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Although the investigation of brand extension strategies has gained importance, existing research focusses primarily on consumer attitudes to brand extensions, and to date, little research has been made on the luxury market. Moreover, studies on the impact of brand extensions have been limited to explicit measurement methods. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide new insights by focussing on the change of consumers’ brand perception related to downgrading and upgrading brand extensions strategies in the luxury market based on an implicit association test (IAT).

In this exploratory study context of examining the spontaneous reaction time with reference to the luxury concept by confronting respondents with adequate verbal brand extension stimuli, a ST‐IAT was considered for the empirical tests of these hypotheses.

The study results give evidence that consumers’ perception of an upgrading or downgrading strategy of a brand varies in accordance to these hypotheses. Hence, the reaction time of the H&M subjects decreased after having read the upgrading stimulus whereby, in the case of Karl Lagerfeld, the ST‐IAT reaction times showed that the downgrading information resulted in a weaker association of Karl Lagerfeld with luxury.

The use of implicit measurement methods is becoming increasingly important for assessing consumer reaction to the new product line. Particularly, when luxury brands apply a downgrading strategy, the risks of possible damages to the core brand are much higher than in the case of an upgrade of a basic brand to the luxury or premium segment.

Due to consumer concerns about food-related diseases and an increase in the use of genetically modified food, more and more “green consumers” integrate environmental considerations into daily purchases, asking for healthier, safer and higher quality food. Marketing managers still face the challenge of broadening the understanding of how and why consumers purchase organic food. Specifically, a deeper understanding of the value dimensions consumers perceive in the context of organic food products is required to develop and implement successful management strategies which might transfer positive consumer perceptions to actual buying behavior and satisfaction. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Drawing on theoretical and empirical insights on organic food consumption in different markets, this research investigates antecedents of organic food products and differences regarding the relative importance of the value-based drivers across two Western nations.

The results from survey data indicate significant differences in the value perceptions, especially the functional and individual value perceptions, and recommendation behavior related to organic food for consumers from the USA and Germany. In addition, the segmentation approach provides evidence for consumer segments that cross-national borders: the “convinced opponents,” the “silent/private consumers,” the “prestige-seekers” and the “passionate evangelists.”

Consequently, instead of a country-based segmentation approach, marketers should emphasize the different types of consumers across national borders in order to address the differences in customer value perception in the organic food market.

In an attempt to satisfy the rising demand for luxury in the era of the “democratisation of luxury” or the “luxurification of society” without threatening the uniqueness and exclusivity of luxury brands, a profound understanding of the luxury concept and its deeper values is essential. As the complexity of luxury value and the assessment of effects on individual luxury value perception and related behavioral outcomes are still poorly understood and widely unexplored, the purpose of this paper is to fill this research gap.

In the exploratory study context of examining the antecedents and outcomes of individual luxury value perception, PLS path modeling was used for the empirical tests of the hypotheses.

The results support the assumption that the desire for luxury brands involves several dimensions of luxury value including financial, functional, individual and social consumer perceptions. Besides, the individual luxury value perception is significantly related to the consumption of luxury goods in terms of purchase intention, recommendation behavior and the willingness to pay a premium price.

The incremental value of the present study is to present and empirically verify a concept that embraces the complexity of luxury value and its causal effects on different aspects of luxury consumption. The results have important implications for luxury brand management and future research in the domain of luxury goods. By addressing the specific value aspects that are highly relevant for consumer loyalty to the brand, a luxury company can stimulate purchase behavior with appropriate marketing campaigns that create and preserve the most important value aspects throughout the supply chain from production to distribution.

A deeper understanding of the key drivers of consumer wine perception is a major challenge in the domain of wine marketing. The purpose of this paper is to examine the various dimensions of customer-perceived value that lead the customers – in general and divided into different age groups – to choose and consume a certain wine.

In the exploratory study context of examining value-related consumer attitudes and behavioural effects, the drivers and outcomes of wine consumption based on a cross-generation sample, PLS path modelling was considered for the empirical tests of our hypotheses.

Though there exist differences between Generation X and Generation Y consumers, the empirical results are supportive of the hypothesized positive relations between financial, functional, individual and social perceptions that influence the desire for and the consumption of wine.

For future research, the findings presented in the paper support the importance of enlarging the size of the sample and collecting data in different countries to compare the results on an international level.

Successful wine marketing strategies should focus on the customer's subjective expectations and individual value perceptions by addressing the specific value aspects that are highly relevant for consumer loyalty.

The study results are valuable for researchers, managers and marketers because they address the question of how to measure and forecast the perceived value with the greatest influence on consumers’ wine choices.

There is empirical evidence that the image of organic products has a stronger effect on consumer perception than the intrinsic characteristics. Against this background, the aim of this paper is twofold; first, to ascertain if the stimulus “organic food”, placed by storytelling, influences the perception of wine. Based on this, the study tries to discover wherein a positive perception of organic wine might be reflected (e.g. willingness to pay premium prices, better taste perception).

Focusing on the consumer perception and evaluation of conventional versus organic wine, it was decided to use an experimental design with a blind taste test procedure. The prediction was that subjects would rank a wine described as organic higher than a conventional wine – even if there is no objective difference. Consumer perceptions and attitudes toward the wines were assessed using a questionnaire including wine preference, buying and recommendation intention, and willingness to pay. Besides, consumer wine knowledge and consumer personal environmental orientation were measured as individual constructs.

In accordance with existing research insights, consumers tend to prefer organic products over conventional ones. In this context, the experiment shows that adding information on the product's process during a blind test leads consumers to increase their ratings in favour of the “organic wine”. Interesting is that consumers even give a better rating for “conventional wine” just described as being “organic”, indicating that the appearance and taste are perceived to be better, and the price intention is higher – thus, a pure signalling effect is achieved.

The key finding of the study was that even if they tasted the identical product, the respondents ascribe a significantly better taste to the organic-labelled wine compared to the conventional alternative. Besides, the willingness to recommend the organic wine and the willingness to pay differed significantly from the evaluation of the red wine presented as “conventional”. Moreover, regardless of their knowledge and attitude towards organic products in general, all respondents rated the so-called organic wine higher in all given attributes.