The objectives of this study are to explore the information source, assessment, and preferred styles of 3D virtual influencers(VI), to investigate the expected impact of advertisements with 3D VIs on brands, and to explore ways of expanding the use of 3D VIs. In-depth interviews with 40 males and females in their 20s and 30s were conducted and qualitative data were analyzed. The study results are summarized as follows. First, the information source of the 3D VI was SNS, acquaintances, and broadcasting. Second, 3D VIs were considered positively due to their attractive appearance, wide utilization, innovative use, freshness, separation from private identity, and time and cost savings, while considered negatively due to their unrealistic appearance and antipathy against replacing a person’s role. Third, the preferred appearance styles of the 3D VI differed according to the level of virtuality although the majority of interviewees preferred similar looks to real people with low virtuality. Fourth, diverse image qualities such as innovative, differentiated, trendy, high-value, professional, and future-oriented were considered as transferred to the brand advertised by 3D VIs. Fifth, advertisements with 3D VIs may help build positive perceptions of advertised brands that may lead to purchase behaviors for some consumers. Lastly, to expand the use of 3D VIs, the specific advantages of virtual models should be maximized with consideration of how to implement a variety of body types and images of models. Findings present an important foundation to generate strategies to better apply 3D VIs to the fashion market.

“Today I was persuaded to spend more than $200 on a lotion in Barneys. The price difference (between online and store) is $75. However, the store salesman told me that it is only few dollars way! I felt humiliated by the upscale society.” Lawrence, a 22 years old male Chinese who is an international undergraduate student studying marketing in a public U.S. university, posted the above status on his WeChat moments. With its fast growing economy and huge population, China has become one of the most lucrative markets for luxury brands (Zhan and He 2012). In fact, China has surpassed Japan and become the No.1 luxury products’ spender in the world, accounting more than one-quarter of the global luxury brand expenditure (Yousuf 2012). According to Bian & Company’s study (2016), $ 17.6 billion were spent on Chinese luxury market in 2015. In the past, the core Chinese luxury consumers are female middle-class and up-class consumers (Zhan and He 2012). In recent years, the faces of Chinese luxury consumers have gradually changed: more and more Chinese luxury goods buyers are males, and they actually spend more money on average than women do (Chen, 2016). In addition, the Chinese culture is different from the Western culture (Li, Li and Kambelle 2012). Accordingly, Chinese luxury consumption follows its own patterns and trends, which may not always resemble those of the Western world (Li, Li and Kambelle 2012). Previous studies have revealed unique characteristics of Chinese luxury consumers, in terms of motivations, for example, Mianzi (prestigious face) (Li and Su 2007; Wang and Ahuvia 1998), subcultures (Wang, Sun and Song 2011), public meaning (Wang, Sun and Song 2011), gift giving (Li and Su 2007), and reference groups (Li and Su 2007). All of those studies emphasized the cultural and social dimensions of luxury brands’ consumption. Given these distinctive characteristics of the Chinese market, Western luxury brands have made use of all possible communication methods to connect with Chinese consumers. One of the seemingly promising channels is the Internet. The Internet breaks down geographical and temporal boundaries (Kozinets 1999), and enables Western luxury brands to connect with overseas markets. Among all the digital advertising tools, social media have become increasingly important in the Chinese market (Kim and Ko 2012). In 2015 alone, there were 574 million active mobile social media users in China (Kemp 2015). Due to the large number of social media users, Western luxury brands, like Burberry (Phan, Thomas, and Heine 2011), have started practicing social media advertising (Okonkwo 2009). Accordingly, several challenges emerge. With the rising popularity of social media, Chinese consumers increasingly demand Western luxury brands’ social presence online. Looking at the bright side, social media allows Western luxury brands to show a desirable brand image (Okonkwo 2009; Tynan, McKechnie, and Chhoun 2010) and maintain customer relationship (Kim and Ko 2012). However, concerns about negative consumer comments and their potential impact on brand images (Britten 2013; Macnamara and Zerfass 2012; Singer 2014) loom large. Thus, it remains a question whether and to what extent Western luxury brands embrace the interactive media. Moreover, it is unclear how Chinese consumers perceive their social media advertising effort. In particular, how Chinese young males, the new market segment, interpret luxury brands’ social media advertising presence is an untapped research field. Thus, the purpose of this study is to fill the research gap by exploring how Chinese young male consumers understand and interpret luxury brands’ social media advertising. Given the exploratory nature of the study, a qualitative research approach is adopted (Creswell 2013).

본 연구는 남성소비자들의 패션라이프스타일 유형에 따른 넥타이 문양디자인 선호도와 구매 의도를 파악하고자 하는데 그 목적이 있다. 남성소비자들의 패션라이프스타일 유형은 '유행 지향', '보수 전통지향', '과시적 브랜드 지향', '개성 지향', '실용 지향', '패션 무관심' 형으로 분류되었다. 각각의 패션 라이프스타일 요인들을 군집 분석하여 남성소비자들의 패션라이프스타일에 따른 집단을 '개성 추구', '실용 & 브랜드 추구', '보수 전통 & 개성 추구', '유행 추구', '패션 무관심' 집단으로 구분하였다. 남성소비자들의 패션라이프스타일 유형에 따라 넥타이 문양 선호와 구매 의사에는 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다. '실용 지향'형은 '무지단색', '원', '페이즐리'의 넥타이 문양을 선호하는 경향이 있는 반면, '꽃' 문양은 선호하지 않는 것으로 나타났다. '보수 전통지향', '과시적 브랜드지향', '실용 지향'형은 '줄', '체크'의 넥타이 문양을 선호하는 경향으로 나타났고, '유행 지향', '과시적 브랜드지향', '개성 지향'형은 '무지단색', '꽃', '동물'의 넥타이 문양을 선호하는 것으로 나타났다. '유행 지향'형은 '무지단색', '꽃', '동물'의 넥타이 문양에 대한 구매 의사가 있는 반면, '실용 지향'형은 '원' 문양에 대한 구매 의사가 있는 것으로 나타났다. '실용지향'형은 '원' 문양에 대한 선호 및 구매 의사가 동시에 있었고, '유행 지향'형 역시 '무지단색', '꽃', '동물' 문양에 대한 선호 및 구매 의사가 동시에 있는 것으로 나타났다. 반면, '보수 전통지향' 및 '과시적 브랜드 지향'형이 '줄', '체크' 문양에 대한 선호가 높았으나, 구매 의사는 '페이즐리' 문양에 있는 것으로 조사되어 선호하는 넥타이 문양과 구매하고자 하는 문양 간에 차이를 보였다.