Search results

This research aims to explore the impact of augmented reality (AR), the digital technology that superimposes virtual elements in a real environment, on consumers in the context of experiential marketing. Specifically, this study proposes a research model based on the stimulus-organism-response model, which considers AR media characteristics as external stimuli, consumers’ value perceptions as the organisms, and purchase intentions as the responses. The research model was tested with 248 consumers using structural equation modelling. The results show that informativeness, ease of use, and telepresence have positive effects on consumers’ utilitarian value perception and that telepresence and interactivity have positive effects on hedonic value perception. Overall, this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on AR and provides actionable insights for managers implementing digital transformation strategies and AR applications in marketing practices.

The concept of brand image has received considerable attention in marketing (Batra & Homer, 2004; Dhar & Wertenbroch, 2000; Roth, 1992; Thompson, Rindfleisch, & Arsel, 2006; van Reijmersdal, Neijens, & Smith, 2007; van Rekom, Jacobs, & Verlegh, 2006), yet there is still little agreement on its definition and operationalisation in the literature. As Dobni and Zinkhan (1990) observed, despite the frequent use by scholars of the term “brand image,” its definitions in the literature tend to focus on different elements. It is possible to group definitions of brand image into different categories. For example, brand image has been defined as (a) an attitude extending its meaning beyond the physical product (e.g., Reynolds & Gutman, 1984) and (b) perception, relating brand image to psychological aspects of a product's tangible attributes (e.g., Keller, 1998). One generally accepted view is that brand image can be defined as perceptions regarding a brand as reflected by the cluster of associations that consumers connect to the brand name in memory (Herzog, 1963). This is consistent with an associative network memory model. Thus, “brand associations are the other informational nodes linked to the brand node in memory and contain the meaning of the brand for consumers” (Keller, 2003, p. 66).

This chapter sheds light on the ‘country of origin’ concept. The author contends that this concept is composed of micro- and macro-components. He argues that the tourists’ hedonic and monetary gratifications are derived from the travel experiences. Therefore, the country-of-origin image (COI) can have an impact on the destination’s brand extension. In this light, this contribution examines the relationship among COI, overall brand equity and brand extension. The author implies that the hedonic and monetary values can have a moderating effect on the impact of COI and on destination brand extension.

The purpose of this research is to conduct a literature review on the evolution, antecedents, and outcomes of luxury consumption (LC). To accomplish our goal, we used a combination of bibliometrics and systematic approaches to review 165 articles published between 1998 and 2019. The investigation revealed that the evolution of LC is mostly driven by consumer motivation and is influenced by cultural and psychological variables. Furthermore, we explored the aforementioned antecedents of LC along four major axes. Antecedents related to (1) individual characteristics, (2) brand components, (3) cultural and social values, and (4) organizational strategies. Furthermore, based on the outcomes of LC, we found two categories (individual traits and social values). The chapter concludes by proposing a broader research agenda for the future.

The digitalization process has been influential on the way marketing is conducted. However, luxury brands have not yet fully channeled the benefits of the integration of various touchpoints. The aim of this chapter is to provide insights into building a luxury fashion omnichannel strategy through the integration of online and offline consumer journeys, based on the emerging needs and lifestyles of different luxury consumer segments. Accordingly, exploratory research is designed to understand luxury consumer typologies and luxury fashion shopping journeys. In-depth interviews were conducted for data collection in Istanbul, with 16 participants. Grounded theory coding was used for analyzing the data. Findings revealed four-consumer typologies –Luxury Beginners, Nouveaux Riches, Conservatives, Established Luxury Consumers. Luxury fashion journey map covering three major steps – pre-purchase, purchase, and post-­purchase – was illustrated based on the usage of both digital and non-digital channels and agents through the journey with discussions to present consumer differences. The results of the study add to the current literature and provide an omnichannel roadmap for the practitioners.

In our present economy, producers by definition seek to maximise profit through minimising cost. If there is no explicit societal or regulatorily mandated value in ensuring that environmental and social welfare costs are evaluated and included in business-as-usual functioning, these attributes may be omitted and are typically referenced as ‘externalities’ or market failures. At the consumer level with an increased understanding of the impact of externalities on human and environmental welfare, there is an interest in both operational transparency in the production of goods and services and in evaluating the resource and justice footprint of consumption choices. As a result, companies that are publicly pursuing operationalised sustainability across all their functions have an opportunity to establish a brand premium; however, the marketing of sustainability may differ from the implementation of sustainability highlighting that a degree of transparency is required to provide credibility. This chapter analyses an emerging marketing channel, ‘social marketing’. Social marketing is a strategy that promotes the perception of an alignment between individual values and business objectives by encouraging positive behaviours, like caring for the environment. This chapter provides a case study of Levi Strauss and reviews portions of the company's sustainability marketing program to address how marketing is being used to engage, educate and empower customers, while simultaneously establishing a sustainability brand identity for the company.

The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the model of the predictors of consumer willingness to purchase green products. This study used the underpinning theories related to consumer willingness by integrating the green concept in deriving the consumer willingness to purchase green products. Based on the underpinning theories of marketing strategies, it was found that marketing mix was still fundamental in business. Therefore, green marketing mix was proposed to describe the consumer's green purchase willingness. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays an important role as the key to organizational strategy. Thus, CSR is also included in the proposed framework. As this is a conceptual paper, further empirical study needs to carry out to verify the proposed hypotheses. This study contributes to the market practitioners or entrepreneurs in terms of re-considering marketing mix and CSR in deriving customer willingness to purchase green products. This study extends the literature of behavioural intention by integrating green marketing strategies with CSR in determining consumer willingness to purchase.

This chapter sets out to explore consumer-centred experiential luxury from the perspective of a human body. We focus on the various practices related to a yoga retreat holiday experience in luxury hotel premises, such as encounters with hotel facilities, employees, nature and atmosphere besides yoga practice. Attention to bodily practices and affectivities on a yoga retreat holiday experience enables discussing intangible luxury beyond the traditional debate of luxury as related to product or brand features or experiential luxury focused only on the cognitive multisensory perceptions. The autoethnographic approach supports unwrapping the subtle affectual sensations building individual luxury in the experience setting. The data are gathered along with the first author's fieldwork during her three yoga retreat holidays in Thailand. The embodied investigation of tourist practices inducing luxury in the premises of a luxury hotel enriches the discussion of the co-creation between human bodies and the experience setting. It draws attention to the dynamic, situational and sensitive nature of luxury in the contemporary touristic experience of a yoga retreat holiday. It also advances the existing research on the body, practice and knowing by featuring the way luxury is emerging within the practice of yoga retreat holiday. By challenging the paradigm of luxury sensed only through our five external senses, our findings on the being, doing and moving body deepen the understanding of the co-creation and sensitiveness, affecting the subjective, transparent and embodied understanding of luxury experience.