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The purpose of this study is to examine how luxury and non-luxury brands portray women in social media advertising shedding light on their femvertising practices.

Quantitative content analysis and multiple correspondence analysis are used to examine female representations in the advertising of personal care products on social media. The sample includes brand posts from 15 brands on two social media platforms.

The results demonstrate that non-luxury brands use femvertising to a greater extent compared to luxury brands. In particular, this study shows that luxury brands rely more on stereotyped gender expressions and use more sexualisation in their advertising, relative to non-luxury brands.

This study provides an analysis of luxury and non-luxury brands’ femvertising practices on social media. In doing so, this study extends the study of femvertising to the context of luxury and social media, which is currently underexplored. In terms of practical implications, this study sheds light on the extent of the application of femvertising across luxury and non-luxury brands on social media.

The findings drive a number of suggestions for luxury marketers, including the use of more independent gender roles and more racial diversity in their social media advertising and the lessening of unrelated sexuality.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to compare femvertising practices of luxury and non-luxury brands on social media, delineating different facets of femvertising (e.g. gender roles, diversity, etc.) and extending scholarly understanding of the possible facets of this concept.

Perceived brand entitativity, or the extent to which a collection of brands signifies a group to consumers, differentiates luxury vs non-luxury brands such that luxury brands are perceived to be more entitative than non-luxury brands. Framed by the concept of brand entitativity and the implicit theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether this difference in the perceived brand entitativity of luxury and non-luxury brands impacts how consumers respond to sweatshop allegations in context to these brands.

Two separate experimental studies employing between-subjects designs were conducted among a total of 162 and 276 student consumers from a Southern university of the USA. The authors operationalized sweatshop allegations at two levels, brand-specific allegations (the stimulus brand itself is accused) and industry-specific allegations (other brands of the same industry are accused) to examine the role that brand entitativity plays in these two types of allegations.

Experiment 1 demonstrated that industry-specific allegations hurt consumer attitudes for luxury brands to a greater extent than non-luxury brands, whereas brand-specific allegations hurt non-luxury brands more so than luxury ones. In experiment 2, the authors find that the above results hold true only for consumers who are more prone to social perceptions of entitativity (entity theorists), but not those who represent an incremental mindset (incremental theorists).

The results can help brand managers understand the negative downstream consequences of brand- and industry-specific allegations for their brand type (luxury vs non-luxury).

This study fills an important gap in understanding consumer reaction to brands’ sweatshop allegations by addressing the role of consumers’ perceived brand entitativity and how it differs for consumers holding different implicit beliefs.

The study investigates the factors that influence young consumers (Gen Zs and Ys) in emerging markets to engage fashion ads of non-luxury fashion retail small- to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) on social media. Through a desk assessment of practice and the phenomenon's available evidence in the extant literature, four main drivers were delineated, reviewed and subsequently tested to influence young consumers' behavioural engagements of emerging markets' fashion SMEs' social media contents.

A non-probability sample of 1,150 respondents (Gen Y and Z combined) in Ghana, an emerging market, formed the sample for the study. The respondents assessed four empirically identified antecedents (sales campaigns, relevant sales-related information, catchy and inspiring product/brand photo/video and consumer-generated contents) that are likely to influence their behavioural engagement on social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter). SmartPLS (version 3.3.3) was employed to perform partial least square structural equation modelling.

The results showed that to engage fashion-related ads, particularly from non-luxury fashion SMEs, young consumers consider sales campaigns, cues from consumer-generated contents, as well as quality and inspiring videos and photos. Less attention is given to relevant sales-related information.

The three significant drivers of engagement found in the current study provide managerial knowledge for non-luxury fashion SMEs in emerging markets. Videos and still pictures must be of high definition and quality. Short and long promotional campaigns may drive positive behavioural engagements. Interactivity between fashion SMEs and young consumers is encouraged as it precipitates the positive engagement behaviours enabled by social media. The study concludes with actionable recommendations for the non-luxury fashion SME sector in emerging economies.

The study is the first of its kind to ascertain what drives young consumers' engagement with non-luxury fashion SMEs on social media. It provides managerial insights and guidance to SMEs in emerging markets on effective social media fashion retailing targeted mainly at digital natives, the dominant generational cohorts on social media in most emerging economies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of brand design consistency (BDC) on consumers’ aesthetic judgment and purchase intention; and whether this effect of BDC is moderated by a brand’s luxury status.

A mixed-factorial experimental design that manipulated the BDC of handbags (prototypical/high/low) and brand luxury status (luxury/non-luxury) was conducted among 311 female participants to test the proposed hypotheses.

Results obtained from t-tests and repeated measures ANCOVA demonstrate that prototypical brand designs, followed by high, and then low BDC products, evoked the most positive consumer responses. Additionally, brand luxury status moderated the effect of BDC on consumer response, such that the effect was more salient for non-luxury than luxury brands.

Luxury brands are able to leverage the halo effect, as perceived brand design inconsistency has a lesser impact on consumers’ purchase intentions than for non-luxury brands. Non-luxury brands have less latitude to deviate from their brand aesthetic, and maintaining BDC in new products is imperative for these brands.

Designers constantly navigate the thresholds of their brand’s aesthetic in design decisions; however, few studies have investigated consumer responses to deviations from brand aesthetics. To the authors’ knowledge, no studies have examined this phenomenon in relation to a brand’s luxury status, a factor that critically impacts consumers’ design expectations.

This study aims to propose and test a parsimonious framework for self-congruity, albeit in the context of luxury branding. This paper is the first to propose an integrated model focusing on the drivers and consequences of self-congruity. The model is further applied to explain how self-congruity may motivate future experiences with the luxury brand, mainly by influencing self-perception. Although a substantive marketing literature on self-congruity currently exists, there is a lack of an integrated framework, a gap that the current work addresses.

A paper and pencil survey was conducted among female subjects only, and structural path relationships were tested using AMOS.

Consumers’ self-congruity with a luxury brand (non-luxury brand) is positively (negatively) influenced by its antecedents: social desirability, need for uniqueness and status consumption. Self-congruity with a luxury (non-luxury) brand is found to enhance (undermine) consumers’ self-perceptions. This, in turn, is found to have a stronger (weaker) positive impact on consumers’ motivation to re-use a shopping bag from luxury brand (non-luxury brand) for hedonic purpose. Mediation analyses show that self-congruity has a positive (negative) indirect effect on hedonic use via self-perception for luxury (non-luxury) brand.

Future studies may involve actual shoppers, causal design and additional variables like “utilitarian usage “of shopping bags to extend the proposed framework.

A better understanding of the findings has implications for brand positioning, advertising and packaging.

Till date, no research has examined a parsimonious model for self-congruity complete with its antecedents and consequences and tested it in the context of a luxury versus non-luxury brand.

In today's world, retailers must embrace technological devices to provide fluid, convenient and complete customer experiences. Therefore, combining the offline and online spaces into a single strategy becomes essential, representing a significant opportunity for retailers to improve customer experience. Therefore, this study aims to explore and compare the importance of digital elements in an omnichannel experience by companies in the luxury and non-luxury segments.

The research offers a model to explore and compare the omnichannel strategies that brands use, considering six dimensions that cover recent technological advances, thus offering a complete experience to their customers. A multiple case study was selected based on a sample of six international companies from two different price segments (luxury and non-luxury).

The data collected allowed the authors to verify the presence of some dimensions, even though some had little evidence. Nevertheless, the dimensions connectivity, innovativeness and flexibility (only in luxury segment companies) were not present. Overall, and even though they present just little evidence, the results showed that retailers for the luxury segment invest more in delivering digital experiences within omnichannel strategies than the non-luxury ones.

This study improves the existing knowledge of omnichannel retailing. By analysing and comparing the omnichannel experiences, companies can identify areas for improvement and enhance the overall customer journey. Additionally, the model allows managers to compare and re-evaluate their omnichannel strategies with other competitors to gain competitiveness in an ever-evolving market.

Past research on cause-related marketing (CRM) suggests that these socially beneficial initiatives can be implemented as co-branding strategies. Little is known, however, about the role of brand prominence, in terms of visual conspicuousness of the two brands that are partner-involved (for-profit and non-profit brands). This study aims to advance a model of moderated mediation that explains how and under what circumstances brand prominence disparity enhances consumers’ attitudes toward CRM co-branded products and increases purchase intention

The authors test a model of moderated mediation in two studies. Study 1 shows that the effectiveness of brand prominence disparity is explained by the mediating role of attitude toward a CRM co-branded product. Study 2 demonstrates that this mediation is moderated by the positioning of the for-profit brand partner (luxury vs non-luxury positioning).

Results show that brand prominence disparity has a role in defining consumers’ purchase intention toward a CRM co-branded product through mediation of attitude. Moreover, positioning of the for-profit brand partner moderates the cognitive processes activated by the visual brand prominence. In luxury positioning, a loud visual prominence of the for-profit brand significantly improves consumers’ attitudes and intentions to buy the CRM co-branded product.

The study extends our understanding of how visual brand presence can promote the effectiveness of co-branded CRM initiatives, and it offers practical guidelines for marketers wishing to partner with social causes, while promoting products with luxury or non-luxury features.

While luxury brands have increasingly pursued CSR activities such as corporate donations, this strategy may not be effective because there is an inherent mismatch between the concepts of “luxury” and CSR. The present research examines the effects of different types of donation strategies (frequency-focused vs. amount-focused).

Two experimental studies were conducted. Study 1 provides initial evidence to our prediction that a frequency-focused strategy is beneficial for luxury (vs. non-luxury) brands to leverage their positive brand evaluations. Study 2 further replicates this using a different brand and establishes the underlying mechanism.

Findings show that a frequency-focused strategy is beneficial for luxury (vs. non-luxury) brands to leverage their positive brand evaluations. This is because a frequency-focused strategy makes consumers perceive the luxury brand's commitment to help, which in turn reduces consumers’ skepticism toward their CSR activities.

The study illustrates a novel mechanism that shows when and how different corporate donations influence luxury brand evaluations.

Given the intense competition in the hotel industry, this study investigates the effect of overwork (OW) and overtime (OT) on turnover intention (TI) as well as the moderating effect of incentives in the context of non-luxury hotels in an emerging market.

Using a purposive sampling technique, a total of 271 front-line employees who are currently working in non-luxury hotels in Sarawak responded to the study. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to perform latent variable and moderation analyses.

The findings show that both OW and OT have a direct impact on TI. Contrary to the past studies, incentives do not exert any moderating effect on the relationship between OW, OT and TI among the employees working at non-luxury hotels.

This is one of the first studies to explore the effect of incentives between OW and working OT on TI in the context of the non-luxury hotels in an emerging market and show why incentives might not work. It further advances the understanding of the JD-R theory, demonstrating the necessity for organizations to provide matching resources to address job strains.

This study aims to examine the moderating role of principle-based entity (PBE) of luxury brands and its effect on perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) motives, consumer situational scepticism and brand resonance.

Structural equation modelling using multigroup analysis was used. Data were collected through a consumer panel.

Values-driven motives lowered consumer situational scepticism (CSS) significantly more in PBE than non-PBE. However, egoistic-driven motives increased CSS significantly more in PBE than non-PBE. Stakeholder-driven motives and strategic-driven motives did not elicit CSS, contrary to prior studies in non-luxury brands. PBE status also weakens the relationship between CSS and brand resonance more than non-PBE status.

This study is the first to provide empirical insights into PBE status and its effects on perceived motives, CSS of CSR initiatives and its influence in consumer and management outcomes in luxury brands.