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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 paper aims to study whether international niche market leaders (INMLs) gained their leading position as early mover or diligent follower, and assess whether they leveraged hard or soft forms of technological, supply pre-emption and customer lock-in advantage mechanisms.

Empirical material stems from qualitative and quantitative data on a sample of 20 niche companies from the Basque Country (Spain) that operate in business to business markets.

The sample predominantly followed an early entrant strategy and applied soft measures to reach niche market leadership.

Findings imply that early entering fosters conquering leadership in niche markets, that pioneer advantage is easier to sustain in niches than in mainstream markets, and that soft measures are more effective in niche markets than in larger markets. A limitation to our findings is that they follow from explorative research on a sample of firms from a reduced geographic setting.

Hidden champions and INMLs can be important sources of technological progress and economic value for the localities that host them. Therefore, despite their traditional low profile and the fact that they are not always the largest firms around, policymakers may want to pay more attention to this type of companies.

Tot he best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to research entry timing and its outcome for market leadership with regard to niche players or hidden champions-type of firms. It introduces an original taxonomy to operationalize and distinguish between hard and soft measures to leverage advantage mechanisms related to market entry timing.

Aiming at the lack of explanatory power of traditional industrial organization theory in cross-border competition, by introducing the idea of ecological niche, the authors aim to explore the competitive situation of platform-based enterprises when they operate in multiple fields.

With the help of ecological niche theory, construct the niche width and niche overlap index of typical enterprises in the platform economy, and find out the advantages and the intensity of competition through comparative analysis.

In an environment of cross-border competition, large enterprises have significant competitive advantages, and the fierce competition is concentrated among medium-sized enterprises.

The conclusions of this paper not only provide new insights for explaining the phenomenon of cross-border competition in the platform economy, but also provide theoretical reference for the anti-trust enforcement practice in the platform economy.

Competition and attempts to increase market share between organizations play an important role in business ecology. It has been determined that intensity in the institutions and death among organizations especially are of great importance. Intensity and homogeny among the organizational population are very important in the evolutionary process for them to create modern forms of institution. We have used parametric variables to collect a set of data in order to understand competition and niche among organization population. The study investigates how competition and niche affect the cluster of hotel population and their survivability. The founding of each hotel organization is differently constructed internally and different segments of the hotel population respond heterogeneously to the general process of competition. The findings show how niche and different segments of hotel population affect new organizational establishment and the evolutionary dynamics of modern organization structure, using the city center hotels of Canakkale in Turkey.

This paper aims to define the niche market concept and to investigate the extent to which purchasing niche products represents a form of conspicuous consumption. Consumers increasingly seek products that differ from the mainstream, and companies regard niche markets as a promising opportunity beyond saturated mass markets.

Based on survey data that combines self-report scales and actual purchase decisions, the effects of different dimensions of conspicuous consumption on niche product choice are investigated using binary logistic regression.

Choosing niche products over mass market products is mainly influenced by differentiation tendencies. Moreover, consumers use niche products to strengthen their role as opinion leaders. Choice of mass market products, on the other hand, is influenced by assimilation tendencies. In contrast to common assumptions, status-seeking consumers are more likely to choose a mass market alternative over niche products.

Based on the conceptualization of niche markets, this study reveals that niche products are a means for consumers to distinguish themselves. Limitations include the focus on a single product domain and country. Future research should replicate the study for other types of niche products and in other cultural settings.

Niche firms should explicitly consider the social effects of conspicuous consumption as a key driver of demand. Specifically, the unique nature of a niche product should be highlighted and recognizable to increase the acceptance among potential customers. Moreover, instead of focussing the status of niche products, marketing activities should address opinion leaders’ desire to maintain their standing among the social group by providing in-depth information and enhanced customer experience.

This paper addresses the call for a conceptual definition of niche markets. Moreover, while previous work focussed on the company perspective, this study allows for an improved understanding of consumer behaviour with regard to niche markets.

This paper aims to explain the structure of the market from the perspective of small brands and to discuss marketing strategy implications.

The paper uses revealed preference data of the Australian wine market, comprising 4,000 wine shoppers' purchases over a 12‐month period. Standard brand performance measures such as penetration and purchase frequency are applied to the data to define niche and change‐of‐pace brands. Using the same data, price tier loyalty is measured using polarisation, and discussed in relation to the attribute offering required and the direct marketing approach required for true niche positions.

The empirical results show that both niche and change‐of‐pace positions are prevalent in the wine market and small wineries, within a direct marketing channel approach, should target higher price points with branded wines but also lower price point products as well. The results suggest that attribute levels that are change‐of‐pace are unsustainable for small brands and can only be undertaken by large brands with the appropriate marketing resources.

The authors conceptualise that small brands should focus on attribute levels that have excess loyalty. Large brands can absorb attribute levels that are change‐of‐pace. This conceptualisation requires further discussion, particularly from the strategy literature, as well as further empirical testing.

Whilst “niche” positions are the holy grail of some teaching and much practitioner endeavour, this paper has presented data that demonstrate the need for managers to ascertain if the position they occupy is in fact a niche or a change‐of‐pace position.

This paper fulfils a need by using revealed preference behavioural data to highlight different strategies for small and large brands. Behavioural analysis and papers in the past have emphasised the strength and tendency towards large brands without offering insight into small brand strategies.

A significant body of extant empirical evidence has shown that online customer reviews (OCRs) are important in driving organizational performance outcomes. However, it is posited in this manuscript that the relationship between OCRs and organizational performance is unlikely to be the same in all cases. This paper aims to study if niche organizations experience different performance impacts from OCR activity than mainstream organizations do.

To test the hypothesized predictions, an empirical analysis is conducted in the context of higher education in the USA, where liberal arts colleges are classified as niche organizations and research universities are classified as mainstream organizations. The regression methods are used to analyze archival data on these organizations of interest.

The first major finding is that niche organization status positively influences the relationship between OCR valence and organizational performance outcomes. Second, a large volume of OCRs is found to have a negative impact on performance outcomes for niche organizations.

The research uncovers important differences in the relationship between OCRs and organizational performance for niche and mainstream organizations. These findings add to the extant body of literature on this area of inquiry by providing further nuance to the existing arguments and empirical evidence.

This paper aims to explore the impact of enterprise niche on dual innovation performance and the moderating role of innovation openness on the relationship between enterprise niche and dual innovation performance.

This study uses the panel data of the enterprise technology patents of China's Top 100 Electronic Information Enterprises from 2009 to 2018. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.

Niche width has a significant positive impact on exploitative and exploratory innovation performance. Niche overlap has an inverted U-shaped effect on exploitative innovation performance and significantly positively affects exploratory innovation performance. Innovation openness negatively moderates the impact of niche width on exploitative innovation performance and positively moderates the impact of niche overlap on exploitative innovation performance.

This study provides new insights into the effects of enterprise niche on dual innovation performance by showing the moderating role of innovation openness. The study finds a strategic logic of moderate niche overlap, clarifies the innovative effect of different innovation openness modes and reveals the construction and management mechanisms of enterprise niche and innovation openness strategy.

The mass markets of previous decades have splintered into smaller market segments or niches, in which companies could be safer from cut‐throat competition and explore new market opportunities. Although part of a positioning strategy, niche marketing may be used as a deliberate marketing strategy to create “safe havens” and business opportunities for many companies. Aims to analyse the concept, basic issues and different methods of applying this marketing strategy.

This paper seeks to establish that the instability of niche markets, and their predisposition to catastrophic collapse, makes market flexibility a prerequisite for long‐term survival among niche marketers. It describes the two ways by which a niche marketer can acquire this market flexibility and demonstrates the advantages of the second of these two approaches, i.e. the development of a portfolio of separated niches.

An in‐depth discussion of niche instability/implosion, and how niche market flexibility can be acquired to increase the survivability of such events, provides the context for a single in‐depth case study of a company employing a systematic niche market flexibility approach. A multi‐method approach was adopted drawing on both interviews and documentary evidence.

Planning for flexibility is essential for long‐term survival as a niche marketer. Two broad approaches to achieve this exist – i.e. contingency and portfolio planning – which are not mutually exclusive. The portfolio approach offers specific advantages and examples of its successful applications exist.

This is a single case study.

The article has significant implications for practice, as fragmentation of markets and globalisation of production makes niche marketing desirable/essential for many players.

The area of planning for flexibility using a niche portfolio marketing strategy is under‐researched at present.