types of consumer sharing in the affection of a brand. The problems facing luxury brands, is best summed up in the ‘luxury brand paradox‘, in which the core is a balancing act. In this balancing act, the perception of exclusivity surpasses that of actual scarcity. The perception of exclusivity has to be invoked in consumers for the luxury brand paradox to maintain equilibrium. If (or perhaps when) there was an actual scarcity to luxury goods and luxury was truly limited, the consumption of luxuries was quite different from the consumption of luxury brands today. The clicks environment The clicks environment has brought with it not only new ways for brands to communicate with consumers but also for consumers to ‘consume‘ the brands. The following aspects will be emphasized the rise of the Internet and its characteristics, the business logic that is emerging from this, consumers on the Internet and new communication patterns. New to not only luxury consumption, but also retailing and consumption is the entrance of the Internet as a means of distributing, marketing and gaining information on goods and services. The advent of the Internet brought with it a frenzy for no-name and generic brands, as well as some high-priced, status brands to not be left behind in incorporating a clicks environment, with many luxury brands jumping on the bandwagon. Many luxury brands can thus now be viewed and, to some extent, purchased online by anyone having access to a computer. Luxury brands are presenting themselves online and communicating everything from designer influences to products and prices and store listings. On the Internet, old trusted methods cannot be used to the same extent and the migration to an online environment will inevitably bring with it new problems as well as intensify some old ones: the perception of scarcity is harder to create. Maintaining the balance between maximizing profits and evoking feelings of exclusivity is one of the most important tasks for luxury brands. The creation of perception of exclusivity or social desirability in a luxury context is the basis for non-functional demand. This is a balancing act that comes into greater focus with the entrance of the Internet. This research examines the new business logic in the clicks environment from the problems that arise for luxury brands in particular. For mass-producing brands, the clicks environment does not pose the same kind of threat as it does for luxury brands. The cost of marketing could be lowered by using the means provided by the Internet and giving access to products to many new consumers, something that in the case of luxury brands can be a danger. The specific nature of luxury brands and the new business logic on the Internet generate new challenges as well as opportunities. The Internet environment brings with it the fact that luxury brands can be not only consumed but also represented and created in a widely diverse environment. This requires a specific way of viewing consumption, which will be explored in this chapter Representing, creating and consuming luxury brands online The luxury context has been changed with the entrance of the Internet, challenging luxury brand management and forcing luxury brands to act in new ways. Where the borders were previously stricter and the consumption of luxury brands was solely an act between company and consumer and luxury brand identity was communicated from company to consumer, with rather few distractions, the Internet gives rise to many other constellations. The creation of brand image is thus now intertwined and overlapping. For luxury brands to be consumed online by consumers, they have to be represented online. Although the representation can be officially either by the brand or by others, it is when ‘others‘ get involved in luxury brand representation that the preconditions change. The online representation of luxury brands is a basis for luxury brand consumption, but as will be explained later, the consumption taking place online does not have to involve purchase of actual physical goods. Brands can, to a certain degree, be ‘created‘ online as a luxury brand or status brand, all depending on the processes surrounding the brand in question. This research starts with the presumption that the luxury context is changing with the entrance of the Internet and that luxury brands are now exposed to new challenges in which the luxury brand image is more elusive than ever. The Internet has become a valuable communication tool for brands in their endeavor for a favorable and prosperous brand image. However, the belief is that as a communications and distribution channel the Internet has led to changes in the market structure as well as changes in producer and consumer roles (Peterson, et. al., 1997; Prahalad et. al., 2000). To be able to be viewed and purchased online would seem an ideal situation if not for the inherent paradoxical nature of the luxury brand. Luxury brands face several challenging problems within the online context. Online rarity The term luxury rests on certain assumed connotations, such as the ‘rarity principle‘, meaning that the rarer the good, the more desired the commodity is (Phau and Prendergast, 2000). With the Internet as a distribution channel, the ‘rarity principle‘ may be lost when the brand can be not only viewed and desired but also consumed by all. According to Dubois and Paternault (1995), the prestige of the brand may be eroded if too many people own it. The possibility of online purchase may give opportunity for the ‘masses‘ to consume these products and the company can maximise its profits and sell even larger amounts, something that would, however, be in sharp contrast with the need of luxury brands to maintain a fragile equilibrium between high exposure and awareness but a controlled level of sales (Roux and Floch, 1996 in Dall‘Olmo Riley and Lacroix, 2003). It is also feared that the possibility of purchasing luxury brand goods online could give greater opportunities for counterfeiters to sell copied merchandise as ‘original‘ merchandise. Studies have shown that price and price discounts are very important factors in online purchasing and when revisiting a website. Luxury brands online thus face problems, largely because they do not compete with low price or price discounts. Consequently, online distribution pro-vides a challenge. How do you make consumers buy the much more expensive genuine product instead of a cheap counterfeit when many of the core elements of the luxury brand are lost online? Another problem is the ever-increasing product range of luxury brands. Because many luxury brands today include all sorts of products, this makes it harder to distinguish counterfeit copies from the original. This is a problem that could devalue the brand and increase the temptation for consumers to buy cheaper ‘knock-offs‘ or counterfeits‘ online. de Chernatony (2002:186) suggests that brand strategists need a new mental model to "develop integrated brands in a digital age which goes beyond the classical and which recognizes the new roles consumers are taking". New roles for consumers are an important fact for luxury brands in that consumers are more involved in creating a buzz for certain brands, engaging in reviewing, discussing and sharing opinions online. The online environment and the challenges to luxury brands that follow show a significant change in the business logic. The new business logic on the Internet, with the consumption of brands instead of actual goods, is problematic for brands in general and for luxury brands in particular. The specific problems regarding luxury brands are seen in relation to the previously described inherently difficult luxury brand paradox. The problems arising from the very scattered Internet context for luxury brands are many, as well as interrelated. Empirical contributions There are four main groupings of websites that have been examined: (1) brand websites, (2) consumer-to-consumer sites, (3) communities and (4) Replica sites and such. (1) The first type of sites is the sites that are officially connected with one brand, multiple brands or a conglomerate. In this category ‘umbrella‘ sites are also included, which can be directly owned by a luxury conglomerate (such as eluxury.com, or sites such as prêt-a-porter.com or yoox.com that sell a wide range of upper-range and luxury brands). (2) The second type of site is the online auction site where consumers sell to consumers, or in some cases, an organized firm conducts the selling. This type of site is not associated with the luxury brand. Although somewhat separate from the community website, this type shares many of the characteristics of the community websites, including being mostly consumer driven and not directly affiliated with a luxury brand. Thus, the auction websites are grouped together with the community websites. (3) The third type of site examined is the community websites. These come in different forms, ranging from sites associated with fashion magazines in which involvement only can occur on an observer or viewer basis to communities discussing all aspects of fashion and luxury to community sites dedicated to identifying the brands celebrities are wearing. The sites that are the online version of fashion magazines can be viewed only with possibilities to receive weekly (sometimes daily) fashion updates and newsletters, include chat possibilities and bulletin boards, and in some cases have limited product sales. (4) The fourth type is the website that sells replicas or counterfeits. In this category sites that rank and review sellers of counterfeit merchandise are included. Conclusions Four themes on the sense of a luxury brand have emerged throughout this research. The themes show how the sense of a luxury brand is created in an online environment. The four themes are luxury history, authenticity, community and paradox. Luxury history refers to the stories (either real or thought up as marketing campaigns) told by luxury brands, as well as the history that is thought up of and shared by consumers of the brand. Authenticity pertains to the need for luxury brands to have authenticity and genuine products in the sense of having reputable and innovative designers to repel counterfeits. Community concerns the different types of community formed online, i.e. communities formed for a particular brand or other common interest. Paradox relates to the inherent problem for luxury brands to create desire and appeal (and hence the power to sell a particular product) while simultaneously giving the perception of uniqueness. Paradox also refers to the contradictory workings online in the creation of a sense of luxury brand. As has been revealed through the empirical data, the online environment for luxury brands is an environment for communication and interaction, an environment that is both lively and active. The online context is comprised of many different elements that are interwoven, making up the platform for luxury brands online. This is seen in not only the different people involved in the online context but in some instances also the changing roles they play and the often multiple activities that they perform. This is because the luxury environment is made up of these sometimes very different yet interlocking elements. Examining the data from different perspectives and by comparing them to previous research on brands, luxury and the Internet the conclusion is that a new and exciting arena for luxury brands and their consumers emerge, an arena that will be referred to as an online fair. The online context is a highly scattered and chaotic environment that exhibits a scope of different characteristics. These characteristics resemble those pertaining to a fair. Definitions of a fair can range from describing the display of farm animals to entertainment and amusement. The common denominator is the key-concepts of display and the people there to see the display or to be amused and entertained. The online fair embodies different actors and activities that will be described together with the special environment of the online fair. The actors that are identified in the online fair are the audiences, the exhibitors and the copycats. The activities performed by these three groups are exhibition and display, sales and trade and entertainment. Finally, the online fair environment is characterized by its globality, openness, accessibility and fuzzy boundaries. As opposed to many bricks-and-mortar fairs, the online fair requires no entrance fees. Neither does it have strict admission controls based on special invitations, as is often the case with luxury fashion shows. The online fair is instead open and accessible to all. The audience in the online fair encompasses various consumer types and how ‘active‘ a consumer or potential consumer is, is not dependent on his or her status as an ‘actual consumer‘. The online audience also serves as reinforcement for consumers with regard to postpurchase feelings. Given that the online fair is open to anyone, there will inevitably be those wishing to profit from someone else. In this context these ‘tricksters‘ would be counterfeit sellers trying to profit from the luxury brand image.

Luxury consumers are highly social online, and with approximately 80 percent of luxury shoppers using social media on a monthly basis (Mckinsey & Company, 2015), the experience luxury brands provide on social networking services (SNS) becomes imperative. Interaction through social streams is about building a relationship with people who may continue to use the luxury product for the next 25 years (The Guardian, 2015). Hence, from magazines to smartphones, luxury brands are seeking new opportunities to communicate with their customers. Brands such as Burberry and Gucci are becoming increasingly active by uploading visuals, narratives, and films that represent their brand, and others are slowly following suit. Although various contents are now being posted online, when it comes to luxury brands, what separates them from others is the rich and unique brand heritage (LinkedIn, 2015; Mckinsey & Company, 2015). Despite this strength, it is a not implemented effectively as a strategy (The Guardian, 2015). In this study, we want to emphasize the need for luxury brands to go digital and to spread their brand stories as a form of advertisement. Stories in advertising and their effects on consumer behavior has been dealt by previous research (Deighton, Romer, & Mcqueen, 1989; Escalas, 2007; Escalas, 2004; Wang & Calder, 2006). Deighton, Romer, and Mcqueen (1989) found that dramatization influenced viewers’ processing to become more empathetic than argumentative, which made dramatized commercials more persuasive than argument-oriented ones. Escalas (2004) showed that narrative advertisement processing is positively correlated with brand attitude and behavioral intention and that narratively structured advertisements persuade others through the experience known as narrative transportation. This experience has been explained by Green and Brock (2000) as “a convergent process where all mental systems and capacities become focused on events occurring in the narrative.” Narrative transportation theory explains the process of being lost in a story and that it takes place when a consumer experiences a feeling of stepping into a world stimulated by narratives due to the empathy with the characters and imagination of the story plot (Laer, Ruyter, Visconti, & Wetzels, 2014). This process can be effective in changing attitudes and beliefs of individuals who read stories (Green & Brock, 2000). For luxury brands, brand heritage can be transformed into stories that can transport readers to other worlds, and this can affect consumer attitudes, intentions, and behaviors (Laer, Ruyter, Visconti, & Wetzels, 2014). This experience is what this study pursues to delve into and understand.

Most researchers agree that core to the value proposition of luxury brands is their sym-bolic content and the image they convey (e.g., Dubois and Paternault 1995, Albrecht et al. 2013). One of the key mechanisms through which the brand is charged with symbolic content is advertising (McCracken 1986). Advertising is a key medium in the meaning creation process which is strongly controlled by brand management and intentionally used to convey a certain image to consumers (Kim, Lloyd, and Cervellon 2015). Given the importance of advertising to the luxury industry, it is surprising that only little re-search exists that explores how luxury brands build and communicate their brand in ad-vertising (Freire 2014, Mortelmans 1998, Mortelmans 2014). This study closes this gap by identifying the key themes and codes which luxury brands use in their advertising, analyses their usage and evolution over time, category and brand to show similarities and differences between the advertising of luxury brands. This pro-vides the basis to answer the following research questions: • What are the main thematic and stylistic codes that luxury brands use in print adver-tising? • How do the thematic and stylistic codes vary between brands? • How do the thematic and stylistic codes vary between categories? • How do the thematic and stylistic codes vary over time? This research thus contributes to the advancement of luxury advertising theory as it pro-vides a comprehensive framework for academics and practitioners alike, to analyse and design luxury print advertisements. Drawing on research in the areas of luxury advertis-ing and semiotics, we develop a conceptual framework allowing to analyse and catego-rise print campaigns of luxury brands along the three dimensions’ brand, category and time for over 500 advertisements of luxury fashion brands. The study has important im-plications for academic research as well as the luxury industry. This study identifies the identity-relevant and symbolic codes used in creating a luxury brand and thus adds to an enhanced understanding of how luxury is communicated and constructed.

One of the most significant challenges of modern strategic marketers refers to the ability of expressing the authentic value of fashion brand. This is particularly important for luxury goods, which are able to effectively impact on customers’ social attitude and behavior. Hence, pertinent literature is progressively focusing on the role of authenticity as a strategic element for marketing theory. Specifically, three elements have been associated with brand’s authenticity, namely quality commitment, heritage, and sincerity. In the present research we apply a validated empirical instrument concerning brand authenticity and its aforementioned three elements. Precisely, we will present and discuss the results of a survey implemented in the Tuscany region (Italy), thus aiming at investigating possible differences and/or similarities characterizing Tuscan customers’ perception of luxury brand authenticity. A structural equation model will be conceptualized and assessed in order to analyze the existing relationships between brand’s authenticity elements, namely quality commitment, heritage, and sincerity. The results confirm the hypothesized significance of these relationships among variables. Further, we will introduce the notion of mythopoiesis, which will be interpreted as a strategic vehicle able to appropriately communicate the traditional values, culture, and historical symbolic meanings of luxury fashion brand. Actually, marketing mythopoiesis results in being an effective element for translating a historical ‘stock’ of heritage into a strategic ‘flow’ of narrative capabilities by marketing managers.

The aim of this article is to explore and to sum up essential elements in building a strong luxury brand. Contribution of this article to the academic discussion on branding is in critical review of the literature and collection of empirical insights from the Swiss watchmaking industry. The novelty of this project lies in the «industry-based» approach to the conceptual framework development (semi-structured interviews among watchmaking industry experts). The main findings of this research are ten pillars (axes) of strong luxury brand that gather the essential elements for creation of a strong brand in Swiss luxury watchmaking industry.

The popularity of visual communication in social network sites (SNS) can guide an important question about its effectiveness and the optimization for luxury brand advertising: How do visual communication messages via SNS work for consumer information processing and their evaluation of luxury hotels? To address this question, we examine consumer information processing in SNS in which visual communication messages work as narratives based on narrative transportation theory (Green & Brock, 2002; van Laer, Ruyter, Visconti, & Wetzels, 2014). Specific purposes are: (1) to identify key features of consumer information processing as narrative persuasion (i.e., narrative transportation), (2) to examine how consumers’ perceptions of fluency with visual messages (i.e., comprehension fluency and imagery fluency) influence the narrative persuasion process, and (3) to explore how the narrative persuasion process develops consumer responses with respect to positive affect and visit intention. First, we predict that increased fluency of information processing (comprehension fluency and imagery fluency) would increase narrative transportation. Second, increased narrative transportation would increase affective response and visit intention. Lastly, as for the two consequences, we predict that affective response would positively affect visit intention. A web-based survey was used for data collection. Measurement items of research variables were adapted from previous studies. A total of 193 usable responses were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were directed to explore one randomly assigned luxury hotel Instagram page (Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton) and complete the questionnaire based on the experience. Results showed that comprehensive fluency, rather than imagery fluency, has significant impact on narrative transportation. Narrative transportation in turn influences affective response and visit intention; affective response influences visit intention. Additional tests suggest that narrative transportation and affective response play a mediating role in the narrative persuasion process. These findings highlight the power of narrative transportation in advertising for luxury brands, advising that marketers need to put efforts on enhancing visual storytelling in SNS communication.

Currently, the luxury retail market exceeds one trillion dollars in sales (Aroche, 2015) and is proliferated by the use of celebrities as endorsers and luxury brand ambassadors (Buckley, 2015; Okonkwo 2010). The practice of linking celebrities in luxury brand communications dates back to at least the 1800s and while the successful usage of celebrities is widely documented (e.g., Agrawal & Kamakura, 1995), so too are the stories of catastrophes as a result of celebrity transgression, overshadowing or just poor fit. Even without negative publicity or inappropriate behaviours, the use of a celebrity can still present risks to the luxury brand. For example, where unintended meanings associated with the celebrities are transferred to the luxury brand (Walker & Langmeyer, 1992; Till, 1998) or when the popularity of the celebrity (e.g. Angelina Jolie) overshadows the brand (e.g. St John) (Buckley, 2015; Horwell, 2011; Rossiter & Percy, 1987; Till & Busler, 2000). Overshadowing isn’t the only risk luxury brand managers may encounter when utilising a celebrity to endorse their brand. If, for example, consumers don’t see a match between the brand and the celebrity, or if consumers perceive the celebrity as being irrelevant to the brand, or if the celebrity has lost their appeal and connection with consumers then the celebrity presents a risk for the brand image (Choi & Rifon, 2012; Fleck, Korchia & Le Roy, 2012; Till & Busler, 2000). The choice of the ‘wrong’ celebrity can be an extremely costly mistake, with loss of sales and/or damage to the brand equity and image of the luxury brand being the potential outcome (Carrillat, D’Astous & Lasure, 2013; Folse, Burton & Netemeyer, 2013; Halonen-Knight & Hurmerinta, 2010; Thwaites, Lowe, Monkhouse & Barmes, 2012). Risk reducing strategies and due diligence during the selection process is a lengthy, complicated and complex process (Erdogan, Baker & Tagg, 2001). Luxury brand managers have long called for a more systematic and objective criteria by which to evaluate the potential celebrity risk factors (Okonkwo, 2010; Toncar, Reid, & Anderson, 2007); and this paper takes up that call with three contributions to both the literature and to practice. The first contribution concerns risk reduction strategies and extensions to the current thinking on the celebrity construct (for a thorough discussion on the celebrity construct see Gabler, 2001; Goldman, 2011; Rojek, 2001; Turner, 2004). There is a small stream of research that discusses the non-human celebrity as both a risk reducer for celebrity endorsement and also as an extension of the concept of ‘celebrity’ (e.g., Blewitt, 2013; Callcott & Lee, 1995; Folse et al., 2013; Giles, 2013; Rindova, Pollock & Hayward, 2006). This stream of research is novel and emergent and our work adds to this literature by defending our claim that like firms, animals, mythical beings and fictitious humans, events can also be celebrities. Broadening the conceptualisation of celebrity to apply to more than just real people, allows luxury brand managers to reduce costs, and regain some degree of control over the important image and reputational management of the celebrities with whom they wish to be associated The second contribution is the Celebrity Criterion Checklist, which provides luxury brand managers with a simple, systematic and quick way to determine whether someone or something (an entity) is a celebrity or not (given at least 15 years of debate about the contest term of “celebrity”). The Celebrity Criterion Checklist contains five criterion. If a luxury brand manager finds the entity they are considering fulfils all five criteria, then the brand manager be confident that they are a celebrity. The third contribution is the Celebrity Risk Evaluation Matrix (CREM). The Celebrity Risk Evaluation Matrix (CREM), facilitates higher-ordered assessments of the risk/benefit ratio associated with using different types of celebrities in luxury brand communications in a simple visual representation. Since celebrities are dynamic and have an ongoing narrative, celebrities can and do move between these quadrants and movement will depend on their life-cycle, their behavioural choices, their media presence, their authenticity and their relevance to consumers.

This study explores the role of corporate involvement and brand perception in moderating the Cause Related Marketing on consumer purchase intention in the luxury product category among Japanese consumers. This research examines three core cause attributes - cause scope, cause type and cause acuteness developed by Vanhamme, Lindgree, Reast and van Popering (2012) as well as an additional component of duration – with corporate involvement and brand perception moderating the effect on purchase intention. The general public places judgment on a corporation based on how much of positive or negative impacts its business has on environment or society (Sheikh & Beise-Zee, 2011). In fact, more corporations have been developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, no matter how big their business sizes, big or small, are (Brinkvan, Odekerken-Schroder, & Pauwels, 2006). The general public loses its faith in corporations, especially after a financial crisis or malfeasances of big corporations and as a result, corporations are under stronger pressure to contribute to environmental or societal causes in order to reclaim lost faith from the general public (Sheikh & Beise-Zee, 2011; Berglind & Nakata, 2005). One way corporations contribute to society has been to employ marketing strategies that link product sales to the support of specific charities to create and maintain favorable brand images known as cause related marketing or CRM. CRM has been growing faster as a type of marketing that allow corporations to contribute to environment or society (Brinkvan et al., 2006). Various factors have been extensively researched on and identified as pertinent in the success of cause-related marketing campaigns such as brand-cause fit (Bigne-Alcanniz, Currase-Perez, Ruiz-Mafe and Sanz-Blas, 2011; Nan and Heo, 2007; Samu and Wymer, 2009), donation size (Dahl and Labvack, 1995; Pracejus, Olsen and Brown, 2003), types of causes (local causes are preferred to national ones) (Ellen, Mohr, and Webb, 1996; Smith and Alcorn, 1991) and product type with luxury products found to be more effective (Strahilevitz and Myers, 1995).

There has been a global growth of luxury business start-ups, which has accelerated especially since the late 1990s along with the upswing of the global luxury market. Start-ups in the high-end cultural and creative industries reflect the various new types of luxury from green or sustainable luxury and slow luxury to value luxury, and from digital and high-tech luxury to experience luxury. However, there exist only a few studies about luxury brand-building, the related area of luxury marketing success factors (Fionda and Moore, 2008) and the new research domain of luxury entrepreneurship (Fonrouge and Lipovetsky, 2013). Therefore, the objective of this paper is to identify critical success factors of luxury brand-building. In the high-end and generally in the lifestyle segment, the generation of a business model must go hand in hand with brand-building. Even more, setting-up a luxury or lifestyle business is hardly possible without emphasizing on brand-building. Consequently, we suggest combing business model generation with brand-building as this is naturally an interrelated process, especially in the high-end and creative industries. Based on the Business Model Canvass by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2014), we develop the Brand-Building Canvas and then use it as a framework to analyze the success factors of luxury brand-building. As success criteria of luxury marketing depend on a brand’s stage of development, we employ the concept of brand lifecycles to differentiate success factors. Due to its explanatory power for real-life organisational phenomena, our study relies on Grounded Theory, combined with a multiple case study methodology according to Fionda and Moore (2008). We analyzed ten luxury start-ups in different development stages and from various luxury industry segments and countries. The empirical database was obtained from multiple sources including also documentary material such as company presentations, brochures, homepages, and media articles. Moreover, expert interviews were conducted with representatives of the luxury start-ups and other relevant industry experts. Based on a content-analysis of the empirical database, we outline an overview of success factors of luxury brand-building, organized by brand lifecycle stages and the categories of the Brand-Building Canvas.