Decoding fashion advertising symbolism in masstige and luxury brands

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae-Eun Kim ◽  
Stephen Lloyd ◽  
Keji Adebeshin ◽  
Ju-Young M. Kang

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance the theory and practice of luxury and masstige brand advertising effectiveness by decoding symbolism imbedded in fashion advertising.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs a semiotic analysis of masstige brand advertising to discover those messages and themes that emerge and that communicate masstige values.FindingsThe research identifies identitary values that are exclusive to masstige brands, and those they share with luxury brands.Research limitations/implicationsThe purpose of this research is not to make generalizations; rather, its purpose is to offer insights into those themes that define luxury and masstige brand identitary values.Practical implicationsThe research provides insights into the key identifiers, which may inspire further research and provide marketing insights for the operation management in luxury fashion.Originality/valueThe research contributes to luxury and masstige retail brand research by identifying the symbolic meaning of luxury advertising.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clement Nangpiire ◽  
Joaquim Silva ◽  
Helena Alves

PurposeThe customer as an active and engaged value co-creator raises new challenges for theory and practice, especially in the hospitality industry. However, the connection between engagement and co-creation is little studied in the hotel/tourism literature. This paper proposes a connection between customer engagement (CE) and value co-creation frameworks to ascertain and depict the internal actors' activities and factors that foster or hinder guests' co-creation and destruction of value.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers used qualitative methods (35 in-depth interviews, document analysis and four observation sessions) in seven regions of Ghana to explore the customer's perspective. Data were analyzed with NVivo11 within a thematic analysis framework.FindingsThe findings suggest that positive and negative engagement fosters or hinders guests' interactions, which lead to value co-creation or destruction. The research also discovered that negative interactions occasioned by any factor or actor trigger value destruction at multiple stages of the experience journey.Practical implicationsIndustry players can use the framework developed to assess their businesses, explore and reflect on the proposed value they aim to generate, and thus be more aware of how they can better facilitate value co-creation with their consumers and avoid value destruction.Originality/valueThis research proposes a novel connection between customer interactions, engagement and value co-creation to ascertain and depict the internal actors' activities and factors that foster or hinder customers' experience in the hotel/tourism industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 679-695
Author(s):  
Suraksha Gupta ◽  
Len Tiu Wright

Purpose The purpose of this study is to bring theories of branding and relationship marketing together under the lens of the brand manager and reseller relationship for integrating into a single paradigm. The conceptualization bridges a gap in theory and practice by explaining how a brand can be managed by brand managers building empathetic relationships with resellers and understanding their requirements. Design/methodology/approach It draws upon qualitative methodology and data collected from 12 business-to-business resellers for brands and 8 brand managers working for international brands in India. Findings Brand personified and represented in research questions investigated showed the enablement aspects of brand representatives in competitive reseller networks. Practical implications The findings of this study will be very useful for brand managers aiming to penetrate markets through individuals who could represent their brands to resellers. Social implications This study will help brand managers to create a stronger brand-reseller relationship marketing strategy by incorporating the emotional aspect of personification to benefit a socially driven relationship. Originality/value This study offers new insights into the temporal aspects of branding for business-to-business markets.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannele Kauppinen-Räisänen ◽  
Johanna Gummerus ◽  
Catharina von Koskull ◽  
Åke Finne ◽  
Anu Helkkula ◽  
...  

Purpose – Consumers gift themselves with luxury fashion brands, yet the motives for self-gifting are not well understood. Whereas traditionally, self-gifting is defined as self-orientated in nature, luxury brands are seen as social statements, and self-gifting of luxury fashion brands that combine these two controversial areas is an interesting research topic. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by exploring the self-gifting behaviour of consumers, in particular focusing on the personal motives of gifting oneself with luxury fashion brands. Design/methodology/approach – The study takes a multi-qualitative approach involving a small (n=19) but rich sample. Data collection and analysis were triangulated to reduce researcher biases. Findings – The study provides key dimensions for understanding consumers’ perceptions of luxury fashion brands and self-gifting motives (self and socially orientated). The findings reveal that reflections from others are part of the self-gifting phenomenon. It appeared that although self-orientated benefits and personally orientated motives trigger the self-gifting act, the act of actually purchasing explicitly luxury brands for oneself as a gift may be triggered by other-orientated benefits and socially orientated motives. The findings also imply that luxury holds a self-orientated aspect; luxury brands are not only purchased for socially orientated reasons but also for reasons related to oneself. In addition, the findings discuss the act of shopping, where the act can be perceived as a luxury experience and overrun the importance of the brand. Practical implications – The findings provide insights to consumers’ gifting behaviour that may be valuable for retailers and fashion marketers as they plan for marketing activities related to their customers’ self-gifting. Originality/value – Self-gifting represents a view of gifting that remains under-researched. This study uncovers the motives for gifting oneself with luxury fashion brands, a further sub-area in need for more investigation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 533-550
Author(s):  
Jasmin Mahadevan ◽  
Katharina Kilian-Yasin ◽  
Iuliana Ancuţa Ilie ◽  
Franziska Müller

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the dangers of Orientalist framing. Orientalism (Said, 1979/2003) shows how “the West” actually creates “the Orient” as an inferior opposite to affirm itself, for instance by using imaginative geographical frames such as “East” and “West” (Said, 1993). Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were conducted with the members of a German-Tunisian project team in research engineering. The interview purpose was to let individuals reflect upon their experiences of difference and to find out whether these experiences are preframed by imaginative geographical categories. Findings Tunisian researchers were subjected to the dominant imaginative geographical frame “the Arab world.” This frame involves ascribed religiousness, gender stereotyping and ascriptions of backwardness. Research limitations/implications Research needs to investigate Orientalist thought and imaginative geographies in specific organizational and interpersonal interactions lest they overshadow managerial theory and practice. Practical implications Practitioners need to challenge dominant frames and Orientalist thought in their own practice and organizational surroundings to devise a truly inclusive managerial practice, for instance, regarding Muslim minorities. Social implications In times of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment in “the West,” this paper highlights the frames from which such sentiments might originate, and the need to reflect upon them. Originality/value The theoretical value lies in introducing a critical framing approach and the concept of imaginative geographies to perceived differences at work. For practice, it highlights how certain individuals are constructed as “Muslim others” and subjected to ascriptions of negative difference. By this mechanism, their inclusion is obstructed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Noël Kapferer ◽  
Pierre Valette-Florence

Purpose Luxury is a growing sector worldwide. This creates a major managerial challenge: How can luxury brands prevent becoming a victim of their own success? Once objective rarity is lost, what other levers still sustain desire for these luxury brands, nurture their dream and, thus, prevent the dilution of desirability created by their growing penetration and sales? Design/methodology/approach Based on 1,286 actual luxury consumers interviewed about 12 highly known and successful luxury brands on 42 experiential and perceptual items, a PLS hierarchical fourth-order latent variables model unveils the paths of luxury dream building. Findings The authors have identified how, beyond mere physical rarity and very high quality, eight experiential and perceptual levers fuel luxury desirability through two structural paths: selection and seduction. Research limitations/implications The concept of luxury is associated to rarity. But to grow, luxury brands need to abandon mere scarcity and selectivity (value created by limitation of production, highly selective distribution and selection of customers) and switch instead to an “abundant rarity”, where feelings of privilege are attached to the brand itself, seducing through its experiential facets, pricing, prestige and the world it symbolizes. Practical implications Luxury executives can use this paper as a compass to manage, sustain and monitor their brand desirability, all along the brand’s growth, as it moves away from being niche and rare. Social implications Considering the growing social diffusion of the need for luxury in different strata of the population, this paper reveals the levers of the attractiveness of the mega-brands of luxury. Originality/value This paper addresses the main problem of the luxury industry: How to grow yet remain desirable. It is based on 1,286 actual luxury buyers and 12 actual brands. Thanks to PLS modelization, the structure of the levers of brand desirability is revealed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Veg-Sala ◽  
Elyette Roux

Purpose – Considering a long-term perspective and the discourse directly emitted by brands, the aim is to study how can brand extension potential be predicted through the analysis of brand contracts? Design/methodology/approach – Considering a long-term perspective and the discourse directly emitted by brands, the aim is to study how can brand extension potential be predicted through the analysis of brand contracts? Findings – Three groups of brands are identified: brands anchored in both determination and mastery contracts defined as open (high extendibility); brands anchored in a determination contract defined as open, as well as in a mastery contract defined as closed (low extendibility); brands anchored in a mastery contract defined as open as well as in a determination contract defined as not closed (high extendibility, but risks of diluting the brand value). Research limitations/implications – Compared with extensions actually developed by these brands, the results are discussed and strategies are proposed to maximize the long-term brand development when the brand extension potential is low. Only studied on products, it would be interesting to complete this analysis in services. Originality/value – The main contribution is the focus on brand narratives and contracts to predict the brand extensibility of luxury brands. Structural semiotics provides another original insight.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-25

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – Mergers and acquisitions strategies are not risk-free. Potential problems include integration difficulties, inadequate evaluation of target, inability to achieve synergy and complexity. The theory and practice of strategic decision-making need to take into account both economically rational and intuitive decision processes. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


foresight ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 643-651
Author(s):  
Andy Hines

Purpose The organization’s core approach to exploring and influencing the future, Framework Foresight, emerged from piecemeal roots in the 1990s to an established method circa 2013. Since then, it has evolved from primarily a teaching tool to a project methodology in its own right. The purpose of this paper is to explore the iterative process that has emerged in which teaching and practice inform and advance one another. Design/methodology/approach Innovations in technique will be highlighted and illustrated by commentary from project experience. The piece will be providing readers with a birds-eye view into the evolution of a foresight method in both theory and practice. Findings The continuous iteration between theory and practice, or the classroom and the client world, provides an excellent means to advance the teaching and practice of foresight. Significant changes include three horizons, inputs, drivers, archetypes, rating scenarios and strategic approach. Practical implications This paper suggests that closer relationships between academia and the external/client world provide practical benefit by improving teaching and providing more innovative approaches for clients. Originality/value The description of the development of this unique approach to doing foresight work provides an example for other programs or firms to emulate.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsie J. Smith ◽  
Yu Han ◽  
Kathryne E. Dupré ◽  
Greg J. Sears

PurposeAmong a sample of 281 active-duty Canadian police officers, the current study investigated whether perceived organizational support (POS) would predict officers' organizational cynicism, stress and emotional exhaustion three months later. The moderating influence of officer voice on these relationships was also examined.Design/methodology/approachIn collaboration with a large policing organization, online surveys collecting quantitative data and soliciting open-ended comments were administered to officers, with a three-month lag separating survey administrations.FindingsThe results reveal that POS predicted significant variance in each of the investigated outcomes. It was found that voice moderated the association between POS and organizational cynicism, but in a manner that suggests a suboptimal voice climate within the organization. Officers provided open-ended qualitative comments that supported this interpretation.Practical implicationsThe evidence supports that if organizational leaders wish to prevent disadvantageous outcomes such as organizational cynicism, stress, emotional exhaustion and their consequents, then advancing both organizational support and a positive voice climate is recommended.Originality/valueThe results suggest that voice interacts with POS to influence organizational cynicism among police, highlighting the importance of responsiveness to voice for police management, and thus serving as an important bridge between theory and practice.


Author(s):  
Zahid Siddique

Purpose Islamic banking was developed to serve two objectives: to replace interest-based loan system with profit and loss sharing investment modes and to promote equity in resource allocation. The first objective is called procedural whereas the second one is termed consequential. Scholars have been debating about the success of Islamic banking in achieving these objectives. This paper aims to develop an index for measuring the extent of convergence between theory and practice of Islamic banking. Design/methodology/approach For measuring the procedural and consequential convergence between objectives and practice of Islamic banking, the paper derives a set of indicators from the celebrated theory of Islamic banking and then develops the methodology of ranking all banks in terms of those indicators. Findings The paper provides ranking of Islamic banks in Pakistan in the light of this index. The results indicate that none of the Islamic banks in Pakistan has been doing good enough to achieve the convergence, instead they are moving in the opposite direction over time. Practical implications Using the methodology developed in this paper, universal ranking of Islamic banks may be issued every year. Originality/value Scholars have proposed some indices for measuring the performance of Islamic banking. There are two basic problems with these proposed measures: they do not directly compare the performance of Islamic banking against its stated objectives and they naively use an additive form of index without explaining the reason for this choice, i.e. as to what are the desirable characteristics which their preferred mathematical form of index serves. The index proposed in this paper attempts to overcome these shortcomings.


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