The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors driving parasocial relationships and their effect on brand equity. A conceptual model including the following variables is proposed: opinion leader attributes, parasocial relationship, brand equity and the moderating effect of endorser-brand congruency. The proposed research model is analyzed using a survey of 301 Chinese consumers. Structural equation modelling is employed to examine the hypothesized relationships among all variables. The findings show that the opinion leader attributes of expertise and exploration positively affect the parasocial relationship between consumers and the endorser, and the parasocial relationship and brand equity are positively associated. Furthermore, endorser-brand congruency acts as a moderator on the relationship between opinion leader attributes and the parasocial relationship. The implications, limitations, and discussions are provided.
This research examines the effect of luxury brand's logo on disparity between explicit and implicit attitudes. Using implicit association test, the results show that there is no correlation between implicit attitude and explicit attitude towrd a luxury product when luxury brand's logo is present (i.e., Prada). In contrast, implicit attitude and explicit attitude are negatively correlated when luxury logo is absent (i.e., Bottega Veneta).
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of congruency of parent brand image with self-image, perceived risk, and product knowledge on the attitude towards extended product in fashion brand extension. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 170 female college students and collected data were subjected to descriptive analysis and regression analysis using SPSS Window program. The results of this study showed that the congruency of parent brand image with self-image and perceived risk had a positive effect on attitude towards extended product, whereas product knowledge had a negative effect on attitude towards extended product in fashion brand extension. Also, the congruency of parent brand image with self-image had a positive effect on the attitude towards extended product in fashion brand extension with positive moderating effect of perceived risk and negative mediating effect of product knowledge.