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This study aims to answer the following questions: How do consumers’ perceptions of brand coolness affect brand relationship outcomes and how do brand coolness effects differ between product brands and service brands?

A quantitative survey was used to collect data from 1,500 consumers assigned to assess one of 20 popular product and service brands in Vietnam. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

Data analysis reveals that both dimensions of brand coolness (i.e. self-oriented and other-oriented coolness) exert positive impacts on brand relationship outcomes (i.e. brand satisfaction, brand love and brand advocacy) through brand attitude (i.e. the evaluative mechanism) and self-brand connection (i.e. the identity mechanism). While the identity mechanism of brand coolness effects is more prominent in product brands, the evaluative mechanism is more pronounced for service brands.

This research provides practical guidance for brand managers to build strong customer relationships by leveraging their brand coolness and the mechanisms underlying coolness effects. This study suggests a tailored application of brand coolness dimensions to different branded entities.

This research contributes to the brand coolness literature by validating a two-dimensional brand coolness structure encompassing self-oriented and other-oriented coolness, in accordance with a value-based conceptualization of the concept. For mass brand studies, this study recommends the exclusion of rebellious and subcultural attributes, as well as the utility of pre-determined brands as evaluated objects, in measuring brand coolness. This study also illuminates dual mediation mechanisms and moderation of the branded entity underlying brand coolness effects on consumer–brand relationships.

Customer engagement has key practical implications for hospitality management. However, little is known about how perceived coolness and wow affect customer engagement. The purpose of this research was to investigate the associations among perceived coolness, perceived wow and customer engagement and examine the mediator of self-image congruity (SIC).

Survey data were collected from 406 restaurant customers in Taiwan, and structural equation modeling was adopted to examine the hypotheses. Furthermore, a replica model was produced for another sample of 412 hotel customers.

The results indicate that perceived coolness positively affects customer engagement and SIC and that perceived wow positively affects SIC. SIC positively affects customer engagement. Moreover, SIC mediates the associations of perceived coolness and wow with customer engagement. The relationships between the variables did not significantly differ between restaurant customers and hotel customers.

Hospitality businesses can create environments in which customers interact with service providers through innovative technology, thereby encouraging engagement. Coolness and the wow factor must be prioritized in servicescapes, meal and room design, the service process and creative marketing.

The findings contribute knowledge on hospitality, factors affecting customer engagement and the mediating mechanism of SIC. Hospitality managers can use the results to formulate strategies for servicescape design, brand management and customer experience.

Extant research captures the signaling and attitudinal effects of luxury brand prominence strategy; however, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that drive this effect. This study aims to uncover brand authenticity and brand coolness as parallel mediators driving the effects of brand prominence on luxury purchase intentions and explores the moderating role of consumers’ self-brand connection.

The research consisted of three experiments. Study 1 (n = 121) explored the direct effects of brand prominence among Chinese consumers. Using a sample of Turkish consumers (n = 115), Study 2, measured the mediation effects of brand authenticity and brand coolness. Study 3 (n = 211) examined how self-brand connection moderated the mediation effects among British customers.

A luxury brand prominence strategy leads to negative perceptions of coolness and authenticity and, in turn, reduces purchase intentions. The negative effect of brand prominence is even more pronounced among consumers with high self-brand connection.

The study elaborates on how brand prominence informs consumers’ perceptions of authenticity and coolness. In examining the role of self-brand connection, the study reveals a theoretically and managerially relevant boundary condition of this focal effect.

The research highlights how luxury brands can use differing brand prominence strategies. This research informs brand managers on how to enhance brand authenticity and coolness while managing self-brand connection.

The study extends the luxury branding literature by explaining the brand prominence effect through the parallel mediators of brand authenticity and brand coolness. In contrast to extant research, the findings show that the negative effect of brand prominence is particularly strong among consumers with high self-brand connection.

This study aims to analyze the relationship of mass versus niche brand coolness on consumers’ brand loyalty, mediated by attitude toward the brand and moderated by conspicuous consumption; test the moderating role of conspicuous consumption and the mediating role of attitude between mass versus niche cool brand and brand love; and analyze whether results are stable when categorizing the luxury brands as niche versus mass cool brand.

Study 1 uses a panel sample to establish the mediating role of attitude toward the brand between perceptions of brand coolness and brand loyalty. Study 2 is an experimental survey study to describe the moderating role of conspicuous consumption on the relationship between mass/niche brand coolness and brand love and between mass/niche coolness and attitude toward the brand. Study 3 is a conjoint analysis that delineates the distinct factors that consumers attribute to mass versus niche cool brands in the luxury fashion arena.

This study demonstrates that attitudes mediate the relationship between brand coolness and brand loyalty. Conspicuous consumption only moderates the relationship between brand coolness and attitudes in the case of niche cool brands. In a realistic field experiment, the authors confirm the mediating impact of attitude and the moderating influence of conspicuous consumption. The authors also attempt to provide coolness dimensions that tend to be more associated with mass luxury brands and those more related to niche luxury brands.

These studies provide a fresh look at the concept of brand coolness, mass and niche cool brands in the context of luxury fashion brands.

Esta investigación pretende (1) analizar la relación entre el atractivo de las marcas de nicho y de masas y la lealtad a la marca de los consumidores, mediada por la actitud hacia la marca y moderada por el consumo conspicuo, (2) comprobar el papel moderador del consumo conspicuo y el papel mediador de la actitud entre el atractivo de las marcas de nicho y de masas y el amor por la marca y (3) analizar si los resultados son estables al categorizar las marcas de lujo como de nicho o de masas.

Demostramos que las actitudes median en la relación entre el “coolness” y la fidelidad a una marca. El consumo ostentoso sólo modera la relación entre el “coolness” de la marca y las actitudes en el caso de las marcas “cool” de nicho. En un experimento de campo realista, confirmamos el efecto mediador de la actitud y la influencia moderadora del consumo ostentoso. También intentamos proporcionar las dimensiones del coolness que tienden a asociarse más con las marcas de lujo de masas y las que están más relacionadas con las marcas de lujo de nicho.

El primer estudio utiliza una muestra de panel para establecer el papel mediador de la actitud hacia la marca entre las percepciones del atractivo de la marca y la fidelidad a la misma. El segundo es un estudio experimental que describe el papel moderador del consumo ostentoso en la relación entre el atractivo de las marcas de masas/nicho y el amor por la marca, y entre el atractivo de las marcas de masas/nicho y la actitud hacia la marca. El último estudio es un análisis conjunto que delinea los distintos factores que los consumidores atribuyen a las marcas de moda de masas frente a las de nicho en el ámbito de la moda de lujo.

Estos estudios aportan una nueva mirada al concepto de “coolness” de marca, marcas “cool” de masas y marcas “cool” de nicho en el contexto de las marcas de moda de lujo.

本研究旨在：（1）分析大众品牌酷与小众品牌酷对消费者品牌忠诚度的关系, 以对品牌的态度为中介, 以显性消费为调节; （2）检验显性消费的调节作用以及态度在大众品牌酷与小众品牌酷与品牌喜爱之间的中介作用; （3）分析将奢侈品牌分为小众品牌酷与大众品牌酷时, 结果是否稳定。

第一项研究使用小组样本, 以确定对品牌的态度在品牌酷感和品牌忠诚度之间的中介作用。第二项研究是一项实验性调查研究, 目的是描述显性消费对大众/小众品牌酷感与品牌喜爱之间以及大众/小众品牌酷感与品牌态度之间关系的调节作用。最后一项研究是一项联合分析, 旨在界定消费者对奢侈时尚领域中大众与小众酷品牌的不同评价因素。

研究结果 我们证明, 态度是品牌酷感与品牌忠诚度之间关系的中介。只有在小众酷品牌的情况下, 显性消费才会调节品牌酷度与态度之间的关系。在一个真实的现场实验中, 我们证实了态度的中介作用和显性消费的调节作用。我们还试图提供与大众奢侈品牌更相关的酷感维度, 以及与小众奢侈品牌更相关的酷感维度。

这些研究以奢侈时尚品牌为背景, 重新审视了品牌酷度、大众和小众酷度品牌的概念。

This study aims to explore and extend the consumer–brand relationship literature by integrating the relatively new construct of brand coolness with a growing body of work on gratitude. Specifically, gratitude is explored alongside emotional brand attachment as an additional mechanism affecting the relationship between cool brands and the loyalty outcome of repurchase intention. Consumption context is examined as a boundary condition to the effect of gratitude.

Data was collected from an online survey of a Qualtrics panel of 356 US consumers. A moderated mediation model is used to explain the effects of brand coolness on repurchase intention via emotional brand attachment and brand gratitude in the moderating presence of consumption context.

Brand coolness significantly increases repurchase intention. Furthermore, emotional brand attachment and brand gratitude are established as parallel mediators of the relationship between brand coolness and repurchase intention, with brand gratitude exhibiting a significantly stronger mediated effect. The impact of brand coolness on brand gratitude is moderated by social visibility, with publicly consumed cool brands stimulating greater brand gratitude than their privately consumed counterparts.

Brand gratitude is shown to influence repurchase intention independent of the impact exerted by consumers’ emotional brand attachment. Cognitive appraisal theory is used to distinguish brand gratitude from other mediators studied in consumer–brand relationships. Findings establish the moderating influence of the social visibility of the brand on the relationship between brand coolness and gratitude.

When encountering novel technology, customers often use the term “cool” to express their thoughts; therefore, coolness has become crucial for launching service robots. However, research on the impact mechanism of “coolness” is lacking. This study explored the relationship between delight and behavioral intention regarding the coolness of service robots in the food and beverage industry while discussing the mediating roles of utilitarian and hedonic values.

Questionnaires were distributed online with links to the survey posted on restaurant discussion boards on Facebook and online community platforms such as Dcard. In total, 540 responses were deemed valid. The hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling method.

The results indicate that coolness positively impacted both utilitarian and hedonic values and that both perceived values positively impacted delight. Moreover, coolness does not directly impact delight but must be mediated by perceived value to be effective.

Increasing customer perceptions of the coolness of service robots is recommended. Moreover, regarding customer revisits, utilitarian value services can delight customers more effectively than hedonic value services.

The stimulus-organism-response model was used to identify the relationships among coolness, perceived value, delight and behavioral intention. Moreover, the authors investigated the impact of coolness on utilitarian and hedonic values. These findings are significant for the development of smart restaurants and provide a critical reference for exploring service robots.

Building on the theory of brand psychological ownership, this paper aims to explore the mediating role of brand psychological ownership in the relationship between brand personality (innocence/coolness) and consumers’ preferences, as well as identify the boundary conditions of this relationship.

To test the hypotheses, a series of four experiments were conducted in Wuhan, a city in southern China, using questionnaires administered at two universities and two supermarkets. Hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 4.

The results indicate that brand personality, specifically the dimensions of innocence and coolness, has a significant impact on consumers’ brand preferences. Brands with a cool personality are preferred over those with an innocent personality. Moreover, the relationship between brand personality and consumers’ brand preferences is moderated by power motivation and identity centrality.

This study contributes to the literature by differentiating between brand personality of innocence and coolness as two separate constructs and proposing brand psychological ownership as a mechanism through which brand personality affects brand preferences. The study’s samples were drawn from universities and supermarkets in southern China, providing evidence for the significant moderating effects of power motivation and identity centrality on consumers’ brand preferences.

The purpose of this study, which draws on the stimulus organism response (S-O-R) theory, is to empirically examine the effect of brand coolness on communal brand connection and brand commitment, while assessing how the latter fosters brand trust and loyalty among smartphone users.

Data are collected from 410 smartphone users in Ghana and analyzed with Smart-PLS utilizing the structural equations modeling technique.

The study's findings show that consumers' perceptions of brand coolness have a positive influence on their communal brand connection and brand commitment. The study also discovers that brand commitment influences brand loyalty, whereas communal brand connection influences brand commitment, loyalty and trust, respectively. Similarly, brand commitment and communal brand connection are identified as important mediating variables in the relationship between brand coolness and both brand loyalty and brand trust.

The study underlines the significance of developing cool brand images and communicating same effectively to current and prospective customers, along with other stakeholders.

The study highlights the fact that properly creating cool brands can lead to increased communal brand connection, brand commitment, and, consequently, brand trust and loyalty.

This study aims to investigate coolness – a hedonic attribute – in online consumer reviews (OCRs) by exploring the relationship between OCR framing, presence of pictorial images and OCR-perceived coolness. It also demonstrates how reviewers and brands can create or identify cool OCRs.

Two studies – one experimental and the other using archival data from an OCR platform – were used to test three hypotheses on the effect of OCR framing and pictorial images on perceived OCR coolness.

The results reveal that OCRs framed with negative words but reflecting positive views about products are perceived as cooler than OCRs framed with positive words and reflecting positive views. OCRs with pictorial images are perceived to be cooler than those without pictorial images.

Studies on coolness have focused on people and products but not message content. This research links a message’s framing and pictorial images to its perceived coolness in the OCR context. It provides practical suggestions to marketers, coolhunters and individuals interested in creating cool message content.

This paper aims to explore how motivations to stand out and fit in through consumption affect consumers’ perceptions of subcultural and popular brand coolness. Importantly, how do perceptions of brand coolness affect consumers’ formations of hot, emotional brand attachments and their willingness to pay more?

This study incorporates survey data from consumers regarding cool brands. A structural equation modeling approach is used to assess the relationship between the variables of interest.

Susceptibility to influence is positively related to desire for unique consumption. While this desire may be fulfilled by both subcultural and popular perceptions of brand coolness, only subcultural coolness has a positive relationship with the willingness to pay more. The importance of an emotional brand attachment is established between both dimensions of brand coolness and price premiums.

This study is based on cross-sectional survey data. As brand coolness is often transitory, longitudinal research on trends focusing on different elements of brand coolness may shed light on the cool brand lifecycle.

Firms wanting to position brands as cool should emphasize how the brand can help consumers stand out. If a cool brand is already well-known, resources should be allocated to building hot, emotional attachments to command price premiums.

This research contributes to a nascent body of literature empirically exploring brand coolness. It builds on past literature that notes the tension between standing out and fitting in conceptualizations of coolness by assessing individual differences. Significantly, it examines specific attributes of cool brands to explore the differences in how subcultural and popular perceptions of brand coolness relate to important marketing outcomes.