The effect of perceived scarcity on strengthening the attitude–behavior relation for sustainable luxury products

Purpose This study aims to examine whether, and how, perceived product scarcity strengthens the attitude–behavior relation in the case of sustainable luxury products. Design/methodology/approach Three online studies were conducted to examine the moderating role of perceived product scarcity on the attitude–willingness to pay (WTP) relationship in the case of sustainable luxury products. A preliminary study (n = 208) examined the existence of an attitude–WTP gap toward a sustainable luxury product (i.e. a bag). Study 1 (n = 171) investigated the moderating effect of perceived scarcity induced by a limited quantity message on the relationship between consumer attitude and the WTP for a sustainable luxury product (i.e. a pair of shoes). Study 2 (n = 558) replicated these findings using a different product category (i.e. a wallet) while controlling for demographic variables and examined the moderating role of consumer characteristics on the scarcity effect. Findings Consumers’ perceived scarcity for sustainable luxury products positively moderated the relationship between product attitudes and their WTP for the products. The moderating effect of perceived scarcity was significant for consumers regardless of their tendency toward socially responsible consumption and their preference for product innovativeness. Meanwhile, the scarcity effect was influenced by the consumers’ attitude toward the brand of sustainable products. Practical implications This research provides empirical evidence for marketers with clear managerial implications concerning how to immediately promote consumers’ acceptance of sustainable luxury products. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the role of scarcity strategy on strengthening the attitude–behavior relation for sustainable luxury products.

In search of fit or authenticity? A product-type consumer decision in celebrity brand extensions

Purpose Celebrity-branded products constitute a brand extension growing phenomenon. Authenticity may explain why some of these offerings are successful despite low perceived fit, a traditional measure for brand extension acceptance. The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a framework based on the meaning transfer model that depicts the effects of brand extension authenticity, brand extension fit and idol attachment on the valuation of such offerings. An exploration of both functional and hedonic extensions is provided to control for product-type variables. Design/methodology/approach Scenario-based survey data from a general population (n = 646) was collected and analyzed with ordinary least squares regressions. Findings Brand extension authenticity is a significant antecedent of brand extension success in both product types, and brand extension fit is the most relevant antecedent only in functional extensions. Idol attachment exerts less influence than fit and authenticity in the functional extension. However, its relevance considerably improves in the hedonic extension. Originality/value A better understanding of consumers’ responses to celebrity brand extensions is essential to the branding literature. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to consider brand extension authenticity as a predictor of celebrity brand extension success and advances our knowledge of consumer behavior in relation to celebrities as brands and their products as brand extensions. The conceptual and empirical relevance of brand extension authenticity is demonstrated, highlighting its predictive power when compared with brand extension fit and idol attachment in a celebrity brand extension model, and a boundary condition related to product typology is uncovered.

Consuming in a crisis: pandemic consumption across consumer segments and implications for brands

Purpose This paper aims to understand how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed consumers’ perceptions of outdoor consumption categories, such as retail shopping, eating out, public events and travel and how these perceptions may impact businesses in these domains in the long term. Further, this research aims to understand demographic effects on outdoor consumption inhibition during the current pandemic and discuss how businesses can use these insights to rebrand their offerings and evolve after the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Data collected by CivicScience, a survey-based consumer intelligence research platform, during April–July 2020 forms the basis of the preliminary analysis, where the chi-square test has been used to examine significant differences in consumer attitudes between different age groups, income groups and genders. Further, a social media analysis of conversations around outdoor consumption activities is undertaken to understand the rationale behind these demographics-based attitude differences. Findings Results lend varying degrees of support to the hypothesized consumer attitudes toward outdoor consumption activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the pandemic wore on, older (vs younger), female (vs male) consumers and lower (vs higher) income-group consumers had reportedly higher inhibition toward different outdoor activities. Older individuals were significantly less likely to shop, dine and attend public events than younger individuals. Lower-income consumers were significantly less likely to dine and travel than higher-income consumer consumers. Female consumers were significantly less likely to shop and travel than male consumers. Social media scan of conversations suggests that differences in perceived health and financial risks may have resulted in demographics-based differences in outdoor consumption activities. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature by understanding demographic differences in consumer participation in outdoor activities. One limitation is that due to the time-sensitive nature of the pandemic research, further studies could not be conducted to understand the implications of other variables, beyond demographics that influence consumer behavior during a crisis. A future research direction is to understand how other psychological variables or traits, influence health and financial risk-taking behavior during a similar crisis. Originality/value The principal contribution of the present research is that it tests the risk-taking theory in the context of outdoor consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic. The present research has implications for businesses as they continue to evolve during and post Covid-19.

Understanding the ties between brand gender and brand engagement in online brand communities: the moderating role of consumers’ biological sex

Purpose This study aims to examine how brand gender (masculine/feminine brand personality [FBP] traits) stimulates brand engagement (cognitive processing, affection and activation) inside online brand communities (OBCs). The authors also explore the mediation of this effect through brand identification and brand personality appeal (BPA). The moderating role of consumers’ biological sex is also investigated. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical model has been tested with the data collected from OBC members through the structural equation modelling technique. Bootstrapping is used for mediation analysis and multiple group analysis for testing the moderating effects. Findings Results show that masculine brand personality (MBP) influences brand engagement directly, as well as through brand identification and BPA. However, FBP elicits brand engagement only through the mediation of brand identification and BPA. Consumers’ biological sex moderates the effect of FBP on brand engagement, but no moderation was traced for the effect of MBP on brand engagement. Research limitations/implications The context of the research poses a limitation on the broader replication of study findings. Other limitations include the absence of community-based variables and the focused use of gender centric brands in this study. This research will help researchers to understand the nuances in the underlying relationship between brand gender and brand engagement inside OBCs. Practical implications The managers can emphasize MBP but should not downplay the importance of FBP inside OBCs. To achieve brand engagement, the marketers should curate FBP in a way to affecting consumers’ brand identification and brand appeal. To achieve consumer brand engagement, MBP can be targeted at both male and female consumers, whereas FBP holds more importance among female consumers. Therefore, classifying members as per their biological sex is recommended for better brand engagement from brand gender inside OBCs. Originality/value This study explores finer mechanisms in the relationship between brand gender and brand engagement inside OBCs by charting out the powerful mediating role played by brand identification and BPA. The moderating role of consumers’ biological sex is an important dimension to these relationships, not explored hitherto.

Enhancing brand loyalty through online brand communities: the role of community benefits

Purpose This study aims to examine members’ perceptions of interactivity in brand communities on social networking sites in the Super Basketball League (SBL) context in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach The proposed model was empirically evaluated using survey data collected from 332 followers of the SBL teams’ Facebook pages on their perceptions of brand communities. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships in the research model. Findings The results suggest significant relationships between perceived interactivity and community benefits, including special treatment, social influence, sense of membership and the notion that community satisfaction has a strong and positive effect on brand loyalty. Both social influence and a sense of membership positively affect community satisfaction. However, special treatment negatively affects community satisfaction. Perceived interactivity positively affects a sense of membership and social influence, which, in turn, positively affect community satisfaction. Originality/value This study examines the effects of members’ perceived interactivity and community benefits. The results significantly advance the understanding of the antecedents of members’ loyalty to specific brands. The study offers insights into practical ways of improving community satisfaction and brand loyalty by running brand communities on social networking sites. The findings also augment the theory of brand management.

The impact of COVID-19 on online product reviews

Purpose The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to drastic changes in the lives of customers. Social isolation, financial difficulties, fear of being infected and many other factors have caused the psychological well-being of customers to deteriorate. By taking up the role of online reviews in the regulation of consumers’ moods, this study aims to examine the changes that have occurred in online product ratings, as well as the negative tone and word counts of product reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the online reviews of 321 products in the pre-COVID, immediate COVID and extended COVID periods. This paper compares the changes that have taken place in product evaluations via various analysis of variance analyses. The authors also test the effect of COVID-related deaths on product evaluations via regression analyses. Findings The results indicate that online product ratings decreased sharply just after the outbreak of COVID-19. The study also found that the tone of reviews was found to be more negative and the length of reviews appeared to be longer in comparison to the pre-COVID-19 period. The results also revealed that the product type (experience vs search) moderated the effect of the pandemic in online reviews and the impact of COVID-19 on online product reviews diminished in the later stages of the ongoing pandemic. Practical implications Managers should be aware of the detrimental impact of pandemics on online product reviews and be more responsive to customer problems during the early stages of pandemics. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that analyzes the effects of a pandemic on online product ratings and review content. As such, this study offers a timely contribution to the marketing literature.

Customers’ self-image congruity and brand preference: a moderated mediation model of self-brand connection and self-motivation

Purpose This study aims to examine the moderated mediation model among self-image congruity, self-brand connection, self-motivation and brand preference and validate that actual and ideal self-image congruity are two distinct constructs. As shown in the conceptual model, actual and ideal self-image congruity toward a brand have direct and indirect positive effects on brand preference through self-brand connection, whereas self-motivation moderates the effect of self-image congruity on self-brand connection. Design/methodology/approach Data collection was done through mall intercepts in six shopping malls in Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Huizhou in southern China. In total, 461 usable questionnaires were collected with 500 distributed copies. Confirmatory factor analysis using Mplus (v.7) was done to assess the measurement validity for each construct. PROCESS analysis for SPSS (v.19.0.0) was used for hypothesis testing. Findings Both actual and ideal self-image congruities present significant positive effects on brand preference through self-brand connection. The relationship between self-image congruity and the self-brand connection is also moderated by self-motivation. Originality/value This study fills an existing literature gap by distinguishing self-image and ideal self-image congruity as distinct constructs. Self-brand connection is posited as a new way to understand the mechanism of the self-image congruity effect on brand preference. Samples from several shopping malls in southern China are used to justify the important moderating role of self-motivation in consumers’ brand preferences.

The effect of corporate political advocacy on brand perception: an event study analysis

Purpose In recent years, brands have increasingly engaged in corporate political advocacy (CPA; also termed brand activism or corporate sociopolitical activity) by taking positions on polarizing sociopolitical issues. Recent experimental research suggests that consumers respond to CPA based on its alignment with their own values, and that it typically induces an overall negative response. This study aims to provide additional insights by exploring consumer brand perceptions following CPA. Design/methodology/approach An event study of 106 CPA events and weekly consumer brand perception data was conducted. A regression model was used to investigate the moderating effects of CPA effort, concurrence and the strength of the online protests evoked by the CPA. Findings The results show that CPA had a negative effect on consumers’ brand perceptions and that the effect was stronger for customers relative to non-customers. The negative effect was attenuated by CPA concurrence and amplified by effort. Additionally, online protests were driven by the CPA effort and had a strong negative effect on brand perception. Online protests were stronger in the past, and, in turn, the negative effects of CPA on brand perceptions have slightly weakened in recent years. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the role of online protests following CPA and distinguishing consumer and customer responses. This study also provides converging evidence of the moderating effects of effort and concurrence identified in previous studies.

Compromise pricing in luxury

Purpose Going beyond odd and even prices, this paper aims to explore the rationale behind the widespread practice of setting prices ending in “50” or “80” in the luxury industry. The authors argue that when they set such prices, managers agree to reduce their profit margin to limit the anticipated guilt luxury consumers associate with luxury shopping while also protecting their brand luxury. The authors label these prices compromise prices and formally define compromise pricing as the practice of choosing a price’s ending so that the price falls below (but not just below) a round number to boost sales without damaging brand luxury. Design/methodology/approach Following the observation of the overrepresentation of prices ending in “50” and “80” in the luxury clothing category, an experiment explores the impact of compromise prices on anticipated guilt and brand luxury in the luxury watch category. Then, to identify when luxury pricing managers typically favor compromise prices, multinomial regressions investigate prices collected on two online luxury fashion retailers for the luxury clothing and handbag categories. Findings Compromise prices reduce the anticipated guilt luxury consumers associate with luxury shopping compared with even prices while enhancing brand luxury compared with odd prices and interestingly, with even prices also. This finding gives rationale to luxury managers’ preference for compromise prices in the ninth hundred (i.e. €X950, €X980), especially for higher-priced products, i.e. when the potential for price underestimation and/or the risk of damaging brand luxury are more important. Originality/value This research contributes to the field of luxury pricing by providing evidence to an original price-ending practice, coined compromise pricing, which consists in agreeing to a slight reduction in prices and unit margin to protect brand luxury.

Understanding the antecedents to luxury brand consumer behavior

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how consumers perceive the value of luxury brands and the antecedents to these perceptions, including consumer knowledge, reference group influence and accessibility. Prior studies focused less on the salience of consumer knowledge and sources of luxury information, in addition to their accessibility to luxury. Hence, a more nuanced luxury conceptualization is needed to reflect luxury’s conceptual fluidity, consumers’ different lived experiences, accessibility levels and persistent retail marketing changes. Design/methodology/approach In a survey involving 475 US respondents, five hypotheses were tested and analyzed with structural equations modeling, examining the relationships among knowledge and accessibility of luxury brands, as well as reference group influence and its impact on consumer value perceptions of luxury brands and consumer behaviors. Findings Significant relationships were found for all five hypotheses and demonstrated that knowledge, reference group influence and accessibility have strong relationships with consumers’ personal value perceptions of luxury brands and behavioral measures, including purchase intentions, willingness to recommend to a friend and willingness to pay a price premium. Originality/value This conceptualization recognizes that consumers must have luxury brand awareness prior to reference group influence, developing individual luxury value perceptions and entering the buying process. This research contributes to the literature by highlighting consumers’ views of the luxury category, which induce perceptions and potential outcomes. It also expands the understanding of consumer’s accessibility to luxury products, which impacts purchase intentions. While it was conducted in the USA, it yields broader consumer perspectives.