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This chapter focuses on brokerage in the prestige economy of the Gabor Roma ethnic subgroup in Romania. It argues that the necessity of the brokers’ employment as well as their economic importance comes from the significant uncertainty characterising the prestige-object transactions, that is, these brokers are occasional entrepreneurs specialised in risk management. The theoretical purpose of the chapter is to demonstrate that brokers and goods mediated by them can be associated with more than one socially constructed transactional identity (cultural, political, economic, etc.) at the same time. It also aims to highlight the shifting nature of these identities – they are not constant and context-free qualities, but highly context-sensitive social constructions that can appear in various combinations.

To provide theoretical guidance on improving luxury brands’ marketing performance, this study aims to examine the impact mechanism and boundary conditions of luxury brand buyers’ consumption resources on observers’ brand attitudes from the perspective of consumers’ power distance beliefs (PDBs).

Four experimental studies were conducted. Study 1 examined the influence of the interaction of consumption resources and PDBs on luxury brand attitudes; Study 2 examined the mediating role of prestige perception. Study 3 excluded alternative explanations of (dis)association motivation and envy. Finally, Study 4 examined the moderating effect of brand relationship norms.

Consumers with low PDBs had lower attitudes towards luxury brands when consumption resources were acquired through luck (rather than effort). However, no significant difference in luxury brand attitudes was found between these two consumer groups when PDBs were high. Consumers’ perceptions of prestige played a mediating role in the main effect, whereas brand relationship norms moderated the main effect.

First, this study reveals the unique role of PDBs in shaping consumer attitudes towards luxury brands. Second, it uses consumption resources as a signal for luxury consumption and identifies a way to influence consumers’ attitudes towards luxury brands, namely, their perceptions of prestige. Third, it uncovers the influence of consumers’ brand relationship norms on the formation of luxury brand attitudes.

Leisure travel has long been seen as a means of conspicuous consumption in pursuance of personal prestige; yet, there is no empirical evidence that travel affects personal prestige of tourists. The aims of this study are to develop a scale measuring personal prestige and to experimentally test prestige evaluations based on amount of leisure information, tourism participation and different types of leisure.

In an experimental online survey, 477 respondents were presented with a manipulated social media profile and asked to evaluate personal prestige of the person on the profile.

Results present evidence that representation of travel experience has a positive effect on personal prestige evaluations of tourists. The authors found significant differences in personal prestige depending on experimental variations.

This study advances methodological approaches towards the study of tourists’ prestige by providing a reliable, multidimensional measurement scale for personal prestige. The findings yielded by subsequent application of the scale in an experimental setting provide empirical evidence that sharing travel experiences has measurable and experimentally testable personal prestige benefits for tourists.

In the era of digital evolution, companies are increasingly deploying digital platforms to optimize operational efficiencies and to connect with customers more directly. However, little is known about whether and how companies can leverage digital platforms to enhance their brand prestige. Integrating insights from the resource-based view of the firm into the branding literature, this study aims to compare and distinguish the effects of the two digital platform functions, technical and social functions, on a company’s brand prestige. This study also assesses the moderating roles of two institutional factors, market uncertainty and brand imitation.

This study estimates a moderated regression model using a survey of 240 companies in China that deploy digital platforms. This study uses SPSS 24.0 to perform regression analysis.

The study finds that technical functions positively, whereas social functions negatively affect brand prestige. Moreover, the technical functions of digital platforms are more beneficial for companies to build their brand prestige when the market is turbulent and the extent of brand imitation is high, whereas, under the same conditions, social functions lead to lower brand prestige.

There are several limitations of this study that offer future research opportunities. First, due to the difficulties of data collection, measures were taken from the same source for which common method bias could be a potential concern. Second, this study considered two institutional boundary conditions in these models. Future research should consider mediators as well as other potential moderators to understand the underlying mechanisms of how digital platforms affect brand prestige. Third, future studies may develop better constructs to manifest these two types of digital platform functions. Finally, this sample was limited to companies in China.

This study provides important implications for companies leveraging digital platforms to build brands. First, companies must distinguish between the different functions of digital platforms. The findings reveal that companies that leverage digital platforms to build brand prestige are suggested to make greater use of technical functions yet should be cautious in developing social functions. Second, this research suggests although market uncertainty and brand imitation are not conducive to enhancing brand prestige, it is possible for companies to take advantage of these unfavorable environments to better serve niche customers.

Prior marketing studies emphasize the benefits of digital platforms and largely overlook the double-edged sword effect of digital platforms on companies’ brand building. This study contributes to the marketing literature by revealing the benefits of technical function and the challenges of social function in driving brand prestige in complex institutional settings.

Drawing from social capital theory and resource dependence theory, this paper aims to test the relationship between top management team (TMT) government social capital and firm’s innovation performance via firm’s network prestige, and the moderating effect of TMT academic social capital.

The authors collected data from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research Database as well as A-share listed firms’ annual reports, and finally generated a sample of 922 firms and 2,464 firm-years from 2008 to 2014. UCINET 6.0 was used to analyze the data.

The authors find that the government social capital of TMT is positively related to firms’ innovation performance and firms’ network prestige plays a mediating role in this relationship. In addition, TMT academic social capital can strengthen the links between TMT government social capital and innovation performance through firms’ network prestige.

This paper not only contributes to literatures on the mechanism in the relationship between government social capital and firms’ innovation, but also to literatures on the effectiveness of the heterogeneity of firm’s social capital.

Being a prestigious institution depends on gaining respect in the eyes of various stakeholders with diverse expectations. Existing research is silent on how university characteristics affect judgments of prestige and, therefore, presents an incomplete picture of prestige dynamics in higher education. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature by empirically examining the stakeholders’ evaluation of university characteristics in terms of prestige value.

The entire population of universities (public and private) in Turkish higher education constitutes the sample of the study. The analytic hierarchy process technique is applied to ascertain how stakeholders prioritize university characteristics in terms of prestige value, and regression analysis is used to determine the effects of these characteristics on university selectivity.

The findings suggest a novel conceptual model of university prestige, which establishes its multilayered and fragmented nature. Accordingly, universities may be subject to multiple prestige hierarchies based on universal or context-specific criteria, in the eyes of various stakeholders, and based on different markers of success.

The empirical analyses are limited to the stakeholder groups that are key to university outcomes in Turkish higher education, and to selectivity in admissions as the only visible marker of success in this context.

The study enhances existing literature that posits that universities are subject to a single prestige hierarchy based on common metrics of performance. It illustrates the uneven landscape in which university prestige evolves by developing a wider and deeper focus on university characteristics.

The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of ethnic identity and demographic characteristics (the length of residency in the USA, education, income, age, and origin of ethnicity) in relation to brand purchases for status.

The research is based on a survey of 324 retail customers of Hispanics (n=173) and Asians (n=151) with analysis performed using regression analysis, t‐tests, and ANCOVA.

The stronger an immigrant identifies with his/her ethnic culture, the more likely he/she is to purchase high‐priced branded products for status purposes. Immigrants with higher incomes are more likely to purchase high‐ priced prestige brands. Younger immigrants report a greater propensity to purchase high‐priced prestige brands. No relationship with the dependent variable was found with length of time in the USA, education, and origin of ethnicities of immigrants.

The major contribution of this research is to demonstrate the importance of ethnic identity strength, to reveal the major demographic variables on immigrant consumer behaviors, and to identify means by which practitioners can effectively use ethnicity strength, income, and age to target immigrant consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of perceived external prestige on turnover intentions among retail employees in India. Moreover, this study aims to explore the mediating effect of affective commitment on the relationship between perceived external prestige and turnover intentions.

This study is quantitative in nature. The data for the present study were collected from 186 employees working in various retail stores. Existing, established scales were used to measure the research constructs.

The results of the study indicate a negative relationship between perceived external prestige and turnover intentions. A negative relationship was observed between affective commitment and turnover intentions. Moreover, affective commitment was observed to partially mediate the relationship between perceived external prestige and turnover intentions.

This study provides valuable insights into understanding the significance of perceived external prestige in retaining employees working in the retail sector. Findings of the study indicate that adoption of non-conventional human resource strategies, like a focus on enhancing external prestige of the organization may be one of the ways to enhance employee commitment and reduce turnover intentions, and thus to retain employees in economies with highly mobile workforce.

This research has investigated the significance of perceived external prestige in retaining employees in a context which is different, in several ways, from contexts where most of the previous research has been conducted. It, thus, contributes to current theoretical understanding about perceived external prestige and it impact on work attitudes.

The purpose of this study was to examine the antecedents and consequences of brand prestige in the private country club industry. More specifically, it was proposed that five attributes of a private country club form brand prestige: golf course conditions, service quality during a round, food and beverage cart service, golf shop and clubhouse food and beverage service. In addition, it was also hypothesized that brand prestige can result in three managerial outcomes: social value, brand attachment and brand loyalty. During the theory-building process, it was proposed that brand consciousness moderates the relationship between brand prestige and its outcome variables.

Based on the theoretical relationships between the conceptual constructs, a model was proposed and then tested utilizing data collected from 290 amateur golfers in the USA.

Data analysis results show that four attributes of a private country club (all except for food and beverage cart service) help to enhance brand prestige and, thus, aid in the creation of social value, brand attachment and brand loyalty. Lastly, brand consciousness plays a moderating role in the relationship between brand prestige and brand loyalty.

First, private country clubs are required to consider golf course management before (e.g. hiring top golf architects) and after operating the club (e.g. hiring competent golf course managers). Second, private country clubs need golf course rangers with much experience who can properly manage pace of play. Third, the golf shop needs to prepare diverse souvenirs that well symbolize the private country club. Fourth, the clubhouse at private country clubs needs to provide services at the same level as that found in fine dining restaurants.

Despite the important role played by the prestigious image, no research has attempted to empirically test its influence on the private country club industry. Therefore, this study is the first to apply the concept of brand prestige to the private country club industry. In this regard, the study extends the existing literature on brand prestige by finding the antecedents and consequences in the private country club industry.

This study aims to investigate the relationships among perceptions of advertising, sales promotions, brand prestige and brand love, as well as the development of passion-driven behavior among family restaurant customers. Based on the well-established framework of marketing mix elements and brand, this study proposes and tests a research model that attempts to understand the inter-relationships between the two dimensions of advertising (i.e. advertising spending and attitudes toward advertisement), two dimensions of sales promotions (i.e. monetary promotion and non-monetary promotion), brand prestige, brand love and passion-driven behavior, as well as compares local and global family restaurant brands.

The research model of this study was tested based on responses from 265 family restaurant customers in Korea (i.e. 105 from Outback Steak House, 78 from T.G.I. Fridays, 45 from VIPS and 37 from Ashley). Data were analyzed using frequency, reliability, confirmatory factor and correlation analyses, the structural equation modeling and multi-sample methods.

The verified model confirmed that brand prestige was significantly influenced by attitudes toward advertisement, monetary promotion and non-monetary promotion. Also, brand love was significantly affected by the amount spent on advertising, attitudes toward the advertisement and monetary promotion. Passion-driven behavior was significantly impacted by brand prestige and brand love. Lastly, the results identified that the brand origin (i.e. local and global family restaurant brands) moderated one of the hypothesized relationships (i.e. the impact of brand prestige on brand love).

The study suggests that a family restaurant brand manager may want to emphasize planning and developing marketing mix elements focusing on advertising and sales promotions.

This research illustrates the influences of the two dimensions of advertising and two types of sales promotions on brand prestige and brand love, which in turn led to passion-driven behavior from family restaurant customers.