Nabanita Talukdar and Shubin Yu
The purpose of this study is to investigate the underlying psychological mechanism and boundary conditions which drive materialists' purchase intention (PI) of sustainable over…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the underlying psychological mechanism and boundary conditions which drive materialists' purchase intention (PI) of sustainable over generic luxury products.
Design/methodology/approach
Four empirical studies (one survey and three experiments) were conducted to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Materialism has a positive effect on consumers' purchase intention of sustainable over generic luxury products because materialists tend to have higher perceived functional value of sustainable (i.e., green) luxury products. Product conspicuousness (i.e., publicly consumed versus privately consumed luxury) moderates the effect of materialism on PI of sustainable over generic luxury products. Materialism increases the perceived functional value and thus enhances the PI of sustainable luxury products over generic luxury products only when the product is privately consumed (as opposed to publicly consumed).
Originality/value
This article contributes to the literature that explores how materialism affects environmentalism. This study is among the first empirical works in the context of luxury that studies the relationship between materialism and purchase intention of green products over generic products. This study is also among the first in the context of materialists to empirically establish the importance of perceived functional value associated with sustainable over generic products in affecting PI. Moreover, this article investigates the moderating role of product conspicuousness, which enhances the generalizability of the findings.
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Many instruments have been developed to measure the perceived luxuriousness of brands, but one of the most frequently used scales is the “brand luxury index” (BLI) from Vigneron…
Abstract
Purpose
Many instruments have been developed to measure the perceived luxuriousness of brands, but one of the most frequently used scales is the “brand luxury index” (BLI) from Vigneron and Johnson (2004) that distinguishes between high- and low-luxury brands. Despite its popularity and widespread use in academic research, the scale's psychometric properties and equivalence across cultures have been questioned. Recently, modified versions of the scale have been developed to strengthen the quality of the measurement. However, the performance and the measurement invariance of the modified version have not yet been investigated. The current paper aims to test the model fit of the modified BLI scale and the measurement invariance across gender, age and country groups using nine datasets from a total of three different countries.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a multi-group CFA to examine the measurement invariance of the BLI scale. Nine datasets were used in this study. The data were collected across three countries, the United States (5 datasets), China (2 datasets) and India (2 datasets) from 2016 to 2018.
Findings
The results of this analysis suggest that the modified BLI scale has an acceptable model fit and can be interpreted equivalently across gender and age groups. Metric invariance was found among the US, China and India. However, scalar measurement invariance was established only across two countries: the US and India. A follow-up analysis shows that partial scalar invariance can be established across the US, China and India when removing constraints on the parameters of three items: exclusive, precious and sophisticated.
Originality/value
This study is the first study to test the model fit of the modified BLI scale. The findings of this paper contribute to both the academia and industry. The authors recommend scholars and marketers to use a modified 19-item BLI scale to measure the perceived luxuriousness of brands in future research. First, the modified BLI scale tested in the current study offers very good performance with model fit values of a quality that has rarely been seen in prior research. The original scale of Vigneron and Johnson (2004) has been criticized for its poor model fit (Christodoulides et al., 2009). The modified scale of Doss and Robinson (2013) also has problems with the fit value. Second, the modified 19-item scale also shows adequate measurement invariance across different gender, age and countries. For scholars and marketers, the establishment of the metric invariance of the modified 19-item BLI scale implies that the scale can be used across gender, age and countries (the US, China and India) if the purpose of the study is to understand the relationship between some variables and perceived luxuriousness of a brand.
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Shubin Yu, Liselot Hudders and Verolien Cauberghe
Behavioral targeting has become a popular marketing strategy among brands as it enables advertisers to display ads to consumers based on their previous surfing behaviors. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Behavioral targeting has become a popular marketing strategy among brands as it enables advertisers to display ads to consumers based on their previous surfing behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of behaviorally targeted ads for luxury brands and to explore how and when behavioral targeting works.
Design/methodology/approach
A 2 (targeted vs non-targeted ads) ×2 (culture: China vs the Netherlands) between-subjects factorial design is conducted to test the hypothesis.
Findings
The result reveals that as for luxury brands, behavioral targeting can shorten the psychological distance and in turn lead to a more positive attitude toward the ad. However, the effect of behavioral targeting depends on the culture. In the Netherlands, behavioral targeting can enhance the attitude toward the ad by lowering the psychological distance. However, in China, these effects are mitigated.
Practical implications
This study contributes to the research of online luxury marketing. First, luxury brands should adapt their marketing strategy to different regional markets. In addition, luxury marketers should not worry about a shorter distance with consumers caused by the use of internet. A shorter distance does not mean to reduce an aura of mystery, but to build up a closer relationship with consumers. Luxury brands are not necessary to be aloof and supercilious like an indifferent robot. A closer relationship with consumers brings more positive effects.
Originality/value
The current research makes important contributions both to the scientific literature and to the luxury industry. First, this research reveals the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of behavioral targeting for luxury brands and also compares the effectiveness of behavioral targeting in two cultures, which contributes to the current cross-cultural studies and international marketing research. Second, this study also helps luxury marketers to realize the importance of behavioral targeting and to know how and when they can use this new marketing strategy in a global environment.
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P.G. Babayevsky, N.A. Kozlov, A.N. Shubin, I.V. Tchurilo and T.N. Smirnova
More than 20 years’ experience in development and application of techniques and instrumentation for evaluation of space environment effect on polymer materials and adhesively…
Abstract
More than 20 years’ experience in development and application of techniques and instrumentation for evaluation of space environment effect on polymer materials and adhesively bonded joints in active experiments on‐ and overboard low Earth orbit space stations Salyute, Mir and the international space station (ISS) is reviewed. Six techniques and instrumentation sets were developed and tested for remote control of polymer materials and adhesive joints structure/properties changes during long‐term exposure in space environment. This made it possible to evaluate visco‐elastic and dielectric properties, surface defectiveness and crack resistance as material parameters, which are sensitive to structure changes of polymer materials and adhesive joints and are their important service characteristics. Some experimental results of the techniques and instrumentation, ground and space tests are presented.
Vishal M. and Satyanarayanan K.S.
This paper delineates a literature review on fire-induced progressive collapse on structures and the effect of high temperature on structures and elements. After the occurrences…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper delineates a literature review on fire-induced progressive collapse on structures and the effect of high temperature on structures and elements. After the occurrences of fire in the World Trade Center in the USA, the researchers started concentrating on the progressive collapse that happens due to high temperature. Currently, most of the researchers are working on fire-induced progressive collapse on structures using high-temperature behavior on materials which are used for construction. The researchers have been doing an intensive study to find a better strategy to prevent the building from structural fire damage or collapse with available codes and guidelines throughout the world. This paper aims to provide a better understanding and analytical solutions on the basis of the recent works done by researchers in fire-induced progressive collapse and methods adopted to find the collapse mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is written by studying different literature papers of 109 related to progressive collapse on structures and fire-induced progressive collapse.
Findings
The behavior of structures due to high temperature and collapse conditions due to fire in different scenarios is identified.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an identified need to study how the structure can withstand high-temperature conditions in our day-to-day lives.
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Liang Xiao and Shu Wang
The rapid growth of m-commerce and mobile marketing has flooded the users with homogeneous contents that raise little user interest making the users' browsing pattern on these…
Abstract
Purpose
The rapid growth of m-commerce and mobile marketing has flooded the users with homogeneous contents that raise little user interest making the users' browsing pattern on these contents aimless free browsing. However, the interface that presents the mobile marketing contents triggers much user attention, especially the layout. Without significant usability defects, the layout poses influences on the user's aesthetic experience. Identifying the layout attributes that affect user aesthetic preference is critical to the design of mobile marketing interfaces since they influence users' interaction intention, cognitive process, and decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, 6 layout attributes that quantify the aesthetic design of the interface layout and 3 eye-movement indicators that connect to human aesthetic preference were identified through literature research. An eye-tracking experiment measuring the 3 eye-movement indicators on 6 pairs of interface layout materials corresponding to the 6 layout attributes was conducted. The experiment was designed to mimic the free browsing context in mobile marketing. The materials were divided into Liked/Disliked preference groups according to the response of the subjects. Analysis of indicators on materials between the L/D groups shows that the attributes of balance, centricity, density, simplicity, and symmetry affect user aesthetic preferences.
Findings
Analysis of the attribute value levels shows that balance, centricity, and density are responsible for addressing users' aesthetic preferences for a disliked interface layout. The study suggests an attribute set for quantitatively optimizing the aesthetic design of mobile marketing system interfaces and provides evidence for the visual attention and cognitive process under the free browsing context.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the field both theoretically and practically: (1) it provides support for optimizing the interface layout of mobile marketing systems quantitatively from the aesthetic perspective. (2) It promotes the cognitive attention theory by providing evidence for the cognitive process of interacting with mobile marketing interfaces from the perspective of visual attention and cognitive fluency. (3) It expands the objects of visual perception from traditional or symbolic artworks (such as logos) to the abstract visual stimuli of interface layout. (4) It suggests an optimization tool of five quantification layout attributes for mobile marketing businesses and platforms to aesthetically improve their marketing interfaces to improve user experiences.
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Liang Xiang and Hyun Jung Park
This study aims to provide a new perspective on the impact of mortality threats on consumer behavior through the lens of brand anthropomorphism. It examines the mediating effects…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide a new perspective on the impact of mortality threats on consumer behavior through the lens of brand anthropomorphism. It examines the mediating effects of control and connectedness motives and the moderating effects of brand roles on the relationship between mediators and brand attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
A preliminary study explored the relationship between pandemic-induced mortality threats and attitudes toward anthropomorphized brands. Study 1 investigated the underlying mechanism, and Study 2 examined the moderating effects of servant or partner roles. Study 3 confirmed the mortality threat effect on anthropomorphic brand attitudes in the absence of the pandemic.
Findings
The study revealed that mortality threats enhanced the desire for control and connectedness, which strengthened attitudes toward anthropomorphized brands. The results also indicated matching effects between the motivations for anthropomorphism and brand roles.
Originality/value
This research offers novel insights into the effects of pandemic-induced mortality threats and mortality threats in non-pandemic contexts on anthropomorphic motives. It highlights the influence of these psychological needs on consumer responses to brand roles and provides insights for brand management during a crisis.