This study investigates the role of consumers’ value orientations on their attitude towards assertive green advertisements. We find that biospheric value orientation improves attitudes towards assertive ads and hedonic value orientation positively affects consumers’ perceived threat to their freedom. Besides, the study supports the role of assertiveness in persuasive communication.

Today’s society has become increasingly sensitive to humanity’s impact on the environment. Corporations are now measured by their scores pertaining to the environment, sustainability, and governance, or benchmarked for their level of corporate social responsibility. Another dimension of individuals’ environmental practices is purchasing merchandise such as clothing in the secondhand market. Consumers’ intention to buy in the secondhand market is rarely just related to economic concerns regarding such purchases, but rather to a deliberate nod to utilizing products fully rather than wasting them, therefore helping to reduce the negative environmental impact caused by human activities.

The hospitality, tourism, and travel (HTT) industry has a significant environmental impact due to its water, energy, and waste production. One of the main challenges faced by the HTT industry is the reduction of the negative environmental impact of hotel businesses. Recent studies have shown that consumers are willing to pay a premium for green hotels that adopt environmentally friendly practices to minimize their impact on the environment. While interest in these practices has been increasing, not all consumers are familiar with actual benefits of green hotels. Therefore, it is necessary to employ strategies to increase consumers’ awareness and encourage positive pre-purchasing decisions when selecting a green hotel.

Local non-timber forest products can be easily accessed by tourists. These also provide opportunities for tourists to experience the local culture. Many local governments are paying constant attention to the development of non-timber forest product brands to revitalize the local economy and increase the profits of local farmers. Although there are many forest products and tourism resources in each region of Korea, there is no local specialized strategy to sell non-timber forest products and promote consumers' purchase intentions. In this study, we aimed to explore the consumers’ perceived creating shared value (CSV) and its association with purchasing behavior of non-timber forest products in Jeongeup city, Korea. Data were collected from 1,066 consumers who had purchased non-timber forest products. Purchasing patterns of local specialty products differed depending on consumers’ perceived CSV levels. In addition, consumers with higher levels of perceived CSV showed higher awareness and familiarity with Jeongeup city and experienced Jeongeup city’s non-timber forest products. Our findings suggest that improving consumer perception towards CSV of non-timber forest products can be used as a marketing strategy for local non-timber forest products to revitalize the local economy.

When social media users post their opinion on social media, they might expect to receive a favorable evaluation from others (e.g., ‘like’ on Facebook and ‘heart’ on Instagram). On the contrary, when users read and evaluate other’s posts, they are less likely to care about others. What’s more, if users spend more time on social media, posting would make them more care about others. This research answers the question ‘Does social media interaction alter the way we perceive value and affect different choice? Three studies show 1) how social media interaction affects consumers’ luxury value perception and the mediating role of social media self-view (interdependent vs. independent self), 2) how main effect and mediated relationship are different between two groups divided by participants’ time spent on social media (high vs. low: ±1 SD) and 3) how the type of social media interaction (post vs. “like”) affects handbag choice between social and functional luxury-superior option.

This study aimed to identify the key factors influencing the U.S. millennial consumers’ willingness to recycle their denim apparel to brands or retailers. Consumer perceived value model provides the theoretical framework and guides data analysis. Five main values identified are the perceived social, financial, emotional, convenience and ecological values.

This study aimed to identify the effects of shopping environmental stimuli on Chinese consumers’ functional and symbolic value perceptions toward luxury lifestyle fashion stores. An enhanced S-O-R (stimulus-organism-response) model was used as the theoretical foundation. Significant relationships were identified between shopping environmental stimuli and the perceived values.

Since the liberalization of gaming industry in 2002, Macau has become the leading destination for gaming, leisure and entertainment in Asia. Recently, few large-scaled integrated resorts (IRs) have been established and opened to public, bringing more diversified destinations for visitors in Macau. These include casino, hotel, food and beverage, retail, entertainment, etc. With this, there is no doubt that IR operators have to understand how consumers behave and respond to value added products in the IRs. Differentiating one IR from another raises the significance of innovating resort products to retain existing consumers and attract new ones. This research has investigated the impact of potential non-gaming value added products at Venetian Macao Resort on consumers’ patronage and has identified what key subitems can be added to stimulate consumers’ feedback and make them revisit the resort, recommend it to others or be interested in visiting it someday. Questionnaire was designed according to the structural equation modeling (SEM). Results proved the importance of potential value added products at Venetian Macao Resort in influencing consumers’ intention. Based on the findings, suggestions were offered to the management group of Venetian Macao Resort for its future implementation of value added products. Moreover, the results will encourage other IRs in Macau to improve further towards the goal of shaping Macau in becoming a world class tourist destination. First time visitors are more likely to consume in the areas of hotel, retail and casino, while multi-time visitors would prefer to spend on hotel, retail and F&B. To some extent, implies that casino does not seem to be the key activity to make the previous guests return. In addition, spending in hotel, retail and F&B are ranked high on visitors’ preferences, indicating that visitors at Venetian Macao Resort are willing to have diversified consumptions in the non-gaming areas. Moreover, the ways of value adding in terms of promotional pricing, new technology application, upgrading of products, customization and rewarding system can be used frequently as references for the future product improvement at the resort.

Inspired by the success of the Dove real beauty campaign, companies such as Amazon Fashion, Nike and Walmart have started to adopt authentic branding strategies, i.e., strategies based on the use of ordinary looking models to reflect real consumers in brand communications (e.g., Zombeck, 2015). Authentic branding is an alternative to the strategy of aspirational branding, where companies use “attractive” models to communicate that consuming their brands will bring consumers closer to an idealized view of themselves (e.g., being an attractive person like the models in the ads; D'Alessandro and Chitty, 2011). However, the body of evidence on their superiority over aspirational strategies is inconclusive. We expand knowledge on aspirational vs. authentic branding strategies by focusing on a new context of major economic importance for brand marketers, China, as well as by testing the moderating effect of a to date not considered contingency: local vs. foreign brand origin perceptions (i.e., low vs. high perceived brand foreignness). Data was gathered through an online survey of non-student consumers based in China recruited through Qualtrics online survey panels (n=623). Tests of reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement models deliver overall satisfactory results. R2 and Q2 values demonstrate that the tested models show good explanatory power and predictive relevance of emotional brand attachment (R2 = 0.699 to 0.759; Q2 = 0.527 to 0.696). Results support H1, as authentic branding has a positive effect on emotional brand attachment (β = 0. 293, p < 0.001), thus adding support to the efficacy of authentic branding strategies across West and East. Results also support H2, as aspirational branding has a positive effect on emotional brand attachment (β =0.598, p < 0.001). These findings support recent evidence from the UK and USA (e.g., Japutra et al., 2017) yet are out of line with recent studies in Switzerland and India, which fail to support this link (e.g., Malär et al., 2011). Results support H3, as aspirational branding has as stronger effect on EBA than authentic branding (t = 4.603, p < 0.001). Our findings question recent evidence suggesting a generic superiority of authentic over aspirational branding (e.g., Japutra et al., 2017). Results support H4, as for brands perceived as local, the effect of aspirational branding on EBA is significantly stronger than that of authentic branding (t= 4.125, p < 0.001). Thus, results support the notion that brands low on social signalling value, i.e., those perceived as local, can develop stronger attachment with consumers when they employ aspirational strategies. Finally, results do not support H5, as the data shows that for brands perceived as foreign, aspirational branding (β = 0.536, p < 0.001) still has a significantly stronger effect (t= 2.123, p < 0.05) on EBA than authentic branding (β =0.339, p < 0.001). In other words, brands perceived as foreign can still benefit from conveying aspiration over authenticity.

Introduction Luxury industry, in addition to feelings, started to provide reasons for consumers to justify their consumption. Also, it helps them to avoid social risks by offering inconspicuous luxury products. For example, ‘Mandarin Oriental Barcelona’ suggests luxury holiday package for people running Barcelona marathon, London cocktail bar ‘Bart’ serves cocktails designed to 'facilitate focus and encourage relaxation', ‘Tiffany’ has dropped the spelled-out brand name from its fashion jewelry line in favor of simple “T”. (Trend watching 2017) Then, what changed consumers' interest? Interestingly, the current expectations of luxury consumers have a lot in common with the features of interdependent self-construal. The "we" effect of social media can explain this trend. Literature review and Conceptual framework Social Media usage and Interdependent Self-Construal Although earlier research in cultural psychology conceptualized self-construal as culturally determined (Markus and Kitayama 1991), more recent research suggests that independent and interdependent self-construal can also be made temporarily accessible. The most frequently adopted priming procedure to induce self-construal is the procedure by stories about we or I. (Gardner, Gabriel, and Lee 1999; Mandel 2003; Krishna, Zhou, and Zhang 2008; Hong and Chang 2015). We suggest that Social media usage can induce interdependent self-construal because social media users read stories and watch videos of others. Prior findings indicated that participants in interdependent self-construal condition have an equivalent number of thoughts about themselves and others. (Lee, Aaker, and Gardner 2000). Social Media, Interdependent Self-construal, and Consumers’ Luxury Value Perception Consumers’ perceptions of luxury value appear to be determined mainly by Functional, Individual, and Social aspects (Wiedmann, Hennigs, and Siebels 2009). Recent luxury marketing researchers compare conspicuous consumption and inconspicuous consumption, two types of social aspect consumption (Han, Nunes, and Dreze 2010; Eckhardt, Belk, and Wilson 2015). They are interested in Functional luxury value, added to Individual luxury value because small utilitarian additions to a hedonic luxury are often valued more than their stand-alone value (Keinan, Kivetz, & Netzer 2016). These two trends seem to have nothing in common. But when the concept of self-construal is adopted, they have something in common. Namely, interdependent selves, which focuses on others, are the one who cares about both inconspicuousness and utilitarian aspects. We suggest that because of the features of interdependent self-construal, consumers more using social media tend to have a different priority regarding luxury value perception than consumers less exposed to social media. We explore the mediating role of relational interdependent self-construal in this model (Triandis 1989; Cross, Bacon, and Morris 2000). Also, luxury brand company’s social media marketing efforts (Kim and Ko 2012; Godey et al. 2016) have different features. We expected that each social media marketing activity has a different impact on luxury value perception. Interdependent Self-Construal, Reason, Functional luxury value We propose that because of interdependence priming effect of social media, participants who are exposed to social media (social media priming group) tend to rely on both reason and feeling, which in turn set an equivalent value on Functional luxury value (cognitively superior) and Individual luxury value (affectively superior) (Hong and Chang 2015). Interdependent Self-Construal, Social Risk, Inconspicuousness The authors propose that because of interdependence priming effect of social media, participants who are exposed to social media (social media priming group) tend to avoid social risk than participants who are not exposed to social media (no priming group). Study 1: The effect of social media on the balance between self and others. A total of 709 respondents (389 females) participated in this study via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) They were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (with social media manipulation vs. No manipulation) The impact of ‘one-time social media use’ Following the previous study (Hong and Chung 2015), we conducted a 2 (social media manipulation: No vs. Yes) x 2 (thought type: self vs other) mixed ANOVA with social media manipulation as a between-subject factor and thought type as a repeated measure. The main effect of thought type is significant (F(1,707) =293.54, p<.000). However, the interaction between social media manipulation and thought type was not significant. (F (1,707) = 0.128, p<.721). So, the result shows that one-time social media use doesn’t manipulate interdependent self-construal. The impacts of ‘chronic social media use’. To check whether chronic social media use can manipulate interdependent self-construal, we conducted a 2 (time spent on social media: Low vs. High) x 2 (thought type: self vs. other) mixed ANOVA. The main effect of thought type is significant (F(1,707) =293.81, p<.000). The interaction between time spent on social media and thought type was significant. (F (1,703) = 6.65, p<.000). Also, we conducted a 2 (communication on social media: Low vs. High) x 2 (thought type: self vs. other) mixed ANOVA. The main effect of thought type is significant (F(1,707) =300.76, p<.000). The interaction between communication and thought type was significant. (F (1,704) = 5.764, p<.000). So, the result shows that chronic social media use manipulates interdependent self-construal. Also, we computed three types of groups, the others-dominant, the balanced, and the self-dominant by modifying past research (Kitayama et al. 2009; Wu, Cutright, and Fitzsimos 2011, Hong and Chang2015). A chi-square test revealed that participants who spent more time and had more communication on social media had more balanced thought type (32.6%, 31.0%) than participants who spent less time and had less communication on social media (24.8%, 24.0%) Study 2: The effect of using social media on luxury value perceptions (SEM) A total of 255 respondents (85 females) participated in this study through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The participants were between 18 and 65 years old and lived in the U.S., and the modal age group was 25-34 (43.9 %), followed by 35-44 (25.5%). We conducted exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using maximum likelihood estimation with Promax rotation. The goodness of fit statistics is: 𝒙𝟐=707.14, df =377, P<0.0005, 𝒙𝟐/df =1.876, CFI=0.95, and RMSEA =0.059. The final CFA model fits well with the data (Hu and Bentler, 1999; Hair et al., 2010). After confirming the measurement model, SEM with maximum likelihood extraction was estimated to test Hypothesis. The goodness of fit criteria of the model meets the proposed thresholds in previous studies: 𝒙𝟐=677.97, df =374, P<0.0005, 𝒙𝟐/df =1.813, CFI=0.95, and RMSEA =0.057 (Hu and Bentler, 1999; Hair et al., 2010). The SEM model showed each social media activity has a different effect on each luxury value. Interaction positively impacts the functional luxury value (β=0.38, p<.000) but negatively impacts the individual (β= - 0.27, p<.000) and social luxury value (β= - 0.34, p<.000). Entertainment/WOM has a positive effect on individual luxury value (β=0.39, p<.000) and on social luxury value (β=0.32, p<.000). Customization positively impacts the social luxury value (β=0.26, p<.000). We could also find Entertainment/WOM and Customization did not influence the functional luxury value. Only Entertainment/WOM positively impacts relational interdependent self-construal (β=0.32, p<.000) Relational interdependent self-construal positively impacts on individual value (β=0.24, p<.000) and social value (β=0.27, p<.000). We conducted a mediation analysis. Among social media activities, only Entertainment/WOM had a significant positive effect on Relational Interdependent Self-Construal. Study 3: the effect of social media on self-construal and choice between functional value and individual value superior options 454 Responses (304 females) collected via Mturk to stimulate the environment of social media. Respondents are primed on interdependence by social media usage while control group respondents are not primed. The authors checked the validity of the self-construal manipulation effect of social media. Respondents were given a choice task, designed by adopting previous method (Hong and Chang 2015). They were told to imagine that they were going to buy a hand bag. Handbag X is superior on functional (cognitive) dimensions whereas handbag Y is superior on all individual (affective) dimensions. Participants are asked to indicate their choice between two Handbags Choice. A chi-square test revealed that the effect of social media manipulation is not significant on the handbag choice (𝑥2(l) 0.371, p<.309). However, the effect of interdependent self-construal on the participant's’ handbag choice was significant (𝑥2(l) 5.85, p<0.01). As predicted, participants with a higher Interdependent self-construal primed by social media have a smaller preference gap between Functional luxury value and Individual luxury value (F:73.2%-I:26.8%=46.4%), than participants with lower Interdependent self-construal participants (F:82.7%-I:17.3%=65.4%) Study3 supports the results of previous two studies. As individuals communicate more and spend more time on social media, they are more likely to prefer equally for Functional luxury value and Individual luxury. Study 4: the effect of social media on self-construal and choice between conspicuous and inconspicuous options. After the self-construal manipulation with social media, respondents were given a choice task. The choice was designed by adopting previous method (Han, Nunes, and Dreze 2010). Respondents were told to imagine that they were going to buy a handbag. One option has an inconspicuous design whereas the other option is conspicuous design. Participants are asked to indicate their choice between two handbags. Social media manipulation and Handbags Choice. All three chi-square tests revealed a significant or marginal effect of social media manipulation on participants handbag choice with the same pattern. ( 𝑥2(1) = 6.328, p > .032; 𝑥2(1) = 3.086, p > .079; 𝑥2(1) = 1.933, p > .098) As predicted, participants in social media manipulation group prefer the inconspicuous option to the conspicuous option (59.3%>40.7%; 58.9%>41.1%; 60.4%>39.6%) than participants in control group (47.3%, 52.7%; 50.5%, 49.5%, 53.8%, 46.2%). Interdependent-self construal and Handbags Choice. All three chi-square tests revealed a significant effect of interdependent self-construal on participants handbag choice with the same pattern. ( 𝑥2(1) = 4.2, p > .047; 𝑥2(1) = 4.79, p > .029; 𝑥2(1) = 6.11, p > .013) As predicted, participants with higher Interdependent self-construal primed by social media have a equivalent preference about the inconspicuous option and conspicuous option (50%, 50%; 50.8%, 49.2%; 52.4%, 47.6%) than participants with lower Interdependent self-construal(59.6%, 40.4%; 61.1%, 38.9%, 63.9%, 36.1%). Study4 shows that one-time social media exposure can reduce conspicuous consumption. However, as individuals communicate more and spend more time on social media, they become more likely to prefer equally for conspicuous option and inconspicuous option. Contribution In luxury brand marketing, this study sheds light on the balance between two motivations, luxury for self and luxury for others (Kapferer, Jean-Noël, and Vincent 2009) using the concept of self-construal. This research also contributes to the literature on consumers’ luxury value perception (Hennigs et al. 2012; Wiedmann et al. 2009). In general marketing subjects, it adds to the increasing literature on consumer risk and choices between affective and cognitive options. For the luxury brand industry, this study can give marketers a practical idea about choosing social media marketing activities and designing new products. For example, if luxury brand companies promote customers posting opinions on websites, they should know that their activities might advertently affect their sales because interaction negatively influences on individual and social luxury value.

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

The home meal replacement (HMR) food industry began in 1980, and it has grown rapidly as a major food business for both consumers and the food industry since the development of industrialization and societal changes. Many researchers investigated a variety of HMR food product characteristics. On the other hand, previous studies have focused only on topics in limited study areas. Therefore, this study examined the effect of color marketing and the value of experience on the consumer behaviors. This study used a survey to collect the respondents' opinions about HMR food products. The study results showed that the characteristics of color marketing and the experience value of the HMR products influenced the consumers' attitudes. Moreover, consumers' attitudes affected their repurchase behavior. The results suggest that marketers of HMR food products should use colors that show the characteristics of products to appeal to consumers. In addition, HMR products should be developed in line with what consumers value the most; for example, consumers value their previous experience with the products and the characteristics of the products.

The luxury market keeps growing in the global world. Marketing scholars focus on Chinese luxury consumers, because Chinese consumers show different characteristics comparing to foreign consumers. Personal hedonic value cannot be ignored among factors which influence consumers’ purchase intention. After the survey on 128 consumers who have luxury purchasing experience, the study finds out that as the two of three sub-dimensions of hedonic value, self-gifting and self-pleasure can significantly influence luxury perceived value, but self-enrichment has nothing to do with it. Luxury perceived value can directly affect consumers’ purchase intention on luxury products. But this relationship can be negatively moderated by interpersonal effects. At the end, managerial implications and theoretical contributions are discussed.

한국기업이 중국의 내수시장을 공략하기 위해서는 먼저 중국시장을 알아야 하겠다. 중국시장의 이해부분에 있어서 가장 기초적 연구는 중국소비자의 분석이다. 본 연구는 중국 소비자의 분석과 이해를 위하여 첫째, 90년대 중국의 경제적, 사회적, 인구통계적 변화와 추세를 분석하였다. 둘째, 90년대 중국사회의 환경변화에 따른 중국소비자의 가치관의 현황과 변화방향을 문헌연구를 통하여 제시하였다. 마지막으로 환경변화와 가치관 변화에 따른 중국소비자의 라이프스타일 유형과 특성을 제시하고자 하였다. 연구결과로서는 중국은 현재 사회주의 개발도상국가가 거쳐온 사회환경변화를 겪고 있으며, 이에 따라 배금주의, 개인주의, 경제생활중심의 핵심가치관의 변화가 일어나고 있다. 또한 중국소비자의 라이프스타일도 지역차별화, 계층화와 세대차별화에 따른 온포족, 소강족, 지식인족, 신세대족과 YUPI족의 5가지 군집이 각각 차별적 소비형태와 특성을 보이고 있다.

This study aims to investigate what selection attributes of customer value are more crucial when consumers choose the dessert at convenience store, which is the fastest growing retail format in Korea recently. Factors considered to be important when customers buy dessert, such as economics, diversity, convenience, and safety were examined and also relationship between customer value and satisfaction was analyzed. The survey was conducted through online (including SNS) from April 6, 2019 to April 30, 2019. A total of 303 questionnaires were used for empirical analysis. Factor analysis was performed to verify the validity and reliability of the measured variables. And the structural equation model (SEM) was used as a statistical method for hypothesis testing. As a result, factors as ‘diversity’, ‘safety’ were revealed to significantly affect hedonic customer value, while ‘convenience’ was shown to affect utilitarian customer value significantly. In addition, the path that customer value leads to satisfaction was also found to be significant. The result of the study suggests that selection attributes of convenience store dessert and providing meaningful implications of related hedonic and utilitarian values when customers purchase dessert at convenience store. This study provided practical implications for managers of the fiercely competitive dessert industry.

This study aims to investigate the effect of eating-out types on the acceptance intention of artificial seasoning when consumers eat out at restaurants. Eating-out types considered to be typical when customers visit restaurants, such as the food-exploratory type, healthoriented type, and convenience-seeking type, were studied. Based on the research of previous studies, three eating-out types were selected for the study, which were “food-exploratory”, “convenience-seeking”, “health-oriented”. This study was conducted by AMOS 22.0 with 300 questionnaires, and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used for examining the hypotheses as statistical method in this study. As a result, eating-out types such as “food-exploratory” and “convenience-seeking” were found to significantly affect the acceptance intention of artificial seasoning. However, consumers’ acceptance intention of artificial seasoning differed depending on their consumption value. The path coefficients from food-exploratory type and health-oriented type to acceptance intention were more significant in the hedonic-oriented group than the utilitarian-oriented group. The results of this study suggest eating-out types relate to acceptance intention of artificial seasoning and provide meaningful implications for consumers’ psychological consumption value when they consider artificial seasoning.

본 연구는 서울지역 주부를 대상으로 쌀 생산과 소비측면에서 새로이 주목받고 있는 기능성 쌀 중 다이어트 쌀에 대한 소비자 지불가치와 구매유형별 소비자 선호분석 및 이에 따른 마케팅 전략을 수립하는데 연구의 목적이 있었다. 분석 결과 다이어트 쌀에 대한 소비자의 평균지불가격은 최소 1.17배에서 최대 1.52배까지 일반 쌀 보다 높게 지불하는 것으로 분석되었다. 또한 다이어트 쌀의 선호분석 결과소득이 높을수록 다이어트 쌀에 대한 구입의향이 높은 것