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Perceived benefits and willingness to pay premium for luxury experiences: exploring perceived authenticity as a mediator
Tourism Recreation Research
Abstract
The majority of the studies on luxury brands have focused on examining the determinants of customers’ positive behaviour and identified the crucial role of authentic experiences. Although customers’ perceived authenticity is the core concept in the brand management context, only a few studies have examined the role of authenticity in the luxury service setting. Many luxury hotel brands have communicated recently with customers with authentic experiences. Thus this study examines the relationship among perceived benefits, brand authenticity and willingness to pay premium. Partial least squared-structural equation modelling is used to test the effects of the preceding variables on customers’ positive behavioural intention. Data are collected from an online survey platform consisting of 177 luxury hotel customers in the USA. Findings suggest that self and social benefits influence customers’ perceived authenticity, while the perceived benefit is insufficient to create positive behavioural intention. Brand authenticity directly and indirectly influences customers’ intention to pay premium for luxury hotel brands. Thus reinforcing the authenticity of luxury service brands can strengthen the impact of perceived benefits on company performance.
... To the best of our knowledge, no study so far has achieved this. Therefore, these findings compliment previous research on benefits derived from luxury services (Ahn et al., 2021;Wu and Yang, 2018), by showing that these can be grouped into three factors -namely, social and symbolic benefits, ethical and functional service benefits. Ethical benefits represent a novel factor in luxury hospitality segmentation; their role in discriminating the segments provides further support to past research showing that sustainability has become part of luxury (Hennigs et al., 2013), and highlighting it can boost luxury hotel bookings (Amatulli et al., 2021). ...
Purpose
This research aims at identifying segments of luxury guests based on the benefits they seek when staying at 5-star hotels. The study also wants to investigate whether ethics and sustainability have a role in differentiating the segments.
Design/methodology/approach
An online panel survey allowed the collection of 508 responses with participants from Switzerland that spent at least one night in a 5-star hotel between 2022 and 2023. The survey asked about perceived benefits, sustainable tourist behavior, preferred hotel green practices, trip-related factors and socio-demographics. Hierarchical cluster analysis was employed to group participants on the benefits identified via exploratory factor analysis. The other variables were used for segment profiling.
Findings
Results show the existence of three customer segments for 5-star hotels: the ethical enthusiast, the unconcerned aesthete and the practical connoisseur. These differ in the importance they assign to ethical, social and symbolic benefits, as well as functional service benefits. The relevance of sustainability in the luxury hotel experience is stronger for the ethical enthusiast.
Practical implications
Luxury hotel managers should highlight sustainable practices on social media to attract ethical enthusiasts. In addition, marketing content customization should be used to appeal to the benefits and profile of each identified segment.
Originality/value
This is the first study that provides a benefit segmentation of luxury hotel guests, and it is also the first research that considers the role of sustainability and ethics in differentiating these customers.
... The concept of willingness-to-pay price premium has been evaluated in studies as an indicator to measure consumer preferences for luxury goods (Chua et al., 2015;Hyun & Han, 2015). Therefore, consumers' willingness-to-pay price premium is vital to the research of the outcome of luxury hotel consumers' experience (Ahn et al., 2022). ...
Draws on the integration of aesthetic theory and transaction-specific satisfaction theory, this study concentrated on the concept of hospitality service aesthetics of the front desk of luxury hotel about consumers’ perception among the visual servicescape and humanistic appearance and potential effect on their willingness-to-pay price premium. A mixed method approach of both lab experiment and field investigation was applied to test three hypotheses. The results showed that consumers’ visual aesthetics of front desk with non-thematic style have a more significant impact on their willingness-to-pay price premium compared to the thematic style. This study also indicated that the physical attractiveness of employees is a moderator only when consumers’ willingness-to-pay price premium during service interactions in the context of thematic front desk with low hospitableness.
... They found that environmental concerns have an effect on WTP a price premium. In another study, Ahn et al. (2022) studied WTP a price premium for brand authenticity and the perceived benefits of that in a luxury setting service. They use structural equation modelling with data from 177 luxury hotel customers in the USA. ...
The tourism industry is very important for the economic growth in some countries and the hotel industry is the backbone of it. The advent of new technologies improves the stay experience of tourists in hotels and the environmental technologies contribute to the reduction of the environmental footprint of the tourist stay. Willingness to pay informs about the consumer surplus and therefore hoteliers, as producers can charge more informed prices for profit maximization. Evidence of high willingness to pay entails that the investment project required to finance the purchase of those technologies will pay back hoteliers if they decide to file for a loan and whether such finance projects pass the cost–benefit analysis test. The study calculates the WTP for each of the five new technologies and three environmental technologies and concludes that the higher prior experience with technologies and higher frequency of overnight spent in hotels increase WTP for all technologies. So does the young age of the consumer, income, and female consumership. These findings can also guide hoteliers to communicate the existence of such technologies in their hotels for marketing purposes and contribute to the formation of customer typologies, based on their demographics of customers.
... To determine whether or not hotel customers would be prepared to pay a price premium, three items taken from Netemeyer et al. (2004) were employed. This scale is common in empirical studies in the hotel industry (e.g., Ahn et al., 2022;Chun et al., 2019;Joshi et al., 2023). Participants were informed that the official language of the questionnaire was English, thus back-translation of the intended questionnaire items were not made. ...
While prior research has examined various aspects of technology adoption, there is a limited focus on the specific dynamics of digital concierge services within the hospitality setting. Hence, the primary purpose of this paper is to examine the key drivers of willingness to pay for digital concierge services in Egyptian four-star hotels, with a particular emphasis on perceived value, usability, and the moderating effects of age and gender. Through a comprehensive survey of 624 potential customers and applying the Technology Acceptance Model, this paper repositions the concept of perceived usefulness as a central driver of user beliefs and intentions. Findings have implications for hotel managers, marketers, and industry professionals, offering guidance on enhancing user adoption and effectively communicating the advantages of digital concierge services to diverse customer segments. This research also sets the stage for future investigations into the evolving landscape of technology adoption within the hospitality industry.
Given the growing commercial importance of "user experience," this study aims to examine the role of the intermediary user experience in the relationship between product features and perceived user interests. The study used structural equation modeling to test the interrelationships between perceived dynamics, functionality, and pleasure of a website, user experience, and perceived interests (personal and social benefit). This research is based on the nature of a descriptive-messaging method and is classified according to the purpose of the type of applied research. Due to the anonymity of the statistical community, the research has used non-confidential sampling methods available for samples, and the data has been collected using the HSU and CHEN (2018) standard survey questionnaire, which is adapted to the field of e-commerce and online retail stores in Iran. The results of this study suggest that product characteristics (perceived characteristics, functional features, and intrinsic pleasure of the website) have a positive and meaningful effect on the user experience, which in turn affects the perceived interests and personal interests and leads to improvement.
This study aims to examine how values (i.e., individual and social values) influence customer engagement after managing a service failure in the thermal spa hotel context, and the mediating roles of perceived justice and brand experience. The data was collected from a survey of guests of luxury thermal spa hotels in Portugal, and the research model was assessed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results show that individual values affect perceived justice and brand experience, which in turn contribute to a higher level of customer engagement. Brand experience is a better mediator of the relationship between individual values and customer engagement than perceived justice. The novelty of this study is highlighted by the mediating effects of perceived justice and brand experience on the relationship between individual values and customer engagement.
Nghiên cứu này tập trung vào giá trị sang trọng của khách sạn hạng sang và khám phá mối quan hệ giữa biến số này với sự sẵn lòng chi trả và truyền miệng của người tiêu dùng với hài lòng là biến số kết nối. Kỹ thuật mô hình cấu trúc bình phương bé nhất bán phần (PLS-SEM) áp dụng trên một mẫu 300 người tiêu dùng cho thấy tác động của giá trị sang trọng, gồm giá trị độc nhất, giá trị tiêu khiển, và giá trị địa vị, đến hài lòng, và hài lòng tác động đến sự sẵn lòng chi trả và truyền miệng. Về mặt lý thuyết, nghiên cứu gia tăng sự hiểu biết về vai trò của giá trị sang trọng đối với sự sẵn lòng chi trả và truyền miệng tích cực thông qua việc gia tăng sự hài lòng. Về mặt thực tiễn, nghiên cứu nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của giá trị hạng sang như là một chiến lược thương hiệu mà nhà quản trị cần quan tâm để duy trì lợi thế cạnh tranh.
In the context of the advent of the experience economy, conceptualisations of authenticity are often both perplexing and uncertain. This paper argues for a nuanced understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of authenticity of restaurant experiences from the production perspective. It does this by proposing a framework to produce authenticity using the interrelationships of three fundamental elements of a restaurant experience, the Consumer, the Provider, and the Experience, and by discussing the consumers' experiential outcomes resulting from such interrelationships. By applying the interrelationships to reconceptualise the existing authenticity approaches in tourism and hospitality contexts, this paper suggests that direct interaction between the provider and the consumer can enhance authenticity of restaurant experiences. As a result, incorporating such direct interaction supports the multi-dimensional approach to authenticity in restaurants. The three outcomes resulting from the interrelationships can further strengthen perceptions of authenticity in restaurant experiences. The paper offers both theoretical and practical insights which advance the production of authenticity in restaurants.
Luxury brands have been increasing investment in creating compelling content that communicates brand value and stories on social media. Yet, research on understanding the mechanisms of luxury content marketing in brand building is still scarce. Hence, we proposed and tested a comprehensive conceptual model explicating the mechanisms through which the perceived values of luxury content marketing on social media (i.e., YouTube) shapes brand loyalty among luxury purchasers. Our findings demonstrate that, the perceived experiential value and unique value of luxury branded content are positively related to perceived brand prestige, brand exclusivity, and customer intimacy, respectively, which in turn, are significantly associated with brand loyalty. The perceived functional value of the brand’s YouTube channel is positively related to perceived brand prestige and brand exclusivity, respectively, which in turn, are significantly associated with brand loyalty.
The purpose of the present study is to examine a theoretical model using authentic experience, perceived benefit, perceived cost, and support for tourism development among attendees of the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage in Taiwan. Overall, 1,244 usable responses were collected and analyzed. Analytic findings indicated that authentic experience and perceived benefits are precedents of support for tourism development. Perceived benefits significantly mediate the relationship between authentic experience and support for tourism development in both first-time and repeat attendees. The present study concludes that an individual who attends a traditional religious festival has authentic experiences of pilgrimage that create perceived benefits and lead to behavior that supports tourism development. The theoretical and managerial implications presented in this article elucidate an original theoretical framework and valuable insights for promoting support for tourism development, potentially also contributing to the literature.
Understanding how tourists’ brand experiences impact their existential authenticity, and the role of existential authenticity in the formation mechanism of place attachment to the destination, are key issues for the marketing of a destination. The current study examines the relationship between tourists’ experience, existential authenticity, and place attachment, and the indirect effect of existential authenticity on the relationship between destination brand experience and place attachment from the oriental perspective against the slow tourism background. A self-administered survey was conducted at Yaxi town, the first international slow city in China. A total of 398 samples were analyzed using a two-step approach of the structural equation model (SEM). The findings show that destination brand experience partially impacts existential authenticity, and both the intrapersonal and interpersonal authenticity (the sub-dimensions of existential authenticity) significantly influence place attachment. Additionally, affective and behavioral experience indirectly influence place attachment through existential authenticity. Based on the conclusions, theoretical and practical recommendations are considered.
The sustainability of rural development, both economic and environmental, has been increasingly linking to local food, which plays an indispensable role by preserving traditional culture, attracting tourists, and supporting the regional economy. However, the authenticity and quality of local food have not been fully convinced as competitive advantages by most practitioners. Little is known about how authenticity affects quality attributes, tourist satisfaction, and tourist loyalty. Thus, this study examines the role of authenticity in the quality–satisfaction–loyalty framework. The field research was performed in Shunde County, Guangdong Province, China. The results challenge the traditional view of quality attributes by highlighting that authenticity is a key antecedent to the quality–satisfaction–loyalty framework of food tourism. In contrast, the relationships among quality attributes, tourist satisfaction, and tourist loyalty are contingent on the extent to which food tourists perceive the authenticity of rural local food.
If service quality relates to retention of customers at the aggregate level, as other research has indicated, then evidence of its impact on customers’ behavioral responses should be detectable. The authors offer a conceptual model of the impact of service quality on particular behaviors that signal whether customers remain with or defect from a company. Results from a multicompany empirical study examining relationships from the model concerning customers’ behavioral intentions show strong evidence of their being influenced by service quality. The findings also reveal differences in the nature of the quality-intentions link across different dimensions of behavioral intentions. The authors’ discussion centers on ways the results and research approach of their study can be helpful to researchers and managers.
Social media influencers (SMIs) are increasingly being approached by brands to promote products, a practice commonly called influencer marketing. SMIs can take advantage of their influence to obtain personal rewards by entering into partnerships with brands. However, SMI followers value influencers' intrinsic motivations and noncommercial orientation. Thus, SMI–brand collaborations may result in tensions for SMIs' authenticity management. This research applies a qualitative approach based on SMI–brand partnership observations, SMI interviews, and a comparison of these data sources. Two authenticity management strategies emerged from the analysis: passionate and transparent authenticity. We articulate these strategies to propose a four-path framework that provides the first conceptualization of how SMIs can manage authenticity for themselves to resolve the tensions created by brand encroachment into their content. The results offer guidance for both SMIs and marketers on how to best partner with each other to build win–win relationships while protecting SMIs' authenticity.
This paper combines the brand personality and brand anthropomorphization concepts and introduces the notion of personality-driven brand management especially for the context of luxury branding. A central part of this paper is a study about the major dimensions of luxury brand personality. Results suggest that there exist five distinct luxury personality dimensions including tradition, modesty, elitism, eccentricity and sensuality. They help brand managers to develop distinct brand personalities by encouraging them to decide between contrasting traits. After presenting the major strategies to bring a luxury brand personality alive, the paper discusses the benefits of personality-based brand management and concludes with some major lessons learned.
Individuals' knowledge does not transform easily into organizational knowledge even with the implementation of knowledge repositories. Rather, individuals tend to hoard knowledge for various reasons. The aim of this study is to develop an integrative understanding of the factors supporting or inhibiting individuals' knowledge-sharing intentions. We employ as our theoretical framework the theory of reasoned action (TRA), and augment it with extrinsic motivators, social-psychological forces and organizational climate factors that are believed to influence individuals' knowledge-sharing intentions. Through a field survey of 154 managers from 27 Korean organizations, we confirm our hypothesis that attitudes toward and subjective norms with regard to knowledge sharing as well as organizational climate affect individuals' intentions to share knowledge. Additionally, we find that anticipated reciprocal relationships affect individuals' attitudes toward knowledge sharing while both sense of self-worth and organizational climate affect subjective norms. Contrary to common belief, we find anticipated extrinsic rewards exert a negative effect on individuals' knowledge-sharing attitudes.
Purpose – Counterfeiting has become a significant economic phenomenon. Increased demand for counterfeit branded products (CBPs) makes the study of determinants of consumers CBPs purchase behaviour more worthwhile than ever before. Existing studies have largely neglected brand influence on consumer purchase behaviour of CBPs. This research seeks to examine the impact of perceived brand image, direct and indirect effects (mediator and moderator effects) of product involvement and product knowledge on consumer purchase intention of counterfeits in the context of non-deceptive counterfeiting. Design/methodology/approach – The current study tests the conceptual model and hypotheses developed based on the existing literature. Four focus groups (ranging from six to eight participants in each group) are used to construct the research instrument. The conceptual model and hypothesis are tested using hierarchical regression analyses with survey data from 321 consumers in the UK. Findings – This research is the first in the literature on counterfeits to establish that perceived brand personality plays a more dominant role in explaining consumers' purchase intention of CBP than other influential factors (e.g. benefit and product attribute). Involvement/knowledge has no significant influence on counterfeit purchase intention. Evidence of involvement as a moderator does not exist. Brand image is not a mediator of the effects of involvement/knowledge on purchase intention. Research limitations/implications – This research only investigates one brand of one product category (watches) in the context of non-deceptive counterfeiting, although this has not prevented the emergence of significant results. Practical implications – The results of this study hold important implications for both practitioners and academics. They help to alert practitioners to the factors that truly affect consumer proneness of CBPs, for example, brand personality. For academics, they demonstrate that brand influence should not be further ignored in the study of consumer behaviour in relation to CBPs. Originality/value – This research is one of the few which investigate CBP not only as a product but, more importantly, also as a brand – a counterfeit brand.
This study aims to address a gap in the hospitality literature by exploring how the multifaceted and richly blended nature of cultural elements in both Western and Eastern cultures is combined within luxury hotels to meet consumers' needs. A conceptual framework is developed and examined to delineate how cultural travel motivation influences luxury hotel consumers' interest in cultural factors and in turn affects their existential authenticity, hotel image, perceived value, satisfaction, and brand loyalty. A self-administered questionnaire was adopted for data collection from hotel consumers in the Six Senses Hotel Resort in China, registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. It examined cultural motivation, cultural interest, and attitudes to experiential authenticity, hotel image, satisfaction and loyalty. The results enhance the understanding of the mechanism by which cognitive cultural motivation and interest have significant effects on the emotional bonds that can form between consumers’ existential authenticity, hotel image and perceived value.
This study examines the impacts of self-(i.e., egoistic) versus other-(i.e., social) benefit frames used in organizational transparency messaging. While research in various strategic communication disciplines has presented organizational transparency as useful to achieving positive outcomes, limited empirical research on the effects of strategic decision-making around information presentation in transparency messaging has been conducted. The experiment used here shows that self- versus other-benefit message frames have meaningful implications pertaining to the perception of transparency and the formation of organizational trust among audiences. Specifically, we drew on prior theory to suggest that transparency messages that emphasize an organization’s commitment to the social good (i.e., other-benefit frames) are more likely to increase the perception of transparency and to elicit trust-based gains than transparency messages that emphasize the organization’s value to the self. The results of two experiments supported this contention. As such, we argue that message framing should be strategically implemented in order to support the effectiveness of transparent communication and enhance trust with stakeholders, an important goal for many organizations.
Museums are important heritage attractions offering authentic cultural experiences. Nevertheless, little is known about how museums create experiential authenticity for their visitors. This study aims to address this lacuna by examining how authentic experiences are achieved through museum visits. Participant observations and semi-structured interviews were combined to generate insights into museum visitors' experiential authenticity. Based on qualitative investigations, a questionnaire-based survey was applied to confirm the structure of museum visit experience. The results demonstrate that authenticity in heritage museum visitation is characteristic of emotional, original, and interactive constructs or genres, which are positively correlated to form a hybridity. Museum visitors' experiential authenticity is evoked through material objects, demonstrations of craftsmanship, modern technology, and other forms of museum re-configuration. The paper also highlights theoretical and practical implications of this research, along with limitations for future studies.
As a result of the growth of the notions of collaborative consumption and sharing economy in the tourism industry, this paper applies social exchange theory to investigate how the Airbnb platform influences the Airbnb experience and authenticity, which might lead consumers to like Airbnb and influence their behavioural patterns. By recruiting 466 tourists who had stayed in Airbnb accommodation in Istanbul, Turkey via travel-related Telegram, Twitter, travel blogs, and Facebook groups, this study revealed the importance of the platform and its features in enhancing service attractiveness, perceived authenticity and experience. Furthermore, the results revealed that visitors’ experiences have an influence on Airbnb likability, where Airbnb likability influences their intention to re-visit and to recommend. Significant implications for tourism planning, management and researchers are highlighted.
Through the lens of the value-based adoption model (VAM), this study examines consumers' perceived value and the intention to adopt virtual reality (VR) for evaluating various tourist destinations. The hypothesized model was tested through structural equation modeling using the responses of 208 Indian tourists. This work indicates the importance of perceived immersion and perceived physical risk as the two most vital indicators of benefits and sacrifice respectively. Moreover, perceived value was found to be one of the most important predictors in the adoption of VR. This study also identified that sensation-seeking behavior has a significant favorable influence on the behavioral intention to adopt VR for evaluating various tourist destinations. The study's findings will help departments of tourism and tourism companies attract more tourists through the power of VR.
Consumer shopping behavior in luxury retail stores continues to be a subject of interest among marketing researchers. Such a phenomenon has led us to explore how price image and sugrophobia, a psychological feeling of being taken advantage of, would influence consumers’ future behavioural intention in the context of luxury retail store. Informed by a survey of 400 consumers, this study adopts the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model to examine how price image triggers consumer perceptions (i.e., perceived value, trust and attitude) and results in behavioral intention. Sugrophobia is included in the S-O-R model to assess its moderating effect. Data analysis using SEM-PLS demonstrates that retailer’s price image has a positive effect on consumers’ perceived value, trust, attitude, and future behavioral intention. Sugrophobia, in turn, is found to weaken the relationship between price image and consumer perceptions. The study thus highlights the relevance of sugrophobia among risk-averse consumers and the necessity to manage sugrophobic consumers effectively in the context of a luxury retail store. Implications of the study are discussed.
This study introduces subjective vitality into intangible culture heritage (ICH) tourism, and proposes a theoretical model involving subjective vitality, authenticity experience, experience quality, perceived value and tourist behavior intention. An empirical research on visitors to Quanzhou puppet troupe theatre has been carried out. The significant impact of subjective vitality on the authenticity experience has been confirmed. It also shows that the authenticity experience plays a partial mediating effect between subjective vitality and experience quality, and experience quality plays a full mediating effect between authenticity experience and perceived value, while perceived value has no mediating effect between experience quality and behavior.
We investigated the impact of employee experience on customer loyalty in the hospitality industry, focusing in particular on the serial mediating effects of perceived authenticity and relational commitment, and the moderating role of customer age. To test the proposed conceptual model, we conducted an online survey with 649 participants who had used restaurant services in the past month. Results showed that employee experience exerted a positive impact on customer loyalty. In addition, the relationship between employee experience and customer loyalty was sequentially mediated by perceived authenticity and relational commitment, and the older the customer age, the stronger were the serial mediating effects. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and suggestions provided for improving hospitality services.
The aim of this paper is to understand consumers’ perception of luxury hotel brands. To this end, the research evaluates consumers’ “big” visual data on TripAdvisor through a machine learning approach. Results shed light on the significant part of non-textual elements of the hotel experience such as pictures, which cannot be explored through traditional methods as content analysis. In particular, the analysis of 7,395 consumers’ pictures leads to the identification of the attributes that had the higher impact on their experience. These attributes emerged as specific features of interior elements of the hotels (rooms and restaurant).
Finally, the study shows how big data analytics and machine learning algorithms can (i) help monitoring social media and understand consumers perception of luxury hotels through the new analysis of visual data, and (ii) turn into better brand management strategies for luxury hotel managers.
Understanding how consumers experience luxury represents a challenge; despite the rapid growth of luxury experiences over the past decade, luxury research remains focused on a product-logic. In responding to calls for more research into luxury experiences, we draw from a three year ethnographic study in theorizing “moments of luxury,” which we define as a collectively based, consumer-driven experience that features hedonic escapism and modifications to conventional luxury characteristics. Consumption experiences become luxurious as consumers forge an unconventional form of exclusivity that builds upon aesthetic dress and movement, authentic history and decor, and exclusivity-by-practice, in achieving temporally brief, hedonic escapes from everyday life. The findings provide insights for providers of consumer experiences and for established luxury brands, both through the focus on the role of hedonic escapism in forming consumers’ luxury experiences and through the identification of an alternative form of exclusivity.
This study explores service providers' perceptions of luxury tourism service provision and increases the understanding of luxury tourism services. The research was conducted in Finland, which does not have a strong luxury culture and does not represent a traditional luxury tourism destination. Rather, it is an unexplored and promising destination for tourists who seek unique and untraditional luxury experiences. To examine luxury, eleven narrative interviews were analyzed. The study suggests that Finnish luxury is a new form of luxury, and to understand the core of a luxury tourism offering service providers need to have had their own experiences of luxury, know the context they are operating in and what the customers' expectations of luxury are. Additionally, the level of privacy of the experience affects the service. The goal of service providers in the Finnish context is to offer the customer favorable prerequisites for experiencing a hedonic or eudaimonic well-being experience.
The current study aimed to address the lack of studies on consumers’ perceived authenticity of traditional restaurants. Specifically, this study examined the antecedents of perceived authenticity by focusing on three restaurant attributes (i.e., authenticator, ownership type, and history). Additionally, by utilizing cognitive appraisal theory, the current study developed an authenticity model to enhance our understanding of the effect of perceived authenticity on consumer behavior. The results show that authentication by local people and chain ownership significantly enhance consumers’ perceived authenticity. Moreover, consumers’ perceived authenticity influences their purchase intention both directly and indirectly through restaurant image and positive emotion. This study’s findings provide traditional restaurateurs with insights into how to enhance perceived authenticity and purchase intention.
This study examines the impact of integrated resort brand experiences (IRBEs) on customer well-being through the satisfaction of psychological needs. Partial least squares path modeling tests the hypotheses using a sample of 535 integrated resort customers. The results reveal that four dimensions of IRBE (i.e., sensory, affective, behavioral, and intellectual) have differing effects on needs satisfaction dimensions (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness). Furthermore, the results show that autonomy and relatedness needs positively influence both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Thus, this study strongly demonstrates that specific brand experiences play an important role in the transformation of needs satisfaction into well-being. The current article appears to have a significant application of the concept of needs satisfaction on tourism brand marketing but it has not been tested empirically. Also, this article describes the significance of multidimensional IRBE to marketing strategy.
This study investigates the relationships among souvenir authenticity, perceived value (PV) and behavioral intention (BI) in the context of experiential consumption. Using the customer data from the Pearl River Delta region of China, this empirical study adopts a PLS-SEM model to further examine the mediating effect of PV and the moderating effect of experiential consumption on the relationship between souvenir authenticity and BI. In comparison with the non-experiential consumption setting, souvenir authenticity was found to have a greater positive effect on the BI of tourist through PV in the experiential consumption setting. In addition, different dimensions of authenticity and PV are emphasized during souvenir purchases in the experiential consumption. These results deepen the understanding of souvenir authenticity and PV as well as the effects of experiential consumption for postmodern tourists. Managerial implications are provided for practitioners.
The author presents a conceptual model of brand equity from the perspective of the individual consumer. Customer-based brand equity is defined as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand. A brand is said to have positive (negative) customer-based brand equity when consumers react more (less) favorably to an element of the marketing mix for the brand than they do to the same marketing mix element when it is attributed to a fictitiously named or unnamed version of the product or service. Brand knowledge is conceptualized according to an associative network memory model in terms of two components, brand awareness and brand image (i.e., a set of brand associations). Customer-based brand equity occurs when the consumer is familiar with the brand and holds some favorable, strong, and unique brand associations in memory. Issues in building, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity are discussed, as well as areas for future research.
The main purpose of the study is to examine the causal relationships among nostalgia, authenticity, satisfaction, and revisit intentions of tourists who visit the Jidong mural alley in Suwon, South Korea. An on-site survey was conducted, and 224 responses were used for the analyses (frequency, reliability, and confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling). The results showed that “real nostalgia” and “stimulated nostalgia” have a positive effect on authenticity, and authenticity is positively correlated with satisfaction. Moreover, satisfaction had significant influence on revisit intentions. The findings highlight nostalgia and authenticity as critical elements for secondary behavioral intentions, which include the satisfaction and revisit intentions of tourists.
This study investigates how brand authenticity perceptions, impression in memory, lifestyle-congruence, and brand love interrelate with one another. It also examines the moderating effect of the need for uniqueness in the luxury hotel setting. Empirical data was collected from 412 American guests of different luxury hotel brands. The findings indicate that brand authenticity is a critical determinant of impression in memory, lifestyle-congruence, and brand love. Brand authenticity’s relationships with impression in memory, lifestyle-congruence and brand love do not differ between high and low uniqueness perceivers. This study’s findings could help managers understand perceived authenticity better as a key factor that positions luxury hotel brands and influences business performance.
The aim of the present study is to establish a framework for the study of luxury brand extension and to discover whether the brand equity of the parent product brand can be transferred to the extended service brand. Despite many benefits achieved by implementing successful brand extension strategies in the luxury industry, there are several obstacles that negatively influence both the extended brand and the parent brand. Because a negative effect of the vertical brand extension was found in past studies, this study focused on the horizontal brand extension to evaluate and predict possible positive outcomes in the horizontal brand extension process. Thus, this study investigates the role of brand equity, especially when the luxury brand was used to introduce upscaled service brands, in relation to a theoretical framework of brand equity. Additionally, the difference in the purchase intention among demographic groups was examined as it might offer an opportunity for developing a new strategy.
Understanding consumer behavior in the luxury industry is important. The extant literature suggests that cross-cultural conditions reflect the existence of differences in behavior and perceptions of consumers. This research investigated the way consumers in different countries and cultures perceive the country-of-origin concept in the luxury sector and also their perception about luxury brands itself. The purpose of this research was to investigate how the perception of the country-of-origin concept and the concept of luxury brands differs across nations. The value of this research is to provide empirical evidence describing how the different perceptions of country-of-origin issues and luxury brands contribute in the development of the fashion luxury brands industry. This quantitative research utilized online questionnaires attended by 190 respondents distributed from June 2012 to July 2012. Questionnaires were distributed online to different nation groups. The findings of the research indicate two interesting outcomes. First, for the case of fashion luxury brands, there were no significant differences of perceptions among the nation group perceptions regarding the country-of-origin concept. Second, there were significant differences of perceptions among the different nation group perceptions regarding to the luxury brand concept.
Given the growing commercial importance of the “user experience” better application of gamification. Thus, this study aims at exploring the antecedents and consequences of user experience and its mediating role in an online gamification context. Specifically, this study uses structural equation modeling to test the causal relationships among perceived mobility, utilitarian and hedonic features, user experience, perceived benefits (self-benefit and social benefit), types of perceived value (information value, experiential value, social value, and transaction value), and brand equity (perceived quality, brand loyalty, brand associations, and brand trust) in an online gamification context. Results show that perceived mobility has a significant impact on utilitarian and hedonic features, while perceived mobility and utilitarian and hedonic features influence user experience, which in turn, affects perceived benefits, types of perceived value, and brand equity. Additionally, the mediating effect of user experience is also confirmed in this study. In summary, the findings of this study can help website managers improve their users’ perception of benefits, value, and brand equity more effectively and act as a guide to research and development (R&D) of gamification to obtain competitive advantage in the online context.
This study was designed to investigate the role of servicescape, customer emotion, satisfaction, and perceived authenticity (PA) in the generation process of theme restaurant customers’ quality of life. We employed a survey methodology that used the data collected from theme restaurant customers, conducted structural analysis, and tested for metric invariance. Results showed that our theoretical model explained a sufficient amount of variance in overall quality of life; the hypothesized relationships in our research framework were generally supported; and customer emotion, satisfaction, and subjective well-being were significant mediators. Moreover, the proposed moderating impact of PA was partially supported. Overall, our empirical findings provide a significant contribution toward advancing the knowledge of how servicescape dimensions, customer emotion, satisfaction, subjective well-being, and quality of life are related. Finally, we share insight into how these relationships are affected by PA in the formation of theme restaurant customers’ quality of life.
This study empirically investigates the relationships among authenticity, experience – measured by emotions (i.e. pleasure and arousal) along with satisfaction, and loyalty in the festival context. Structural equation modelling is employed to examine a sample of 211 visitors attending the San Fermin festival in Spain. Results show that authenticity positively affects experience, while on the other hand, only arousal has positive effects on satisfaction and festival loyalty. Satisfaction is positively associated with festival loyalty.
The purpose of this paper is to extend the research on consumer repurchase intention, perceived value, and perceived risk into the realm of the peer-to-peer economy, specifically in the context of Airbnb. A total of 395 surveys were collected in Canada and the United States. The results showed that perceived risk negatively impacts Airbnb consumers’ perceived value and repurchase intention while perceived value positively enhances their repurchase intention. Interestingly, price sensitivity was found not to reduce customers’ perceived risk but can improve their perceived value and positively influences them to repurchase the Airbnb products. Perceived authenticity was found to have a significant effect in reducing Airbnb consumers’ perceived risk and positively influencing their perceived value. Electronic word-of-mouth has a positive effect on repurchase intention as well as perceived value whereas it negatively affects perceived risk. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed and future study directions are offered.
Tangible cues are critical indicators of customer perceptions of authenticity and behavioral intentions. Few studies examine multiple dimensions of authenticity, the influence of language in service settings, and the effects of the service provider appearance. This research addresses these gaps by presenting two between-subjects experimental design studies, the first examines the tangible cues of menu presentation (menu item name and item description), and the second examines the tangible cues of the employee (ethnicity and name). Both measure customer perceptions of food, culture, and employee authenticity, customer revisit intentions, and willingness to pay more in an ethnic restaurant. Results find that using an ethnic menu name and possessing employees of referent ethnic origin have the largest impacts on customer perceptions of authenticity. Additionally, food authenticity has the largest impact on revisit intention and culture and employee authenticity have the largest impact on willingness to pay more.
A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), by Hair, Hult, Ringle, and Sarstedt, provides a concise yet very practical guide to understanding and using PLS structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM is evolving as a statistical modeling technique and its use has increased exponentially in recent years within a variety of disciplines, due to the recognition that PLS-SEM’s distinctive methodological features make it a viable alternative to the more popular covariance-based SEM approach. This text includes extensive examples on SmartPLS software, and is accompanied by multiple data sets that are available for download from the accompanying website (www.pls-sem.com).
Scant evidence is available on of how social media marketing activities influence brand equity creation and consumers' behavior towards a brand. This research explores these relationships by analyzing pioneering brands in the luxury sector (Burberry, Dior, Gucci, Hermès, and Louis Vuitton). Based on a survey of 845 luxury brand consumers (Chinese, French, Indian, and Italian), who follow the five brands studied on social media, the study develops a structural equation model that helps to address gaps in prior social media branding literature. Specifically, the study demonstrates the links between social media marketing efforts and their consequences (brand preference, price premium, and loyalty). The study measures brands' social media marketing efforts as a holistic concept that incorporates five aspects (entertainment, interaction, trendiness, customization, and word of mouth). Another contribution of the study is that it finds that SMMEs have a significant positive effect on brand equity and on the two main dimensions of brand equity: brand awareness and brand image.
This special issue on luxury brand strategies and customer experiences includes eleven research papers which are valuable for marketers and researchers. Articles are grouped by topic- social media and digital marketing, ingredient branding and value creation, luxury retailing, and luxury consumer experience. The introductory article in this special issue places each article in one of four categories even though some of articles include information relevant to at least one other topic and briefly introduces unique and interesting about each article. This selection of papers written by 34 authors representing ten countries serves to extend the luxury brand research area in need of new developments, theories, and practices in light of the trends toward global luxury industries.
As mass customization programs are becoming ever more common among luxury brands, this study seeks to identify the dimensions of consumers' perceived value gained and to examine the relationships between consumer value and satisfaction and between satisfaction and loyalty in an online context. Three hundred and three female online shoppers in South Korea participated in a web-based survey. The findings revealed that hedonic, utilitarian, creative achievement, and social value influenced satisfaction with the customization, which in turn influenced brand loyalty. The relationships between consumer value and satisfaction differed depending on the consumer's past loyalty and need for uniqueness. These results have practical implications for developing effective customization programs for luxury brands in the online retail industry.
Are the "classical" rules of brand management obsolete? These rules were created over 50 years ago in the United States under very different market conditions and realities. Since then,textbooks and thinking have maintained the same simplistic models of branding and are looking increasingly out of date. The realities governing global and national markets have changed, creating a fantastic challenge for top brands to embrace, these include: mega-distribution power, new consumer power bolstered by the internet, new unconventional Internet competition, consumer fragmentation, media fragmentation, the revolution of the euro, the rise of local identities in reaction to globalization forces, and finally the "trust fallout" following the BSE crisis. In this discussion, Jean-Noel Kapferer examines these major issues and influences that are affecting the future of band management and shows us what is already at work in advanced companies worldwide. This title comprises over 30 accessible essays, all addressing key issues to stimulate and challenge the reader. "Reinventing the Brand" questions the basics of current brand thinking and explores the possible future for brands and brand management. Topics covered include: Beyond brand positioning shouldn't we speak more of brand mission?; Isn't time to forget about product brands and build dynamic branding architectures?; It is time to admit that brand extension is a necessity?; Shouldn't we stop opposing the corporate and the brand?; Should we really stop thinking about local brands? Brand image does not lead enough to brand usage - shouldn't we redefine brand leadership itself? What are the winning brand portfolios of the future?
Certain brands attain legitimacy (i.e., social fitness) through existing frames and dynamic framing processes described in this article. Drawing on qualitative data collected from gay consumers, this article explores ways brands are cocreated in a non‐brand‐focused community. Collective action frames—shared ways of interpreting meanings within social interaction—provide the connection between a community and its legitimate brands. Informants routinely inscribe some brands with the frames of the gay community and, when applying dynamic framing processes, assess whether other brands share a social fit with the meanings of the gay community. Implications for authenticity and brand legitimacy are discussed.
This paper proposes a model for the formation of online purchase intention based on perceived value, trust and the antecedents of perceived security and privacy, using the model proposed by Ray, Ow, and Kim (2011) extended to cover third-party assurance seals and related constructs, and examines the influence on trust of consumers' perceived information quality, privacy, and security. A total of 451 individuals participated in an experiment. The partial least squares technique was applied to data collected via a questionnaire to test the proposed model. The results indicate that online purchase intention depends on perceived value and trust. The main predictors of perceived trust are perceived information quality and perceived security. Consumers' perceived security depends on vendor reputation, website investment, third-party assurance seals, understanding of third-party seals, privacy and security policies, familiarity with the website, Internet privacy concerns, and disposition towards third-party certification.
Postmodern consumers use brands to create an authentic self and to reconnect to place, time, culture and others. Although previous research has identified that consumers draw on a range of cues in order to attribute authenticity to branded objects, no scales exist to measure the construct of brand authenticity. Building on the existing literature, this paper uses quantitative methods to develop a psychometrically robust measure of brand authenticity from a consumer's perspective. Findings demonstrate convergent, discriminant and predictive validity, whereby 14 items represent three interrelated first order factors labeled quality commitment, sincerity and heritage that correspond with a higher order brand authenticity construct. This study extends our understanding of the consumption of authenticity. Moreover, it provides a tool by which firms can evaluate the effectiveness of strategic decisions designed to deliver an authentic brand offering to consumers. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
This study examines the relevance and conceptualizations of the authenticity concept in cultural tourism from the managerial standpoint. We propose a consumer-based model in which authenticity is a key mediating construct between cultural motivation and loyalty. The model is empirically examined by means of a survey conducted on 25 Romanesque heritage sites in four European countries. A confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed using LISREL 8.72. The results indicate that cultural motivation is an important antecedent of both object-based and existential authenticity, which in turn influence tourist loyalty. Theoretical, managerial and marketing implications of authenticity are discussed, showing that the consumer-based perspective can transcend some 'irreconcilable tensions' related to this concept.