The dark side of salesperson brand identification in the luxury sector: When brand orientation generates management issues and negative customer perception

Merk, Michaela; Michel, Géraldine

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.037

Cited by 33 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Further, brand identity as a link between brand and customer consistency promotes customers' intention to recommend ( Berrozpe et al, 2019 ). More importantly, brand identification mainly occurs after a memorable positive brand experience ( Merk and Michel, 2019 ), because positive brand experience forms an identity between the customer and the brand ( Han et al, 2020 ). When the degree of customer brand experience with time-honored catering brands is high, customers will show positive brand identification psychology and support the brands through WOM ( Han et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study on China's time-honored catering brands: Achieving new inheritance of traditional brands

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2021

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

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Section: Literature Review and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study on China's time-honored catering brands: Achieving new inheritance of traditional brands

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2021

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

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“…Self-referencing will lead to a more clearly articulated self-schema (Meyers-Levy and Peracchio, 1996;Martin et al, 2007), which refers to cognitive generalizations and the containing of stored knowledge about the self (Markus and Wurf, 1987). Self-concept is a potential motivator for luxury consumption (Merk and Michel, 2019) which consists of a set of self-schemata (Markus et al, 1985;Wheeler et al, 2005) through a self-referencing process, a Chinese endorser is likely to induce Chinese consumers to connect the advertisement with their self-concept. Celebrity endorsers are usually used to activate a consumer's ideal self and to construct a level of congruence between his/her ideal self-image and the image of the celebrity to enhance the persuasion effect (Choi and Rifon, 2012), especially in terms of luxury goods consumption.…”

Section: Interaction Effect Of Endorser Ethnicity and Portrayalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexy or smart? The impact of endorser ethnicity and portrayal on Chinese women’s attitudes toward luxury advertising

Yin

Poon³

et al. 2019

APJML

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effect of endorser ethnicity (local Chinese vs Western) and portrayal (smart vs sexy) on Chinese women’s attitudes toward luxury advertisements and brands, as well as any moderating effect appearance self-esteem has on the above-mentioned interaction. Design/methodology/approach Two online experiments were conducted. Study 1 was a 2×2 factorial design (with 280 participants), while Study 2 was a 2×2 ×2 factorial design (with 320 participants). Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test and simple effect analysis. Findings Results demonstrated that Chinese female consumers are more likely to have a positive attitude toward advertisements for luxury goods and brands when a local Chinese (vs Western) endorser is used and portrayed as smart (vs sexy), particularly if consumers have low appearance self-esteem. Research limitations/implications The research focused only on female consumers and only one product type was used for the experiments. The use of controls for potential confounding effects was insufficient in this study design. Practical implications To maximize profits, marketers should choose the most appropriate combination of endorser ethnicity and portrayal in the Chinese luxury goods market. Accordingly, if adopting a localization strategy and using a Chinese female endorser, the endorser should be portrayed as smart rather than sexy. In contrast, if a luxury brand adopts an internationalization strategy and uses the same Western female endorser as in other countries, it is more effective to portray her as sexy rather than smart. Furthermore, advertisers should pay particular attention to Chinese female consumers who have low appearance self-esteem when advertising their product and/or brand. Originality/value Compared with past studies concerned with consumers’ perceptions of endorser image in advertisements through a focus on endorser ethnicity, this study linked endorser portrayal with his/her ethnicity and discussed the interaction effects between these two factors on consumers’ attitudes toward the advertisement and the brand portrayed in the advertisement. The findings herein contribute new insights to the body of work on luxury marketing and endorser advertising.

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“…Through outstanding customer service, luxury brands motivate individuals to consume luxury goods by making them feel good about themselves (Merk and Michel, 2019). Our results indicate how important it is to luxury consumers to receive customized communication and personalized messages rather than broadcasted ones.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

WhatsApp communication service: a controversial tool for luxury brands

Mrad

Farah

Mehdi

2022

QMR

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the pros and cons of WhatsApp communication service and its likely effects on consumer behavior and one’s perception of luxury brands. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted 27 in-depth interviews with UK-based participants. This study used NVivo12 to thematically analyze the collected data. Findings The findings indicate that perceived communication convenience, searching for prepurchase information, intimate consumer–brand relationship, perceived self-worth and the thrill of a new service positively contribute to luxury customers’ acceptance of WhatsApp communication usage. Nevertheless, many factors including push promotional strategy, poor service quality, brand “massification” effect, deficient sensory experience, fear of financial risk and deceptive practices, all curbed the participants’ acceptance of this communication platform. When service is poor, all these factors jeopardized the luxury image, causing an impaired brand image, accompanied with negative word of mouth and in some instances, unexpected anticonsumption reactions. Research limitations/implications This study carries the limitations of any exploratory and qualitative research. Therefore, future research should replicate this study in other areas and for other instant messaging platforms. Practical implications The implications of this study serve as a reference for luxury brands’ managers when managing their WhatsApp service. This study provides important insights into the risk of using WhatsApp by luxury brands to communicate with customers. The overall conclusion is that WhatsApp communication service requires a close, supervised and innovative use to benefit luxury brands. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the topic of WhatsApp usage as a communication mean in the luxury industry is still largely underexplored, hence filling a gap in the literature that needs to be addressed given its significant implications.

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The dark side of salesperson brand identification in the luxury sector: When brand orientation generates management issues and negative customer perception

Cited by 33 publications

References 64 publications

A study on China's time-honored catering brands: Achieving new inheritance of traditional brands

A study on China's time-honored catering brands: Achieving new inheritance of traditional brands

Sexy or smart? The impact of endorser ethnicity and portrayal on Chinese women’s attitudes toward luxury advertising

WhatsApp communication service: a controversial tool for luxury brands

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