Even though luxury brands embraced social media (Godey et al., 2016; Kim & Ko, 2012), research on the use of social media for luxury brand marketing is limited. Given the increasing popularity of social media, it is imperative to examine social media-based communication strategies for luxury brands to achieve desirable consumer evaluations of brands and advertising. This research explored the role of brand anthropomorphism strategies in social media in enhancing consumers’ advertising and brand evaluations. Specifically, this research investigated (1) the effects of verbal-based brand anthropomorphism in the luxury goods brand context (Study 1), (2) the effects of verbalbased brand anthropomorphism in the luxury service brand context (Study 2), and (3) the effects of verbal-based brand anthropomorphism cues (Study 3) on consumers’ luxury brand and advertising evaluations. Studies 1 and 2 both collectively examined the role of self-focused anthropomorphized brand effects in two different contexts. Consumers easily connect themselves with an anthropomorphized advertising, compared to an objectified advertising for luxury brands. Study 3 identified the fit between luxury brand type and an anthropomorphized brand cue to explore the effectiveness of brand anthropomorphism. Depending on the type of luxury brands, consumers processed anthropomorphized brand cues differently. Consumers favorably perceived the fit between luxury good brands and partner cues; on the other hand, consumers favorably perceived the fit between luxury service brands and servant cues. Results of this research contribute to the social media advertising and luxury brand marketing literature by clarifying the role of brand anthropomorphism in consumer-brand relationships as well as in brand-advertising relationships. Results also provide industry suggestions for delivering personified brand messages to have desirable consumer brand and advertising evaluations.

Using the framework of social support, we aim to examine factors influencing social Word-of-Mouth (WOM) adoption. The proposed research model will be tested among customers who are active in the existing active social media platforms and have had experience in engaging with the activities of luxury brand communications. Introduction Today the most promising communication environment for reaching and interacting with stakeholders is the social media ecosystem (Hanna, Rohm and Crittenden, 2011). The social media has grown so rapidly in the past years that now impact the business processes and models (Henning-Thurau, Hofacker and Bloching, 2103). Many Brands begin to take advantage of the fluidity between social media and WOM for creating brand experiences that merge real and digital conversations, cutting through in incredibly powerful ways. However, the recent research (Godey, Manthiou, Pederzopli, Rokka, Aiello, Donvito and Sigh, 2016) suggest that luxury brands performing well in social media engagement. However, they are often lagged behind in WOM performance. Despite growing interest in examining the influence of social media marketing on consumer’s responses through brand equity creation (Godey et al., 2016; Jim and Ko, 2012), studies about social media in luxury brand communications remain to be scarce. An investigation of customer’s motivation behind participation in social media is timely and relevant which can help luxury brands unleash its potential. Moreover, development of an effective social WOM adoption model can help to provide a better picture of consumer interactions in online luxury brands communities, thus strengthen customerfirm relationship in longer term. Specifically, this research intends to answer the following two questions: 1) What are the major determinants of social WOM adoption in luxury brands communications? 2) Whether social support affects a. perceived source credibility; b. perceived information quality; c. user experience? Literature review Social media interactivity The concepts of social exchange (Blau, 1964) and the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960) have long been used by Marketing researchers to describe the motivational basis behind customer behaviours and the formation of positive relational attitudes (e.g., Wulf; Gaby; Iacobucci, Dawn, 2001; Rafiq; Fulford and Lu 2013). More recently these concepts have been used to explain why customers enjoy interacting with each other in social media (Liang, Ho, Li and Turban 2012; Godey et al., 2016). Social media interactivity is social interaction of people in social networking sites by Web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook, Instagram (Hajli, 2016). For instance, Facebook has more than two billion monthly active users which is a great example of a platform. In fact, people love to interact with each other. When they favourite and like each other’s posts that would reinforce the closeness. Online social support Recent research has found that social interaction can bring social value to their users and that the social media is a powerful vehicle for an individual to build close relationships with others and to enhance the individual’s well-being (Liang et al., 2012; Eastin and LaRose, 2005; Obst and Stafurik, 2010; Shaw and Grant, 2002; Xie, 2008). Social support has been found to be a major social value that social media users can obtain from an online interactions (Eastin and LaRose, 2005; Obst and Stafurik, 2010; Huang, Nambisan and Uzuner, 2010). Social support is a multidimensional construct which refers to an individual’s experience of being cared for, being responded to, and being helped by people in that individuals’ social network (Cobb, 1976). Schaefer, Liang et al.(2012) claim that , online social support consists both tangible (e.g. instrumental and appraisal support) and intangible elements (e.g. informational and emotional support). Given the specific context, this study mainly focuses on the latter. Informational support refers to providing messages, in the form of recommendations, advice, or knowledge that could be helpful for solving problems. By contrast, emotional support refers to providing messages that involve emotional concerns such as caring, understanding or empathy. These two types of messages are the major support mechanisms for social interactions (Hajli, 2016). Antecedents of social WOM adoption Information adoption can be defined as the process of engaging purposefully in consuming information (Cheng and Thadani, 2012). Informational support provided through social interaction of individuals in social media can be in the form of ratings, review, recommendations or referrals. Therefore, when consumers search for information provided by other users to make a better decision for their purchasing, they are adopting information. From a marketer’s perspective, this process also helps to build long-term advocacy. This research argues that social media provides more opportunities to the individual to adopt WOM. The existing literature has identified several antecedents of social WOM adoption and most of these studies focused on travelling websites (Filieri; Alguezaui and McLeay,2015; Hajli, 2016). Beldad, De Jong, Steehouder (2010) have categorized the major antecedents of social WOM adoption in the literature into three categories namely customer-based antecedents (e.g. user’s experience during the social interactions); website based antecedents (e.g. perceived information quality) and company based antecedents(e.g. perceived source of credibility). Source of credibility is considered as fundamental predictors of consumers’ acceptance of a message in traditional WOM adoption (McGinnies and Ward, 1980). To facilitate the evaluation of credibility of a source, more and more social platforms require contributors to create a web profile upon their registration. Customers need to provide personal information (e.g. profile picture, personal preference). Furthermore, many social media website utilise reviewer reputation systems to enable customers to assess the credibility of reviewers. Zhang and Watt (2008) argue that the higher source credibility of message perceived in online social media, the higher level of information adoption would be. Moreover, the quality of information in online reviews is perceived as a very important cue for consumers to assess the website (Filierri, et al., 2015). Krishnan; Biswas and Netemeyer (2006) point out that concrete information provided by the website such as detailed features of the product/service is likely to be perceived as more credible than those from abstract information like peripheral description of the product/service. Finally, in marketing literature user experience is strongly related with trust (Yoon, 2002). In an online context customers’ negative experience is likely to affect their trust about the company. As a consequence, they are likely to engage in negative WOM. Research shows that user experience has a strong impact on the social WOM adoption (Liang et al., 2012). Method Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) will be employed for examining the research objectives of this research. The questionnaire for this study will be created through a professional online-based survey tool. As this research focuses on the factors influencing social WOM adoption in relation with luxury brands communications, the proposed research model will be tested among customers who is active in the existing active social media platforms and has had experience in engaging with the activities of luxury brand communications such as posting review or comment other’s post). Result and conclusion This research has adopted the electronic WOM theory and the social media support theory along with a social media perspective to investigate how customer’s interaction in social media affects their behaviour in relation to luxury brands consumption. The results show that social WOM facilitates the evaluation by customers about the luxury products using social media. Moreover, WOM has emerged with broad accessibility and the capability to be evaluated and measured easily by other consumers. This study gives practical implications on how to use social media to develop online communities for luxury brands. In conclusion, when going online, luxury brand should consider the importance of converting the online brand strategy into an interactive and engaging experience for their users and online communities.

Introduction With most consumers in developed countries actively using Internet in their daily lives (International Telecommunication Union, 2017), and billions of monthly active social media users (Facebook, 2017; Instagram, 2017), businesses across the globe work to ensure their efficient representation in the online environment. For luxury brands, digitalization poses unique challenges. While some luxury brands fully embrace the digital environment, whether through designing memes for their social media campaigns (Gucci, 2018), or through selling their luxury products via online channels (Vacheron Constantin, 2018), other luxury brands avoid digitalization. Some marketers suggest that “digitalization of luxury brands” is somewhat paradoxical, since customers of luxury brands expect exclusive access, insider knowledge, and more personalized, intimate service than online environment can offer (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, 2015; Hennings, Wiedmann, and Klarmann, 2012; Popomaronis, 2017). Considering that “one size” does not fit all in marketing, could it be the case that digital presence has favorable impact on some luxury brands, but not on others? Brand personality, culture and values of luxury brands can work to create a traditional, or a more modern, brand image (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003; Madhavaram, Badrinarayanan, & McDonald, 2005). It seems reasonable to assume that more modern luxury brands are expected to modernize, even in a digital capacity, while traditional luxury brands are expected to be resilient to change. In other words, digitalization might be perceived differently by customers of traditional luxury brands versus modern luxury brands. However, luxury brand literature is silent as to how these brands should engage audiences online. The primary goal of this paper is to determine whether digital presence leads to differential consumer outcomes depending on the luxury brand identity. Theoretical Development It is universally accepted that the online environment is one of the key factors impacting consumer outcomes in our digital age (Darley, Blankson, & Luethge, 2010). Specifically, brand website quality, interface, experience and website satisfaction all have a strong influence on the consumer decision process, and determine how consumers engage with and obtain knowledge of a brand (see Darley et al., 2010 for a review). Moreover, navigation and convenience of the brand website environment were found to be important predictors of consumers’ attitudes (Childers, Carr, Peck, & Carson, 2001). In fact, when it comes to evaluating brands and their websites, consumers are driven by three factors: website functionality (e.g., navigation), psychological factors (e.g., trust and feelings of reliability/professionalism), and content (e.g., website design) (Constantinides, 2004). At the same time, these three driving factors in website evaluation (i.e., functionality, psychological factors, and content) help build the brand identity, and create a specific brand image through brand presentation style, and the relationships created with customers (Nandan, 2005). A strong component of brand identity is brand personality. Using Aaker’s (1997) brand personality dimensions as a starting point, Heine (2009) developed a luxury brand personality scale, identifying the following traits: modernity, eccentricity, opulence, elitism, and strength. The first trait, modernity, refers to the temporal perspective of the brand, ranging from modern to traditional. ”Traditional” can mean conservative, classic, and old-fashioned, yet luxury brand positioning is often based on tradition, which results in low modernity (Esteve and Hieu-Dess, 2005; Mutscheller, 1992; Vernier and Ghewy, 2006; Vickers and Renand, 2003; Vigneron and Johnson, 2004). The concept of a “modern brand,” on the other hand, elicits associations such as contemporary, trendy, and progressive. For luxury brands, while Donna Karan New York would identify as a modern brand, Hermes provides an example of the traditional brand. Past research indicates that modern brands are more symbolic, embody conspicuousness, and do not require luxury knowledge. Furthermore, modern brands are often deemed more exciting (Aaker, 1997) and creative (Roux, Tafani, and Vigneron, 2017). In contrast, a traditional brand requires craftsmanship, represents aesthetic possession, and requires knowledge (Pitt, Berthon, Parent, and Berthon, 2001). While Kapferer (1998) considers that tradition and modernity are part of luxury brand identity, and thus strategy, only recent evidence demonstrates that luxury brand image can influence consumer evaluations and decision making (Roux et al., 2017). We suggest that luxury brand identity should impact the digitalization strategy of the luxury brands. First, even though past research suggests that e-commerce and use of social media bodes well for luxury brand strategy (Godey et al, 2016; Lee and Walkins, 2016), we argue that for modern (vs. traditional) luxury brands, digitalization and social media presence is viewed more negatively. This is due to the fact that modern brands are more symbolic, that is a sign of affluence (Pitt et al., 2001), and linked more closely to the trait of exclusivity (Roux et al., 2017). When negative attitudes of the modern luxury brand consumers arise, they will result in lower evaluations of the brand digitalization efforts (e.g., brand website). Formally, H1: Exposure (vs. no exposure) to the brand’s social media page will lead to lower (vs. higher) brand website evaluations for the consumers of a modern (vs. traditional) luxury brand. Given that consumers can express love for brands and designate status to brands, their overall relationships with a brand can influence brand website evaluations. However, consumers could attribute higher or lower value to a brand’s identity in the online environment, thereby determining the success or failure of luxury brand digital strategy (Quach and Thaichon, 2017). More specifically, consumers might perceive brand website to be an integral part of a modern brand’s image, and might not see a website as a critical component of a traditional brand’s image. In other words, a website of a modern brand might be subject of higher scrutiny than that of a traditional brand, and thus might be more dependent on the overall consumer attitudes towards the brand. Therefore, we propose that brand love can attenuate the negative influence of digitalization on website evaluations for a modern brand. As such, H2: For a modern luxury brand, high (vs. low) brand love will increase (vs. decrease) website evaluations. No such relationship exists for a traditional luxury brand. Study 1 One hundred and forty-six French participants were recruited on social media (Mage = 28; 71.9% female) to participate in a survey conducted in French about luxury brands. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (Luxury brand: modern vs. traditional) x 2 (Social media page: shown vs. not) between-subjects experimental design. After viewing the website for either the brand identified during the pretests as traditional (Hermes) or modern (Celine), participants in the “social media page: shown” condition viewed the target brand’s Instagram page. Participants in “social media page: not shown” condition immediately proceeded to the study questionnaire. Following this, all participants responded to the questionnaire measuring the dependent variable, Website evaluations, on a 3-item 7-point scale (“How would you rate this website on the following features: design, navigation, and professionalism”, 1 - very negative and 7 - very positive; α = .94; Constantinides, 2004). Next, participants responded to two covariates, including two 7-point Likert-type items to capture Luxury brand knowledge (e.g., “I know more about luxury brands than most other people”; r = .96; p < .001; Mueller, Francis, & Lockshin, 2008), and one item measuring Luxury shopping habits (“How often do you buy luxury goods?”, 1 - more than once a month and 7 - never). Social media usage, as it pertains to this study in particular, was measured as a covariate on a one-item scale (“How often do you use social media?”, 1 - several times a day, 4 - at least once per month). Lastly, demographics were captured. An ANCOVA with the Luxury brand (0 - traditional brand, 1 - modern brand) and the Social media page (0 - not shown, 1 - shown) as the independent variables, Luxury brand knowledge, Luxury shopping habits, and Social media usage as covariates, and Website evaluations as the dependent variable yielded a significant 2-way interaction (F(1, 144) = 3.91; p = .05), driven by main effects of Luxury shopping habits (F(1, 144) = 5.28; p = .02) and Social media usage (F(1, 144) = 6.75; p = .01). The means revealed directional support that the traditional brand website was evaluated more favorably (M = 5.59) than that of the modern luxury brand (M = 5.38). Planned contrasts revealed that for those who saw the social media page, the Website evaluations were higher for the traditional brand (M = 5.56, SD = 1.48) than the modern brand (M = 5.10, SD = 1.88; F(1, 144) = 1.76; p = .06). For those who did not see the social media page, Website evaluations did not differ for the modern (M = 5.68, SD = 1.52) or traditional luxury brand (M = 5.63, SD = 1.53; F(1, 144) < 1). Moreover, for the traditional brand, the social media page did not influence Website evaluations (M = 5.56, SD = 1.48 vs. M = 5.63, SD = 1.53 for shown vs. not shown; F(1, 144) < 1). On the other hand, for the modern brand, Website evaluations were lower for those who saw the social media page (M = 5.10, SD = 1.88) versus did not see the social media page (M = 5.68, SD = 1.52 F(1, 144) = 2.61; p = .02). Thus, the modern brand was more influenced by digital strategies than the traditional brand, such that for the traditional brand, viewing the social media page did not influence the website evaluations. In contrast, viewing the Instagram page of the modern luxury brand had a negative influence on luxury website evaluations. The modern brand website, specifically, was viewed as less aesthetically pleasing, and less professional, after viewing the brand’s Instagram page. We speculate that this is because the luxury brand was seen as less rare, and special, after viewing its social media page, and these negative associations affected downstream consumer judgments when evaluating the brand website. Study 2 To formally test hypothesis two, European consumers speaking English were recruited via social media to participate in a study on luxury brands. An experiment using a 2 (Luxury brand: modern vs. traditional) x (Brand love, continuous) between-subjects design was undertaken. The Luxury brand variable was manipulated by exposing participants (N=128; Mage = 21; 60% female; 63% German) to one of the two brands recognized as either more modern (Chanel) or more traditional (Hermes). The dependent variable, Website evaluations, was measured as in study 1 (α = .77). Participants also responded to two 7-point Likert items measuring Brand love (e.g., “I love the brand whose website I just visited”; r = .75; p < .001; Bagozzi, Batra, and Ahuvia, 2014), and two covariates of Luxury brand knowledge (r = .9; p < .001) and Luxury shopping habits. Lastly, demographics were captured. A regression using PROCESS Model 1 with the Luxury brand (0 – traditional brand, 1 – modern brand) and mean-centered Brand love as the independent variables, Luxury brand knowledge and Luxury shopping habits as covariates, and Website evaluations as the dependent variable yielded a significant 2-way interaction (β = .38; t = 1.82; p = .07) driven by a main effect of the Luxury brand, so that the website of the traditional brand was evaluated more favorably (M = 5.85) than that of the modern brand (M = 4.88; β = - .98; t = -3.13; p = .002). Planned contrasts revealed that when Brand love was low, Website evaluations were greater for the traditional brand (M = 5.84) than the modern brand (M = 4.28; β = -1.56; t = -3.86; p = .0002). However, there was no difference in Website evaluations when Brand love was high (M = 5.87 vs. M = 5.47 for traditional vs. modern, respectively; β = -.40; t = -.82; p > .4). Moreover, for the traditional brand, Brand love did not influence Website evaluations (M = 5.85 vs. M = 5.87 for low vs. high brand love; β = .01; t = .08; p >.9). On the other hand, for the modern brand, Brand love had a positive impact on Website evaluations, such that evaluations were higher when Brand love was higher (M = 5.47) versus lower (M = 4.28; β = .39; t = 2.40; p = .018). Thus, luxury brand websites emanating from traditional brands are more widely accepted than those from modern brands. Additionally, these results support hypothesis two that brand love attenuates lower website evaluations for the modern luxury brand while not influential of evaluation of the luxury brand website for traditional brands. Important for the modern luxury brand, brand love should be high for brands pursuing digital strategies. Conclusion In sum, the findings from the two experiments indicate that digital techniques employed by traditional luxury brands are more widely accepted than those of modern brands. Specifically, the findings reveal that while social media pages can detract from the evaluations of the modern luxury site, they do not influence the evaluations of the traditional luxury site (study 1). Given that one of the benefits of luxury brands’ sharing of content in a digital environment involves facilitating brand love, it is imperative for modern luxury brands to garner high brand love. After all, brand love increases site evaluations for modern luxury brands (study 2). Using appropriate brand identity interface to communicate brand identity to the brand contacts is important in building brand equity (Madhavaram et al., 2005), especially in the domain of luxury brands, where brand equities amount to billions of dollars (Quach and Thaicon, 2017). Therefore, understanding how best to use digital interfaces is paramount to luxury brand strategy.

Despite important theoretical implications seldom research exist regarding the impact of luxury parent brand status signaling on the evaluation of horizontal line extension through the moderating role of extension authenticity, quality and fit. The luxury literature review revealed that despite important theoretical implications seldom research exist regarding the impact of luxury parent brand status signaling on the evaluation of horizontal line extension through the moderating role of extension authenticity, quality and fit. Research has examined how consumers use luxury goods to signal their status or relative position in social hierarchies (Berger & Ward 2010; Dubois et al., 2012; Geiger-Oneto et al., 2013; Kastanakis, & Balabanis, 2014) but until the current study the luxury literature could not support the extent to which status signaling impact line extension’s evaluation through the moderating role of extension authenticity (Spiggle, Nguyen, & Caravella, 2012; Beverland & Farrelly, 2010; Morhart et al., 2015; Guèvremont & Grohmann, 2016). Previous studies have found that authenticity can be to emotional attachment (Morhart et al., 2015), help pursue personal goals (Beverland & Farrelli, 2010), or relevant to brand identity, status and equity (Guevremont & Grohmann, 2016). Surprisingly, none of these studies has empirically tested this important relationship. This study’s contribution to the literature is important as it empirically confirms that in launching a new line extension, a luxury parent brand’s status signaling will directly impact the extension’s evaluation. In the process, the perceived authenticity of the extension proves to affect the evaluation significantly if the perceived quality and fit of the extension are taken into consideration in the measurement framework.

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

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

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

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

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.

Authenticity is an important topic in business activities and society at large. Sustainability management and marketing activities are required as consumers become more interested in society. The consumer evaluation of brand authenticity is a crucial factor in a brand’s reputation and long-term growth, which affects brand loyalty, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and purchase behavior. With this latest trend, luxury brands are paying attention to sustainability activities, but consumer confidence in the sustainability of luxury brands is still low. Experts emphasize that building trust with customers by promising authenticity is a key challenge. Meanwhile, luxury brands are actively communicating with consumers through SNS, such as Instagram. Social media marketing directly and indirectly influences brand authenticity, as well as purchase intentions and eWOM. Nevertheless, there is little exposure to sustainability activities in the social media accounts of luxury brands. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the sustainability activities on the social media of luxury brands and brand authenticity, as well as the effects of brand authenticity on eWOM and purchase intention. For this study, we conducted an online survey targeting individuals with ages of 20–30 years and who are highly interested in society while actively using social media. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 21.0 software package. The main finding of this study reveals that consumers are more aware of brand authenticity when they see an Instagram post that includes messages about sustainability rather than a post without any such messages. In addition, brand authenticity has positive effects on eWOM and purchase intention. These findings suggest that sustainability marketing by luxury brands leads to positive consumer response, and the broadcasting of messages about sustainability via social media is effective for the marketing strategy of luxury brands.

While the luxury goods market has shown a slow growth, brands are becoming devoted when developing strategies optimized for customer’s needs in order to survive in a competitive environment. Face-to-Face (FtF) service is one of the differing strategies that luxury brands pursue in their offline in-store environment. With the advance of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, this service is expanding also to online. Chatbot is an emerging online communication tool that offers to customers a new, unique and personalized digital service. The traditional way of measuring communication between a luxury brand and the luxury customer has been through face-to-face (FtF) interactions that customers can experience directly at the store. However, there is a lack of researches on chatbot, a new conversational agent. The aim of the present study is to identify the effects of conversational agents marketing efforts on communication outcomes. Second, within this context, the study clarifies how the service provided in-store (FtF) differs from the service provided through online store (chatbot). Last, it verifies how communication outcomes differ according to the customer’s personal traits. Online questionnaires were distributed among individuals aged 20-30 residing in Korea; thereafter, SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 18.0 were used to verify the proposed model and research hypotheses. Results show that luxury brand’s conversational agents marketing efforts have a positive effect on communication outcomes. In addition, communication outcomes that customers experience have difference for both FtF and Chatbot, as well as according to customer’s personal traits. The findings of the study provide meaningful implications for marketers, thus the conversational agents marketing efforts that customers experience in the brick-and-mortar store is also of some value in the digital context.

The personal luxury goods market in the Middle-East is the 10th largest in the world, right before Hong-Kong and Russia, which are both well-established markets for luxury products (D’Arpizio, Levato, Zito & Montgolfier, 2015). However, luxury consumer behavior consumption in the Middle-East and its influencing factors have largely been left unexplored. This paper builds on previous research among German luxury consumers and investigates the formation of brand love and its impact on willingness-to-pay among Arab luxury consumers. Compared with the German study, it is found that Arab luxury consumers show weaker brand love tendencies. In addition, materialistic characteristics and tendencies for conspicuous consumption among Arab consumers strongly influence brand love in the context of luxury fashion and accessories, which confirms previous findings. Results further document that for Arab luxury consumers neither conspicuous consumption tendencies nor brand love can be interpreted as a predictor for an increase in willingness to pay. Hence, for those consumers, long-lasting emotional consumer-brand relationships are not responsible for generating additional profits and do not explain why the willingness to pay for luxury goods was significantly higher among Arab consumers. Finally, results indicate that though some elements of luxury consumption are shared among German and Arab luxury consumers (e.g. fashion involvement, the evaluation of particular brands, gender and brand love tendencies) there are significant differences in terms of e.g. brand preferences, general willingness to pay for luxury fashion and accessories and willingness to pay for conspicuous luxury goods. This research provides insights into the formation of brand love among Arab luxury consumers and how it informs luxury consumption. Moreover, it sheds light on similarities and differences across the two samples and increases the understanding of luxury consumption in a broader geographic context.

Recent research has shown that many companies in the fashion industry are increasingly weaving close relationships with the art world, to appropriate art values and meanings to be associated with their own products and brands (Hagdtvedt & Patrick, 2008a; 2008b). Businesses related to the fashion luxury sector have been especially prone to using such strategies to transform their products into true artworks to address the issue of commodification resulting from high production volumes (Dion and Arnoult, 2011; Riot, Chameret & Rigaud, 2013). Over the past two decades, the luxury market has undergone huge structural changes through mergers and acquisitions that have transformed an industry made up of small, family businesses into major financial conglomerates and brand owners (Roux & Floch, 1996; Crane 2012). Secondly, globalization and openness to new fast-growing markets such as Asia, have led these luxury conglomerates to increase sales volumes, failing in one of the basic characteristics of such goods: rarity. But if the real rarity of luxury products is a promise that companies can no longer guarantee their own consumers, the elitism of these products can be ensured through an artificial rarity. Jean-Noël Kapferer used the neologism artification recently introduced by French sociologists Nathalie Heinich and Roberta Shapiro and applied it to the analysis of luxury goods (Kapferer, 2012; 2014; Heinich and Shapiro, 2012; Shapiro and Heinich, 2012). He stressed that a strategy based on art implemented by luxury companies is useful mainly to support the perception of rarity by the final consumer. Artification is based on the notion that art –related objects or persons are associated with positive values. Enhancing a corporate image in the consumer’s mind means building positive ties to the brand that will initiate a form of benevolence towards the brand, providing the legitimization of corporate actions and, in some cases, resulting in the purchase of goods and services produced and distributed by the company (Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1996; Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000; Keller, 2003). We decided to analyse the effect of Artification on brand value by focusing on the four dimensions of Awareness, Image, Quality and Loyalty by using the same CbBE ( Customer-based Brand Equity) structure previous authors tested on country of origin effect on consumers, based on the main hypotheses further explained (Pappu, Quester & Cooksey, 2006). The first hypothesis relates to the dimension of Awareness and aims to test the level of brand recognition in final consumers when the logo is modified by an artist. • H1 – Consumers’ awareness remains strong when the brand is ‘artified’. We analyze then the Image, as the second dimension of CbBE. Due to the complexity of this dimension, we posited two hypotheses connected to it: • H2a – Consumers’ free associations to the brand are connected to the artworld when the brand is ‘artified’ (e.g. consumers indicate words as art, contemporary art or the name of the artist). • H2b – Consumers’ evaluation of the brand image points to stronger positive associations when the brand is ‘artified’ The last two hypotheses we mention are connected to the dimensions of Quality and Loyalty: • H3 – Consumers’ evaluation of Quality increases when the brand is ‘artified’.  H4 – Consumers’ Loyalty to the brand increases when the brand is ‘artified’. • The analysis was conducted through a between-subjects randomized experiment and manipulated art presence (with art versus without art). Starting from the same panel, two groups were created: one including the treatment (visual arts) and one including no treatment at all. Furthermore, we limited ourselves in this experiment to images of products and pattern created by Louis Vuitton that are actually on the market, associating them randomly to the research units in order to obtain two statistically consistent groups subjected to the different treatment (with art or without art)4. The two groups were labelled ‘artified’ group and control group, the first grouping the respondents to the questionnaire containing images of Louis Vuitton Logo, pattern and product modified by art collaboration with Yayoi Kusama; and the second grouping the respondents to the questionnaire containing images of Louis Vuitton Logo, pattern and product in its standard design. The questionnaire was distributed between the months of May and June 2015 via Qualtrics survey software. It was divided into four distinct blocks: the first concerned the presentation of the survey, the declaration of authorization signed by the participants and the demographic information; the second and the third blocks of questions were identical, with the same series of questions but based on different images used. There were 880 respondents, 825 of whom correctly filled the questionnaire we submitted to them. The control group was made of 413 respondents, 73.13 % of whom were female and 26.87 % male. The ‘artified’ group was made of 71.60 % female and 28.40 % male. We analyzed the four dimensions of Awareness, Image, Quality and Loyalty individually and in a comparative manner between the control and ‘artified’ groups. In the CbBE model, dimensions are analyzed individually since Awareness and brand Image measures are not comparable because they are collected through different measure methods, respectively through multiple choice and open-ended questions. Such dimensions as Image, Quality and Loyalty which were raised through Likert scales were then subjected to mono multivariate statistical analysis. The main results are shown in table 1. By reading the results for CbBE, Hypothesis H1 [Consumers’ awareness remain strong when the brand is ‘artified’] has been confirmed. The aided brand awareness shows no important differences between the two groups, so visual artists may modify logos or the appearance of luxury products without the fear of compromising brand awareness in the final consumers. Hypothesis H2a [Consumers’ free associations to the brand are connected to the arts when the brand is ‘artified’ (e.g. the word art, contemporary art or the name of the artist)] was not confirmed. Hypothesis H2b was partially confirmed as Generic Associations and Brand Personality were impacted by the use of the visual arts, while Organizational Associations were not. Brand loyalty and Perceived Quality were not impacted by the Visual Arts either, so Hypothesis H3 and H4 were not confirmed. As a main result for CbBE analysis, the Visual Arts have an impact on Customer-based Brand Equity, limited to Brand Image dimensions. The fact that Brand Image is one of the most complex dimensions of brand value opens the way to the development of future analysis and research in the visual arts as external source for brand equity, especially for Brand Personality. The main results of our research show that an artification effect is visible especially at the level of brand image and brand personality, two complex and valuable components of Brand Value from a consumer perspective. This opens to further in-depth analysis of these two components for future research. Large luxury groups (such as Cartier and Prada) have long used an art-based strategy to increase the value of their products, avoiding the risk of a loss of prestige perceived by the final consumer who would no longer recognize the exclusivity of a product that seems to be increasingly more industrial than handmade. Art can therefore contribute to alter and rework the image and market position of a specific brand or an entire product line, ensuring the transition from an ordinary image to a prestigious one, or strengthening the existing prestigious perception (Hetsroni & Tukachinsky, 2005; Lee et Al., 2015). We believe that a strategy based on art implemented by luxury companies is beneficial mainly to support the perception of rarity by the final consumer. Luxury goods would have to be unique or at least not produced in too high volumes precisely because of their craftsmanship and the care with which they are made. Rarity is not compatible with the increase in sales volumes required by the financial holdings that own the same luxury brands (Roux and Lipovetsky, 2003; Kapferer, 2012; 2014; 2015). The artification process we researched would have exactly the dual purpose of improving the brand image of companies that apply it, while increasing the perception of luxury in end consumers. What is more, we believe that the luxury brands from the industry sector that belong to large financial conglomerates now have the strength to simultaneously apply all the components in the artification process, by sustaining activities of sponsorship, philanthropy or generic collaboration with artists. The fact that luxury products are an integral part of the world of visual arts combined with the fact luxury brands have now the strong support base of large financial conglomerates can ensure the right economic and cultural support needed for the application of such a strategy. In the case of fashion companies, we believe artification is a process in itinere. In our experiment free associations to the brand show that only 2 consumers out of 880 remembered or knew the name of the artist (Yayoi Kusama) and 10 people indicated the substantive ‘art’ or ‘contemporary arts’ as free associations in the ‘artified group’ (only 2 in the control group). This shows that luxury brands ‘art-based strategy cannot only concentrate on temporary collaborations with artists. Luxury brands as Louis Vuitton must act as art institutions able to display arts collections to the widest public and bestow art status and global recognition to collaborating artists (Masè and Cedrola, 2017). This strategy relies on LV ability to raise consumers’ awareness of the arts. While the art-oriented public recognizes artistic collaborations, the larger public does not yet is still very much aware of new designs. Novelty is equally perceived by both, but is partially decoded by one category of consumers.

Companies frequently use luxury or green as a brand extension strategy. The present research suggests that the success of the luxury or green brand extension depends on the parent brand’s core attribute-whether the parent brand is primarily luxury or green. In two experiments involving real brands (BMW, Prius, Chanel, Patagonia) across multiple product categories (automobile and bag), we investigated consumers’ evaluation of luxury green extension products (i.e., multi-attribute products with luxury and green attributes) whose parent brand is luxury (e.g., BMW) or green (e.g., Prius). Study 1 showed that luxury green products with luxury roots (i.e., parent brand is luxury) are evaluated more favorably than those with green roots (i.e., parent brand is green). Study 2 investigated the mechanism of perceived fit. Whereas luxury green product with luxury roots was perceived to have a high level of fit, the luxury green product with green roots was perceived to have a lower level of fit. Our findings encourage the luxury parent brand to extend green whereas discourage the green parent brand to extend luxury.

Emotional sharing of brand has a power of connecting brand and consumer brand and consumer by transcending rational reason.

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

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.