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Appendix B. Mapping of sustainability implementation at product, process and supply chain levels Category Aspect Practices implemented Textiles Leather Total count T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 L1 L2 L3 L4 Product Env. Materials Use of eco-friendly (recycled, organic) materials X X X X 4 Use of certified raw materials X X X X X X X 7 Reduction of chemicals X X XXX5 Water Water stewardship X X X X X 5 Product & Services Life cycle assessment X X 2 Social Labour Practices Providing sustainable working conditions to artisans X X XXX5 Society Female empowerment through new jobs X X X 3 Process Env. Materials Use of locally sourced materials X X X 3 Materials Hazardous chemical elimination X X X X X X 6 Energy Renewable energy generation X X X 3 Water Wastewater treatment X X X X X X X 7 Emissions Emission reduction X X X XXX6 Effluents & waste Waste reduction X X X 3 Reduce/reuse of textile waste X X X 3 Process innovation XXXXXXXXX 9 Compliance Process certification X X 2 Social Labour practices Providing a career path and better skilled human resource management XX XX 4 Developing programs for labour practices and decent work conditions X X XX 4 Protecting female workforce X X X 3 Society Philanthropic donations to local communities X X X X X 5 Supply Chain Env. Materials Hazardous chemical elimination at supplier facilities X X X X 4 Energy Energy efficiency at supplier facilities X 1 Compliance Environmental certification of suppliers XXXX XX 6 Traceability X X X X X X 6 Procurement certification X X X X 4 Occupational health and safety X X X X X X X 7 Supplier assessment Supplier/partner selection based on green and sustainability practices XXX X 4 Social Labour practices Fire safety training Trainings on the Code of Ethics and ethical purchase X X 2 Coaching sessions and counselling meetings X X 2 Training and educational material for suppliers X X X X 4 Supplier development programs X X 2 Supplier management XXXX XX X7 Use of a supplier ranking system X X 2 Society Two tier supply chain audit system X X 2 External and accredited auditors X X X X 4 Supplier audits X X X X X 5 Multilateral dialogue with the bodies, institutions, associations and communities X X X XXX6 Monitoring sustainable manufacturing X X 2 Monitoring factory compliance XXXX X X6 Product responsibility Laboratory tests X X X X X 5 References Acabou, M. A., & Dekhili, S. (2013). Luxury and sustainable development: Is there a match? Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1896–1903. Ansari, Z. N., & Kant, R. (2017). A state-of-art literature review reflecting 15 years of focus on sustainable supply chain management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, 2524–2543. Aragon-Correa, J. A., & Sharma, S. (2003). A contingent resource-based view of proactive corporate environmental strategy. Academy of Management Review, 28(1), 71–88. Ashby, A. (2018). Developing closed loop supply chains for environmental sustainability. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 1–25. Barreto, I. (2010). Dynamic capabilities: A review of past research and an agenda for the future. Journal of Management, 36(1), 256–280. Beske, P., Land, A., & Seuring, S. (2014). Sustainable supply chain management practices and dynamic capabilities in the food industry: A critical analysis of the literature. International Journal of Production Economics, 152, 131–143. Beske-Janssen, P., Johnson, M. P., & Schaltegger, S. (2015). 20 years of performance measurement in sustainable supply chain management – What has been achieved? Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 20(6), 664–680. Blome, C., Paulraj, A., & Schuetz, K. (2014). Supply chain collaboration and sustainability: A profile deviation analysis. International Journal of Operations & Production H. Karaosman et al. Journal of Business Research 117 (2020) 652–663 661

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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres How does access to luxury fashion challenge self-identity? Exploring women's practices of joint and non-ownership Leïla Loussaïefa,⁎ , Isabelle Ulrichb , Coralie Damayc a ISC Paris, 22, boulevard du Fort de Vaux, 75848 Paris Cx 17, France b Neoma Business School, 1 rue du Maréchal Juin, 76825 Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex, France c ISC Paris, 22, boulevard du Fort de Vaux, 75848 Paris Cx 17, France, Membre associé du GRANEM, Université d'Angers ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Access-based consumption Borrowing Sharing Shared purchase Self-identity Luxury ABSTRACT This paper examines how the practices of access, borrowing, and sharing (including shared purchase) influence women's self-identity in the world of luxury clothing and accessories. In the context of joint- or non-ownership, using 28 semi-structured interviews across three age groups, this qualitative research explores and contrasts the various practices of access, borrowing, and sharing (including shared purchase) with regard to the self–object relationship. The results underline the identification and appropriation process at stake in access to luxury fashion, which runs counter to prior research on access-based consumption. The research shows the liquid transformation of self-identity inherent in access, borrowing, and sharing practices (but not present in shared purchase), as well as the positive contamination of the owner's image in the case of borrowing, sharing, and making shared purchases – but not in the case of access. 1. Introduction In a society where appearance plays a critical role (Lipovetski, 1983), clothing and accessories are a major part of how individuals define themselves in relation to others (Joubert & Stern, 2005). Such material possessions that extend the self (Belk, 1988) and help protect, display, and transform it (Arnould & Thompson, 2005) have been widely studied. Specifically, beyond conveying social status or perpetuating an affluent lifestyle, luxury fashion possessions are also used to perform self-transformation (Seo & Buchanan-Oliver, 2017). However, alternative practices of sharing and of having access to luxury fashion – without fully owning the products – have flourished over the past few decades; however, they have received little attention with respect to the consumer self–object relationship (Lawson, Gleim, Perren, & Hwang, 2016). Overall, the ‘sharing economy’ is expanding worldwide, with 66% of consumers stating they are ready to ‘share’ goods, 22% ready to ‘share’ clothing items, and 21% ready to ‘share’ cars.1 PwC (2014) estimates that the scope of global ‘sharing’ activities will expand from $15 billion in 2014 to around $335 billion in 2025 (Godelnik, 2017). Specifically, the global online clothing rental market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of around 10% by 2023–2026, with the female segment remaining dominant.2 Thus, in the domain of luxury clothing and accessories, new online business models mainly targeting women have flourished and offer temporary access to items via rental (e.g., Rent the Runway in the USA, Chic by Choice in Europe, and Une Robe un Soir, Ma Bonne Amie, and Panoply City in France) or via peer-to-peer sharing for a fee (e.g., Les Cachotières in France). How do these access and sharing practices influence consumer self-identity, given that the luxury items are not fully owned by the individuals temporarily consuming them? The literature on access, defined as consumption where consumers gain access to products without any transfer of ownership taking place (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012), is scarce and shows contradictory findings regarding consumer self-identity. Whereas Chen (2009) shows that access to art in museums contributes to the extended self and that this consumption experience nourishes identity, Bardhi and Eckhardt (2012) show there is a lack of self-identification, no nourishment of identity, and no sense of ownership when it comes to having access to cars. They specifically call for further research on access to luxury fashion – a domain where identity should be more salient than with cars. Our research seeks to fill this important gap. As for sharing in the sense of Belk (2007), consumers experience a https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.02.020 Received 14 May 2018; Received in revised form 7 February 2019; Accepted 9 February 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L. Loussaïef), [email protected] (I. Ulrich), [email protected] (C. Damay). 1 Nielsen Global Survey of Share Communities, Q3 2013. 2 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/online-clothing-rental-market-is-expected-to-reach–1856-million-globally-by-2023—allied-market-research618522543.html and https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/online-clothing-rental-market; last accessed on 23 April 2018. Journal of Business Research 102 (2019) 263–272 Available online 25 February 2019 0148-2963/ © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. T

sense of joint ownership over shared goods within the family (Belk, 2010), and the self is nourished by what one can access or share (Belk, 2014). Sharing includes borrowing (Belk, 2007): Borrowing is a case of sharing that generates an expectation that the object or an equivalent will be returned, and borrowing can be considered a euphemism for requested sharing in various language situations (Belk, 2014). However, in the case of sharing luxury garments or borrowing them from adult women outside the family, where no joint ownership is involved, how is consumer self-identity affected? To the best of our knowledge, prior literature has not examined this issue in any real depth. In addition, the potential differences in the self–object relationship between the specific situations of sharing or shared purchase versus borrowing have not been explored. Furthermore, previous literature has not specifically investigated these practices for luxury clothing and accessories, even though middle-aged consumers (40–59 years) are the highest spenders on luxury items, and late adolescents (16–25 years) are the fastest-growing segment (Schade, Hegner, Horstmann, & Brinkmann, 2015). This research addresses the different gaps identified above by exploring and trying to contrast the different practices of 1) access, 2) borrowing, and 3) sharing (including shared purchase) in the luxury fashion area with each other. This qualitative research makes several contributions to knowledge in the stream of research on consumption practices. Firstly, in the case of luxury fashion, this research shows that all the different examined practices similarly reflect self-identity in a consistent way – a more refined and magnified identity than would be the case with non-luxury items – and foster a temporary extended self. Secondly, in contrast with previous research on access-based consumption, we reveal an identification and an appropriation of the accessed items that extend the self temporarily. Thirdly, we reveal that having access to, sharing, and borrowing luxury fashion allow a more liquid and fluid transformation of consumer identity – in terms of self-presentation, strengthening a latent facet of the self, or even changing the self-concept in connection with change in life cycles – than is the case with full possession. Fourthly, the study underlines that shared purchase in luxury fashion differs from sharing with regard to consumer identity as it does not lead to such a liquid transformation of self-presentation or self-concept. Finally, this research highlights the positive identity contamination through the owner's image involved in sharing and borrowing practices but not in access. 2. Literature review 2.1. Access to luxury goods: the rise of alternative consumption modes besides sole ownership The issue of ownership has been discussed since the age of Aristotle and Plato (Floyd, 2016), with the former emphasizing the need for property and the latter arguing it should be avoided. Historically, developed societies have fueled their growth with individuals' desire to own things and making possession a crucial feature of consumer behavior (Belk, 1988). Ownership and material possessions have been central to our consumer society and a normative ideal among consumption practices (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012). Traditionally, the owner is perceived as being more secure and independent and having a higher status (Durgee & O'Connor, 1995; Snare, 1972); in addition, the owner is expected to obtain greater satisfaction and happiness (Belk, 1985; Richins & Dawson, 1992). In this regard, past studies highlight the importance of possessions to consumers of luxury goods (Gil, KyoungNan, Good, & Johnson, 2012; Wiedmann, Hennings, & Siebels, 2009). Owning luxury items makes it possible to signal status and power (Chandon, Laurent, & Valette-Florence, 2017; Grossman & Shapiro, 1988; Veblen, 1899) or a romantic relationship in the specific case of fashion accessories (Wang & Griskevicius, 2014). However, alternative consumption models to sole ownership have developed over the past few decades, including in the realm of luxury goods and specifically prestige fashion and accessories. Firstly, sharing practices have developed and are facilitated by the internet offering a larger scale and by the rise of new peer-to-peer sharing/rental models (Belk, 2013). Initially, sharing was defined as “the act and process of distributing what is ours to others for their use, and/or the act and process of receiving or taking something from others for our own use” (Belk, 2007: 126). Sharing includes old practices like borrowing and shared purchasing (Belk, 2007, 2010, 2014), both of which can involve joint ownership. Specifically, intrafamilial sharing (sharing in) involves joint/shared possession (Belk, 2010) and resources free for the whole family to use (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012). In that sense, borrowing items within the family involves joint ownership, as in the case of daughters or mothers exchanging clothes with each other (Decoopman, Gentina, & Fosse-Gomez, 2010). By contrast, borrowing from distant friends or sharing out (with others who are not included in the aggregate extended self) does not involve joint ownership. In this case, sharing out, or borrowing, imply a temporary transfer of ownership in which the borrower does not become the legal “owner” (Jenkins, Molesworth, & Scullion, 2014). Overall, sharing and borrowing practices in the fashion arena have mostly been studied among adolescent girls (Gentina, 2014; Lurie, 1981) and between mothers and their daughters (Decoopman et al., 2010; Gentina, Hogg, & Sakashita, 2017). However, prior literature has not comprehensively examined these various sharing and borrowing practices outside the family among adult women by focusing on the self–object relationship. And, as outlined earlier, the focus has not been on sharing or borrowing luxury clothing, even though late-adolescent (16–25 years) and middle-aged consumers (40–59 years) are key consumer groups in this field (Schade et al., 2015). Our empirical research aims to fill those gaps. Secondly, access-based consumption, defined as transactions that can be market-mediated but where no transfer of possession takes place (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012), has developed on a parallel track. Instead of buying and owning goods, some consumers prefer paying to access them temporarily. Thus, traditional renting is a form of access, a ‘borrowing’ that is market-mediated. The internet has brought about new access practices like rental peer-to-peer models with a fee for the intermediary company (e.g., Airbnb) or rental models of goods owned by a company (e.g., Zipcar), already examined in conceptual (Belk, 2014) or empirical work (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012; Lawson et al., 2016). But in the case of luxury clothing and accessories, despite the significant growth of access-based models (Chandon et al., 2017; Eckhardt, Belk, & Wilson, 2015; Lawson et al., 2016) primarily targeting women, like Rent the Runway and Bag Borrow or Steal in the USA, research has not examined the consumer–object relationship in such a context. Bardhi and Eckhardt (2012) call for future research in the specific context of accessing haute couture to further explore access domains in which identity and objects' hedonic value are salient. Our empirical research, which investigates how access practices influence self-identity in this specific luxury sector, addresses this gap. 2.2. Self-identity in sharing, borrowing, and access practices Consumer research has established the important role of material possessions for consumer identity. Material possessions are seen as part of the self by extending it in relation to the environment (Belk, 1988), thus providing a sense of oneself and opportunities for identity transformation (Arnould & Thompson, 2005). In ownership, consumers may identify with their possessions, which are crucial to maintaining, displaying, and transforming the self (Kleine, Kleine, & Allen, 1995; Richins, 1994). Over one's lifespan, the relationship of the self to possessions can follow different trajectories (Karanika & Hogg, 2013): Possessions that consumers value for representing affiliation tend to have increasing importance to the self, while possessions differentiating the self from others tend to have decreasing importance to the self. Regarding luxury possessions, scholars have broadly studied how they contribute to constructing and maintaining a personal identity (Gurzki L. Loussaïef, et al. Journal of Business Research 102 (2019) 263–272 264

& Woisetschläger, 2017) and specifically highlighted the self-transformation purpose of luxury fashion (Seo & Buchanan-Oliver, 2017) on top of more traditionally associated meanings, such as conveying social status. In the case of sharing, borrowing, and especially access practices, consumer research on the self–object relationship is more limited. For sharing, Belk (2010) proposes that consumers experience a shared sense of ownership over shared goods. He posits that the self can be determined by what one can share or can access (Belk, 2013, 2014). With the internet, identity may be expressed without requiring that the objects be owned: The capacity to access or share products nourishes identity. For the specific case of borrowing, the literature is scarce (Tinson & Nuttall, 2007), and has not examined its consequences on consumer self-identity. Thus, in the specific case of sharing or borrowing luxury fashion items for which there is no joint ownership (as is the case with adults borrowing from their friends), how is self-identity affected? Do consumers experience a shared sense of ownership and nourish their identity through these items? What are the differences in the self–object relationship between the specific situations of borrowing versus sharing and shared purchase? We examine these issues in our data. With regard to access, limited consumer research so far and mixed findings related to self-identity call for further studies. For example, regarding museum visits, Chen (2009) emphasizes that access can contribute to the extension of the self through intangible memories that enrich people's senses and life experiences. In this case, it is not possession but consumption experience that nourishes identity. By contrast, Bardhi and Eckhardt (2012) in their study on access to cars (Zipcar) do not find identification with cars and nourishment of identity; instead, they underscore that consumers are not motivated to appropriate these cars and do not feel a sense of ownership. Their findings on access to cars strongly contrast with prior research showing that consumers tend to develop a perceived sense of ownership of objects, even when these objects are not actually owned. For example, consumers incorporate products into the extended self and feel a sense of perceived ownership by simply touching them (Peck & Shu, 2009). This specific finding would suggest that in access, consumers may experience a sense of perceived ownership, even though no transfer of ownership is involved. As clothing is a social marker (Auty & Elliott, 2001) and as the purchasing of luxury fashion brands is performed to construct one's identity (Seo & Buchanan-Oliver, 2017), it seems particularly relevant to concentrate on access to luxury fashion and accessories in order to further examine the relationship between the consumer's self and the object. 3. Research methodology The exploratory nature of this research, whose aim is to understand Table 1 Informants characteristics. Anonymous names Age Occupation Wearing frequency of luxury garments/ accessories Shared purchase (with…) Borrowing (from…) Sharing (with…) Access Justine 16 High school student Occasionally garments and accessories Friends Friends No Claire 16 High school student Occasionally garments and accessories Friends Friends No Melanie 16 High school student Regularly accessories, occasionally garments Friends Friends Family Neighbors Friends Family Neighbors No Hélène 16 High school student Regularly accessories, occasionally garments Friends Family Friends Family No Maylis 17 High school student Occasionally garments and accessories Friends Family Friends Family No Anne 19 Law student Occasionally garments and accessories Family Family No Laure 21 Management student Occasionally garments and accessories Friends Family Family Family No Marie 22 Commercial student Occasionally garments and accessories Friends No Bianca 23 Arts student Regularly accessories, occasionally garments Friends Family Friends Family No Joan 24 Buying manager Regularly garments and accessories Friends Yes Léa 25 Marketing student Occasionally garments and accessories Family Friends Family Friends Family No Carole 27 Blogger Occasionally garments and accessories Family Family Yes Maud 30 Entrepreneur Regularly accessories, occasionally garments Family Family Family No Patricia 31 Consultant in environment Occasionally garments and accessories Family No Ombline 32 Speech therapist Regularly accessories, occasionally garments Family Family No Adélaïde 32 Estate agent Occasionally garments and accessories Friends Friends Yes Julie 33 Finance Manager Occasionally garments and accessories Family Friends Colleagues Friends Colleagues No Isaure 35 Communication manager Regularly garments and accessories Friends No Émilie 35 Product manager Occasionally garments and accessories Friends Family Friends Family No Stéphanie 35 Marketing manager Regularly garments and accessories Family Family Family No Constance 35 Looking for a job Regularly garments and accessories Yes Inès 36 Logistic manager Regularly accessories, occasionally garments Friends Neighbors Colleagues Friends Neighbors Colleagues No Virginie 40 Information system manager Occasionally garments and accessories Family Family No Solène 42 Manager in public service Regularly garments and accessories Yes Marine 45 Financial consultant Regularly garments and accessories Friends Family Friends Family No Agatha 50 Publishing manager Regularly garments and accessories Friends Neighbors Friends Neighbors No Diane 50 Deputy CEO Regularly garments and accessories Yes Charlotte 55 Coach Regularly garments and accessories Yes L. 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the self–object relationship in the different practices of access versus borrowing and sharing (including shared purchase) in the domain of luxury clothing and accessories, called for a qualitative methodology. In order to investigate the meanings associated with these practices, as well as the psychological and social perceptions embedded in them, we conducted 28 in-depth semi-structured interviews in France. On average, the interviews lasted 1 h. Our sample focused exclusively on women, for several reasons. Firstly, new access business models for luxury clothing mainly or uniquely target women in France: Focusing on a sample of women makes it possible to better contrast the different meanings that are associated with each practice with each other, within a single gendered group. Secondly, prior literature indicates gender differences in the value and motivations associated with possessions (Wallendorf & Arnould, 1988): This suggests that the gender category is likely to influence the perception of accessing, sharing, or borrowing items, which means that concentrating on one gender optimizes the analysis across age groups. Thirdly, women have a more positive attitude toward luxury brands and a greater intention to purchase them than men do (StockburgerSauer & Teichmann, 2013). Finally, physical appearance and the desire to seduce are predominant with women in connection with stereotypes ascribed to femininity (Gould & Stern, 1989), which translates to them having a strong interest in clothing/fashion to emphasize their attractiveness (Singh, 1993). Furthermore, our sample ranged in age from 16 to 55 (Table 1). As the relationship with luxury and motivations for purchasing luxury goods differ across age groups (Bian & Forsythe, 2012; Schade et al., 2015), it was important to analyze a broad range of ages. Specifically, the transition from adolescence to adulthood involves a strengthening of personal identity, and Erikson (1963) defines key periods of identity development: early and middle adolescence (12–15 years), late adolescence (16–25 years), young adulthood (26–39 years), and middle-age adulthood (40–59 years). Late adolescence is characterized by a weak sense of one's identity and a striving for approval by the peer group; by contrast, young adults show a stronger sense of identity and a high need to express it to others, while middle-aged adults have consolidated their own self and display a lower need to present their identity to others. Following Schade et al. (2015), who studied these three specific age groups for luxury consumption and showed strong differences between them, we decided to focus on the same age cohorts (11 late adolescents, 11 young adults, and 6 middleaged adults). A combination of purposive and convenience sampling was then used to recruit informants, the aim being to select cases that could provide a rich trove of information in order to maximize theoretical development (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). A snowballing technique was used to select consumers of luxury garment/accessories who performed at least one of the examined practices (sharing vs shared purchase vs borrowing vs access) in each age group, using the researchers' personal and professional networks. Diversity was also sought in participants' occupation in order to reflect the contemporary luxury consumers with diverse financial means due to luxury democratization (Roper, Caruana, Medway, & Murphy, 2013). As access to luxury clothes is a new emerging practice, it was harder to find consumers engaged in it; therefore, the help of two luxury clothing access platforms was requested to recruit two of their clients as participants. Professionals also indicated that, to date, the ‘late adolescence’ group has comprised a very small segment of their clientele, which is reflected in our sample, as only one consumer in this group (aged 24) and no consumer younger than 18 was identified. Interviews started with ‘grand tour’ open questions (McCraken, 1988), then focused in turn on the different practices of joint and nonownership performed – or not – by the informants with luxury fashion and accessories (i.e. access, borrowing, and sharing, including shared purchase). For each practice, we explored consumer motivations and barriers, relationships with the accessed luxury object, differences and similarities versus owned items, projected self-image, and the feelings elicited. As luxury is highly personal and relative to each individual (Kapferer & Laurent, 2016), respondents were encouraged to express themselves on the basis of their own perception of luxury brands and items. The data collection was facilitated by the same-sex link between the researchers and the informants, which is particularly important with adolescent girls. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The collected material was analyzed using an iterative process (Spiggle, 1994) of searching for recurrent patterns and themes. Firstly, the researchers read all transcripts to reveal codes and categories. Then, narratives were clustered and grouped within each consumption practice, and the set of comments from each age group was compared and contrasted. Finally, several themes emerged, deepened by an inter-interview analysis with a comparison between co-authors before a final agreement was reached. 4. Findings 4.1. The consistent link between identity and a non-exclusively owned luxury object, and the temporary extended self The informants' narratives point to a necessary consistency between self-identity and the luxury object that is worn, regardless of the way in which the latter is accessed. Overall, results show that luxury fashion items, that are accessed, borrowed or shared but not fully owned, should be consistent with consumer identity (Belk, 1988) and foster a temporary extended self (Belk, 2013, 2014), just as possessions do. 4.1.1. Identity consistent with objects that are not exclusively owned but more refined in the case of luxury fashion The informants' statements show that the practices of accessing, borrowing, sharing, and making a shared purchase of luxury garments should be consistent with their self-identity and reflect it in the same way as ownership does. Hence, in the three age groups that were studied, these women only choose to wear luxury clothes or put on luxury accessories if they feel the objects are consistent or compatible with the person they are. The items have to “complement,” “represent,” “resemble,” and “not betray” them, as the following narratives demonstrate: Melanie (16): “When I share some high end dress with my cousin, when I wear it, it's something I have to feel well in. I take things that fit who I am. I share my wardrobe with my neighbor, I share with others when they are persons like me.” Inès (36): “Whatever I borrow really has to correspond to my personality... It's not going to change me ... If it's not like me or what I have, it's not worth it!” Diane (50): “On the ‘Ma Bonne Amie’ website, I can access to outfits that range from golden sequins to super chic black tuxedoes and pantsuits, but they're not flashy at all, so it's really nice. And the website and the shop have something to rent for every size… Oh, but for me, there was never any doubt, I saw myself in the sheath dress and immediately thought, ‘That's me’... It wasn't Dior, it wasn't modest at all, it was like, what was the name of Orson Welles's wife, the redhead?” These narratives underline that, whether the luxury items are shared or borrowed, they should reflect the consumer's identity in a consistent way. This finding is in line with prior literature on sharing but had not previously been shown for borrowing. Although they are conceptually different from each other, the sharing and borrowing practices appear very close with respect to the impact on identity. In fact, most participants interchangeably use the terms “borrow,” “share,” “lend,” “take from,” “help oneself to,” and “exchange” in the case of luxury clothes when they are invited to talk about this topic. The term ‘borrowing’ is used extensively as a euphemism for ‘sharing’ (Belk, 2014). The following narratives illustrate this situation: Ombline (32): “I took some luxury dresses from my mother, and my sisters borrow more regularly from my mother because they live closer to L. Loussaïef, et al. Journal of Business Research 102 (2019) 263–272 266

each other. However, we share our accessories a lot; indeed, my mom and I share her luxury dresses and accessories a lot.” Laure (21): “I think I like to wear luxury items that suit me, items that I like, but I don't care whether these items are mine, whether I've borrowed them or shared them; in the end, it's not a big deal for me, it's the same.” Importantly, our findings on access to luxury clothing run counter to the case of accessing cars (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012), in which case the object did not reflect the consumer's identity and was not appropriated. However, one notable aspect of identity that seems to be expressed by all women wearing luxury clothing and accessories, and one that differs from wearing non-luxury items, is how immaculate and refined they should look. Discussing the luxury clothes and shoes she shares within her family, Léa (25) explains how she tries “to be neat, to present an image that is neat and positive.” This identity of neatness and refinement matches the personal vision that each of them has of luxury, whether it is centered on themselves (for personal pleasure) or on other people as an indicator of social success (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009), as illustrated by the following quotations: Inès (36): “What I borrow really has to match my personality ... I'm going to want the iconic models, the ones that are very expensive and that I can't buy ... there are big Chanel bags that are beautiful, but for me, that's too much ... it's not me ... Louboutin shoes that cost ... I think it's €800, that's not me, and it never will be”. Bianca (23), talking about a Kenzo bag shared with friends: “Ah, I'm saying all the better if I get a luxury item for free, that's great. I'll go for a walk with it, I'll show it off a bit... I'll put it down, and the others will look at it and tell me, ‘Oh, your bag is really pretty’”. Furthermore, accessing, borrowing, or sharing luxury garments allows participants to feel valued, magnified, and more attractive, and to reach their ideal self-image in terms of self-presentation, whatever the way in which they access the items. For the younger informants, this ideal self-image is that of a “princess,” and of a “star” when they grow older: Ombline (32): “When I borrow and wear luxury clothes, I feel more valued and appreciated. Wearing luxury items helps you feel good and valued; I feel better in my body and my heart.” Maylis (17): “For my first parties, I was invited to share high-end evening dresses from cousins. I wanted to look refined and shine as a princess.” Diane (50): “I was able to access this glamorous evening gown by Loris Azzaro, something I could never have hoped to wear! And in the renting showroom, they also offered me this little Swarovski clutch, then I added Yves Saint-Laurent shoes... I looked like a star from the 1950s.” This identity of neatness and refinement that is inherent in the world of luxury can be coupled with aspects of identity centered on sustainable development, echoing some work on the consumers of luxury products (e.g. Achabou & Dekhili, 2013; Kapferer & Michaut, 2015). Some women have experienced the wearing of a piece of clothing or an accessory as sufficient, have distanced themselves from owning it and thus reflect an identity centered on both elegance and responsibility toward society. Such is the case with Joan (24), who has a strong ecological sensitivity and wants to remain feminine. For her, accessing luxury fashion through online renting is the only way out. She defends her choice in this way: “I feel proud that I was able to change my mode of consumption ... that I no longer have things about which I can say, ‘OK, I have it, and now I'm sending it back’... to have this detachment from objects, let's put it that way ... It's a tough question. I also feel a bit like I'm off the beaten path... and I've always liked that about my personality, so that's that.” 4.1.2. The emergence of a temporary extended self, thanks to a luxury garment or accessory that is not exclusively owned In situations where the woman is not the exclusive owner of a luxury garment, this garment will feed into a kind of temporary extended self (Belk, 2013, 2014). In fact, the informants explain that they manage to make the garment or accessory theirs, as if it were part and parcel of their own wardrobe, during the period the object is shared, borrowed, or accessed. This emergence of a temporary extended self is observed in sharing high-end clothing, as Julie (33) explains: “The luxury items I share with and from my friends are mine… the same way as my purchased coat by Claudie Pierlot is mine.” Indeed, it turns out that borrowers can regard the wardrobe of the lenders, whether it is their mother (Decoopman et al., 2010; Gentina et al., 2017) or their friends (Gentina, 2014), as an extension of themselves. Laure (21) makes the following statement: “Borrowing from my best friend ... gave me the impression of having a new wardrobe ... because I had clothes in other cupboards, too [laughs].” These temporary borrowed items extend the self in a similar way as possessions or shared items do. The informants are certainly aware that this appropriation is time-bound in the case of borrowing, as Melanie (16) explains when she talks about borrowing an evening gown or a high-end bag: “I tell myself that borrowing, in a way, is owning what we don't have, since it's still a loan if it's returned.” However, this does not prevent informants from fully enjoying the luxury item when they wear it and from using it almost as a real possession throughout the borrowing period. When it seems necessary for them to do so, they will consider personalizing the outfit, so that the garment, even though it does not belong to them, becomes an integral part of their identity. In this regard, Julie (33) explains how she is not “necessarily going to wear shoes the same way as the person who bought the garment for a special occasion and had accessorized it with other shoes.” But it is not only borrowing or sharing luxury fashion that allows for a temporary extended self: Accessing is another, as our respondents make clear. This result contrasts with prior research on the access-based consumption of cars (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012), where consumers did not incorporate the cars they accessed into their extended selves and avoided identification. By contrast, when it comes to the luxury accessories she accesses, Charlotte (55) regards the items as a temporary extension of herself: “Even when the item is not mine, I'm me, I'm Charlotte! I think I manage to make the item mine; as soon as I try it on, it's mine!” 4.1.3. The non-exclusively owned luxury garment/accessory fosters the construction of identity The non-exclusively owned luxury object plays a role in constructing the identity of our informants. Following the work of Erikson (1963), this construction concerns our younger respondents (16–25 years) to a greater degree. It generally happens under the influence of people around them, especially their mothers (Decoopman et al., 2010), and is borne out in the luxury context. For example, Hélène (16) explains how, by borrowing from her mother a Bonpoint dress or a Hermès silk scarf, she is helped building her own fashion identity: “With Mom, I know that I actually don't know. I prefer being with her because I know she'll like it, and since I was in Year 6, she's told me, ‘You'll see, it will be gorgeous, it will be fashionable in a year's time,’ and she's always right about that!”. For her part, Melanie (16) explains how her mother, from whom she borrows Yves Saint Laurent clothing and accessories, encourages her to pay attention to her appearance: “Yes, because my mother wants me to be presentable... The image one presents of oneself”. Here, the image that is presented echoes the importance of having a neat or distinguished identity, one that Melanie abides by, under the guidance of her mother. Her narrative further shows that she currently continues to construct a refined identity under the guidance from her friends, by using shared purchases of luxury bags. Indeed, this identity construction also builds on sharing luxurious garments with friends who help them to construct their self, as Claire (16) says: “If I want to become a bit different, if I feel like moving slightly L. Loussaïef, et al. Journal of Business Research 102 (2019) 263–272 267

from who I am, and I happen to have a friend proposing to share, and she has this great fashion style, then I would take her things...” 4.2. When non-exclusive ownership leads to self-transformation A non-exclusively owned luxury garment (accessed, borrowed, or shared) can also be a means to transform women's self-presentation and even self-identity – in a simpler and more fluid way than with ownership. 4.2.1. A fluid transformation of self-presentation The respondents underscored that the wearing of non-exclusively owned luxury clothing or accessories makes it possible for them to change their appearance easily, temporarily, and on a whim, regardless of the examined practices (access, borrowing, and sharing) – except for shared purchases, as will be detailed later. This fluid transformation remains ‘controlled’ insofar as they consciously change their appearance and do not wish to project an image that is completely at odds with their identity. For example, Inès (36) explains that borrowed luxury bags help her transform her self-presentation temporarily and easily and adapt to specific events: “I choose to borrow these bags to appear different in a way, like a chameleon, which changes color and varies according to different contexts.” For our respondents, accessing, borrowing, and sharing luxury clothing/accessories allows them, first and foremost, a fluid and flexible transformation of self-presentation without necessarily transforming their self-concept and self-esteem (Martinot, 1995). This transformation, which may not modify their self-concept and is less rigid than in the context of exclusive possession, can be described as liquid, in the sense used by Bauman (2007, 2013). As Bauman explains (2007, p. 7), “modernity is shifting from a ‘solid’ to a ‘liquid’ phase, in which the social forms (the structures which limit individual choices, the modes of behavior deemed acceptable) no longer can remain as they are for much longer.” In other words, individual behaviors, achievements, goods, and assets are no longer solidified: in our case, self-presentation transforms in a similarly fluid, flexible and ephemeral way. By contrast, a luxury shared purchase – like purchase – involves a transformation of self-presentation that tends to be less fluid and liquid than sharing, borrowing, or accessing as it is a long-term involvement requiring a big financial investment. It also requires having similar tastes and fancies with the co-purchaser, which is not always compatible with a fluid and easy transformation of self-presentation: Léa (25): “This luxury piece of clothing is something we purchased together; we will share it for a long time, and I'm proud of this shared purchase…Sharing purchase with mom means we share similar tastes because our fashion tastes have merged together in a way now. I couldn't do shared luxury purchases with mom when I was younger.” The women's transformation of their self-presentation may result from the desire to have fun or to voluntarily play a role that is a little different than usual. They will then prefer access, borrowing, or sharing, which allows them to fulfill their one-off desire and easily modify their image, unlike making a purchase, which is perceived as more restrictive. Marine (45) explains that: “If I want to put on something out of the ordinary ... borrowing is much more beneficial ... one day's fantasy shouldn't be expensive! ... So I would rather borrow it, yes.” Speaking of borrowing a Chanel bag, she adds, “I wanted more fantasy ... so I really wanted to have it ... but honestly, I wouldn't have paid for the bag at any cost to have it ... since I didn't pay for it”. In the world of luxury, when looking for fantasy or a change of style, price can be a barrier that the women overcome by accessing, borrowing or sharing. Constance (35) humorously conveys the impression she gets from access to upscale and luxury clothes. She says she “feels as though [she is] sharing a dressing room with the girls from ‘Sex and the City’ because, for three months, it is possible not to dress the same way twice.” The informants will also seek to change their self-presentation in order to conform to societal norms but without identifying themselves with this temporarily sported style and without incorporating it into their extended selves. Here, contrary to the general idea that a shared object is integrated into the self (Belk, 2013, 2014), the specific shared/ borrowed/accessed luxury garment or accessory is not incorporated in the woman's identity. Some women in the workplace might be looking to transform their appearance. They are aware, as Isaure (35) tells us, that this setting often requires that one have a particular look: “For business appointments, with people who are HR directors, directors in banking or finance, because these are the sectors I manage; obviously, I try to have the same standards as these companies.” In a similar vein, the youngest women, who have not been in the professional arena for long or not frequently, borrow high-end jackets from their friends or their mothers, as Melanie (16) explains: “I took it from her because I needed it, for example, for my professional day. Because I don't have any jackets like that.” This need to project the expected image may also be present at more personal events like parties or weddings. In these situations, where the image conveyed by luxury is sought (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009), some dress codes have to be respected: wearing certain items, needing variety etc. Émilie (35) explains how borrowing permits her to meet this societal expectation in her self-presentation, without changing her identity: “I borrow for a special occasion, a wedding, a sexy evening ... to have an image that I want to project at a specific moment; it's not who I usually am, otherwise I'd have bought it already [...] Socially, I need to be integrated into a norm, I'm very normative ... I don't want to be ridiculous, I want to blend in, this is why I dress this way.” If the garment doesn't fully correspond to who she is, Émilie prefers borrowing instead of buying it. She mentions borrowing a hat for a wedding. This bit of borrowing allowed her to easily modify her self-presentation in a fluid and liquid way (Bauman, 2007, 2013) and for a short period of time, without changing her self-concept (Martinot, 1995). 4.2.2. Interactions between self-presentation transformation and selfconcept: on the way toward a liquid transformation of the self-concept Self-presentation can be transformed in the medium or the long term by engaging with a more comprehensive transformation of the self-concept. A first case of the transformation of self-presentation interacting with the self-concept turns up in the informants' narratives, in which a characteristic of the self-concept is highlighted. Accessing, borrowing, or sharing makes it possible to emphasize one aspect of women that is often discreet or latent and allows them to develop their self-presentation while reinforcing their self-concept regarding that same discreet or latent facet. Charlotte (55) recounted how renting a hat for a wedding had made it possible for her to boost a slightly less conventional part of her personality: “In that case, it allows something else to emerge. It's always me, but it's stronger, perhaps ... It can boost it ...” The transformation of self-presentation may also accompany a gradual and fluid yet profound change in the self-concept. Accessing, borrowing, or sharing allows women, during times of change (family or professional life cycles …) to try out new outfits that they can adopt for good if they think they suit their new evolving self-concept. This is the case of Constance (35), who, after two successive pregnancies, is undergoing an identity evolution and opts to access via online renting luxury clothing, in order to match her self-presentation with her transforming self-concept: “It has allowed me to try on clothes that I wouldn't have bought and to see what doesn't fit me. Clothes I wasn't sure about.” As for Ombline (32), she explains she has tried out in the professional context new luxury clothes shared with her family in order to gain self-confidence; this has accompanied a progressive transformation of her self-concept these past few years toward greater assertiveness and leadership. Thus, as for the mothers of teenage girls, who are confronted with the redefinition of their motherhood and their femininity, consumption practices can play a central role at times of life cycle change (Decoopman et al., 2010). Another interaction that L. Loussaïef, et al. Journal of Business Research 102 (2019) 263–272 268

emerges from the interviews is a result of the influence that the change in the self-presentation has on the self-concept. For example, having borrowed several branded dresses from her mother, Stéphanie (35) was reassured about her image and gained confidence in herself, in her femininity. This new luxury wardrobe led her to have fewer hang-ups and feeling freer than before to express her opinions. 4.3. Identity contamination through the owner's image in sharing and borrowing While there are many similarities between the different forms of non-exclusive ownership, namely access, borrowing, sharing, and shared purchase, it seems that only the latter three examined practices induce a contamination of identity through the image of the owner. In access, the owner is not known; therefore, there is no identity contamination through this image that is related to the previous owner. While the literature alludes to contamination in a negative manner in the practices of sharing or second-hand buying (e.g. Argo, Dahl, & Morales, 2006; Decoopman et al., 2010; Roux & Korchia, 2006) more easily than it does in a positive manner (e.g. Lurie, 1981; Roux & Korchia, 2006), it appears in our respondents' speech that, in the case of sharing and borrowing luxury clothing items, positive identity contamination prevails. With sharing (including shared purchase) or borrowing luxury clothing, the respondents from all age groups value the ability to wear items they got from people they know and trust. They feel affection for the person when they wear her garment, as Maylis (16), who shares beautiful pieces with her closest friends, suggests. She is glad that the resulting appearance reflects tastes they have in common, a kind of proximity. This view is shared by Léa (25), who wore an evening dress belonging to her cousin: “Because it's a cousin I really like, it's a person with whom ... Who I'm very close to, so it was also a pleasure for me to wear uh ... This dress that was lent to me.” Others mention a complicity in borrowing an item of clothing: “I think it's cute, I think it's funny when we wear the clothes of our friends ... there's a certain complicity, I think” (Claire, 16). If there is no proximity or complicity with the lender, borrowing and sharing would no longer be possible, as Agatha (50) explains: “I don't think I'd want to wear the dress of someone I don't like. [Laughs] It's funny, it's funny because ... well, I think I wouldn't feel good in it ... I think I have a lot of integrity, and I'm very sensitive. So if I don't like someone, I wouldn't think of asking them something. So I wouldn't take a dress that belongs to someone I don't like! And I wouldn't share a dress with someone I don't like! [Laughs]”. This presence of positive contamination echoes the work of Decoopman et al. (2010) on mother–daughter exchanges and widens the perimeter to women sharing with their friends. In some cases, positive contamination will involve appropriating the feelings of the other. By borrowing clothes from her mother, Bianca (23) also appropriates her mother's level of attachment to the object. That is what she implies when she talks about a piece of silk she borrows from her. “She has a certain affection for this small top ... I know it's important to her, so it will be important to me.” Finally, positive contamination can go as far as identity confusion between the owner and the borrower. As Isaure (35) relates to us about a friend from whom she borrows a beautiful item: “It's a little story between her and me. Sometimes, I have my photo taken when I'm wearing her skirt, and I tell her, ‘Look, it looks just like you.’” Agatha (50) expresses the same type of feeling about friends from whom she borrows evening wear: “Whereas I put on something that belongs to someone else, I still ... and as I borrow from people who ... women I get on with and that I like, for whom I have affection, I think that, when I put on a piece of their clothing, I carry something of theirs with me. It's funny to say that, but it's true, I think that ... when I say ‘something of theirs’, I don't change, I don't become them. But I know it's theirs and that there's a part of them here. And it's their taste, it's a way ... they chose it because that's who they are.” Here, the identity confusion takes place between friends, in a way that is similar to what can happen with some mother–daughter profiles identified by Decoopman et al. (2010). A shared purchase can also be an area of identity confusion. This confusion can lead the woman to live vicariously by sharing clothing – allowing someone else to be a consumer of the item without consuming it herself. Thus, shared purchasing can lead one of the participants, Maud (30), to transform her appearance by proxy. Indeed, the jacket that she purchased with her sister, with whom she is very close, did not fit her perfectly; she explained to us that when her sister was wearing it, it was as if she was wearing it herself: Thus, her sister represents an extension of her identity. She hopes to be able to wear this jacket one day: “For me, the advantage is to have someone dress up in what I'd have liked to be able to wear in an earlier or later life ...” Thus, the new item is part of her extended self (Belk, 1988) without her even being able to wear and ‘consume’ it: This is consistent with the work of Peck and Shu (2009), who show how consumers incorporate products into their extended self without even touching them. However, while Belk (1988) indicates that others and possessions represent two discrete parts of a person's extended self, our result in this case of a shared purchase suggests a possible interlocking, within the extended self, of possessions and the extended others. 5. Discussion This research has explored access versus borrowing and versus sharing (including shared purchase) with regard to women's self-identity in the luxury fashion field. Our findings offer several contributions that enrich the literature on the consumer self-object relationship – specifically in relation to access – and extend prior research on sharing and borrowing practices. Overall, the research underlines that, with regard to consumer self-identity, this continuum of non-exclusive ownership's practices ranging from non-ownership (with access and borrowing) to joint ownership (with sharing and shared purchase) offers many similarities but also several differences in the observed phenomena, as highlighted in Table 2. Firstly, our findings on the accessing, borrowing, and sharing (including shared purchase) of luxury garments among adult women outside the family underline how these items should be consistent with self-identity, and how they foster a temporary extended self. In this regard, our research highlights that these different practices have similar consequences for self-identity, which the literature had not previously underlined. Our findings here also confirm prior research on sharing clothes among adolescents (Gentina, 2014) and between mothers and their daughters (Decoopman et al., 2010; Gentina et al., 2017). Secondly, we reveal that access to luxury clothing/accessories really reflects and nourishes consumers' self-identity: This strongly contrasts with the case explored by Bardhi and Eckhardt (2012) that deals with access to cars. Specifically, our research shows that, during the access period, women appropriate luxury garments and incorporate them into a temporary extended self in a way similar to possessions (Belk, 1988). By contrast with cars, as studied by Bardhi and Eckhardt (2012), luxury fashion items are accessed to convey who you are and enhance your image to others. Like a second skin, clothing and accessories are in direct contact with the consumer (Joubert & Stern, 2005); they inherently nourish the self and display it in a closer and more connected way than cars do. Thus, within the extended self, clothing/accessories are closer to the intimate self-concept than cars, which tend to be less important to self-definition, especially for younger generations (Belk, 2014). Thirdly, this research confirms that, in the specific luxury clothing context, access, borrowing, and sharing practices (including shared purchase) contribute to performing an identity about refinement and neatness – an attempt to reach an ideal self-image in terms of selfpresentation. This result echoes previous research about luxury fashion possessions (Seo & Buchanan-Oliver, 2017). L. Loussaïef, et al. Journal of Business Research 102 (2019) 263–272 269

Fourthly, this study reveals that accessing, borrowing, and sharing luxury fashion similarly allow a liquid transformation of consumers' identity in their self-presentation, facilitated versus the potential selftransformation of ownership for several reasons that will be detailed later. Our findings highlight the liquidity of individual self-presentation's transformation in the sociological sense of Bauman (2007, 2013), which indicates a growing liquidity of society in which identity positions and projects are not stable, in which individuals distance themselves from possessions that act as an extension of the self, replaced by “liquid” objects that might be virtual, temporary, circulating within various consumers as things can be easily disposed of, and resold online. In our case, the liquid transformation of self-identity is defined as the fluid, flexible, and rapid modification of identity positions involved in the practices we examined. In marketing research, the liquidity of possessions was recently highlighted by Bardhi and Eckhardt (2017), echoing their previous studies about the specific case of the nomadism of contemporary elites (Bardhi, Eckhardt, & Arnould, 2012) and the access-based consumption of cars (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012). In our luxury clothing context, access, borrowing and sharing enable a specific relationship to objects that is different from traditional ownership: rapid, ephemeral, practical, financially non-engaging, nonconstraining, and, lastly, not always impacting self-image in the long run – consequently leading to a more liquid and fluid self-transformation, compared with the self-transformation fostered by luxury fashion possessions (Seo & Buchanan-Oliver, 2017). Our findings underline that this liquid modification of self-presentation may occur when women decide to play a different role for fun, to try a new fashion style, or to conform to cultural/social norms that ascribe women to be dressed in a specific luxurious way. In the first two cases, accessing, borrowing, or sharing allow respondents to incorporate the new item into their extended self, and their self-concept may eventually transform (Martinot, 1995) in a fluid, gradual way. In the last case, the accessed, borrowed or shared item is not willingly incorporated into their extended self, as it corresponds more to a social norm than to their inner self; therefore, the self-concept remains stable and unchanged. Fifthly, our findings reveal that accessing, borrowing, and sharing luxury clothing may entail a fluid strengthening of a latent facet of selfconcept or even a progressive transformation of the self-concept, in contrast with purchasing. For many informants, these three examined practices involve emphasizing a discreet or latent facet of their selfconcept, in a fluid way. For others, our findings even show a liquid transformation of the self-concept involved with these access/borrowing/sharing practices, a liquid transformation which is performed to adapt to transitions in consumers' life cycle (such as maternity or professional life cycle). Both findings highlight different facets of selftransformation connected to self-concept that were not shown by previous literature on luxury fashion possessions (Gurzki & Woisetschläger, 2017; Seo & Buchanan-Oliver, 2017). In addition, this research highlights that shared purchase in luxury fashion differs from sharing with regard to identity, as it does not lead to such a liquid transformation of self-presentation or self-concept. This adds to prior literature on sharing, which tends to consider that the sharing practice includes shared purchase (Belk, 2007, 2010, 2014). In our luxury fashion context, our results show that shared purchase involves a long-term involvement, big financial investment, and tastes similar to those of the co-purchaser. Thus, it would involve a selftransformation comparable to purchase and possession – less fluid than in the case of sharing. Finally, this research underlines the positive identity contamination through the owner's image in sharing and borrowing practices, in contrast with access. Prior research has largely focused on negative contagion, connected to dirtiness/hygiene, in sharing and second-hand buying (Argo et al., 2006; Decoopman et al., 2010; Roux & Korchia, 2006) or in access-based consumption (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012). By contrast, in the case of luxury fashion, our findings reveal a positive affective contamination of the borrowed/shared item imbued with the owner's positive personality traits and attractive physical appearance: The borrower slips into the other person's skin and feels like she appropriates her fashion taste, leading to some identity confusion. In the specific case of shared purchase with a close friend of family member, the study reveals women may even experience living one's identity by proxy: The other co-purchaser may be the only one wearing the garment, making it possible to symbolically transpose this usage onto and reflect it in one's own identity. This specific finding adds to prior literature on sharing (Belk, 2007; Decoopman et al., 2010; Gentina, 2014) and on the extended self (Belk, 1988), as it suggests that others and possessions are nested and closely intertwined in the extension of the self and not two discrete parts in this aggregate set. 5.1. Managerial implications This research also provides several managerial implications. Firstly, managers of luxury fashion access models should communicate more about the liquid identity transformation involved in this practice, in addition to the practical and financial benefits communicated thus far. It would be relevant to communicate that access to luxury fashion allows temporarily emphasizing one facet of the consumer's personality or easily expressing an extravagant dimension that has been latent. Furthermore, communication should highlight that access makes it possible to gradually and easily test out new looks and styles in real life, obtaining others' approval over a long period. Secondly, our research underlines that women tend to access luxury fashion items with various practices (access via the internet, traditional renting, borrowing, shared purchase…): During the interviews, informants highlighted that they mix these different practices concurrently (as shown in Table 1), on top of the second-hand purchasing Table 2 From access to shared purchase of luxury clothing/accessories: overview of similarities and differences with regard to identity. Non ownership Joint ownership Access Borrowing Sharing Shared purchase Necessary consistency with self-identity - Reflecting self-identity ✓✓ ✓ ✓ - Fostering temporary extended self ✓✓ ✓ ✓ - Constructing self-identity (for young) n/a* ✓✓ ✓ Liquid transformation of identity - Liquid transformation of self-presentation ✓✓ ✓ – - Strengthening of one aspect of self-concept ✓✓ ✓ – - Liquid transformation of self-concept ✓✓ ✓ – Identity contamination - Positive identity contamination – ✓✓ ✓ *In the sample, no young respondents practicing access displayed this characteristic. L. Loussaïef, et al. Journal of Business Research 102 (2019) 263–272 270

cited by most of them. Thus brands and retailers should develop a portfolio of various distribution channels to optimize access to these items. Such initiatives have already been announced by pioneers such as Kering, 3 which in 2018 investigated disruptive new business models with an online subscription for rental or second-hand buying, or Galeries Lafayette, which opened a corner last April in Paris in partnership with rental company Panoply City where women can access clothes. Thirdly, this research suggests that younger consumers (16–25) tend not to practice online access of luxury fashion as of yet, a phenomenon confirmed by our contacts with professionals from the field. However, the interviews did not identify specific consumption barriers specifically linked to this age group. It seems that younger consumers are not aware of this emerging practice and tend to favor sharing/borrowing as the easiest and smartest way to try out luxury outfits while obtaining peer or maternal approval. It could be interesting for access models to better develop their approach to this clientele through the targeted communication building of peer-to-peer approval, through mobile phone apps and social media, and aspirational online coaching. 5.2. Limitations and further research The first research limitation relates to the difficult recruitment of late adolescents (16–25) really practicing access of luxury fashion: Although our 11 informants from this age group were requested to talk about this practice, only one respondent (aged 24) was familiar with it. Secondly, this study focused on the most interesting age groups for the luxury fashion sector, from late adolescence to middle-aged adults. It could be relevant to expand this research to older adults (60 years and older) in order to explore their relation to self-identity. Thirdly, the focus was on women, as they currently constitute the main target for access models of luxury fashion. Expanding future research to include the male target is a possibility. Fourthly, this study was carried out in France. Conducting cross-cultural research to dig into the cultural impact on access/sharing patterns and how culture interferes in the self–object relationship could be interesting. Finally, access-based consumption has been explored in the domains of art (Chen, 2009), cars (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012), and now luxury fashion. In prior research, access to cars, where consumers probably look for mere service, appeared less identity-reflexive than art and luxury fashion. 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Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 517–524 Available online 28 November 2019 0148-2963/© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Consumer experiences of virtual reality: Insights from VR luxury brand fashion shows Jaesuk Jung a , Jihye Yu a , Yuri Seo b , Eunju Ko a,* a Department of Clothing and Textiles, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea b Department of Marketing, The University of Auckland Business School, The University of Auckland, Room 412, 12 Grafton Road, Auckland, New Zealand ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Virtual reality Fashion industry Consumer experiences Luxury brands ABSTRACT Virtual reality (VR) offers a new medium for marketing communications, where consumers are immersed into technologically synthesized ‘real-use’ experiences of products and services. In this study, we theorize and investigate empirically how consumers derive meanings from VR experiences. Using the ZMET technique, we uncover three themes: VR as democratization, VR as embodied escapism, and VR as actualized anxiety. Our focus on the consumption meanings of VR experiences provides an illuminating entr´ee into the discussion of how this technology is likely to shape marketing communications and consumer behavior in the foreseeable future. 1. Introduction One important technological innovation that is expected to impact the future of marketing and advertising practice greatly is virtual reality (VR). VR is formally defined as “the illusion of participation in a synthetic environment rather than external observation of such an environment. VR relies on three-dimensional (3D), stereoscopic, headtracked displays, hand/body tracking and binaural sound. VR is an immersive, multisensory experience” (Gigante, 1993, p. 3). Although the earliest references to VR date back to the 1990’s, it has been only recently that technological and socioeconomic developments have allowed “VR to evolve from a niche technology mainly enjoyed within the gaming communities into the realm of everyday experiences” (Tussyadiah, Wang, Jung, & tom Dieck, 2018, p. 140). Indeed, with the rise of highly sophisticated and affordable personal devices, such as Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift, VR is now a ‘part of the mainstream consumer consciousness’ with the headset market estimated to reach 81.2 million units by 2021 (Lamkin, 2017). Against the backdrop of this rising mainstream popularity, there have been pioneering discussions about how VR – as a novel and experientially distinct medium of communications – can augment current and future marketing communications strategies. At the broadest level, by virtue of offering a highly immersive media environment that was absent previously, VR enables marketers to stage rich consumercentric experiences beyond what is possible within the boundaries of traditional media (Guttentag, 2010; Ahn & Bailenson, 2011; Tussyadiah et al., 2018). Not surprisingly, the emerging practical applications of VR in marketing communications are most evident within the experienceintensive industries, such as computer gaming, tourism, and fashion (Guttentag, 2010; Huang, Liaw, & Lai, 2016; Ahn, Bailenson, & Park, 2014; Tussyadiah et al., 2018). However, even within these specialized domains, extant theory with regards to how consumers experience VR communications and what this entails for the future of advertising practice is underdeveloped. Previous studies have focused largely on exploring the role of ‘presence’ within VR – defined as the psychological state of feeling that the virtual experience is real (Heeter, 1992; Lombard & Ditton, 1997). For instance, Tussyadiah et al. (2018) found that heightened presence in VR enhances enjoyment, attitudes, and visiting intentions in the context of tourism marketing, whereas Grigorovici and Constantin (2004) discuss how presence heightens brand recall in VR computer games. In a more general context, Ahn and Bailenson (2011) show that the sense of presence, manipulated as a function of low- and high-immersive VR environments, moderates the effect of self-endorsing. However, beyond these psychological effects of presence induced by the technological affordances of VR, we have only a limited, broad-brush sense of how consumers experience VR, and what consumption meanings they construct post-experiences. The purpose of this paper is to broaden our perspective regarding VR marketing communications and consumption experiences. Specifically, we shift the focus away from the technological affordances of VR per se, and towards the complex experiential cultural gestalt (Thompson, 1997) * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Jung), [email protected] (J. Yu), [email protected] (Y. Seo), [email protected] (E. Ko). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.10.038 Received 22 November 2018; Received in revised form 20 October 2019; Accepted 21 October 2019

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 517–524 518 of virtuality, technological discourses, and interpretive strategies that underscore the mental models of VR consumption (Christensen & Olson, 2002). In this endeavor, we are informed by two streams of research: socio-cultural discourses of cyberspace consumption (Buchanan-Oliver, Cruz, & Schroeder, 2010; Ko, Ko, & Chun, 2017; Zhang and Dholakia, 2018; Bridges, 2018; Shin, Chae, & Ko, 2018; Kim, Kang, & Taylor, 2018) and the ontological properties of the digital virtual (Shields, 2003; Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2010; Guercini, Bernal, & Prentice, 2018; Mir-Bernal, Guercini, & Sadaba, ´ 2018; Bonilla, del Olmo Arriaga, & Andreu, 2019). The specific research objective of our study is to illustrate how the socio-cultural background of utopian and dystopian discourses (Buchanan-Oliver et al., 2010; Lee, Ko, Chae, & Minami, 2017) underscores the consumption experiences of modern VR communications, which take place ‘in-between’ the ontological categories of the virtual and the material (Denegri-Knott and Molesworth, 2010; Kim, Ko, & Kim, 2018). Our empirical investigation employed the ZMET approach (Zaltman & Coulter, 1995; Coulter, 2006; Venkatesh, Joy, Sherry, & Deschenes, 2010), an analytical technique that uses qualitative data based on visual images that are interpreted by consumers, and adopts a hermeneutic model of experiential gestalt (Thompson, 1997) in order to make sense of the emerging emic (first-person) meanings ascribed to VR experiences by consumers. In this endeavor, twenty participants from South Korea experienced a staged VR luxury brand fashion show, and were asked to reflect on their experiences using several of the procedures of Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) interviewing method (Coulter, 2006). We then analyzed the interviews using a hermeneutic approach that elicits consumption meanings describing the experiential gestalt (Thompson, 1997). Our analysis revealed three themes: VR as democratization, VR as embodied escapism, and VR as actualized anxiety. These themes underscore complex imagery and ambivalence in respect of the way consumers interpret VR experiences, whereby the emergent consumption meanings are permeated with both utopian and dystopian themes, and further intertwined with notions of being ‘virtual’ or ‘material’. Important theoretical and practical implications regarding the role of VR technologies in digital virtual consumption (Denegri-Knott and Molesworth, 2010), consumer culture (Arnould & Thompson, 2005), and VR marketing communications practice (Guttentag, 2010; Ahn & Bailenson, 2011; Tussyadiah et al., 2018) are discussed at the end. 2. Theoretical framework 2.1. Cultural discourses of cyberspace consumption: Utopian and dystopian A stream of consumer culture research (Arnould & Thompson, 2005) posits that consumption experiences are culturally-constituted. That is, consumers make sense of their experiences against the socio-historical background of cultural categories, common sense beliefs, folk knowledge, myths, and other historically available frames of reference, which make an experiential gestalt intelligible and meaningful (Thompson, 1997). Put differently, rather than approaching a meaning-making process with a ‘clean state’, our inter-operation of experiences is framed within relevant socio-cultural discourses and personal histories that are salient in a given consumption context. While VR has only recently begun to emerge as a mainstream communication device, the socio-cultural discourses depicting the ‘future’ role of VR-like cyberspace technologies have been popularized for decades. Consider, for instance, the plethora of sci-fi books (e.g., 1985′ s Ender’s Game), motion pictures (The Matrix from 1999), and even advertising commercials (Apple Macintosh, 1984), which portray the role of VR as a mass-communication device that changes consumers’ lives in the future. Albeit one may argue that these cultural narratives pre-date modern devices and, therefore, have very little in common with what VR consumption entails today, consumer culture researchers have repeatedly shown that such socio-historically routinized discourses, can exert powerful influence beyond their factual applications on how people interpret their consumption experiences (Stern, 1995; Thompson, 2004; Buchanan-Oliver & Seo, 2012). Several interdisciplinary studies that discuss the socio-cultural representations of technology consumption (Foucault, 1973; Hayles, 1999; Buchanan-Oliver et al., 2010; Lee, 2017) are particularly informative for the purposes of our study. Buchanan-Oliver et al. (2010) identify the prevalence of oppositional discourses regarding the way cyberspaces have been portrayed in consumer culture. On the one hand, cyberspaces are often conceived as utopian spaces of emancipation, where VR technology creates the idealized ‘public sphere’, which is not dominated by the state or powerful economic organizations (Buchanan-Oliver et al., 2010). Indeed, consider the plot of a recent motion picture and the novel of the same name – Ready Player One – featuring an underprivileged protagonist who defeats a powerful commercial organization within the boundaries of VR, where ‘anyone can do anything’. In a similar vein, the emergence of other cyberspaces, such as content communities (e.g., YouTube), collaborative projects like Wikipedia, and virtual game worlds such as World of Warcraft, is often framed as the flattening of traditional marketing institutions and the enablement of consumer empowerment (e.g., Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009; Seo, 2013). On the other hand, there are also oppositional, dystopian, discourses surrounding the role of cyberspaces. As Buchanan-Oliver et al. (2010, p. 643) note, “[cyberspace] technologies can also be seen as a disciplinary apparatus for the production of docile bodies in the interests of powerful institutions”, whereby they perpetuate surveillance and subjugate people to act according to “the requirements of the machine”. Contrary to imagining cyberspaces as a space of unlimited freedom, these narratives depict VR technology as a totalitarian power that takes people’s freedom away and replaces it with a mere illusion (Robins, 1995; Barzilai-Nahon, 2006; McGowan, 2013). Popular cultural texts that actualize this view include cult-like motion pictures, such as Terminator and Matrix, which portray dystopian futures where machines rule over people. Beyond popular culture, there are growing and more material concerns about the protection of consumers’ privacy in modern cyberspaces including the Internet more broadly, which also uphold the dystopian view of technology performing surveilling and controlling functions (e.g., Fuchs, 2013). The discussion above raises interesting questions for developing a more holistic insight into VR consumer experiences: given the importance of socio-cultural discourses in framing consumption meanings (Thompson, 1997; Arnould & Thompson, 2005), what role do these conflicting utopian and dystopian themes about cyberspaces play within the emergent consumer experiences of VR marketing communications? 2.2. Ontological category of digital virtual: hyper-virtual and hypermaterial While the socio-cultural discourses of cyberspace consumption point toward the prevalence of oppositional themes that may provide a cultural frame for the ways consumers make sense of their VR experiences (Buchanan-Oliver et al., 2010), such experiences are also underpinned by the ontological structure that inhibits the notions of ‘real’ and ‘possible’, and ‘ideal’ and ‘actual’ (Shields, 2003, 2006; Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2010). This structure heightens the meaning of the term ‘virtual’, and of the ways VR experiences can be juxtaposed against, and related to, our experiences in the physical world. Specifically, the concept of ‘virtual reality’ is as old as humanity, because cultural rituals, literature, games, and even brands can be all viewed as different manifestations of virtual realities that predate VR (Shields, 2003, 2006). This is because beyond equating the material to ‘real’ and the virtual to ‘not real’ or ‘possible’, the ontological category of ‘the virtual’ can be, instead, conceived as taking place within imagination as the ‘ideal’ – beyond the ‘actual’ material reality – which retains the properties of being ‘real’ (Shields, 2003, 2006). Indeed, brand J. Jung et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 517–524 519 meanings that exist within consumers’ minds are not material; yet, very few marketers would argue that they are ‘not real’ (Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2010). This implies that the virtual is real; but that it refers to the specific aspect of reality that is ‘ideal’, imagined, or as Shields (2003; 2006) calls it, the ‘ideal-real’. In other words, the virtual refers to what we imagine a reality (such as an imagined product concept) to be, rather than what this reality represents in its material actualization (as a physical good). Further, Shields (2006, p. 285) notes that the process of actualization – turning the virtual into the material – is a performance where the virtual constitutes a capacity to be actualized into a single material object; at the same time, however, the virtual is also a multiplicity which can be actualized in different ways: “If it [the virtual] is known by its effects, then it is known through a specific instantiation, not as a whole. It thus retains its creative character as an ontological category pertinent to discussions of change, becoming… the genetic power of codes as well as of codings themselves”. Informed by this ontological category of ‘the virtual’, Denegri-Knott and Molesworth (2010) term the consumption practices occurring within computer-mediated environments – including VR – as digital virtual consumption, noting that it takes place ‘in-between’ the strictly virtual and the material categories. On the one hand, seeing or using a product in a cyberspace does not occur merely by the virtue of consumer imagination; hence, such an experience is not merely virtual. On the other hand, this experience is also not strictly material, as the objects (e. g., products) experienced within cyberspaces lack important material properties such as weight, and they cease to exist outside the boundaries of a cyberspace. Thus, Denegri-Knott and Molesworth (2010) conclude that digital virtual consumption can be viewed as a form of material actualization of the virtual, but where consumers are less constrained by the boundaries and laws of the material that underpins our physical consumption. This conceptualization of digital virtual consumption as occurring in an ‘in-between’ space between the virtual and the material has important implications for deepening our understanding of VR experiences and of their ontological properties. On the one hand, the sense of presence within VR environments – which has received extensive attention from previous studies (e.g., Ahn & Bailenson, 2011; Tussyadiah et al., 2018) – can be viewed as heightening the materiality of VR consumption. The previously reported moderating role of presence on the effect of selfendorsing in VR advertising (Ahn & Bailenson, 2011), for instance, could be interpreted as consumers feeling that their experiences of selfreferencing in VR traverse beyond the boundaries of their cyberspace. In other words, VR experiences – by the virtue of offering a ‘realistic’ simulation of physical reality – may feel to be more actual and, therefore, material. On the other hand, VR environments also heighten ‘the virtual’ of consumption experience – by expanding repertoires of available resources and strategies for evoking consumer imaginary (Martin, 2004; Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2010). In particular, the simulated consumption experiences within VR – such as being able to defy the rules of physical reality by stopping or going back in time, for example, or by revisiting an experience, or even to imagine entirely new realities in computer-generated game worlds – empower consumers to expand the boundaries of their imagination and to include into the virtual what was previously only probable and abstract (Shields, 2006; Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2013). Thus, we consider VR experiences to be both ‘hyper’- material and ‘hyper’-virtual, borrowing the suffix ‘hyper-’ from postmodern theorists (Baudrillard, 1983; Foucault, 1973), who view the hyper to be more real than ‘real’ and argue that: “when the real that is the environment, is no longer a given, but is reproduced by a simulated environment, it does not become unreal, but realer than real” (Atwal & Williams, 2009, p.340). Accordingly, another important question that arises from the discussion above is: what does being hyper-material and hyper-virtual mean in the context of VR marketing communications? Further, whether and how do these ontological properties intertwine with the utopian and dystopian cultural discourses within consumer experiences of VR? 3. Methodology 3.1. Theoretical approach The concept of experiential gestalt and the hermeneutic model of meaning construction (Thompson, 1997) offer a useful methodological approach to explore how the two streams of theorizing (technological discourses and ontological properties) can be integrated to enable us to derive useful insights about the consumer experiences of VR communications. The gestalt theory of perception posits that an image that is salient in a person’s perceptual field “emerges in a codetermining relationship to a contextual background […thus,] the perceptual totality is a dynamic perceptual relationship that presents multiple configurations of part-to-whole relationships” (Thompson, 1997, p. 446). In the context of consumption meanings, this perspective posits that a given consumption experience conveys multiple possible interpretations that are dialectically intertwined with the contextual background, wherein we focus on the socio-historical discourses of cyberspace consumption (BuchananOliver et al., 2010) and the ontological properties of the digital virtual (Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2010). Thus, in querying consumption experiences of VR, our focus is on how the emergent emic consumer interpretations of VR experiences are both enabled and constrained by these two broader etic (theoretical) conventions (Belk, Wallendorf, & Sherry, 1989). 3.2. Data collection and analysis Our study employs a modified ZMET (Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique) method to explore consumer experiences of VR communications (Zaltman & Coulter, 1995; Christensen & Olson, 2002; Coulter, 2006; Joy, Sherry, Venkatesh, Wang, & Chan, 2012). This method has been used widely by consumer researchers to understand how cultural concepts and cognitive principles are intertwined within consumer interpretations of their experiences (Joy et al., 2012). ZMET is based on a semi-structured, in-depth interview technique; it is, however, centered on probing visual images that participants bring to the interview (see Coulter, 2006 for details). “Since ZMET data is informant-driven rather than researcher driven, the ZMET interview affords researchers an opportunity to have consumers more freely express and expand on their thoughts and feelings, attitudes and perspectives” (Coulter, 2006; p. 400). Further, it is particularly useful for probing participants’ perceptions regarding abstract concepts and representations, such as their feelings and immersive experiences, because it allows participants to project these abstract concepts by connecting them to metaphors and visual images (Zaltman & Zaltman, 2008). The context of our investigation is consumer experiences of virtual luxury brand fashion shows. Virtual fashion shows have emerged as a novel form of VR marketing communications in the fashion industry, whereby consumers are able to experience the brand’s prerecorded catwalk show using their personal VR devices. It has been adopted by several luxury fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, ELLE to utilize the new technological capabilities of VR in marketing communications. For the purposes of this study, we recruited twenty participants from Seoul, South Korea who were interested in fashion (given the context of our investigation), but had limited or no previous experience of VR. A brief profile of participants is presented in Table 1. We employed a two-stage process. At the first stage, we invited participants into a research lab, and asked them to watch a pre-selected fashion show using a VR headset device. Following this, we asked them to come back one week later for the second stage. In preparation for this second stage, participants were asked to find six to seven images that reflected their thoughts and feelings associated with the VR experience of the fashion show that they watched. At this stage, we interviewed the participants using several J. Jung et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 517–524 520 components of the ZMET method (Coulter, 2006). Participants were asked to relate how each image represented their thoughts and feelings about the VR experience (storytelling). They were also asked to widen the frames of the pictures they had selected, and to describe what else might enter the pictures, or if any pictures were missing (metaphor probing / missing images). All interviews were recorded and transcribed. NVivo software was used for coding and reorganizing the collected data prior to further abstraction. To better understand emerging themes, we employed a hermeneutic framework of interpretation (Thompson, 1997). This framework perceives consumption stories derived from interviews to reflect the experimental gestalt of meanings ascribed by a participant to particular objects or events (e.g., a VR experience) (Thompson, 1997). Further, while these meanings provide ‘thick’ descriptions of participants’ personal experiences, they are also perceived to be contextualized within the broader contextual background of relevant conventions salient to a given consumption context (Thompson, 1997). Such an approach was deemed to be useful, because it enabled us to gain a deeper understanding of how the emergent consumer interpretations of VR experiences are reflective of the intersection between socio-cultural discourses of cyberspace consumption and ontological properties of the digital virtual. The analysis involved close readings of the transcripts, through which we identified central themes, and developed provisional categories and conceptual connections, which aided our subsequent induction of the broader underlying themes about the consumption meanings of VR experiences. The themes were refined until we were satisfied that they were captured in the quotes (Spiggle, 1994), and we present them in their final form in our findings. 4. Findings Three themes emerged from our analysis: (1) VR as democratization (2) VR as escapism, (3) and VR as actualized anxiety. Under each theme, we present several selected illustrative excerpts from the interviews and visual images that were sourced from our participants (see Fig. 1a–k). 4.1. VR as democratization One distinct property of VR communications that emerged from our study was that VR experiences can democratize and commodify even the most exclusive physical consumption experiences. Consider the following excerpt from Participant 4 (female, 26 years old): “I felt like I was the main character in the VR fashion show. It’s hard to buy regular tickets, and it’s impossible to get a good seat. However, this [VR] was a special experience…I felt though it was a show exclusively for me, because I had the front row seat. It’s like having the queen’s privileges (Fig. 1a)” Participation in fashion shows has traditionally underscored the hierarchal relational positions in the field of luxury fashion consumption, whereby such participation signifies the exclusivity and status privileges of VIP participants (Entwistle & Rocamora, 2006, Fionda & Moore, 2009; Burns, Hutchins, & Mathisen, 2019). VR fashion shows democratize this privileged consumption by making it available to everyone within the boundaries of virtual reality. Our findings reveal that this process of democratization engenders ambivalence in terms of how consumers ascribe personalized meanings to their VR experiences of fashion shows. On the one hand, VR experiences heighten the participant’s feelings of importance (e.g., acquiring status). As Participant 4 notes, experiencing a fashion show through VR made her feel as if she had “the queen’s privileges”, because it offered her access to consumption that is inaccessible to her in the physical world. A similar response was noted by other participants. For instance, Participant 13 (male, 31 years old) revealed that he “felt like a celebrity” (Fig. 1b). This theme of acquiring higher status and becoming someone else is consistent with Denegri-Knott and Molesworth (2010) notion that digital virtual consumption can actualize experimentation, whereby consumers can temporarily adopt new subject positions (e.g., to become a VIP). On the other hand, and more interestingly, we found that the same notion of democratization elicits a sense that consumers feel more ‘equal’ within the boundaries of VR, because everyone possesses the same – seemingly unlimited – access to the restricted ‘exclusive’ consumption events of the physical world: “Watching VR makes people equal, like a balancing of the scales (Fig. 1c) […] When I visited the fashion show myself [by VR], I did not see famous people and had no idea how they enjoy fashion shows [before], but now I know I learned how to enjoy social status in cultural events, and I had the experience of participating in cultural events, so I think VR makes people and celebrates the same.” Participant 6 (female, 27 years old). This notion is evident within Participant 6′ s metaphoric association that VR makes “people equal like a balancing of the scales” (Fig. 1c), because regardless of whether you are a celebrity or a graduate student, VR communications enable you to experience fashion shows as the same (VIP) participant. Thus, our first theme of VR as democratization reflects the utopian discourse of emancipation (Buchanan-Oliver et al., 2010), where VR liberates consumption experiences from social and market institutions by making them available freely to everyone. In this way, VR communications are perceived to dematerialize and, thus delegitimize social hierarchies that exist in the physical world. In the context of virtual fashion shows, exclusivity ceases to exist as a limited resource that is available to the ‘happy few’, and emerges as a commodified resource that is available to the ‘happy many’. Further, a close examination of this emancipation reveals that it emerges as an intricate process of idealizing the material into the virtual which, in turn, actualizes into a new form of the material (Shields, 2003). That is, the physical consumption of fashion shows has previously constructed exclusivity both virtually (imagined as exclusive) and materially (through limited availability) (Entwistle & Rocamora, 2006). VR experiences of fashion shows, however, sustain only the virtual properties of such exclusivity (i.e., they are still imagined as exclusive) and, instead, acquire a new form of materiality – whereby this consumption becomes accessible to everyone and, therefore, it is no longer (materially) actualized as exclusive. In other words, VR communications emerge as an agent of ‘democratized exclusivity’ with distinct material properties. Table 1 Brief profile of participants. Participant No Age Gender Education First VR Experience 1 26 Male College No 2 27 Male Postgraduate Yes 3 29 Female Postgraduate No 4 26 Female College Yes 5 26 Female College Yes 6 27 Female Postgraduate No 7 27 Female Postgraduate No 8 25 Female College Yes 9 27 Female Postgraduate No 10 29 Male Postgraduate No 11 33 Male Postgraduate Yes 12 38 Female Postgraduate Yes 13 30 Male Postgraduate No 14 23 Female College Yes 15 27 Female Postgraduate Yes 17 24 Male College Yes 17 24 Male College No 18 26 Male College Yes 19 30 Male College No 20 25 Male College No J. Jung et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 517–524 521 4.2. VR as escapism The second related theme that has emerged from our findings is the notion of VR as escapism. Escapism refers to experiences that fulfil consumer desires to relieve themselves of the mental burdens of their ordinary lives (Hirschman, 1983; Cruz, Seo, & Buchanan-Oliver, 2018). Previous studies note that escapism is an important motivation for use of virtual worlds (Verhagen, Feldberg, van den Hooff, Meents, & Merikivi, 2012). Our findings reveal that, similarity to our results for democratization, VR as escapism reflects the utopian discourses of emancipation. Yet, this form of emancipation is qualitatively distinct, because it denotes the consumers’ personal escapes from the ordinary rather than a means of dematerializing social hierarchies: “With VR, I felt that I could feel free to go anywhere without physical movement and feel like I could experience it all (Fig. 1d). I have a busy life and I have limited time. So, when you need a healing, you want to go on a trip […] – when I look at the fashion show with VR, I think that it could help the stress to go away.” Participant 7 (female, 27 years old). “I imagined that I could travel through VR. I felt it was similar to going away like in the photo I chose (Fig. 1e) – like I imagined I wanted to be healed. I experienced a virtual space that seems to be able to heal my heart, and I actually have a desire to go to this place” Participant 5 (female, 26 years old). In the excerpts above, both Participant 7 and Participant 5 note that Fig. 1. Selected participant images. J. Jung et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 517–524 522 VR experiences are intrinsically enjoyable and facilitate escape from their daily routines. Our findings further illustrate that the properties of VR – which allow this medium to expand available resources for evoking consumer imaginary (Martin, 2004; Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2010) – play an important role in constructing escapism. For instance, Participant 7 highlights that VR enables her “to go anywhere without physical movement” and “experience it all”, which is a unique virtual aspect of VR experiences. In the same vein, when Participant 4 (female, 26 years old) discussed her escapism experiences, she noted that she felt like a “conqueror” in VR (Fig. 1f): “I could control everything as I want. In VR, I could set my visual orientation seeing only what I want to see. I don’t have to see what I don’t want. I could look up and down and I felt like I became a conqueror”. On the other hand, Participant 3 (female, 29 years old) conjured the images of teleportation (Fig. 1g), noting that “When I put on a VR headset, I felt like I was teleported to a different space. I think it is interesting and fun”. Thus, beyond democratization, VR communications offer emancipation by providing resources for evoking and thematising consumer imagination. In so doing, VR communications expand the virtual (Shields, 2003) and actualize consumer fantasy (Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2010; Martin, 2004). Hence, VR emerges as an agent of embodied escapism. 4.3. VR as actualized anxiety Contrary to the themes of democratization and escapism, our last theme of VR as actualized anxiety reflects the dystopian notion that cyberspaces can produce ‘docile bodies’ (Foucault, 1973; BuchananOliver et al., 2010). Within this theme of VR experiences, we found that consumption meanings reflect anxiety, loneliness, and even fear: “I chose this picture because VR felt complicated to me. I wanted to show a collection of nonsensical elements that represent how anxious I felt (Fig. 1h). VR is a new technology that could make our lives better just like the Internet and mobile phones did, but we also have to think about the fact that it could bring some negative aspects to our society. I wanted to show how conflicted and concerned I became while watching the VR content.” Participant 7 (female, 27 years old). “I felt alone (Fig. 1i). My response to the experience of VR started as fear and moved on to loneliness. In the end, it made me realize that I cannot have any interactions with people or objects in the VR and I felt lonely”. Participant 1 (male, 26 years old). “The last picture [of those this participant brought to the interview] is a picture of the main character turning into a ghost in the movie ’Hollow Man’ (Fig. 1j)… I think when I entered the virtual space through immersion I felt pleasure, but in the end, I think that there is an alienation and anxiety that makes you feel like a ghost – that does not exist in the real world.” Participant 13 (male, 31 years old). A close reading of these consumer interpretations reveals that the anxiety arising from VR experiences has been often framed against the cultural backdrop of popularized dystopian discourses, such as the motion picture Hollow Man brought by Participant 13. Further, we found that these dystopian discourses become actualized for consumers as a result of VR experiences having a liminal position between the virtual and the material, such that consumers experienced them as being ambiguous with regards to their material properties. That is, our participants noted that VR experiences felt very proximate to their physical world experiences in terms of some aspects of their materiality – for example, their vividness – but not in other ways such as the social interactions they lacked. Both Participant 1 (Fig. 1i) and Participant 7 (Fig. 1k) noted that it is the absence of ‘actual’ (i.e., material) social interactions with people and objects (compared to the physical world) that made them feel lonely in VR. Similarity, Participant 8 (female, 24 years old) commented: “I was excited at first [watching a fashion show], but over time, I felt fearful. It made me think that I existed in VR, but everyone passed me by like I wasn’t there. VR experience made me feel that I was standing in the space alone. I felt lonely” (Fig. 1l). In short, VR communications, due to their illusive materiality, actualize participants’ anxiety with regards to how cyberspaces may become a dystopian, totalitarian power that takes consumers’ freedom away and replaces it with a mere illusion. 5. Discussion Although previous studies have explored the psychological experiences induced by VR technology extensively, our paper offers an alternative perspective by focusing on the role of socio-cultural discourses and ontological properties. In doing so, we offer novel insights into how consumers experience VR marketing communications. Our empirical investigation using the ZMET method reveals that VR experiences induce ambivalent meanings that consumers construct post-experience. On the one hand, these consumption meanings reflect positive feelings of joy, excitement, freedom and escape from social hierarchies and market institutions, which fosters a sense of empowerment within the VR environment. As Participant 4 noted, she felt like a conqueror because everything was under her control, even the ‘reality’ itself. On the other hand, we also found that VR experiences can elicit feelings of anxiety, loneliness and fear, making consumers resist VR technology. We illustrate that these quasi-oppositional consumer interpretations of VR communications are reflective of both the utopian (democratization and escapism) and dystopian (anxiety inducing) cultural discourses that permeate technology consumption (Buchanan-Oliver et al., 2010). Further, we found that these utopian and dystopian themes within VR consumption become idealized and actualized by the virtue of the unique ontological properties of VR. That is, the liminal position of VR against ‘the virtual’ or ‘the material’ fosters a set of interpretive strategies that assist consumers with sense-making of VR communications. For instance, the sense that VR is an agent of democratization is enabled by maintaining the virtuality of physical experiences (i.e., exclusivity) and by further actualizing this virtuality into a new sense of materiality that exists only within the boundaries of VR environment – ‘exclusivity for everyone’. On the other hand, VR escapism becomes imagined by expanding the boundaries of the virtual – the user can go anywhere without physically moving – whereas anxiety becomes actualized as a result of misalignment between the material properties of VR and the physical world, such as the lack of social interactions. Thus, the ontological properties of hyper-virtual and hyper-material within VR environment underscore the consumer experience and interpretation of utopian and dystopian themes. The theoretical tenets discussed above have several practical implications. First, previous studies have focused largely on the positive aspects of VR experiences (Ahn & Bailenson, 2011; Tussyadiah et al., 2018). We draw attention to the potential of VR communications to elicit negative responses. We further interpret such experiences to be related to the cultural discourses of utopia and dystopia (BuchananOliver et al., 2010). This means that managers should pay close attention to the contextual topography of cultural narratives related to VR consumption. At the broadest level, this could mean avoiding intertextual connections between VR consumption and dystopian themes, such as product placement in narratives depicting an apocalyptic future, or fostering stronger associations with utopian themes of consumer empowerment and emancipation. Further, since consumer anxieties within VR arise due to the misalignment between the realism of some aspects of the experience, such as its vividness, and the absence of other aspects such as the absence of social interactions VR properties, it would be important to reconcile this misalignment in order to maximize VR’s potential as communications tool. For instance, managers could consider whether technological affordances allow them to decrease VR’s vividness to imbue it with social interactivity. In addition, the use of effective disclosures prior or during VR experiences, which can moderate the effect J. Jung et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 517–524 523 of narrative transportation (Seo, Li, Choi, & Yoon, 2018), could be useful in reducing consumer anxieties. In respect of the study of VR experiences, we recognize that the three themes described in our study are illustrative and may not be exhaustive. Our key purpose was to draw attention to the fact that the ontological properties of VR experiences and cultural discourses, many of which have predated the modern emergence of actual VR consumption, offer an important lens to gain a more holistic understanding of postexperience consumption meanings. For instance, further questions may arise as to whether there are other cultural discourses that permeate VR consumption, and whether they may change over time and across different cultures. We also recognize that there could be individual differences in the ways consumers frame VR consumption. Thus, future research could explore whether people’s expertise and knowledge about VR, previous personal experiences with other emerging technologies and general technological savviness, may influence their interpretation of VR experiences. Finally, we investigated VR consumption in the specific context of fashion shows. Therefore, it would be interesting to compare whether the influence of cultural discourses and ontological properties might be different across different consumption settings, such as pop-up retailing stores (Warnaby & Shi, 2019) and tourism (Tussyadiah et al., 2018). In conclusion, we hope that this pioneering study, with its focus on a more holistic consumer experience-centered (as opposed to technology affordances-centered) investigation of the roles played by cultural discourses and ontological properties within VR experiences, will generate interest in consumer behavior and marketing communications issues relating to the use of VR experiences. 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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres Exploring materialistic bandwagon behaviour in online fashion consumption: A survey of Chinese luxury consumers Giada Mainolfi University of International Studies of Rome (UNINT), Faculty of Economics, Via C. Colombo, 200 – 00147 Rome, Italy ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Materialism Bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour Brand consciousness Luxury fashion goods ABSTRACT The study examined influencing factors that affect Chinese consumers' attitude towards purchasing foreign luxury fashion goods online. Data were collected in mainland China. A total of 502 respondents were included. Using structural equation modelling, results indicated that materialism, brand consciousness and bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour have a significant effect on intentions to buy foreign luxury fashion products online. In addition, results show that consumer ethnocentrism moderates the relationship between materialism and intentions to buy. These findings provide insight into consumer perceptions of luxury brands and offer managerial implications for companies and marketers to develop and sustain luxury businesses in the Chinese online market. 1. Introduction Recent insights from the Altagamma Foundation (2018) show that consumers from emerging markets have renewed with great conviction their expectations of luxury brands, focusing on the quality and uniqueness of products. Simultaneously, the penetration of new technologies has also changed the luxury customer’s journey and, consequently, his/her brand experience, moving it into a new perceptual space where digital channels and physical stores interact dialectically. While on a global level luxury consumers show increasing overlapping values and characteristics across cultures, there are basic differences between luxury consumers in developing and developed countries. Western luxury consumers are happy to share products (e.g., cars, apartments, clothes), whereas developing market consumers are driven by the urge to own what previous generations did not. As a result, they are more concerned with the actual possession of goods, especially if they are aspirational items (Dev, Podoshen, & Shahzad, 2018). The craving for status and the consumption of status brands have led to strong performances of luxury brands in emerging Asian economies and China in particular. In fact, China is the second largest segment of the global luxury goods market, accounting for approximately 33% of total luxury sales (Altagamma Foundation, 2018). With the increasing global accessibility of luxury brands, consumers are becoming more familiar with luxury brand names that signal functional or symbolic values, leading to increased brand consciousness (Pino, Amatulli, Peluso, Nataraajan, & Guido, 2019). The bandwagon effect represents people’s desire to buy a product in order to establish a feeling of belonging to a reference group that they aspire to be associated with (Leibenstein, 1950). The prevalence of the bandwagon effect together with the recognised materialistic values of the Chinese culture and the growing success of digital influencers have created fertile ground for the growth and success of many international brands, even to the point of becoming the preferred consumption choice even at the expense of domestic products. However, despite the large number of studies considering the country-of-origin effect on consumer decisionmaking (Elliot, Papadopoulos, & Kim, 2011; Papadopoulos, Cleveland, Bartikowski, & Yaprak, 2018), research so far has devoted limited attention to the relationship between materialism, conspicuous consumption, and intentions to buy foreign luxury items. Previous studies have highlighted the central role of materialist values capable of shaping and guiding consumers’ choices related to non-utilitarian goods (Sharda & Bhat, 2018). Materialistic consumers in emerging markets may accept a higher premium on luxury products imported from developed countries because they support the enhancement of social status (Yang, Ding, & D’Alessandro, 2018), much more incisively than is the case in the developed markets. Considering the socio-economic transformations in emerging countries and in the Chinese market, in particular, it may be helpful to investigate in-depth the interactions between materialism and the bandwagon effect with respect to foreign luxury offers (Lei & Wang, 2017). Moreover, even though internet-related research in the field of consumer behaviour has been growing rapidly, few studies have explored the influences exerted by materialism trends and bandwagon behaviour on purchasing luxury products online (Kamal, Chu, & https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.11.038 Received 18 September 2018; Received in revised form 10 November 2019; Accepted 11 November 2019 E-mail address: [email protected]. Journal of Business Research 120 (2020) 286–293 Available online 04 December 2019 0148-2963/ © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. T

Pedram, 2013; Park, Burns, & Rabolt, 2007). In light of the abovementioned considerations, the purpose of this research is to empirically test materialism as an antecedent of both brand consciousness and bandwagon luxury behaviour and, at the same, verify their influences on attitudes towards luxury goods. This study also tests the moderating role of consumer ethnocentrism on the influence of materialism on brand consciousness and bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour. 2. Research model and hypotheses The conceptual foundations of the proposed model and the related hypotheses (Fig. 1) are drawn from four different research streams: materialism (Griffin, Babin, & Christensen, 2004; Islam, Sheikh, Hameed, & Khan, 2017), conspicuous consumption (Huang & Wang, 2018; Vigneron & Johnson, 1999), brand consciousness (Giovannini, Xu, & Thomas, 2015; Sharda & Bhat, 2018; Zhang & Kim, 2013), and product-country images (Knight & Calantone, 2000; Laroche, Papadopoulos, Heslop, & Mourali, 2005). From a structural point of view, the research model is composed of six main constructs derived from a literature review: (a) materialism, defined as “the importance ascribed to the ownership and acquisition of material goods in achieving major life goals or desired states” (Richins, 2004); (b) brand consciousness, which refers to the importance of brands in consumer decision-making (Beaudoin, Lachance, & Robitaille, 2003; Nelson & McLeod, 2005); (c) bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour, defined as the extent to which the demand for a luxury product increases due to the fact that others are also purchasing the same item (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2014); (d) product beliefs, which refer to consumers’ evaluative judgements specific to a country’s products (Elliot et al., 2011; Laroche et al., 2005); (e) intentions to buy foreign products online, defined as the probability that the consumer will buy a certain foreign product in the near future (Muposhi, Dhurup, & Shamhuyenhanzva, 2018; Yoo & Donthu, 2005); and (f) consumer ethnocentrism, defined as the beliefs held by consumers about the appropriateness and morality of buying foreign-made products (Klein, 2002; Sharma, 2015). As shown in Fig. 1, the main underlying hypothesis of the proposed model is that the materialism orientation strengthens both brand consciousness and bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour. Moreover, it is hypothesised that interactions between materialism, brand consciousness, and bandwagon behaviour may positively affect both product beliefs and intentions to buy foreign luxury products online. Finally, with respect to consumer ethnocentrism, it is hypothesised that this exerts a moderating role between materialism and intentions to buy foreign products. 2.1. Influence of materialism on brand consciousness and bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour Materialism has been defined as “the importance the consumer attaches to possessions” (Belk, 1984: 291). Inglehart (1990) argued that the obsession for material comfort and physical safety may derive from the early experiences of deprivation. People who have experienced economically deprived situations are likely to overvalue material objects and success in later life. In contrast to this view, psychologists emphasise the role of media on social comparison. Materialistic consumers are concerned with flaunting their status in their social groups through the possession of prestige brands (Vigneron & Johnson, 2004). Liao and Wang (2009) analysed the influences of materialism on brand consciousness with a sample of 446 Chinese consumers, finding material values were related to stronger brand consciousness. The desire for material possessions is the foundation upon which the consumer can construct his/her own brand consciousness, leading him or her to purchase expensive and well-known luxury brand-name products. Based on these findings, the following is hypothesised: H1a. Materialism is positively correlated to brand consciousness. Consumers with higher material values will have stronger brand consciousness. Materialism can be seen as a happy refuge that people may refer to in order to maintain “the original material level of happiness” when psychological needs are not completely satisfied (Lei & Wang, 2017, p. 173). During the pursuit of material wealth, materialists are more likely to buy goods that indicate social status and express their self-image. How materialists define their standard of living depends on the reference group’s wealth and income. A reference group is defined as an actual or imaginary group that has significant influence upon an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behaviours (Park & Lessig, 1977). Social comparison processes about a product to determine the desired social status may lead to bandwagon consumption behaviour. The Fig. 1. Research model and hypotheses. G. Mainolfi Journal of Business Research 120 (2020) 286–293 287

bandwagon effect refers to people’s desire to buy a product in order to enhance one’s self-concept through group affiliation and to conform to the group they aspire to be associated with (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012). Despite growing scholarly interest in the antecedents of the bandwagon effect in the context of luxury consumption, the relationship between materialism and the bandwagon effect has not received adequate attention from luxury marketing researchers. Therefore, the following is hypothesised: H1b: Materialism positively influences bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour. 2.2. Influence of materialism on product beliefs and intentions to buy foreign luxury products online A recent study by Sharma (2015) found that consumers from emerging markets (i.e., China and India) have stronger materialistic propensities than do consumers in developed markets (i.e., UK and USA), reporting more positive judgements and attitudes towards imported goods. Materialistic desires influence perceptions and attitudes towards imported luxury goods that are judged to be the best tools for making positive impressions on others (Kilbourne, Grünhagen, & Foley, 2005). However, such findings have not yet been adequately replicated in the context of online luxury shopping. Only a few studies have addressed these issues in the realm of online shopping. For example, Park et al. (2007) found significant positive relationships between materialism and attitudes towards purchasing foreign fashion goods online by South Korean consumers. Based on these findings, the following is hypothesised: H1: Materialism positively influences product beliefs (H1c) and intentions to buy foreign luxury products online (H1d). 2.3. Influence of brand consciousness on product beliefs and intentions to buy luxury products online According to Jamal and Goode (2001), a brand conscious consumer tends to place greater importance on product attributes such as brand names and country of origin. Conceptually, both materialism and brand consciousness are expressions of a desire to enhance social status through products or brands. However, brand consciousness can be interpreted as a system to achieve status and recognition in the form of a brand name, with brand consciousness based on the belief that a higher priced brand acts as a signal of higher quality. As luxury brands are usually higher priced, they may embody the perfect choice to enhance those self-concepts essential to many interpersonal relationships. Luxury marketing research has shown that a consumer’s brand consciousness may influence luxury consumption motivations (Giovannini et al., 2015) and attitudes towards luxury brands (Sharda & Bhat, 2018). However, research thus far has not examined the potential impact exerted by brand consciousness on cognitive perceptions towards luxury products. In light of the above-mentioned evidence, the following is hypothesised: H2a: The greater consumers’ levels of brand consciousness, the more positive their beliefs related to luxury products. Previous studies have demonstrated that brand conscious consumers are ready to buy luxurious and well-known brands, and this relationship is more evident in collectivist emerging markets (Chakraborty & Sheppard, 2016; Liao & Wang, 2009). For example, Lee and Workman (2014) study on Korean consumers found a positive relationship between brand consciousness and the buying intentions for foreign luxury products, thus confirming the role this variable plays in luxury brand consumption. The relevance of brand consciousness in the context of online shopping has been confirmed by a number of studies (Brashear, Kashyap, Musante, & Donthu, 2009; Kang, Johnson, & Wu, 2014). For example, Riorini (2018) found that Indonesian consumers with high brand consciousness are more likely to buy fashion items through the Internet. Mee & Huei (2015) argued that consumers feel that the quality of products is more guaranteed with online purchases from established companies with famous brand names. Despite growing scholarly interest in brand consciousness in the context of online shopping, the investigation of this issue remains limited (Yi, Asgari, & Li, 2016). Except for a few contributions (e.g., Chu, Kamal, & Kim, 2013), past studies have not yet adequately investigated the influence of brand consciousness on behavioural intentions to buy luxury items online. Existing arguments lead to the following hypothesis: H2b: The greater the consumers’ levels of brand consciousness, the more positive their intention to buy foreign luxury products online. 2.4. Influence of bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour on product beliefs and intentions to buy luxury products online Aspirational customers often imitate the buying behaviour of reference groups to which they would like to belong (Dholakia & Talukdar, 2004). Within the context of luxury product consumption, this bandwagon effect represents the desire to be associated with upper class people. Aspirational customers, however, are not typical luxury buyers. They usually buy small items such as accessories in order to be seen possessing a prestige brand, even if they may lack the means to purchase more expensive luxury items. The desire to emulate and achieve a new social status can place at risk a consumer’s loyalty to his/ her country of origin. If the “perfect” choice to satisfy aspirational needs is a foreign luxury brand, there will be little room for nationalistic loyalty. Even if they are not genuine luxury consumers, an understanding of aspirational consumers’ behaviour is crucial for luxury companies success, as 37% of global consumers fit into this category (Kavanagh, 2019). Moreover, extensive research on the country of origin effect show that in the case of emerging market consumers, bandwagon items are typically chosen from foreign luxury brands from developed countries, which are judged superior in terms of quality and craftsmanship (Corbellini & Saviolo, 2009). Based on the above observations, the following is hypothesised: H3: Bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour positively affects product beliefs (H3a) and intentions to buy foreign luxury products online (H3b). 2.5. The effect of product beliefs on intentions to buy foreign luxury products online While extant research supports the notion that the bandwagon effect may influence intentions to buy foreign luxury products, little attention has been paid to the relationship between intentions to buy and product beliefs. According to Orbaiz and Papadopoulos (2003), product beliefs express consumers’ cognitive beliefs about a product’s characteristics such as quality, reliability, craftsmanship and design. These cognitive judgements are integrated by individuals in their holistic impressions of the foreign country. Consumers shape product beliefs by processing information obtained from several sources, such as product exposure, advertisements, word-of-mouth, social media, and possibly through hands-on experience with the product itself (Carter & Maher, 2014). Research suggests that the features and qualities associated with products from a specific country of origin can influence the purchasing choices of consumers as well (Cordell, 1992). In contrast to the arguments asserting a positive relationship between product beliefs and purchase intentions, empirical evidence suggests that the evaluations of foreign-made products have an insignificant impact on intention to buy (Aiello, Donvito, Godey, & Pederzoli, 2009). Moreover, Aiello et al. (2009) found that in the case of luxury goods, brand has a much higher G. Mainolfi Journal of Business Research 120 (2020) 286–293 288

influence on purchase intention than does country-of-origin. Based on the above observations, the following is hypothesised: H4: Product beliefs have a positive effect on intentions to buy foreign products online. 2.6. The moderating role of consumer ethnocentrism between materialism and intentions to buy foreign luxury products online Consumer ethnocentrism (CET) describes consumers’ preference for domestic products because they consider those goods to be superior (Shimp & Sharma, 1987). Moreover, ethnocentric consumers believe that purchasing imports is wrong, in part, because it is detrimental to the economy, driving a loss of domestic jobs (Huddleston, Good, & Stoel, 2001). Previous studies showed that consumer ethnocentrism is more relevant to buying decisions concerning high-involvement products (i.e., luxury products) (Balabanis & Siamagka, 2017). Studies have also investigated the relationship between materialism and ethnocentrism. In contrast to a study by Clarke, Shankarmahesh, and Ford (2000), which found a positive relationship between materialism and CET, recent findings have established an independent, non-significant relationship between the two variables (Cleveland, Laroche, & Papadopoulos, 2009). A recent meta-analysis on the levels of consumer ethnocentrism by Guo and Li (2017) highlights the need to further examine in-depth the role of CET in emerging countries undergoing relevant social, political and economic changes. Considering the development of conspicuous consumption in emerging markets – where luxury brands convey sophistication, distinction and status – an advancement of the theory may be derived from an analysis of the potential moderating effect of CET on the influence of materialism on luxury consumption behaviour. Such a relationship has not yet been explored. Thus, the following is hypothesised: H5: Consumer ethnocentrism moderates the relationship between materialism and intentions to buy foreign luxury products online. 3. Method 3.1. Data collection and procedure To test the proposed model, an online survey was conducted with a sample of Chinese residents during September 2017 – January 2018. Respondents were recruited online via an informative post on social accounts (Qq Wenjuan, Weibo, Wechat). Respondents were asked to record their judgements regarding the consumption of luxury fashion items and their perceptions of foreign-made fashion products. The decision to focus on fashion products was taken because these items support the consumer’s self-image. Fashion products and evolving conspicuous consumption practices are also inextricably linked (O’Cass & Siahtiri, 2014). Italy was used as the country of reference for the analysis of constructs related to foreign-made products (i.e., product beliefs and intentions to buy). This choice was motivated by the desire to investigate Chinese consumers’ perceptions towards a European country characterised by high image appeal regarding many international luxury products. According to the recent survey conducted with more than 12,000 respondents in 10 countries (including China), Italy is considered the leading country for the manufacturing of luxury products (Boston Consulting Group-Altagamma Foundation, 2018). The survey instrument was a structured questionnaire written in Chinese. To ensure the validity of the translation, a back-translation procedure was conducted (Brislin, 1970). First, all original items were translated from English into Chinese by an expert translator whose native language was Chinese and who was fluent in English. Then, another expert translator fluent in both languages independently translated the items back to English. Further, the two researchers confirmed the meaning of the Chinese version by comparing the two English versions. Then, face validity was addressed using a panel of Chinese culture experts (two Italian academics and one Chinese marketing academic) in order to assess the clarity of the questions and, above all, the appropriateness of the questions asked. They first evaluated the English version followed by the Chinese one. Based on this feedback, the questionnaire was modified. Specifically, some items related to online shopping habits were deleted and others modified to ensure the correct translation of meanings. Finally, the two translators rechecked the modified version. During the online survey, more than 600 Chinese consumers were contacted. The respondents were selected based on screening questions that qualified them as luxury consumers (i.e., they had recently or regularly bought popular and exclusive luxury items and brands). Questions concerning beliefs and attitudes towards Italian luxury products were preceded by an image showing outfits of three Italian luxury brands (Gucci, Prada and Valentino) as advertised on their respective official websites. These brands are the most relevant Italian luxury brands in China in terms of digital presence (Daily, 2017). Ultimately, 502 usable responses were obtained after removing incomplete questionnaires. This size is well above the minimum of 200 observations recommended by Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, and Tatham (2006) for structural equation modelling studies. 3.2. Demographic characteristics of the respondents A descriptive analysis of the sample showed that it was quite equally distributed by gender (51.2% male, 48.8% women). Regarding the age of the respondents, 16.9% of the sample was aged between 18 and 24 years, 32.1% between 25 and 34 years, 24.9% between 35 and 44 years, 17.1% between 45 and 54 years, and 6.8% between 55 and 64 years, with 2.2% of the sample over the age of 65. A majority of the respondents were well-educated, with approximately two-thirds (70%) holding an undergraduate degree or above. In terms of per capita disposable income, respondents reported yearly incomes from 65,000 RMB per year (about €9,000) to about 400,000 RMB (about €50,000). With respect to the town of residence, the respondents were from major Chinese cities, with a slight predominance of residents from Shenyang (Shenyang, 25.7%; Chongqing, 17.1%; Yantai, 11.2%; Beijing, 12%; Chengdu, 9.6%; Zibo, 9%; Dalian, 8.5%; Shenzhen, 3.8%; Wenzhou, 3.1%). The respondents’ profiles are consistent with the target consumers for luxury goods in China: young and well-educated individuals who earn high personal income and living in the major Chinese cities (Atsmon & Dixit, 2009; Boston Consulting Group-Altagamma Foundation, 2018). Experience with Italian brands was also evaluated. About 54% of the sample declares to have purchased Italian luxury fashion products in the past. 3.3. Measures and confirmatory factor analysis Model constructs were measured based on 7-point Likert scales adapted from similar studies (Table 1). Materialism was assessed through items provided by Richins (2004); bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour was measured with four items based on research by Kastanakis and Balabanis (2014). Brand consciousness was measured with three items developed by Zhang and Kim (2013). Product beliefs were operationalised through items provided by a study by Papadopoulos, Heslop, and The IKON Research Group (2000) and Elliot et al. (2011); and intentions to buy foreign products online were measured by four items derived from Ling, Chai, and Piew (2010). The consumer ethnocentrism construct was assessed based on research by Shimp and Sharma (1987), Nijssen and Douglas (2004), and Ettenson and Klein (2005). The original scale (CETSCALE) contained 17 items, validated at a cross-national level. This study employed a reduced version of the CET scale based on three items (Reardon, Miller, Vida, & Kim, 2005; Russell & Russell, 2006). Based on research by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), a two-stage G. Mainolfi Journal of Business Research 120 (2020) 286–293 289

approach was followed, with the measurement model first confirmed and then tested. The first stage assessed the internal consistency and reliability of composite measures (Cronbach’s alpha, construct reliability and average variance extracted). Four indicators provided satisfactory goodness of fits (Table 1): CFI = 0.98 (recommended value ≥ 0.9); GFI = 0.90 (recommended value ≥ 0.8); NNFI = 0.98 (recommended value ≥ 0.9); and RMSEA = 0.07 (recommended value ≤ 0.07). The reliability and validity of each measurement scale was assessed through a test suggested by Fornell and Larker (1981). As reported in Table 1, individual scales were close to or above the suggested value for Cronbach’s Alpha (≥ 0.7), construct reliability (≥ 0.7) (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988) and AVE (≥ 0.5). Discriminant validity was examined through a procedure developed by Fornell and Larker (1981) requiring that the variance extracted for each construct exceed the highest squared correlation between all pairs of constructs (Tables 1 and 2). Finally, to minimise possible common method invariance, preliminary remedies were adopted in the questionnaire design stage. First, an introductive message was used to assure respondents of the anonymity and confidentiality of the study (Chang, van Witteloostuijn, & Eden, 2010). Second, the Chinese version of the questionnaire was pretested on a sample of Chinese graduate students studying in Italy to confirm the clarity of wording. Third, the perception of Italy and of Italian products was investigated prior to investigating consumer attitudes towards luxury consumption. In addition, the questionnaire included questions on top-of-mind awareness of Italy as a country. In this way, respondents could not easily combine related items to cognitively create the correlation needed to produce a common method variance (CMV). Ex post, we investigated common method variance by performing Harman (1967) single-factor test. Unrotated confirmative factor analysis shows that one factor explains 42% of the variance (threshold value < 50%), indicating that the findings were not subject to bias caused by CMV. We also applied the marker variable approach to determine CMV. We used the 7-point Likert scale item “I know more about recycling than the average person” as the marker variable, which we expected to be conceptually unrelated to both dependent and independent variables (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003). All coefficients that were significant in a bivariate correlation also remained statistically significant after we controlled for the marker variable. Thus, we conclude that results were not affected by a possible bias caused by CMV. After confirming the measurement model, the structural model was tested with a system of structural equations using the method of maximum likelihood estimation. The analysis was conducted with the statistical software LISREL 8.80. The main indices showed that the data fit the structural model: RMSEA = 0.07; CFI = 0.98; NFI = 0.97; NNFI = 0.98; and AGFI = 0.88 (Table 3). Regarding the first group of hypotheses, H1a posits that materialism positively influences brand consciousness. As expected, this path was significant (ß = 0.816, p < .01). Similarly, materialism positively affects bandwagon behaviour (ß = 0.733, p < .01) and intentions to buy foreign luxury products online (ß = 0.175, p < .05). These results provide full confirmation of hypotheses H1b and H1d. Conversely, H1c is not supported. Materialism appears not capable of affecting the cognitive judgements related to foreign luxury products. Turning to the second set of hypotheses, H2a posits that higher levels of brand consciousness will result in more positive judgements towards foreign luxury products. The results show that this path is not significant. On the other hand, brand consciousness shows a significant influence on intentions to buy (ß = 0.193, p < .01). Regarding the third group of hypotheses, results show that bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour positively influences both Table 1 Measurement scales reliability and validity. Mean (St. Dev.) λ Scores (St. Coeff.) Cronbach’s Alpha CR AVE Materialism (MAT) 0.83 0.88 0.61 I admire people who own expensive homes, cars and clothes 4.58 (1.53) 0.729 I like a lot of luxury in my life 4.84 (1.52) 0.771 My life would be better if I owned certain things that I do not have 4.43 (1.23) 0.749 I would be happier if I could afford to buy more things 5.15 (1.26) 0.761 The things I own say a lot about how well I am doing in life 4.77 (1.40) 0.753 Brand consciousness (BC) 0.83 0.84 0.64 The more expensive brands are usually my choice 4.64 (1.63) 0.790 The higher the price of a product, the better its quality 4.62 (1.67) 0.911 I prefer to buy foreign brands than local brands 4.98 (1.57) 0.734 Bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour (BLCB) 0.94 0.85 0.60 I buy luxury products to be integrated in the social group I aspire to 4.83 (1.46) 0.810 I only choose luxury brands that others buy 4.80 (1.47) 0.792 I like owning luxury products worn by celebrities 5.13 (1.45) 0.794 I buy very popular and fashionable luxury products 5.61 (1.32) 0.695 Product Beliefs (PB) 0.94 0.88 0.65 Luxurious and exclusive products 4.48 (1.55) 0.825 Elegant style 5.14 (1.49) 0.845 Fashionable brands 4.79 (1.46) 0.794 High quality products 4.95 (1.58) 0.768 Intentions to buy foreign luxury products online (IBFLPO) 0.95 0.90 0.75 I will purchase Italian luxury products online in the next 6 months 5.49 (1.41) 0.844 I would buy more Italian luxury products online 4.73 (1.45) 0.931 I would be willing to recommend Italian luxury products through online suggestions 5.15 (1.32) 0.831 Fit statistics: χ2 = 512.747 (d.f. 142; p < 0.001); RMSEA = 0.07; NNFI = 0.98; CFI = 0.98; GFI = 0.90. Table 2 Average variance extracted and squared correlations among constructs. AVE 1 2 3 4 5 1. Brand consciousness 0.64 1.000 2. Bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour 0.60 0.312 1.000 3. Product beliefs 0.65 0.281 0.435 1.000 4. Intentions to buy foreign luxury products online 0.75 0.209 0.541 0.461 1.000 5. Materialism 0.61 0.510 0.440 0.348 0.336 1.000 G. Mainolfi Journal of Business Research 120 (2020) 286–293 290

product beliefs (H3a: ß = 0.669, p < .01) and intentions to buy foreign luxury products (H3b: ß = 0.688, p < .01). Turning to the final hypothesis, empirical evidence shows that product beliefs positively influence intentions to buy foreign luxury products online (ß = 0.201, p < .05); therefore, H4 is supported. This result appears to be in line with previous studies on country-of-origin effects (Aiello et al., 2009; De Nisco, Mainolfi, Marino, & Napolitano, 2016). 3.4. Moderating effect of consumer ethnocentrism In order to examine the moderating effect of CET on the relationship between materialism and intentions to buy, a multi-sample analysis was performed. The global sample was split into two groups, low- and highethnocentrism, by creating a dichotomous variable based on the average values of the three construct items (High CET greater than 3.5, n = 217; low CET < 3.5, n = 285). Before assessing the significance of the differences between the parameter in the two groups, preliminary analyses were carried out to verify measurement invariance. Invariance analyses were performed to identify the baseline model against which to compare the theoretical model. As configural and metric invariance were supported (Steenkamp & Baumgartner, 1998), the relevant structural parameter was constrained to be equal across groups in order to test the moderator hypothesis. The proposed structural model was estimated, with the hypothesised parameter allowed to be freely estimated within each subsample (χ2 = 948.083; p < 0.001; df = 284; CFI = 0.98). These results served as the benchmark for testing the moderating hypothesis (Hair et al., 2006). Next, the path coefficient corresponding to the relationship between materialism and intention to buy foreign luxury products online (H5) was constrained to remain invariant across the two subsamples, and the model was re-estimated. In this second step, the LM test (Lagrange Multiplier test) (Chou & Bentler, 1990) was applied through the Chi-Square difference test to verify whether the differences between the parameters of both samples were significant (p < .05). As shown in Table 4a, our findings indicate a significant difference between both groups in relation to the moderating role of CET in the influence of materialism on intentions to buy foreign luxury products (Δχ2 = 23.17, Δdf = 14, p < 0.05). The structural differences between the two groups show that the impact of materialism is significant and stronger for low ethnocentric consumers (Table 4b). Thus, under conditions of low ethnocentrism, greater materialistic orientation could improve consumers’ willingness to buy foreign luxury products online. On the other hand, consumers with higher levels of ethnocentrism are not influenced to buy foreign products because of materialistic tendencies. 4. Conclusions Chinese consumers consider the “made in the West” appeal a positive factor; thus, they attribute more positive value to foreign brands that may reflect the Western style to which they aspire to gain access (Rogers, 2017). A significant portion of existing literature has shown that materialistic orientations and social values may trigger conspicuous consumption and, consequently, a willingness to buy luxury brands and products. Based on a comprehensive review of research related to luxury goods and the country-of-origin effect, this study was motivated by the need to gain a better understanding of interactions between materialism, brand consciousness, and bandwagon behaviour, along with their influences on consumer behaviour with respect to foreign luxury offers in an online context. The study proposed a framework integrating the influencing factors (i.e., materialism, bandwagon consumption, brand consciousness, ethnocentrism) that may affect Chinese consumers’ attitudes towards purchasing foreign luxury goods online. Our results showed a significant effect of materialism on bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour, brand consciousness, and intentions to buy. Thus, Chinese materialistic individuals are customers who indulge in the purchase of branded products that have a distinguished name and reputation in the market. Moreover, materialism can positively affect the emulative choice of luxury brands and products, as Chinese consumers care about what their reference group’s members use and buy. By imitating influential people who represent wealthy values, consumers may feel more confident when selecting expensive and luxury items. In fact, bandwagon luxury consumption behaviour is shown to positively influence both cognitive judgements towards Italian luxury products and intentions to buy them online. On the contrary, brand consciousness, just like materialism, positively affects intentions to buy only, without influencing consumers’ judgements about product features. From an empirical perspective, this study contributes to existing knowledge by extending research on luxury consumption to consider the online realm and by showing that in the context of emerging countries, bandwagon behaviour plays a powerful double role. Specifically, it may impact on both the cognitive beliefs and conative judgements (i.e., intentions to buy online) of consumers. Moreover, this study’s findings support the notion that CET may moderate the relationship between materialism and intentions to buy foreign products. This is another significant result, as it confirms our hypothesis that the level of ethnocentric feelings may contribute to understand attitudes towards foreign offers in the presence of a materialistic orientation. Table 3 Hypothesised Relationships, Standardised Coefficients and Fit Statistics. Hypothesised relationships Structural coefficients Results H1a MAT – BC 0.816** Supported H1b MAT – BLCB 0.733** Supported H1c MAT – PB n.s. Not supported H1d MAT – IBFLPO 0.175* Supported H2a BC – PB n.s. Not supported H2b BC – IBFLPO 0.193** Supported H3a BLCB – PB 0.669** Supported H3b BLCB – IBFLPO 0.688** Supported H4 PB – IBFLPO 0.201* Supported Fit Statistics: χ2 = 515.022 (d.f. 144; p < 0,001); χ2 /d.f. = 3.58. CFI = 0.98; AGFI = 0.88; NFI = 0.97; NNFI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.07 (p-value for Test of Close Fit = 0.062). * p < 0.05. ** p < 0.01. Table 4 Moderating effects of familiarity. (a) Model χ2 df Δχ2 Δdf p Unconstrained 948.083 284 NA NA 0.00** Constrained MAT → IBFLPO 971.256 298 23.17 14 0.04* (b) Hypothesised relationships Group 1 High ethnocentrism Group 2 Low ethnocentrism H5 MAT– IBFLPO 0.115 0.177* Note. High ethnocentric group: χ2 = 512.474, df = 144, NFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.07. Low ethnocentric group: χ2 = 514.747, df = 144, NFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.07. * p < .05. ** p < .01. G. Mainolfi Journal of Business Research 120 (2020) 286–293 291

4.1. Managerial implications From a managerial point of view, these results are of interest to companies that intend to invest in Chinese digital channels. Luxury companies must consider that bandwagon behaviour extends its influences also to the online context. Therefore, in order to increase sales in online channels, international luxury companies could emphasise that certain products or brands are the perfect choice for celebrities, popular stars, or personalities, using particular endorsers as their brand ambassadors. An example of this is provided by a recent campaign carried out by the Florentine fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo. The Italian luxury brand tapped Bryanboy, one of the fashion industry’s most famous bloggers, to direct a series of short movies that explore, with humour, the joy and sorrow of the digital lives of several international influencers (Network, 2019). Furthermore, managers of luxury brands need to effectively convey a sense of group membership in their marketing campaigns. It is important to stress the benefit of luxury goods as a social marker and inspire consumer purchases on the grounds that the goods will help to promote a sense of group belonging and conformity. Finally, luxury companies must not neglect attracting, and consequently educating, more traditional (ethnocentric) customers by emphasising the contribution that a foreign company may make to the local context. 4.2. Limitations and further research Our results must be viewed in the light of this study’s limitations. First, the sample w a convenience sample that may not be representative of the general population of China, thereby limiting the generalisability of the results. Second, this study only involved products coming from one country (Italy). Results may be different if other countries are taken into consideration. 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Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 Available online 18 September 2020 0148-2963/© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Sustainability and social media communication: How consumers respond to marketing efforts of luxury and non-luxury fashion brands☆ Hyun Min Kong a,1 , Alexander Witmaier b,2 , Eunju Ko c,* a Hongik University, Republic of Korea b Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat ¨ München, Germany c Yonsei University, Republic of Korea ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Fashion Luxury brands Social media communication Sustainability ABSTRACT German and South Korean cultural groups are examined in two studies to demonstrate the link between media communication about sustainability and its impact on eWOM and purchase intentions in luxury and non-luxury contexts. A mediation brand attitude model is used to compare groups across cultural, economic, environmental, and social sustainability dimensions, with trust as a moderator. Results indicate that sustainable communication is more effective for non-luxury brands in a cultural setting that features high awareness of needs for sustainability. The study indicates that luxury and non-luxury fashion brand advertisers should carefully consider cultural settings when providing sustainability information. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. 1. Introduction Growing consumer awareness of sustainability and desires to purchase sustainable products has caused fashion companies to make sustainability a priority and core management objective (Kim & Hall, 2015). To meet consumer demands for attention to social and environmental issues, brands now advertise their efforts to develop sustainable products (Han, Seo, & Ko, 2017; Jang, Ko, Chun, & Lee, 2012) and to show corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Aoki, Obeng, Borders, & Lester, 2019; Fineman, 2001; Minton, Lee, Orth, Kim, & Kahle, 2012). In the last several years, fashion brands have recognized that social media channels are valuable for interacting with consumers, building brand-consumer relationships, and facilitating consumer decision making (Kim & Ko, 2010; Pentina, Guilloux, & Micu, 2018). By motivating consumers to interact with brands, social media channels create brand equity, positive word-of-mouth, brand loyalty, and purchase intentions (Ko & Megehee, 2012). Sustainable fashion studies have generally focused on luxury and fast fashion brands in observing processes involved in purchase decisions, knowledge sharing, education, environmental and social practices, and sustainable behavior such as CSR (Cervellon & Wernerfelt, 2012; Chan & Wong, 2012; Di Benedetto, 2017; Gogichaishvili, Ko, & Kim, 2019; Joy, Sherry, Venkatesh, Wang, & Chan, 2012; Kong, Ko, Chae, & Mattila, 2016). Using sustainability as a marketing approach, fashion businesses have redesigned messages to reduce consumption, often termed demarketing, such as Patagonia’s “Don’t buy this jacket” campaign (Kim, Ko, & Kim, 2018; Peattie & Belz, 2010; Reich & Soule, 2016). Given that cultural differences affect social media behavior, marketers who diffuse information about sustainable fashion on social media must consider that consumers from developed countries have greater appreciation for sustainability and are more willing to pay premium prices for green products in comparison with consumers from less developed countries (Minton et al., 2012). Thus, brands must consider knowledge levels and cultural backgrounds in ascertaining consumer interest in green goods and advertising appeals (Paul, Modi, & Patel, 2016). Luxury is associated with pleasantness, superficiality, and ostentation (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013). In contrast, sustainability is related to altruism, moderation, and ethics. Although luxury consumers have not been well informed about sustainability activities (Bray, Johns, & Kilburn, 2011), and despite the conflict, luxury fashion brands such as Armani, Cartier, Chanel, and Gucci are committed to sustainable ☆ This research was presented at the Global Marketing Conference 2018 in Tokyo and was later developed for submission to the Journal of Business Research. * Corresponding author at: College of Human Ecology, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (H.M. Kong), [email protected] (A. Witmaier), [email protected] (E. Ko). 1 School of Design and Business Administration, Hongik University, 94 Wausan-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul 04066, Republic of Korea. 2 Institute for Market-based Management, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit¨ at München, Kaulbachstr. 45, 80539 Munich, Germany. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.08.021 Received 26 November 2018; Received in revised form 8 August 2020; Accepted 13 August 2020

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 641 marketing communication (Janssen, Vanhamme, Lindgreen & Lefebvre, 2014). Consumers tend to have more negative perceptions about the non-sustainability of non-luxury brands rather than luxury brands (Davies & Ahonkhai, 2012). Culture affects attitudes toward luxury and non-luxury brands, their use of sustainable advertising on social media (Chang, Jang, Lee, & Nam, 2019), and attitudes toward sustainable purchase behavior. When making purchase decisions and forming attitudes about sustainable products, Western consumers tend to be more influenced by their individual attitudes rather than by social norms (Hiller Connell & Kozar, 2012), while Eastern consumers tend to be more influenced by social norms (Kong & Ko, 2017). Thus, in the two studies reported here, South Korean and German consumers were examined regarding purchase intentions and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) related to a luxury and a non-luxury brand. The objective was to explore sustainability claims on social media to identify cultural, economic, environmental, and social sustainability effects on brand attitudes, eWOM, and purchase intentions regarding luxury and non-luxury fashion brands. Study 1 involved a contrast between a luxury and a non-luxury brand in Germany, where sustainability awareness is relatively high (RobecoSAM, , 2018), to observe how sustainability claims affect consumer perceptions. Study 2 replicated the Study 1 research design but extended the comparison by considering effects in South Korea, where sustainability awareness is relatively low (RobecoSAM, , 2018). Fashion marketers can use the results to design marketing strategies that will promote sustainable efforts and to position themselves as agents of sustainability among increasingly aware and demanding consumers. Furthermore, the studies examine environmental, social, economic, and cultural sustainability claims to identify which is most effective in social media advertising for influencing consumer behavior in South Korea and Germany. Fig. 1 shows the conceptual framework for sustainable perception, brand attitude, and consumer behavior. 2. Literature review 2.1. Sustainability, fashion, and consumer behavior Consumers tend to prefer brands that are known for sustainability and CSR (Lai, Chiu, Yang, & Pai, 2010). Sustainability extends throughout supply chain management processes, from raw materials to sourcing, production, distribution, retailing, and consumption (Peattie & Belz, 2010). For fashion apparel to be sustainable, its manufacturing processes must meet current environmental, economic, and social needs without compromising future generations (Brundtland, 1987). In addition, sustainable fashion adheres to local tradition, heritage, exchange, and diversity needs (Na & Lee, 2013; Soini & Dessein, 2016). Fast fashion now dominates the fashion industry and has drawn particular concerns regarding sustainability (De Brito, Carbone, & Blanquart, 2008) as consumers become increasingly aware that their purchases have environmental impacts. Thus, demands are increasing for green sustainable brands (Tanner & Wolfing ¨ Kast, 2003; Tey, Brindal, & Dibba, 2018). Indeed, 70 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase from environmentally conscious rather than from environmentally irresponsible companies (Gardyn, 2003). However, most green consumers rarely purchase sustainable apparel (Kim & Damhorst, 1998). Strangely, no definitive explanations have been provided to explain the well-researched attitude-behavior gap regarding the incongruence between environmentally friendly attitudes and actual behavior (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). Nevertheless, consumers who know about sustainability issues are more likely to purchase sustainable products. Consequently, the fashion industry can use sustainability as leverage when developing effective communication strategies. Fig. 1. Conceptual model. H.M. Kong et al.

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 642 2.2. Importance of social media marketing in sustainable fashion business Social media marketing differs from traditional marketing in that it requires little financial effort to provide two-way communications that cater to consumer preferences for sustainability (Kahle & ValetteFlorence, 2014). Social media marketers can easily access and target consumers (Minton et al., 2012) and are thus potentially better able to promote green advertising through user interactions, networking, interpersonal relationships, and the spread of positive eWOM (Hung, Li, & Tse, 2011). Social media can help reduce the gap between corporations and consumers and break major barriers preventing sustainable behavior, such as lack of interest, insufficient knowledge, and skepticism. Consumer decision-making processes vary across product categories (McDonald, Oates, Alevizou, Young, & Hwang, 2012). As social media has increased impacts on consumers, fashion businesses must understand consumer receptiveness and response to sustainable, green advertisements on online platforms. In addition, social media online contexts encourage interactions and social relationships (Srinivasan, Anderson, & Ponnavolu, 2002) including sharing, advocating, socializing, and co-creating (Brodie, Ilic, Juric, & Hollebeek, 2013). As users interact with brands, brand attitudes and emotional engagement are strongly impacted (McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig, 2002). 2.3. Brand attitude, electronic word-of-mouth, and purchase intention To promote successful sustainability marketing, it is important to understand that consumer perceptions of sustainability include longterm environmental, social, economic, and cultural dimensions (Kagawa, 2007). Environmental issues include energy saving, conservation, environmental friendliness, green production, organic materials, and recycling. Sustainability perceptions (SP) include perceptions of brand efforts, losses, and gains in sustainability efforts (Kim, Yun, Lee, & Ko, 2016). Consumer beliefs and purchase intentions are strongly associated with brand attachments and perceptions of CSR (BeckerOlsen, Cudmore, & Hill, 2006). When green products evoke high trust and positive brand attitudes, consumers tend to form positive purchase intentions (Chen & Chai, 2010) because they feel that the products meet their environmental needs (Netemeyer, Maxham, & Pullig, 2005). Transparent and socially responsible brand efforts strongly affect consumer trust, attitudes, and behavioral intentions, which then encourages positive word-of-mouth (WOM) and eWOM more effectively than traditional marketing tools (Bailey, 2005; Chatterjee, 2001; Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Katz, Lazarsfeld, & Roper, 2017; Maxham & Netemeyer, 2003). Social media marketers now use online platforms as an effective communication channel for user interaction, networking, and interpersonal relations that trigger eWOM behavior (Minton et al., 2012). Those considerations suggest the first hypothesis: Hypothesis 1. Consumer perceptions of brand efforts for sustainability will positively influence a) brand attitudes, b) eWOM, and c) purchase intentions. Overall brand evaluations are the basis for brand attitudes, which influence purchase decisions (Teng, 2009). Brand attitudes and purchase intentions are enhanced when brands indicate environmentally friendly, appropriate efforts (Becker-Olsen et al., 2006; Rios, Martinez, Moreno, & Soriano, 2006), especially among consumers who have high environmental awareness (Yan, Ogle, & Hyllegard, 2010). Consequently, brand attitude may mediate effects on purchase intentions, as research has shown (Yan et al., 2010). Consumers tend to trust interpersonal communication more than they trust marketer-generated contents (Mangold & Faulds, 2009) and will rely on eWOM for making purchase decisions when they believe sources are credible. However, brand attitude is expected to have a stronger mediating effect for purchase intentions than eWOM because sustainable fashion is a recent phenomenon. Social media contexts fulfill needs to belong to groups; group norms may be more persuasive than sustainability concerns (Ho & Dempsey, 2010). In contrast, purchase intentions are private decisions rather than social statements. Therefore: Hypothesis 2. Brand attitude more strongly mediates the effect of sustainability perception for purchase intention rather than eWOM. 2.4. Sustainability and brand luxury Luxury brands advertise their sustainability and CSR to enhance brand evaluations (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013; Chang et al., 2019; Torelli, Monga, & Kaikati, 2011). To reiterate, luxury is associated with pleasantness, superficiality, and ostentation, while sustainability is associated with altruism, moderation, and ethics (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013). Despite the conflicting concepts, luxury fashion brands such as Armani, Cartier, Chanel, Gucci, and Stella McCartney are using sustainable marketing communications (Janssen et al., 2014). However, luxury consumers prioritize quality rather than sustainability (Steenkamp, Van Heerde, & Geyskens, 2010). Instead, they are more influenced by CSR activities because they appear to be congruent with core business goals to maintain brand evaluations and reputations (Bhattacharya, Sen, & Korschun, 2011). However, a study of luxury fashion products that used recycled materials showed that consumers might also negatively evaluate sustainable efforts (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013). Moreover, consumer responses to sustainability differ across brand types and luxury perceptions (Kumagai & Nagasawa, 2017). Thus, favorable attitudes toward luxury brands do not necessarily evoke actual sustainable behavior (Kumagai & Nagasawa, 2017). Hence, in luxury fashion contexts especially, attitudes about sustainability conflict with behavior. Sustainability is more congruent with non-luxury brands, particularly because fast fashion production has heavy economic effects (Sun, Kim, & Kim, 2014) and luxury brand images are dissonant with ecofriendliness (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013). Consequently, mass-market fashion brands are more likely than luxury brands to advertise sustainability (Jestratijevic, Rudd, & Uanhoro, 2020). Moreover, a study of the green marketing of a luxury brand showed no significant effect on satisfaction of consumers who frequently purchased luxury products, but a significant relationship was confirmed for infrequent luxury purchasers (Park, Ko, & Kim, 2010), indicating a reverse relationship between brand luxury consumption and response to sustainability. Therefore: Hypothesis 3. Sustainability perception has stronger impacts on brand attitude and consumer behavior for non-luxury rather than luxury brands. 2.5. Trust When consumers form trust, they are willing to rely on a brand “to perform its stated function” (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001, p. 82). Social responsibility and brand transparency strongly affect perceptions of accountability and trust, which then predicts brand loyalty and purchase intentions (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). Trust also determines whether green product information is perceived as credible and accurate and whether it enhances consumer behavior (Quelch & Harding, 1996; Young, Hwang, McDonald, & Oates, 2010). Thus, companies thought to be reliable and honest create positive brand reputations through CSR (McWilliams & Siegel, 2001) and commitment to environmental and social issues (Fombrun & Shanley, 1990; Osburg, Akhtar, Yoganathan, & McLeay, 2019). Hence, appropriate sustainable marketing activities that convey trustworthiness can create positive attitudes (Goldsmith, Lafferty, & Newell, 2000). However, if sustainable advertising misleads consumers or transmits confusing information about products and actual sustainability attributes (Schmuck, Matthes, & Naderer, 2018), H.M. Kong et al.

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 643 consumers might perceive that the brand is dishonestly “greenwashing” (Laufer, 2003) and lacks legitimacy (Olsen, Slotegraaf, & Chandukala, 2014). In addition, sustainability efforts must be transparent and honest if consumers are to develop favorable attitudes and intentions (Osburg et al., 2019). However, consumers who highly trust a brand and expect it to act in their best interest may form negative brand evaluations if the brand appears to greenwash its activities (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001; Schmuck et al., 2018). Hence: Hypothesis 4. Trust negatively moderates the relationship between sustainability perception and brand attitude. 2.6. Sustainability dimensions Originally, sustainability included environmental, social, and economic dimensions (Caniato, Caridi, Crippa, & Moretto, 2012; Peattie & Belz, 2010). The environmental dimension included natural resource use, carrying capacities, and ecosystem integrity. The social dimension included participation, empowerment, social mobility, and cultural preservation. The economic dimension included household needs, efficient use of labor, and industrial and agricultural growth. Changes in consumer behavior and the market environment have added the cultural dimension, including the preservation of art, heritage, knowledge, and cultural diversity (Soini & Birkeland, 2014; Soini & Dessein, 2016). This study takes a holistic approach to examine consumer perceptions of environmental, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of sustainable marketing activities. Environmental advertising is probably the most prominent sustainability dimension and the most frequently applied in the fashion business (Kim & Damhorst, 1998; Minton et al., 2012). Consumers are highly aware of environmental advertising, so they are likely to have positive perceptions of eco-friendly claims about efforts to prevent detrimental environmental impacts (Gogichaishvili et al., 2019; Olsen et al., 2014; Polonsky, Carlson, Grove, & Kangun, 1997), but only when the claims align with their thoughts and beliefs (Ruiz & Sicilia, 2004). Most studies on environmental marketing claims have examined how online ecofriendly advertising messages affect purchase intentions (Kim & Lennon, 2008), such claims have been shown to positively affect attitudes toward advertising, brand awareness, brand attitudes, and eWOM (Gogichaishvili et al., 2019; Kim, Chun, & Ko, 2017). In addition, environmental labeling has been shown to stimulate purchase intentions (Polonsky et al., 1997). The fifth hypothesis is based on those arguments and on the fact that consumers are most frequently exposed to environmental sustainability claims: Hypothesis 5. Marketing claims focused on environmental sustainability rather than on economic, social, and cultural sustainability, will more strongly influence a) brand attitudes, b) eWOM, and c) purchase intentions. 2.7. Cultural differences Germany and South Korea have different cultural orientations (Hofstede, 2001). South Koreans score high on collectivism, indicating a focus on group-oriented goals, conformity, and social interaction (Triandis, 1995). In contrast, Germans score high on individualism, indicating a focus on self-reliance, freedom of choice, individual actions, and cost-benefit analysis in behavioral intentions (Hofstede, 2001). In addition, they view recycling as having long-term value and are more likely to share their beliefs supporting cooperative environmental protection (McCarty & Shrum, 2001). Individualism versus collectivism may generate different crossculture perceptions of advertisements (de Mooij, 2004). In individualistic cultures, low-context communications with explicit expressions are more effective (de Mooij & Hofstede, 2010), so consumers will rely more on information acquired through media and friends. In collectivist cultures, high-context, indirect communications will be more effective, and personal experience will be the most reliable basis for making decisions (de Mooij & Hofstede, 2010). Consequently, when luxury brands use green advertising, responses should differ across individualistic versus collectivistic countries (Park et al., 2010). Consequently: Hypothesis 6. Sustainability perceptions about luxury and non-luxury brands will be more persuasive for individualistic German consumers rather than collectivist South Korean consumers. 3. Study 1 3.1. Method Study 1 was an analysis of consumer responses to social media ads endorsing sustainability. The analysis included mediation and moderation analysis, and additional analyses using a 2 (brand luxury: nonluxury vs. luxury) × 5 (sustainability dimension: control, cultural, economic, environmental, social) between-subjects design. 3.2. Stimuli Participants viewed five versions of a brand post; four using cultural, economic, environmental, or social claims; one, the control condition, used no claims. To appeal to participants of both genders, a unisex shirt was the stimulus. The frame indicated that the ad was distributed on a social media platform. Except for the sustainability manipulation and different names for the non-luxury and luxury brand manipulation, the ad stimuli were constant (Appendix A). The selection of brands for the stimuli was based on a pretest where participants rated to what extent they consider a set of ten different fashion brands (i.e., Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein, GAP, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani, Burberry, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada) to be a luxury brand. Gucci (i.e., luxury brand) and Tommy Hilfiger (i.e., non-luxury brand) were selected for the experimental design due to their discriminative properties. 3.3. Participants A total of 429 participants recruited from Germany were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups (age, M = 28, SD = 8.16; gender, 65.0% women; education, 2.6% incomplete high school education, 28.9% complete high school education, 34.3% undergraduate university education, 29.1% graduate university education, 4.0% postgraduate university education, 1.2% other education; occupation, 58.5% student, 33.1% employee, 3.8% employer/self-employed, 4.7% other employment). 3.4. Measures After viewing the ad from the brand post, participants were asked to name the brand they had just viewed. Next, they completed attitudinal and behavioral measures related to the brand, indicated their social media use, and reported their attitudes toward sustainability. All items were tested using a 7-point Likert-type scale. Brand attitude was measured with three items based on an overall brand attitude scale (Grohmann, 2009) using 7-point semantic differentials anchored by opposite adjectives (negative/positive, dislike/like, unfavorable/favorable). Purchase intention was measured using two seven-point semantic differentials anchored by opposite adjectives (unlikely/likely, improbable/ probable) adopted from Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001). eWOM was measured with two items anchored by strongly disagree (1) and strongly agree (7) adopted from Alexandrov, Lilly, and Babakus (2013). H.M. Kong et al.

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 644 3.5. Manipulation checks Three manipulation checks were performed. To ensure that participants paid attention, they were asked to choose among six alternatives to identify which brand was featured in the ad. Those who had incorrect recall were excluded from the sample. Sustainability perception was measured across four dimensions with the statement “The brand contributes to sustainability on the following dimension…” anchored by strongly disagree (1) and strongly agree (7). Perceptions of brand luxury were measured with three items anchored by strongly disagree (1) and strongly agree (7) adopted from Ko, Costello, and Taylor (2017). The manipulations of sustainability perception and brand luxury were successful. Participants who viewed the ads containing sustainability claims (Mtreatment = 3.21) had higher sustainability perceptions (t (341) = 2.67, p < .01) than those who viewed the ads without claims (Mcontrol = 2.72). Participants had higher perceptions of luxury (t (427) = 13.56, p < .001) for the luxury brand (Mluxury = 6.00) than for the non-luxury brand (Mnon-luxury = 4.42). 3.6. Moderated mediation analysis To investigate the underlying mechanisms affecting sustainability perceptions on eWOM and purchase intention, a moderated mediation analysis (PROCESS Model 10; Hayes (2013)) was performed using brand attitude as the mediator. Table 1 shows that brand attitude mediated sustainability perceptions, with no significant unconditional direct effect on eWOM (β = 0.01, SE = 0.13, p = n.s.) and purchase intention (β = 0.11, SE = 0.14, p = n.s.). Sustainability perception had a significant direct effect (β = 0.44, SE = 0.11, p < .001) on brand attitude and a conditional effect (see Fig. 2) on trust (β = − 0.11, SE = 0.03, p < .001), supporting Hypotheses 1a and 4. Participants who had low trust toward the non-luxury brand showed a positive effect on brand attitude (β = 0.22, SE = 0.07, p < .01). Participants with high trust reacted to increased sustainability perceptions by showing negative brand attitudes toward the luxury brand (β = − 0.19, SE = 0.07, p < .01). Brand attitude subsequently influenced purchase intentions (β = 0.18, SE = 0.07, p < .01), but no significant effect was found for eWOM (β = 0.06, SE = 0.06, p = n.s.), supporting Hypothesis 2. A significant interaction effect occurred in sustainability perception × trust (β = 0.06, SE = 0.03, p < .05) on eWOM (see Fig. 2). Intentions to spread positive eWOM increased both for the non-luxury (β = 0.29, SE = 0.07, p < .001) and the luxury brand (β = 0.20, SE = 0.07, p < .01), most strongly for consumers with high brand trust. Brand luxury moderated (β = − 0.24, SE = 0.09, p < .01) the effect of sustainability perception on purchase intention (Fig. 2). Purchase intention decreased (β = − 0.24, SE = 0.08, p < .01) for the luxury brand, and sustainability most strongly increased perception under high trust. Indirect effects of sustainability perception via brand attitude were confirmed on purchase intention for the non-luxury brand (b = 0.04, LLCI = 0.01, ULCI = 0.09) under low trust and for the luxury brand (b = Table 1 Moderated mediation analysis of the effect of sustainability perceptions on eWOM and purchase intention for Study 1. Brand attitude eWOM Purchase intention Variables β SE β SE β SE Sustainability perception (SP) 0.44*** 0.11 0.01 0.13 0.11 0.14 Trust 0.54*** 0.09 0.06 0.11 0.13 0.12 SP × Trust 0.11*** 0.03 0.06* 0.03 0.02 0.03 Brand luxury 0.33 0.25 0.06 0.28 0.39 0.30 SP × brand luxury 0.13 0.07 0.09 0.08 0.24** 0.09 Ad attitude 0.09* 0.04 0.41*** 0.05 0.02 0.05 Familiarity 0.13*** 0.04 0.03 0.04 0.18*** 0.04 Authenticity 0.16*** 0.04 0.08 0.05 0.09 0.05 Desirability 0.31*** 0.04 0.02 0.05 0.30*** 0.05 Willingness to pay price premium 0.02 0.05 0.02 0.06 0.19** 0.06 Ownership 0.11 0.14 0.29 0.16 0.33 0.17 Resonance 0.02 0.06 0.05 0.07 0.22** 0.07 Social media engagement 0.01 0.05 0.19** 0.06 0.014 0.06 Sustainable social media engagement 0.02 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.05 Sustainable buying 0.06 0.05 0.08 0.06 0.16* 0.06 Brand attitude 0.06 0.06 0.18** 0.07 Explained variance 0.64 0.51 0.72 N 343 343 343 Note. Brand attitude: F (15) = 38.38, p = .00; eWOM: F (16) = 20.93, p = .00; Purchase intention: F (16) = 52.58, p = .00. ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05. Fig. 2. Sustainability perception × trust effect on brand attitude, eWOM, and purchase intention. H.M. Kong et al.

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 645 − 0.04, LLCI = − 0.08, ULCI = − 0.00) under high trust. 3.7. Additional analysis An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) tested for group differences in a 2 (brand luxury: non-luxury vs. luxury) × 5 (sustainability dimension: control, cultural, economic, environmental, and social) betweensubjects design. The covariates included the same variables used in the regression analysis. Pairwise comparisons revealed no significant differences in brand attitude across the five conditions for the nonluxury and the luxury brand. The results for eWOM showed that, compared to the control group (Mcontrol = 2.39), respondents in the luxury brand condition were more likely to provide positive eWOM when they saw the economic sustainability claim (Meconomic = 2.78, p < .05) and social sustainability claim (Msocial = 2.85, p < .05) (Fig. 3). No differences emerged for the non-luxury brand group. The results of pairwise comparisons of purchase intention revealed significant differences only for the non-luxury brand condition (Fig. 3). Purchase intention significantly increased for respondents in the cultural (Mcultural = 3.25, p < .05) and environmental (Menvironmental = 3.33, p < .05) sustainability claim group as compared to the control group (Mcontrol = 2.92). The results partially supported Hypotheses 3 and 5c. 3.8. Discussion Study 1 demonstrated that perceived sustainability positively influences brand attitude and that trust strongly and positively affects brand evaluation. However, consumers with high levels of trust have more unfavorable attitudes as sustainability perceptions increase. Sustainability perception plays only a minor role for encouraging sharing Fig. 3. Group comparisons for different sustainability claims for Study 1. H.M. Kong et al.

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 646 behavior on social media. Attitude toward the brand post and general social media engagement mainly drive intentions to share content. Accordingly, increasing sustainability perception will motivate consumers to purchase from non-luxury brands but not luxury brands. Moreover, group comparisons indicated that economic and social sustainability information in brand posts motivate eWOM more for luxury brands. Therefore, non-luxury brands are best able to leverage cultural and environmental sustainability to increase purchase intentions. 4. Study 2 Study 2 conceptually replicated Study 1 in a different cultural setting. As in Study 1, mediation and moderation analysis were applied to test the hypotheses on a South Korean sample. Additional analyses were performed using a 2 (brand luxury: non-luxury vs. luxury) × 5 (sustainability dimension: control, cultural, economic, environmental, and social) between-subjects design. The scales and procedure were identical to those of Study 1. 4.1. Participants The experiment was conducted among 384 participants from South Korea. Participants were randomly assigned to the treatment or control groups (age, M = 30, SD = 9.66; gender, 69.3% women; education, 0.5% incomplete high school education, 20.8% complete high school education, 72.9% undergraduate university education, 4.7% graduate university education, 0.5% postgraduate university education, 0.5% other education; occupation, 22.1% student, 64.8% employee, 5.5% employer/self-employed, 7.6% other employment). 4.2. Manipulation checks The manipulations of sustainability perception and brand luxury were successful. Participants had higher sustainability perceptions (t (382) = 2.08 , p < .05) when viewing the ads containing sustainability claims (Mtreatment = 4.75) than ads without claims (Mcontrol = 4.44). Brand luxury was perceived higher (t (382) = 10.93 , p < .001) for the luxury brand (Mluxury = 5.47) than for the non-luxury brand (Mnon-luxury = 4.28). 4.3. Moderated mediation analysis Brand luxury (β = 0.68, SE = 0.33, p < .05) increased brand attitudes (Table 2). Sustainability perception did not affect purchase intentions (β = 0.38, SE = 0.20, p = n.s.). No mediation or moderation effects were revealed. The results supported Hypothesis 6. 4.4. Additional analysis ANCOVA tested for group differences across the four sustainability dimensions for the non-luxury and luxury brand. Pairwise comparisons indicated that attitudes toward the luxury brand suffered the most when communicating economic sustainability (Meconomic = 4.84, p < .05) (Fig. 4). Respondents were least likely to provide eWOM when the luxury brand post promoted environmental sustainability (Menvironmental = 3.41, p < .05). 4.5. Discussion Study 2 tested the same conceptual model in South Korea. Overall, sustainability perception played no significant role in brand evaluations. However, group comparisons showed that luxury brands risk diluting brand attitudes when they advertise economic sustainability. Luxury brands also reduce intentions to spread positive eWOM when they advertise environmental sustainability. 5. General discussion Several hypotheses were developed to test how sustainability perceptions in Germany and South Korea affect eWOM and purchase intentions, with brand attitude as a mediator. The studies show how trust and brand luxury moderate the proposed relationships. The experimental design compared the effectiveness of advertising content on social media across cultural, economic, environmental, and social sustainability dimensions. Study 1 revealed that sustainable advertising positively influences Table 2 Moderated mediation analysis of the effect of sustainability perceptions on eWOM and purchase intention for Study 2. Brand attitude eWOM Purchase intention Variables β SE β SE β SE Sustainability perception (SP) 0.00 0.17 0.21 0.15 0.38 0.20 Trust 0.11 0.18 0.27 0.16 0.24 0.22 SP × Trust 0.01 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.08 0.04 Brand luxury 0.68* 0.33 0.19 0.30 0.65 0.40 SP × brand luxury 0.10 0.07 0.01 0.06 0.11 0.08 Ad attitude 0.01 0.05 0.64*** 0.04 0.07 0.06 Familiarity 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.20*** 0.05 Authenticity 0.12* 0.05 0.03 0.05 0.05 0.07 Desirability 0.28*** 0.05 0.04 0.04 0.50*** 0.06 Willingness to pay price premium 0.07 0.05 0.03 0.04 0.20*** 0.06 Ownership 0.04 0.10 0.21* 0.09 0.01 0.12 Resonance 0.03 0.07 0.05 0.06 0.00 0.08 Social media engagement 0.12 0.06 0.00 0.06 0.02 0.08 Sustainable social media engagement 0.02 0.06 0.07 0.05 0.17* 0.07 Sustainable buying 0.02 0.05 0.11* 0.05 0.03 0.06 Brand attitude 0.07 0.05 0.09 0.06 Explained variance 0.36 0.70 0.56 N 384 384 384 Note. Brand attitude: F (15) = 13.90, p = .00; eWOM: F (16) = 54.44, p = .00; Purchase intention: F (16) = 29.43, p = .00. ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05. H.M. Kong et al.

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 647 brand evaluations, but trust is a boundary condition for the positive effect. Increasing perception of sustainability had a less positive effect on consumers who generally trust the brand. Moreover, increased perception of sustainability had a less positive effect and actually diluted the luxury brand. The study indicates that brands may boost brand evaluations first by leveraging trust to increase expectations that a brand is ethical and transparent. The claims used in the advertising material were vague in lacking information about how sustainable claims were enforced. Consumers can perceive implicit deception in vague or ambiguous claims that cannot be properly verified. Accordingly, the brand post may appear to be an effort to greenwash (Schmuck et al., 2018). Second, consumers are increasingly aware of sustainability issues, but environmental preservation is a secondary criterion when choosing and purchasing products, particularly for luxury brands where sustainability conflicts with quality, value, and prestige associations (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013). Sustainability had only a marginal impact on intentions to provide positive eWOM about brands on social media. Primarily guiding such intentions were attitudes toward the advertising material and general predispositions toward using social media. However, luxury brands significantly increased eWOM intentions when making economic and social sustainability claims, which may indicate trend information worth sharing (Godey et al., 2016). Sustainability perception failed to have a direct and unconditional effect on purchase intentions, but brand attitude was a positive mediator. However, brand luxury negatively moderated the effect of sustainability perception on purchase intention. Hence, as sustainability Fig. 4. Group comparisons for different sustainability claims for Study 2. H.M. Kong et al.

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 648 perceptions increased, willingness to purchase a luxury brand decreased. In contrast, when the communication posts contained cultural and environmental information, non-luxury brands gained the most in purchase intentions. The results align with previous findings suggesting that sustainable communication creates dissonant, conflicting associations for luxury brands. That is, green advertising conflicts with luxury brand images as representing prestige, quality, rarity, and exclusivity. Accordingly, consumers feel that luxury brands have less need for sustainability because they are slow fashion. Sustainability communications then appear to be commercial strategies to boost sales or to threaten quality and scarcity (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013). Study 2 was conducted in South Korea, which ranks lower (#33) than Germany (#13) on the country sustainability ranking (RobecoSAM, , 2018). The results supported the proposition that South Korean consumers will be less influenced by sustainability communication for evaluating brands, for online sharing behavior, and for forming purchase intentions. However, group comparisons showed that luxury brands promoting economic sustainability had significantly declining brand attitudes. Moreover, eWOM intentions for luxury brands decreased with the communication of environmental sustainability. To recapitulate, the objective was to investigate how sustainability claims affect evaluations of and intentions toward luxury and nonluxury brands in different cultural settings. Results from both studies show that the cultural setting must be carefully considered in studies of sustainability communication strategies for luxury versus non-luxury brands on social media. That is, the campaigns will be most successful for non-luxury brands if conducted in cultures where consumers are highly aware of sustainability. 6. Implications The two studies provide valuable insights into how social media communication about sustainability influences non-luxury and luxury brands in individualistic versus collective cultural settings. In Germany, brand posts promoting sustainability enhanced non-luxury and luxury brand attitudes, an important behavioral antecedent. However, advertising messages must be carefully considered. Consumers who highly trust the brand may be skeptical about green advertising and may decrease their brand evaluation. Although communicating sustainability increased eWOM for both non-luxury and luxury brands, it failed to increase purchase intentions. Non-luxury brands can exploit sustainability associations to increase purchase considerations, but luxury brands risk diluting the brand. Consequently, luxury brand managers should refrain from explicitly communicating sustainability to avoid causing dissonance in brand associations with quality and prestige (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013). Instead, they should use more implicit strategies, such as using sustainable materials in product packaging or store layouts. In comparison, South Koreans are less aware of sustainability and thus sustainable advertising had unequal effects. Hence, brands should avoid using one-size-fits-all advertising campaigns to promote dedication to sustainability. Instead, communicating sustainability may be socially desirable but disconnected from behavioral intentions (Minton et al., 2012). Sustainable advertising campaigns on social media will be most beneficial for non-luxury brands in cultures where consumers are highly aware of sustainability. Moreover, cultural and environmental sustainability claims will be most effective for non-luxury brands. Although environmental sustainability may be the prototype of green advertising, cultural sustainability is a novel dimension that deserves future attention in studies on sustainable communication. 7. Limitations The present study has several limitations. Although trust was found to be a boundary condition for the positive effect of sustainability, the underlying mechanisms are speculations. Further research should investigate why consumers who have high trust and sustainability perceptions would have diluted brand evaluations. Moreover, rather than use only two brands to represent the non-luxury and luxury brand conditions, researchers should investigate whether an experimental design using different brands would change the pattern of sustainability dimensions. Cognition and affect have been shown to guide brand evaluation, but future studies could explore how extensively they affect the processing of sustainable information for non-luxury and luxury brands. Such research would help brand managers frame messages in ways that will trigger the desired cognitive and affective processes. Acknowledgement This research was supported by a German Academic Exchange Service scholarship and the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOE) (NRF-2017S1A2A2041810). This research was presented at the 2018 Global Marketing Conference in Tokyo and was later developed for submission to the Journal of Business Research. H.M. Kong et al.

Journal of Business Research 131 (2021) 640–651 649 Appendix A. Stimulus material Control claim luxury brand Control claim non-luxury brand Cultural claim luxury brand Cultural claim non-luxury brand Economic claim luxury brand Economic claim non-luxury brand Environmental claim luxury brand Environmental claim non-luxury brand Social claim luxury brand Social claim non-luxury brand H.M. Kong et al.

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Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 Available online 21 March 2021 0148-2963/Published by Elsevier Inc. How counterfeit dominance affects luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions: A cross-cultural examination Lei Song a,* , Yan Meng b,* , Hua Chang c , Wenjing Li d , Kang Tan (Frank) e a Business Program, The Pennsylvania State University Abington, Abington, PA, USA b Marketing Department, Grenoble Ecole de Management, Grenoble, France c Marketing Department, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA d Department of Management and Marketing, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, USA e ACIP Technology Ltd. Co., Canada ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Attitude functions Culture Luxury brands Counterfeits Purchase intention Perceived quality ABSTRACT Prior literature has provided little insight into how counterfeit dominance—consumers’ perception that counterfeit brands possess over 50% of market share for authentic and counterfeit brands combined—influences luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions of their brands across cultures. Our research shows that counterfeit dominance negatively affects the perceived quality and purchase intention of luxury fashion brands across product categories for Anglo-American, but not for Asian, consumers. A social-adjustive attitude underlies this difference. Therefore, counterfeit dominance has stronger negative impacts on luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions of their brands for those with a weak (Anglo-Americans), but not with a strong (Asians), socialadjustive attitude. Perceived quality mediates the effect of counterfeit dominance on luxury fashion brand owners’ purchase intention in different cultures. This investigation contributes to both theory and practice through examining an understudied phenomenon and also offering strategies to offset the inimical effects of counterfeit dominance. 1. Introduction Counterfeit products dominate the marketplace in many countries (The Wall Street Journal, 2019; Department of Homeland Security, 2020). For example, up to 60% percent of medications in Asian and African countries are counterfeit (Taverriti-Fortier et al., 2015). Also, when making online investigative test purchases, the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition received approximately 80% counterfeit items (International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, 2019). Luxury fashion brands are no exception. According to Harvard Business Review (2019), counterfeit luxury fashion brands account for 60–70 percent of the $4.5 trillion in total counterfeit trade, which represent one-quarter of total sales in luxury fashion goods. Despite the prevalence of counterfeit products, no research has empirically examined the role of counterfeits in affecting consumers’ purchase of authentic luxury fashion brands in a cross-country context. Prior work on counterfeit consumption has primarily focused on either consumers’ counterfeit purchasing behavior or the effect of counterfeit offerings on luxury fashion brands in a single culture (e.g., Andr´e et al., 2019; Bian et al., 2016; Ha & Lennon, 2006). Also, extant investigations of the effect of counterfeit items on consumers’ purchase of authentic luxury fashion brands have obtained inconsistent findings. For example, counterfeit presence has been shown to have negative (e.g., Commuri, 2009; Fournier, 1998; Hellofs and Jacobson, 1999), nonsignificant (Bian & Moutinho, 2011; Nia & Zaichkowsky, 2000), positive (Baghi et al., 2016; Romani et al., 2012), and both negative and positive (Qian, 2014) impacts on consumers’ perceptions of authentic luxury fashion brands. Moreover, the limited cross-cultural studies on counterfeit products have chiefly examined cultural differences in consumers’ perceptions toward counterfeit goods (Harvey & Walls, 2003; Lee & Workman, 2011) and placed less emphasis on understanding the role of cultural differences in the effect of counterfeit products on consumers’ perceptions and purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands. In an attempt to fill the foregoing research gap, the present paper examined the following research question: How does counterfeit dominance (which we define as consumers’ perception that counterfeit * Corresponding authors at: Business Program, The Pennsylvania State University Abington, 1600 Woodland Rd, Abington, PA 19001, USA (L. Song). Marketing Department, Grenoble Ecole de Management, 12 rue Pierre S´emard, Grenoble 38000, France (Y. Mang). E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L. Song), [email protected] (Y. Meng), [email protected] (H. Chang), [email protected] (W. Li). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.02.046 Received 15 March 2020; Received in revised form 17 February 2021; Accepted 20 February 2021

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 2 brands have more than 50% of the market share for the combined sales of authentic and counterfeit brand products) affect brand owners’ perceptions and purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands across cultures? Admittedly, the dominance of counterfeit offerings has a detrimental impact on authentic luxury fashion brands in many Asian countries, as well as the United States (International Chamber of Commerce, 2017). Therefore, understanding the effect of counterfeit dominance in Asian (e.g., Chinese) and U.S. (e.g., Anglo-American; Hofstede, 2001) cultures would provide significant insights for developing strategies to address counterfeiting efforts in luxury fashion brand categories. This study also partially answered Wilcox et al.’s (2009) call for research into the impact of attitude functions—especially socialadjustive attitudes—on consumers’ purchase intention of luxury fashion brands in a cross-cultural context. Specifically, we examined how counterfeit dominance affects consumers’ purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands across Western and Eastern cultures. Because the U.S. and Chinese cultures are two major luxury fashion brand markets and are also relevant representations of Western and Eastern cultures (Bian & Forsythe, 2012), we recruited Anglo-American and Chinese subjects in the U.S. and China, respectively. To find further evidence for our hypotheses, we replicated our studies across AngloAmericans and Asian-Americans in the U.S. Through four experimental studies, we found that counterfeit dominance negatively affects (vs. does not affect) Anglo-American (vs. Asian) brand owners’ perceived quality of their authentic luxury brands, which leads to lower (vs. no difference in) purchase intention of authentic luxury brands. Social-adjustive attitudes were identified as the underlying driver of the differential effect of counterfeit dominance between the two cultural groups. Differences found within and across the two cultures provide practical implications for luxury fashion brand manufacturers to tailor their marketing campaigns to consumers in dissimilar cultures. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to examine the effect of counterfeit dominance on luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions toward authentic brands across different cultures. Because luxury fashion brand owners are likely to purchase their brands repeatedly (Gorzelany, 2011), understanding how counterfeit dominance affects luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions of their brands across cultures should be beneficial for authentic luxury fashion brand manufacturers. 2. Literature review, theoretical background, and hypothesis development 2.1. Attitude functions and reference groups toward the luxury fashion brand purchase Functional theories of attitude propose that an attitude can serve different social functions, such as allowing people to express themselves (i.e., value-expressive function) or to fit into social groups (i.e., socialadjustive function; Holmqvist et al., 2020; Katz, 1960; Smith et al., 1956; Shavitt, 1989). Attitudes that serve a social-adjustive function help sustain social relationships (Smith et al., 1956). When consumers purchase products for this function, they do so to receive approval from their peers. However, attitudes that serve a value-expressive function help people express themselves (Katz, 1960). Consumers with a valueexpressive attitude consume products to convey their beliefs and values to others. Shavitt (1989) suggested that consumers’ attitudes toward luxury fashion brands may serve as either a value-expressive or a social-adjustive function or both. Turunen and Laaksonen (2011)’s research revealed that luxury fashion brands and their counterfeits are different in psychological and sociological meanings. Specifically, luxury fashion brands have social functions and personal purposes, but counterfeit products primarily serve social functions. When purchasing luxury fashion brands, consumers with different attitude functions toward luxury fashion brands adopt dissimilar reference groups. Reference groups have been shown to affect consumers’ product and brand purchase decisions (Bearden & Etzel, 1982). According to Bearden et al. (1989), compared to consumers with a value-expressive attitude, those with a social-adjustive attitude are more likely to buy luxury fashion brands that their peer groups (e.g., friends) accept. Therefore, whether peer groups accept or reject individuals’ luxury fashion brand plays a significant role in their buying decisions (Grewal et al., 2004; Shavitt, 1990; Wilcox et al., 2009). Cultural differences also play an important role in consumers’ tendency to adopt different attitude functions and reference groups vis-a-vis ` luxury fashion brand purchases. For example, Bian and Forsythe (2012) asserted that a social-adjustive attitude has a more important role in luxury fashion brand purchases for Asian than for American consumers. Because consumers with a strong (weak) social-adjustive attitude are more (less) likely to adopt their peer group as their reference group for luxury fashion brand purchases, perceptions of luxury fashion brands for Asian (American) consumers should be less (more) likely to be affected by people outside their peer groups. 2.2. Luxury fashion brand and counterfeit consumption across cultures Research on luxury fashion brand consumption in a cross-cultural context is relatively recent. Vigneron and Johnson (2004) developed a scale to measure brand luxury dimensions based on an Australian student sample. Using consumers from Taiwan to validate the scale, Christodoulides et al. (2009) found that Asian luxury consumers are primarily impacted by Confucian culture and are interdependent and group based. Kapferer and Florence’s (2019) work revealed that market penetration has a similar effect on luxury desirability and awareness for Eastern and Western consumers. The results of their studies also showed that compared with perceived richness, self-made success is a more relevant antecedent of materialism in both Eastern and Western countries. However, the effect is even more marked in China and Japan than in Western countries (Kapferer & Florence, 2019). As luxury fashion brands gain increased market penetration globally, so does the consumption of counterfeit products. Prior research has examined the impact of culture on counterfeit items. Kwong et al. (2009) found that Chinese and Western consumers hold different attitudes toward counterfeit offerings and views about the social cost of counterfeiting and the social benefit of counterfeits reproduction. Country of origin also impacts the purchase intention of counterfeit goods. For example, Chapa et al. (2006) observed that this construct has a stronger influence on U.S. than Mexican consumers. The current investigation advances the foregoing stream of literature on counterfeit products across cultures. 2.3. Counterfeit dominance and consumers’ attitude functions and reference groups Although extant research has not examined the effect of counterfeit dominance on consumers’ perceptions and purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands, scholars have found inconsistent evidence regarding counterfeit offerings (in general) on consumers’ perceptions and purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands. For example, some studies determined that availability of counterfeit products damage perceptions of exclusivity and uniqueness and thus subsequently reduce consumers’ purchase intention of authentic brands (Commuri, 2009; Fournier, 1998; Hellofs and Jacobson, 1999). Other investigations, however, discerned that consumers experience no decrease in perceived value, satisfaction, or purchase intention of authentic brands after exposure to counterfeit items (Bian & Moutinho, 2011; Nia & Zaichkowsky, 2000). Moderating factors of effects of counterfeit products on consumers’ perceptions have also been explored. That work determined that whether counterfeit goods negate consumers’ perceptions of their authentic luxury fashion brands depends on brand popularity (Romani et al., 2012) and brand prestige L. Song et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 3 (Qian, 2014). To clarify the above inconsistencies, the current research introduces a new concept of counterfeit dominance. Similar to market dominance—which occurs when certain products, brands, services, or firms have a market share larger than or equal to 50% (Melnik et al., 2008)— counterfeit dominance takes place when certain counterfeit products achieve more than 50% of total market share, including the authentic luxury brands and competitive counterfeit goods combined. Our undertaking focused on consumers’ perceptions of counterfeit dominance, because precise measurement of counterfeits’ market share is infeasible: most counterfeit trading is opaque (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007). Counterfeit dominance may affect consumers’ perceptions of authentic luxury fashion brands. According to Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), counterfeit trademark goods (or counterfeits) are defined as “any goods, including packaging, bearing without authorization a trademark that is identical to the trademark validly registered in respect of such goods or that cannot be distinguished in its essential aspects from such a trademark, which thereby infringes the rights of the owner of the trademark in question under the law of the country of importation” (World Trade Organization, 1994). Consumers usually cannot quickly discern the difference between counterfeit and authentic products, as they typically appear almost identical (Staake et al., 2012). Therefore, if counterfeit items are present but do not reach the threshold of dominance, consumers whose reference group comprises outsiders may believe the chances that their own luxury fashion brands will be mistakenly considered as counterfeit are low. However, when consumers perceive that counterfeit goods dominate the market, they may be concerned that outsiders (e.g., strangers on the street) will view their luxury fashion brands as counterfeit. This is because outsiders do not usually possess sufficient information to judge the brand’s authenticity. Such an effect, however, should not hold for consumers who adopt peers as their reference group, as peers usually have more information than outsiders regarding the authenticity of a brand owned by fellow consumers. 2.4. Counterfeit dominance and perceived quality Our research specifically examined perceived quality because it is an essential part of consumer-based brand equity of luxury fashion brands (Liu et al., 2017) and positively affects consumers’ purchase intention (Parguel et al., 2016). Perceived quality is defined as the overall subjective judgment about one’s expectation of quality (Mitra & Golder, 2006). Unlike objective quality, perceived quality is highly subjective and can be affected by specific consumption settings (Zeithaml, 1988), such as purchasing luxury fashion brands. Scholars have found that in the luxury consumption context, user-designed luxury brands have reduced perceived quality, which negatively affects the desirability of those brands (Fuchs et al., 2013). Perceived quality also mediates the impact of price display on consumers’ brand attitude and desirability of luxury fashion brands (Parguel et al., 2016). The effect of counterfeit dominance on consumers’ perceptions of luxury fashion brands vis-` a-vis different cultures depends on other attitude functions and reference groups. Because we suggest that consumers with a strong (weak) social-adjustive attitude are more (less) likely to adopt their peer groups as a reference group for luxury fashion brand purchases, perceptions of luxury fashion brands for Asian (AngloAmerican) owners should be less (more) likely to be affected by people outside their peer groups. Moreover, we aver that counterfeit dominance raises luxury fashion brand owners’ concern that outsiders rather than peers will regard their brands as counterfeit. As such, Asian (AngloAmerican) owners should be less (more) concerned that their brands are considered as low-quality counterfeits. Furthermore, those with a strong (weak) social-adjustive attitude are less (more) likely to engage in high self-monitoring that leads to a strong focus on product quality (Snyder & DeBono, 1985; Wilcox et al., 2009). Accordingly, Asian (AngloAmerican) brand owners are less (more) likely to observe quality-related cues which infer that their brands are low quality when outsiders easily misperceive these brands as low-quality counterfeits. Thus, we argue that counterfeit dominance should negatively impact Anglo-American, but not Asian, luxury fashion brand owners’ perceived quality of their authentic brands. H1a: Counterfeit dominance negatively impacts Anglo-American brand owners’ perceived quality of their authentic luxury fashion brands. H1b: Counterfeit dominance does not negatively impact Asian brand owners’ perceived quality of their authentic luxury fashion brands. 2.5. Counterfeit dominance and purchase intention Purchase intention is a critical construct in existing counterfeit research (Yoo & Lee, 2012). For example, Marticotte and Arcand (2017) found that Schadenfreude (i.e., the pleasure felt in reaction to another’s misfortune) positively correlates with purchase intention of counterfeits. Yoo and Lee (2012) suggested that prior experience with authentic luxury fashion brands negatively affects consumers’ purchase intention of counterfeit offerings, but prior experience with counterfeit items does not influence purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands. Past research has also shown that perceived quality predicts purchase intention (Parguel et al., 2016). Liu et al. (2017) further observed that perceived quality positively affects consumers’ purchase intention of luxury fashion brands. As we suggest that counterfeit dominance has a stronger negative impact on Anglo-American than Asian luxury fashion brand owners’ perceived quality of their authentic brands, we expect purchase intention to demonstrate a similar pattern. Therefore, we propose the following: H2a: Counterfeit dominance negatively impacts Anglo-American brand owners’ purchase intention of their authentic luxury fashion brands. H2b: Counterfeit dominance does not negatively impact Asian brand owners’ purchase intention of their authentic luxury fashion brands. As we discussed earlier, cultural differences in consumers’ luxury preferences partly originate from differences in their social-adjustive attitude toward luxury fashion brands. Specifically, individuals with a strong (weak) social-adjustive attitude are more (less) likely to adopt their peers as the reference group for luxury fashion brand purchases and are, therefore, less likely to be affected by outsiders. Such reference group differences—combined with different sensitivities to qualityrelated cues—suggest that the purchase intention of luxury fashion brands for owners with a strong (weak) social-adjustive attitude should be less (more) likely to be affected by counterfeit dominance. Thus, we posit the following: H3: Counterfeit dominance negatively impacts the purchase intention for brand owners with a weak social-adjustive attitude but not for those with a strong social-adjustive attitude. As we mentioned before, past research has shown that perceived quality predicts purchase intention (Parguel et al., 2016). Also, Liu et al. (2017) further observed that perceived quality positively affects consumers’ purchase intention of luxury fashion brands. Thus, we hypothesize the following: H4a: Perceived quality mediates the effect of counterfeit dominance on Anglo-American brand owners’ purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands. H4b: Perceived quality does not mediate the effect of counterfeit dominance on Asian brand owners’ purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands. L. Song et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 4 2.6. Spillover effect of counterfeit dominance Past research has shown that consumers’ perceptions in one product category affect their perceptions in other categories of the same brand. For example, Erdem and Winer (1999) found that brand preferences for different categories of the same brand are correlated. Erdem (1998) also suggested that consumers’ experience in one category may affect their quality perceptions in another category of the same brand. We argue that the negative impact of counterfeit dominance on perceived quality and purchase intention in one category (e.g., sunglasses) will be transferred to other categories (e.g., scarves) of the same brand. Scholars have revealed that negative spillover of consumption experience may occur among different product categories of the same brand (Lei et al., 2008). As mentioned before, counterfeit dominance should have a stronger negative impact on Anglo-American than on Asian luxury fashion brand owners’ perceived quality and purchase intention of their authentic brands. We propose that this effect will spill over to different product categories of the same brand (see Fig. 1 for a detailed conceptual model). Therefore, we propose the following: H5a: Counterfeit dominance negatively affects perceived quality and purchase intention of products across the authentic brands’ categories for Anglo-American brand owners. H5b: Counterfeit dominance does not negatively affect the perceived quality and purchase intention of products across the authentic brands’ categories for Asian brand owners. 3. Pretests To examine the realistic aspect of counterfeits in the marketplace and its perceived dominance, we surveyed 149 participants (Mage = 36, 28% females) on Mturk. We did so to understand how consumers perceive the issue of counterfeit dominance and how many of them have ordered an authentic brand but received a counterfeit. We adapted a six-item scale (α = 0.89) from previous research (Eisend, 2019; Hussain et al., 2017; Marcketti & Shelley, 2009; Mavlanova & Benbunan-Fich, 2010; Singh & Kumar, 2017), where consumers responded on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree) to statements such as, “Counterfeit luxury goods (e.g., counterfeit luxury bags or apparels) is a pervasive issue in the U.S.,” and “Luxury goods have been counterfeited a lot in the U.S.”. Participants strongly believed that counterfeit luxury brands are prevalent in the U.S. (M = 5.15, SD = 1.05); the mean value is significantly greater than the mid-point of 4 (t = 12.87, p < .001). Also, 53.2% of participants had experience buying an authentic brand but receiving a counterfeit instead. We conducted another pretest to select brands suitable for our research. The luxury fashion brands with the highest sales in the world are Louis Vuitton ($47.2 billion), Chanel ($37 billion), Herm`es ($31 billion), Gucci ($25.3 billion), Rolex ($8.4 billion), Cartier ($6 billion), Burberry ($4.7 billion), Dior (4.7 billion), Saint Laurent/Yves Saint Laurent ($3.6 billion), and Prada ($3.5 billion) (Kerr-Crowley, 2019). In our investigation, we planned to select the top five brands in the fashion industry: Louis Vuitton (LV), Chanel, Herm`es, Gucci, and Burberry. However, we had difficulty finding a gender-neutral product from Chanel. To reduce gender bias, we excluded the brand from our stimuli choices, thus using four well-known brands in the study. We also recruited 228 participants (40% females; Mage = 39) from the U.S. on Mturk to test their familiarity with the brands of LV, Herm`es, Gucci, and Burberry (i.e., “How familiar are you with each brand?”) and how much they believed the brands had been counterfeited (i.e., “Please rate in your opinion the degree to which the brand has been counterfeited”). Both questions used seven-point Likert scales (1 = not familiar at all/has not been counterfeited at all; 7 = very familiar/has been counterfeited a lot). We found that participants were familiar with all four brands (MLV = 4.82, SDLV = 1.55; MHerm`es = 4.74, SDHerm`es = 1.76; MGucci = 5.07, SDGucci = 1.49; MBurberry = 5.01, SDBurberry = 1.54), and believed that all the brands were counterfeited to a high extent (MLV = 5.20, SDLV = 1.49; MHerm`es = 4.83, SDHerm`es = 1.49; MGucci = 5.36, SDGucci = 1.45; MBurberry = 5.02, SDBurberry = 1.51). 4. Study 1 4.1. Design We first tested H2a and H2b (whether cultural differences exist in the effect of counterfeit dominance on consumers’ purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands). We thus conducted a 2 (Cultural Group: Chinese luxury product owners in China vs. Anglo-American luxury product owners in the U.S.) × 2 (Counterfeit: absence vs. dominance) between-subjects design. Also, we sought to rule out possible confounding variables (i.e., brand familiarity, emotional attachment) that might play a moderating role in the interaction effect on predicting purchase intention. 4.2. Respondents, procedures, and measures We successfully recruited 155 luxury product owners from China and the U.S. online. Participants completed the questionnaire in exchange for a $5 (or 4 CNY) reward. Both questionnaires for Chinese and the U.S., were written in English. Participants from China were all Chinese citizens (n = 69; 66% female, Mage = 28.65); those in the U.S., all AngloAmericans (n = 86; 38% female, Mage = 36.76). We asked participants in China to identify their ethnicity and self report their English proficiency; only those who confirmed that they were Chinese and able to understand the questionnaire in English could proceed to the study. The average participant owned eight luxury products. All participants were shown a white-colored, gender-neutral Herm`es cap with a price of $499 ($499 was used across all conditions, thus Fig. 1. The role of attitude functions, culture, and perceived quality in the counterfeit dominance effect. L. Song et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 5 controlling for price). They were then instructed to imagine that they owned this cap and were asked to write down two occasions in which they might wear this cap. Because luxury consumption is situational (Chandon, Laurent, & Valette-Florence, 2016), we essayed to ensure that all participants across conditions imagined the situations in which they were using this luxury fashion brand. Next, participants in the counterfeit-dominant condition were instructed to read an article which mentioned that the Herm`es cap had been heavily counterfeited in the market. This manipulation was pretested using fifty-six participants (Mage = 55 with 36% of females) recruited on Mturk. They read the identical report from Consumerist. comand were asked to recall the information presented in the report (i. e., “According to the article, what percentage of the Burberry scarves were counterfeited?”) and the credibility of the report (i.e., “How much did you believe in the information reported on Consumerist.com?”), along with their opinion of the counterfeit dominance of Burberry scarves (i.e., “How much do you believe that the counterfeited Burberry scarves were dominant in the market?”). The preceding items were measured using a 7-point Likert scale, where 1 = not at all and 7 = very much. Ninety-three percent of participants recalled that at least 50% of the Burberry scarves on the market were counterfeit, which was in line with our counterfeit dominance definition. T-test results showed that participants trusted the information in the Consumerist.com report (M = 5.55; SD = 0.98), as the mean response score was significantly higher than the mid-point of 4 (t = 11.75; p < .001). Moreover, participants believed that counterfeited Burberry scarves dominated the market (M Fig. 2. Stimulus: Counterfeit Herm`es scarf (Study 1). L. Song et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 6 = 5.75; SD = 1.37), with the mean response score significantly higher than the mid-point of 4 (t = 9.50; p < .001). Shown in Fig. 2 are the stimuli. Participants in both conditions then rated their purchase intention of the Herm`es cap: “When I need a new product, the Herm`es brand will be my first choice”—(1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree; Bian & Forsythe, 2012). To ensure that our results were not affected by other variables, we also assessed brand reputation (six items, such as “Herm´es is a strong, reliable brand”; Walsh & Beatty, 2007), brand knowledge, product knowledge, and knowledge on the luxury industry (three items, such as “I consider myself an expert on the Herm`es brand”; Flynn & Goldsmith, 1999), brand involvement (two items, such as “I attach great importance to Herm`es”; Voss et al., 2003), brand familiarity (i.e., “How familiar are you with the Herm`es brand?”), and emotional attachment to the brand (i.e., “Please indicate how well each of the following words describe your feelings about the brand of Herm`es”; ten words were listed, including affectionate and attached; Thomson et al., 2005). All questions were measured using 7-point Likert scales, where 1 = a very low value and 7 = a very high value of. At the conclusion of the study, participants were asked about the purpose of the studyand to provide demographics. 4.3. Results A two-way ANOVA revealed a marginally significant two-way interaction effect between cultural group and counterfeit dominance on purchase intention (F(1, 151) = 2.83, p < .10). Anglo-American participants were significantly less likely to buy the authentic Herm`es brand when they learned that the Herm`es cap was heavily counterfeited in the market (M = 5.14, SD = 1.48) than those who were unaware of this piece of information (M = 5.72, SD = 0.88; F(1,151) = 3.85, p = .05). Therefore, H2a received support. However, that difference in purchase intention was not observed among Chinese consumers (F (1,151) = 0.25, p > .6), thus supporting H2b. Summarized in Fig. 3 are the results of Study 1. Brand reputation, brand knowledge, product knowledge, knowledge on the luxury industry, brand involvement, brand familiarity, and emotional attachment to the brand did not play a moderating role in the interaction between cultural group and counterfeit dominance on purchase intention of the authentic brand. Upon specifying a confidence interval of 95% with 10,000 bootstraps resamples, the regression analyses showed no significant indirect effect of the proposed variables on the interaction on purchase intention. All p’s > 0.1 (Hayes, 2008; Model 3). None of the participants correctly guessed the purpose of this study. 4.4. Discussion Findings in Study 1 indicated that consumers’ perception of counterfeit dominance in the marketplace significantly decreased purchase intention of the authentic brand for Anglo-Americans but not for Chinese consumers. The results demonstrated how counterfeit dominance interacts with culture in influencing consumers’ purchase of authentic luxury fashion brands. This interaction effect was not dependent on such relevant factors as brand knowledge or emotional attachments to the brand. However, Study 1 did not indicate why counterfeit dominance had a negative effect on consumers’ purchase intention, which is critical from a marketing standpoint. We addressed this issue in Study 2. 5. Study 2 5.1. Design The primary purpose of Study 2 was to examine whether perceived quality for luxury fashion brand owners across cultural groups is affected differently (H1a and H1b) and the mediating role of perceived quality in the observed counterfeit dominance effect (H4a and H4b). Therefore, we conducted a 2 (Cultural Group: Chinese vs. Anglo-American) × 2 (Counterfeit: absence vs. dominance) between-subjects design and measured the brand’s perceived quality. 5.2. Respondents and procedures Sixty-three Anglo-American undergraduate students from a large private university on the east coast of the U.S. and 75 Chinese undergraduate students from a university in mainland China participated in this study in exchange for course extra credit. The questionnaire for Chinese participants was translated from English to Chinese and then back-translated into English by two multilingual professionals to ensure accuracy. Data collection resulted in 60 valid responses from U.S. participants (with three incomplete responses excluded) and 72 valid responses from Chinese participants (with three incomplete responses excluded). This study’s procedures were the same as Study 1 with one exception. The stimulus was changed to a gender-neutral authentic Gucci handbag with attendant descriptions and a price of $895. All participants answered the question of perceived quality (“The quality of the Gucci brand is very good,” 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree) and purchase intention (the same measures as in Study 1) of the Gucci brand. Demographic information was also collected. Fig. 3. Purchase intention as a function of culture and counterfeit dominance (study 1). L. Song et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 7 5.3. Results We again replicated the interaction effect on purchase intention. Specifically, Anglo-American participants in the counterfeit-dominance condition reported lower purchase intention than those in the counterfeit absence condition (Mdominance = 3.69; SD = 0.28 vs. Mabsence = 4.55; SD = 0.27; F(1,128) = 4.98, p < .05). Therefore, H2a received support. However, Chinese participants in the counterfeit dominance condition did not exhibit a significant difference in purchase intention from those in the counterfeit absence condition (Mdominance = 4.39; SD = 0.25; Mabsence = 4.19; SD = 0.25; F(1,128) = 0.31, p = .58; see Fig. 4 for details). As such, H2b was confirmed. As predicted, a two-way ANOVA showed a significant interaction between cultural group and counterfeit dominance on perceived quality of the authentic brand (F(1,128) = 3.67, p < .05). Anglo-American participants in the counterfeit dominance condition perceived the quality of the authentic brand to be lower than those in the counterfeit absence condition (Mdominance = 4.66, SD = 1.59 vs. Mabsence = 5.55, SD = 1.09; F(1,128) = 5.31, p < .05). So, H1a was supported. However, Chinese participants in the counterfeit dominance condition did not show a significant difference from those in the counterfeit absence condition (Mdominance = 5.03, SD = 1.65 vs. Mabsence = 4.92, SD = 1.57; F (1,128) = 0.31, p = .75; see Fig. 5 for details) on quality perception. Therefore, H1b received support. To understand further the role of perceived quality on the observed counterfeit dominance effect, we examined whether perceived quality mediates the moderating effect of cultural group on purchase intention using the PROCESS bootstrapping procedure (Model 8; Hayes, 2008). Using 10,000 bootstrap resamples, we found a moderated mediation effect of perceived quality on purchase intention (Index of moderated mediation = 0.55, boot S.E. = 0.2982, boot CI = 0.0113 to 1.1990). Specifically, perceived quality mediated the effect of counterfeit dominance on purchase intention only among Anglo-American participants (B = − 0.49, S.E.= 0.21, 95% boot CI = − 0.95 to − 0.13). Therefore, H4a was confirmed. Also, as expected, this mediation was not significant for Chinese participants (B = 0.06, S.E. = 0.21, 95% boot CI = − 0.35–0.49). Thus, H4b received support. 5.4. Discussion In Study 2, we found that counterfeit dominance significantly reduced Anglo-American, but not Chinese, brand owners’ perceived quality of the brand, which confirmed H1a and H1b. Additionally, the proposed mediation effect of perceived quality in the impact of counterfeit dominance on purchase intention was found among AngloAmerican, but not Chinese, brand owners, thus supporting H4a and H4b. Despite the promising results, why counterfeit dominance has a differential effect on the perceived quality and purchase intention of authentic brands among consumers from different cultural groups remains unclear. We addressed this issue in Study 3 and uncovered the mechanism underlying a cultural group’s role in consumers’ responses to counterfeit dominance. 6. Study 3 6.1. Design The primary purpose of this study was to test H3: attitude functions underlie the effect of counterfeit dominance on brand owners’ purchase intention of luxury fashion brands in different cultural groups. In particular, counterfeit dominance will negatively impact purchase intention for brand owners with a weak (rather than a strong) socialadjustive attitude. 6.2. Respondents and procedures We recruited 200 participants from Mturk (Female = 49%, Mage = 33.8), including 100 Anglo-Americans and 100 Asian-Americans (31.1% were born in Asian countries). Seventy-two percent were authentic luxury fashion brand owners. Respondents participated in the experiment for a small monetary reward. We conducted a 2 (Cultural Group: Asian-American vs. Anglo-American) × 2 (Counterfeit: absence vs. dominance) between-subjects design. We first measured participants’ degree of social-adjustive attitude by using the 7-item social-adjustive function scale (Grewal et al., 2004). Participants indicated their agreement to statements such as “Luxury fashion brands are a symbol of social status” and “Luxury fashion brands help me in fitting into important social situations” (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree). The seven questions’ average score was calculated to represent participants’ propensity of a social-adjustive attitude toward luxury fashion brands. Counterfeit dominance was manipulated in the same way as in the previous studies save one exception. We adopted a different product category (clothing; a gender-neutral t-shirt with a price of $595) of another luxury fashion brand (Louis Vuitton) for this study. Fig. 4. Purchase intention as a function of culture and counterfeit dominance (study 2). L. Song et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 8 Purchase intention was assessed on a seven-point Likert scale (1 = very low intention; 7 = very high intention to purchase the brand) in the same manner as used in the previous studies. 6.3. Results Fifty-five participants either failed the attention check or did not answer the survey appropriately. Therefore, their data were excluded from further analysis. We obtained 145 valid responses (49% females and 57% Anglo-Americans). One-way ANOVA results demonstrated that Asian-American participants showed a significantly higher propensity to adopt a socialadjustive attitude toward luxury fashion brands (MAsian-Americans = 3.54, SD = 1.57) than Anglo-Americans (MAnglo-Americans = 2.57, SD = 1.41, F(1.143) = 14.62; p < .01). To test H3, we further examined the moderating role of social-adjustive attitude in the effect of counterfeit dominance impacting luxury fashion brand purchase intention. We conducted a regression analysis by adopting PROCESS model 1 (Hayes, 2008). After estimating 10,000 bootstrap iterations, the analysis revealed a marginally significant conditional effect of counterfeit dominance on purchase intention (se = 0.19, t = − 1.85; p = .06). The impact of counterfeit dominance on purchase intention was marginally significant among participants with a low (Msocial-adjustive < 1.41; one standard deviation below the mean) social-adjustive attitude toward luxury fashion brands (Mdominance = 2.18, SD = 0.45 vs. Mabsence = 3.62, SD = 0.64, F(1.139) = 3.32; p = .07). It was not observed, though, for participants with a high (Msocial-adjustive > 2.98, one standard deviation above the mean) social-adjustive attitude toward luxury fashion brands (Mdominance = 5.43, SD = 0.45 vs. Mabsence = 4.93, SD = 0.45, F(1.139) = 0.60; p = .43; see Fig. 6 for details). H3 was thus supported. 6.4. Discussion This study confirmed H3: a social-adjustive attitude underlies the effect of counterfeit dominance on different cultural groups’ luxury fashion brand owners’ purchase intention. Counterfeit dominance negatively affected luxury fashion brands’ purchase intention for owners with a low social-adjustive attitude (i.e., Anglo-Americans) but not for those with a high social-adjustive attitude (i.e., AsianAmericans). Fig. 5. Perceived quality as a function of culture and counterfeit dominance (study 2). Fig. 6. Purchase intention as a function of social-adjustive attitude and counterfeit dominance (study 3). L. Song et al.

Journal of Business Research 130 (2021) 1–13 9 7. Study 4 7.1. Design Converging evidence from the first three studies showed that counterfeit dominance negatively impacts the perceived quality and purchase intention of the authentic product for Anglo-Americans, but not for Asian-Americans. However, whether the negative counterfeit dominance effect will spill over and negatively influence different product categories of the same authentic brand remains unanswered. As such, Study 4 tested H5a and H5b by adopting counterfeit Burberry sunglasses (controlling for a price of $295 across all conditions) as the product in the counterfeit dominance manipulation and asking participants to rate the perceived quality and their purchase intention of an authentic Burberry scarf. 7.2. Respondents and procedures Seventy-four Chinese undergraduate students in China and 69 AngloAmerican undergraduate students in the U.S. participated in the study for course extra credit. The design and procedure were the same as in Study 2 with two exceptions. Participants were shown a pair of counterfeit Burberry sunglasses and were asked to rate the perceived quality and their purchase intention in the counterfeit-dominance conditions of an authentic Burberry scarf. 7.3. Results As expected, two-way ANOVA results showed that Anglo-American participants reported significantly lower perceived quality in the counterfeit dominance condition compared to the counterfeit absence condition (Mabsence = 5.90 vs. Mdominance = 5.30; F(1, 67) = 4.28, p < .01). For Chinese participants, however, no differences in the foregoing variables were found (Mabsence = 6.19 vs. Mdominance = 5.96; F(1, 72) = 0.90, p > .35; see Fig. 7 for details). Therefore, H5a received support. AngloAmerican participants also exhibited a marginally significantly higher purchase intention of the luxury fashion brand in the counterfeit absence condition compared to the counterfeit dominance condition (Mabsence = 5.26 vs. Mdominance = 4.66; F(1, 67) = 3.13, p < .10). For Chinese participants, though, no difference in purchase intention between the counterfeit absence and dominance conditions was found (Mabsence = 4.89 vs. Mdominance = 4.56; F(1, 72) = 0.75, p > .30; see Fig. 8 for details). Thus, H5b was confirmed. 7.4. Discussion In Study 4, we found that the counterfeit dominance effect held not only for the dominance of identical counterfeits but also for the dominance of products from other product categories of the authentic brand. Thus, the results supported H5a and H5b. Summarizes in Table 1 are the findings of all studies. 8. Conclusions and implications 8.1. Conclusions This research examined the impact of counterfeit dominance on luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions of their brands. The results suggested that there are cultural differences in brand owners’ reactions toward counterfeit dominance. Specifically, counterfeit dominance significantly lowers the perceived quality and purchase intention of the authentic brand for Anglo-American but not for Asian, brand owners. Perceived quality mediates the impact of counterfeit dominance on those brands’ purchase intention for Anglo-American, but not for Asian, brand owners. The results further revealed that a social-adjustive attitude underlies the effect of counterfeit dominance on consumers’ perceived quality and purchase intention of authentic luxury fashion brands in different cultural groups. In particular, counterfeit dominance negatively affects luxury fashion brands’ purchase intention for owners with a weak social-adjustive attitude (Anglo-Americans), but not for those with a strong social-adjustive attitude (Asian). The identified effects also spill over to other product categories of the same brand. This result infers that counterfeit dominance negatively affects AngloAmerican (but not Asian) brand owners’ perceived quality and purchase intention of those brands across product categories. To gather samples representing their respective culture in our research, we collected information from our subjects regarding their birthplace. In Study 1, 51.5% of Asian-American participants were born in Asia; in Study 3, 31.1% of Asian-American participants were born in Asia. As 59% of the Asian-American population in the U.S. were born in Asia, we believe that the sample collected essentially represents the Asian-American population in the U.S. Chinese participants in Studies 2 and 4 were recruited exclusively from China. Because more than 99% of the Chinese people are born in China, our sample likely also reflects the Chinese population. Indeed in Study 1, we recruited participants in China and asked them where they were born. One hundred percent were born in China. Fig. 7. Perceived quality as a function of culture and counterfeit dominance (study 4). L. Song et al.