Journal of Product & Brand Management

which have traditionally been considered markers of high-level consumer-brand relationships, were relatively less frequently mentioned. There were, however, some examples of brand love such as the following quote: Once I bought my first Louis Vuitton item, I fell in love. They not only have purses but they also have luggage bags, belts, clothes, jewelry, etc. My luggage bag is now my favorite Louis Vuitton product I own. It’s not too big or bulky and it fits a lot of items that may be needed for traveling. My second favorite product is the wallet wristlet. I carry this a lot when I’m out and about around town. It allows for so much convenience and keeps me from junking it up with things that are not needed in a purse. (Louis Vuitton) However, most participants discussed the luxury brand in terms of what the brand does for them and how it makes them feel rather than passion for the brand. Thus, it appears that Generation Z’s relationships with luxury brands are characterized by “like” rather than “love.” In their meta-analysis, Khamitov et al. (2019, p. 444) offer five different brand relationship characteristics: 1 identification-based (i.e. perceived state of oneness with a brand); 2 self-brand connection-based (i.e. incorporation of a brand into self-concept as brands express who consumers are or want to be); 3 trust-based (i.e. reliance on the ability of a brand to perform its stated function); 4 attachment-based (i.e. emotion-laden target-specific bond with a brand); and 5 love-based (i.e. based on passion and affection for a brand and distress when separated). While Khamitov et al. (2019) found that love-based and attachment-based brand relationships have the strongest impact on brand loyalty overall, self-brand connection-based relationships had a stronger impact on loyalty for publicly consumed brands. Others suggest the level of passion consumers feel for a brand influences the strength of the consumer-brand relationship (Fetscherin et al., 2019) and that a passionate brand relationship can be described as brand love (Batra et al., 2012). However, Khamitov et al. (2019) noted that consumers may have more than one type of relationship with a brand and called for future research to examine possible interrelationships among consumer-brand relationship constructs. With the use of collage research, these types of complexities in consumer-brand relationships can be resolved. As seen in Table 10, the brand relationship with luxury is primarily attachment-based as demonstrated by about half of the respondents (46.4%). Other prominent brand relationship characteristics include trust-based (32.1%) and self-brand connection (14.3%). Similar to the above analysis of the nature of consumer-brand relationships with luxury, love-based (12.5%) and identification-based (1.8%) characterized by a high level of brand relationships were ranked at the bottom. In sum, while the participants feel a high level of loyalty to a luxury brand in terms of attitude and behavior, they do not necessarily have strong, passionate feelings for the luxury brand. 4.4 Influences on the luxury brand relationship In addressing RQ4, the internal and external influences that determined Generation Z’s choice of luxury brands were analyzed. As illustrated in Table 11 for internal influences, memory/nostalgia played the largest role (89.3%). This is Table 10 Brand relationship characteristics Theme Coding criteria PRL reliability Codes n (=56) (%) Brand relationship characteristics (adapted from Khamitov et al., 2019) Discussion of consumer-brand relationships in the write-up 0.81 Attachment-based (relationship based on emotion-laden targetspecific bond with a brand) 26 46.4 Trust-based (relationship based on reliance on the ability of a brand to perform its stated function) 18 32.1 Self-brand connection-based (relationship based on the incorporation of a brand into self-concept) 8 14.3 Love-based (relationship based on passion and affection for a brand) 7 12.5 Identification-based (relationship based on the perceived state of oneness with a brand) 1 1.8 Table 9 Nature of consumer-brand relationships Theme Coding criteria PRL reliability Codes n (=56) (%) Nature of consumer-brand relationships (adapted from Babin and Harris, 2018; Fournier, 1998) Discussion of consumer-brand relationships in the write-up 0.84 Self-connection (brand helps express some central component of consumer’s identity) 13 23.2 Commitment (loyal but does not discuss it in terms of loving the brand) 12 21.4 Interdependence (brand is an important part of the consumer’s daily life) 12 21.4 Love and passion (feelings about the brand in strong term) 9 16.1 Intimacy (consumer’s deep-seated needs and desires tied directly to brand) 2 3.6 Brand partner quality (feelings of trust and quality) 1 1.8 Other 7 12.5 Generation Z’s brand relationship Hyunju Shin, Jacqueline Eastman and Yuan Li Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 31 · Number 3 · 2022 · 394–414 404

important because, among a lifetime of experiences, only a small portion of memory is stored (Sujan et al., 1993). Moreover, emotions (78.6), mostly positive (76.8%) as opposed to negative emotions (8.9%), had a significant impact on the participants’ choice of luxury brands to have a relationship with. Lifestyle (51.8%) and motivations (44.6%) related to luxury consumption such as bandwagon (23.2%), conspicuous consumption (23.2) and snob appeal (10.7%) also influenced. Finally, sustainability (5.4%) was discussed as a driver for the choice of luxury brands (e.g. Tesla), which corresponds to Generation Z’s interest in consuming sustainable products (McKinsey & Company, 2020) It is important to note that when examining the luxury brands participants had a relationship with, memories and felt emotion were much more important than traditional luxury motivations such as bandwagon, conspicuous consumption and snob appeal. This idea that luxury consumers are “not a homogeneous, status-driven group” but have a variety of motivations and internal and external influences impacting their luxury brand consumption has support (Li et al., 2020, p. 1222; Guido et al., 2020). This is illustrated in the following quote, which was also one of the few examples that expressed a negative emotion about a luxury brand: After a while, I realized that owning a luxury item like a Rolex was not all that it lived up to be. I slowly started wearing it less and less. I think it was the realization that I did not need that expensive of a watch that made me less interested in it. I felt bad that my parents had bought me such an expensive item and I ended up not wearing it that often. I came to the realization that I am just not the type of person to be into showy and flashy items. (Rolex) As illustrated in Table 12, among the external influences that affected participants’ choice of luxury brands to have relationships with, interpersonal influences (91.1%) including family (62.5%) and reference groups (58.9%) were critical. The influences of family and reference groups, especially celebrities, have been discussed as key themes of the collages (Section 4.2). In comparison, traditional demographic variables were only mentioned by 12.5% of the respondents, with income (8.9%) being the most influential factor, followed by gender, occupation, ethnicity (3.2% each) and finally social class and education (1.6% each). Culture/subculture (6.3%) was the least influential demographic variable. An example of the importance of celebrities is illustrated with the following quote: Rap music plays a primary role in my life on a daily basis. It helps me remain focused on any upcoming stressful events. Most of my favorite music artists have associated themselves with Gucci. It is a part of your daily lifestyle. I have been listening to rap since I was a toddler. Since Gucci is heavily Table 11 Internal influences on the choice of luxury brand Theme Coding criteria PRL reliability Codes n (=56) (%) Internal influences on the luxury brand of choice Internal influences in the write-up and/or clearly shown in collages 0.86 Memory/nostalgia 50 89.3 Emotions 44 78.6 Positive emotion (luxury makes them happy and joyful) 43 76.8 Negative emotion (luxury makes them sad, jealous and angry) 5 8.9 Lifestyle 29 51.8 Motivation 25 44.6 Bandwagon (conformity to fit in) 13 23.2 Conspicuous (standout/show off) 13 23.2 Snob (unaffordable – high price is the key motivator) 6 10.7 Sustainability 3 5.4 Positive sustainability 3 5.4 Negative sustainability 0 0.0 Other 0 0.0 Table 12 External influences on the choice of luxury brand Theme Coding criteria PRL reliability Codes n (=56) (%) External influences on the luxury brand of choice External influences in the write-up and/or clearly shown in collages 0.89 Interpersonal influences 51 91.1 Family 35 62.5 Reference groups 33 58.9 Demographics 7 12.5 Income 5 8.9 Gender 2 3.2 Occupation 2 3.2 Ethnicity 2 3.2 Social class 1 1.6 Education 1 1.6 Culture/subculture 4 6.3 Other 0 0.0 Generation Z’s brand relationship Hyunju Shin, Jacqueline Eastman and Yuan Li Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 31 · Number 3 · 2022 · 394–414 405

associated with rap music, I intend to purchase Gucci products to relate to my favorite rap artists. (Gucci, Figure 3) 4.5 Post-hoc analysis and results As seen in the analysis of the luxury brands the Generation Z respondents indicated they have a relationship with (Section 4.1), a number of chosen brands encompassed not only traditional luxury but also masstige and non-traditional luxury. To examine if the frequencies of appearance of each code differed across the three categories of brands (traditional luxury brands, masstige brands and non-traditional luxury brands), a post-hoc analysis was conducted. We conducted a series of one-way ANOVA with the categories of the brand as an independent variable and each code as a respective dependent variable for the characteristics of a luxury brand, the nature of consumer-brand relationships, brand relationship characteristics and internal and external influences on the choice of the luxury brand. For multiple comparisons, Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) pairwise comparison was used. The following tables (Tables 13–17) present significant ANOVA results only, along with results from LSD comparison between pairs of the three categories of the brand. Table 13 demonstrates the post-hoc analysis results for characteristics of the luxury brand. As shown in Table 13, the main effects of the categories of the brand on higher price (F(2, 53) = 5.40, p < 0.01), design/recognized style (F(2, 53) = 3.78, p < 0.05), social marker (F(2, 53) = 5.30, p < 0.01) and country of origin (F(2, 53) = 5.65, p < 0.01) were significant. For a higher price, social marker and country of origin, LSD pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences between the traditional luxury and masstige brand conditions (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05) and between the traditional luxury and non-traditional luxury brand conditions (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05), but not between the masstige and non-traditional luxury brand conditions (p > 0.05). For design/recognized style, a significant difference only existed between the traditional luxury and non-traditional luxury brand conditions (p < 0.05), but not between traditional luxury and masstige brand conditions or masstige and nontraditional luxury brand conditions (p > 0.05). In the minds of Generation Z consumers, there is a clear hierarchy among the three categories of the brand in terms of higher price, social marker and country of origin as characteristics of luxury brands. These characteristics should be used to the benefits of luxury brands in product development and communication. Regarding design/recognized style, traditional luxury brands are seen as having this characteristic more than non-luxury brands but not more than masstige. This demonstrates that past luxury and masstige marketers’ efforts to cultivate unique design and style compared to non-traditional luxury brands have been effective. Tables 14 and 15 show the post-hoc analysis results for the nature of consumer-brand relationships and brand relationship characteristics. As demonstrated in Table 14, for the nature of consumer-brand relationships, the main effects of the categories of the brand on self-connection (F(2, 53) = 3.51, p < 0.05) and interdependence (F(2, 53) = 7.39, p < 0.05) were significant. For self-connection, LSD pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences only between the traditional luxury and non-traditional luxury brands (p < 0.05), but not between the traditional luxury and masstige brands (p > 0.05) or the masstige and non-traditional luxury brands (p > 0.05). For interdependence, there was a significant mean Figure 3 Collage illustrating the influence of celebrities (Gucci) Table 14 Post-hoc analysis results for nature of consumer-brand relationships Variable F Mean differences Traditional vs masstige Traditional vs non-traditional Masstige vs non-traditional Self-connection 3.51" 0.15 0.38" 0.23 Interdependence 7.39"" #0.41"" #0.03 0.48" Notes: ""p < 0.01; "p < 0.05 Table 13 Post-hoc analysis results for characteristics of the luxury brand Variable F Mean differences Traditional vs masstige Traditional vs non-traditional Masstige vs non-traditional Higher price 5.40"" 0.30" 0.49" 0.20 Design/recognized style 3.78" 0.16 0.45"" 0.29 Social marker 5.30"" 0.34"" 0.40"" 0.06 Country of origin 5.65"" 0.29"" 0.38"" 0.09 Notes: ""p < 0.01; "p < 0.05 Generation Z’s brand relationship Hyunju Shin, Jacqueline Eastman and Yuan Li Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 31 · Number 3 · 2022 · 394–414 406

difference between the traditional luxury and masstige brands, with a higher mean for masstige (p < 0.01) and between masstige and non-traditional luxury brands (p < 0.05), but not between traditional luxury and non-traditional luxury brands (p > 0.05). As shown in Table 15, for brand relationship characteristics, the main effect of the categories of the brand on the self-brand connection-based brand relationship (F(2, 53) = 5.83, p < 0.01) was significant. Significant mean differences existed between the traditional luxury and masstige brands (p < 0.01) and between the traditional luxury and non-traditional luxury brands (p < 0.01), but not between the masstige and non-traditional luxury brands (p > 0.05). These results collectively suggest that traditional luxury brand managers should emphasize the role of their brands in aiding Generation Z consumers to build their identity and self-concept and as a part of their daily lifestyle. Tables 16 and 17 show the post-hoc analysis results for internal and external influences on the choice of luxury brands, respectively. In Table 16, for internal influences, the main effects of the categories of the brand on the bandwagon (F(2, 53) = 6.46, p < 0.01), conspicuous consumption (F(2, 53) = 6.65, p < 0.01) and snob appeal motivations (F(2, 53) = 6.63, p < 0.01) were significant. For bandwagon, there was a significant mean difference between the traditional luxury and masstige brands with a higher mean for masstige brands (p < 0.05) and between masstige and non-traditional luxury brands (p > 0.01), but not between the traditional luxury and nontraditional luxury brands (p > 0.05). However, for conspicuous consumption and snob appeal, significant mean differences existed between the traditional luxury and masstige brands (p < 0.01) and between the traditional luxury and non-traditional luxury brands (p < 0.01), but not between the masstige and non-traditional luxury brands (p > 0.05). These results suggest that masstige brands need to emphasize fitting in with their messaging, while traditional luxury brands may want to instead emphasize snob appeal or conspicuous consumption. In Table 17, for external influences, the main effects of the categories of the brand on culture/subculture (F(2, 53) = 3.90, p < 0.05) and income as a demographics factor (F(2, 53) = 5.18, p < 0.05) were significant. For both culture/subculture and income, significant mean differences existed between the traditional luxury and masstige brands (p < 0.01) and between the traditional luxury and non-traditional luxury brands (p < 0.01), but not between the masstige and non-traditional luxury brands (p > 0.05). These results are consistent with previous observations that luxury consumers are highly influenced by their culture (Kastanakis and Voyer, 2014) and income (Kapferer and Laurent, 2016). Therefore, luxury marketers need to understand the culture that surrounds Generation Z consumers to reflect cultural values that resonate well with them in their luxury marketing campaigns. Moreover, for income, as Generation Z ages, their income levels should increase, making them an increasingly attractive cohort for luxury brands. Thus, it is vital for luxury brands to contemplate how to build a consumer-brand relationship with Generation Z consumers at the current stage of their life cycle. 5. Discussion 5.1 Theoretical implications In reviewing three decades of research on consumer behavior with luxury, Dhaliwal et al. (2020) note the lack of research on Generation Z, who will soon dominate the luxury market and calls for research on this cohort as they have a different set of values and behaviors which luxury brand marketers need to Table 17 Post hoc analysis results for external influences on the choice of luxury brand Variable F Mean differences Traditional vs masstige Traditional vs non-traditional Masstige vs non-traditional Culture 3.90" 0.19" 0.19" 0.00 Income (demographics) 5.18"" 0.24" 0.24" 0.00 Notes: ""p < 0.01; "p < 0.05 Table 16 Post hoc analysis results for internal influences on the choice of luxury brand Variable F Mean differences Traditional vs masstige Traditional vs non-traditional Masstige vs non-traditional Bandwagon (motivation) 6.46"" #0.31" 0.14 0.45"" Snob (motivation) 6.63"" 0.29"" 0.29"" 0.00 Conspicuous (motivation) 6.65"" 0.39"" 0.40"" 0.01 Notes: ""p < 0.01; "p < 0.05 Table 15 Post hoc analysis results for brand relationship characteristics Variable F Mean differences Traditional vs masstige Traditional vs non-traditional Masstige vs non-traditional Self-brand connection-based 3.51" 0.29" 0.33" 0.05 Notes: ""p < 0.01; "p < 0.05 Generation Z’s brand relationship Hyunju Shin, Jacqueline Eastman and Yuan Li Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 31 · Number 3 · 2022 · 394–414 407

understand. The current study responds to this call for research and derives insights by using a brand collage construction technique to explore the unique relationships Generation Z consumers have with their luxury brand of choice. First, by categorizing the luxury brands chosen by the respondents into traditional luxury, masstige and nontraditional luxury brands, we observed that Generation Z’s view of luxury does not necessarily match past views of luxury, as the luxury brands selected by our Generation Z sample included many brands, especially those considered mass brands, that prior generations have not seen as a luxury. This finding corroborates the wide choices of brands contemporary consumers, including Generation Z, relate to luxury (Kauppinen-Räisänen et al., 2019) and sheds light on Generation Z’s unique yet expansive view of luxury. At the same time, it is clear that Generation Z, as a new cohort that is beginning to represent substantial purchasing power in a luxury marketplace, demonstrates a lack of fully developed understanding of what luxury is or represents, which suggests an opportunity for luxury marketers to communicate what luxury means to this generational cohort. Second, for the characteristics of luxury brands, similar to Jiang and Shan (2018), who examined the younger generation in China, the Generation Z participants in this study appreciated the hedonic value and the expressing self-identity aspects of luxury. However, unlike Rodrigues and Rodrigues (2019), who proposed that a sense of mystery, sensuality and intimacy is key to building brand love among Generation Y, these were not prominent characteristics in the collages of the Generation Z respondents in this study. Moreover, even though luxury is traditionally viewed in terms of price as a social marker (Eastman et al., 1999), the idea of the social marker was less important for the Generation Z respondents in this study. These findings suggest a generational difference in luxury perceptions between Generation Z and other generational cohorts, even the nearest generational cohort, Generation Y. Third, the findings of this research provide support for the complex nature of consumer-brand relationships (Fournier, 1998, 2009). Although the consumer-brand relationship literature has existed, as, before the turn of the century, its development is still in the early stages, especially in the field of luxury branding (Nobre and Simões, 2019). This research contributes to the luxury branding literature by using the brand collage construction method as a means of examining the complexities of consumer-luxury brand relationships for a generational cohort for whom more research is needed. The results of this research demonstrate that while the majority of the respondents expressed loyalty in terms of attitude and behavior and felt a sense of trust, commitment and attachment with their luxury brand of choice, few Generation Z consumers experienced brand love or passion in the relationship. Therefore, even if Generation Z really likes luxury brands, the majority do not feel love or passion toward them. It may be that as Fournier (2009, p. 5) put it, after all, “relationships are merely facilitators, not ends in and of themselves,” which can be seen in the emphasis on the hedonic value aspect of luxury we saw in the collages. Fourth, this research illustrates the myriad of factors that impact Generation Z’s relationships with luxury brands. The literature recognizes that “brand relationships are determined by individual factors within a sociocultural context” (Fournier, 2009, p. 19). Our results particularly emphasize the influence of family, celebrity and peers on Generation Z’s relationships with luxury consistent with Jain et al. (2014) and the critical role of the first experiences with luxury for Generation Z to develop relationships with luxury brands. Given the importance of meaningful experiences in consumer-brand relationships (Fournier, 1998; Nobre and Simões, 2019), this finding highlights the need for luxury brand managers to provide positive first encounters to Generation Z consumers and illustrates how luxury fits into Generation Z consumers’ everyday lives. Finally, this research validates the use of the collage method as a means of better understanding complex consumer-brand relationships in the area of luxury for Generation Z, extending Eastman et al. (2020). Furthermore, this research adopted previously developed scale measures in quantifying the imageand text-dominant collage data. In this study, the Generation Z participants’ self-brand connection with luxury brands was determined to be a low versus high level by using Escalas and Bettman’s (2003) self-brand connection scale. Future researchers may wish to expand this practice in analyzing collages or other qualitative research data. 5.2 Managerial implications The heterogeneity in the luxury market suggests a multitude of opportunities for luxury brands (Kapferer and Laurent, 2016). This heterogeneity can be seen in the choice of what brands represent luxury to our Generation Z sample. Their choices ran the gamut from traditional luxury brands such as Burberry, Cadillac, Chanel, Ferrari, Louis Vuitton, Mercedes, Porsche, Rolex and Tiffany and Co (Kapferer and Valette-Florence, 2018) to masstige brands including Apple (Kumar et al., 2020), Adidas, Nike, Michael Kors and Kate Spade (Ajitha and Sivakumar, 2019; Wang and Qiao, 2020), to non-traditional luxury brands that hardly fit the conventional definitions of traditional luxury or masstige brands, including professional sports teams such as the Atlanta Braves and mass brands such as Nintendo and Ford. While Generation Z’s expansive view of luxury is good news, marketers need to be aware that what is seen as a luxury by one consumer might not be perceived as a luxury by another (Kauppinen-Räisänen et al., 2019). Given that about a third of the Generation Z respondents incorrectly chose non-traditional luxury brands including mass brands to represent luxury in their collages, it is clear that Generation Z consumers may misunderstand what luxury is or means. Luxury brands should take this as an advantage to educate Generation Z consumers through sharing brand stories. Many luxury brands have not fully used a brand story as an important branding technique and simply presented timelines or images of the founders without delivering these as a brand story (Heine and Berghaus, 2014; Ryu et al., 2019). Therefore, luxury brands should write a compelling narrative by purposely crafting a well-structured brand story that provides a clear overview of the brand, highlighting its history, legacy and brand identity as a luxury, which can also be supplemented by the use of short movies or videos. Unlike previous luxury consumers who focused more on snob appeal and conspicuousness consumption motivations for luxury (Eastman et al., 1999), Generation Z consumers view Generation Z’s brand relationship Hyunju Shin, Jacqueline Eastman and Yuan Li Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 31 · Number 3 · 2022 · 394–414 408

luxury as an integral part of their everyday lifestyle rather than a display of success, which is consistent with previous findings (Jain et al., 2014). This suggests that Generation Z consumers do not necessarily view the consumption of luxury as something reserved for elites, but rather as a tool to express self-identity in the context of daily life or as an object of consumption for hedonic purposes (e.g. pleasure, fantasy and fun). Hence, to allow Generation Z consumers to better express their selfidentity and individual uniqueness, luxury brands should consider offering options to customize product design such as color, fabric, shape and size. For example, Prada offered a special made-to-order Décolleté collection to allow personalization of shoes with three heel heights, five finishes, 27 colors and an option to add initials to the shoe soles (Kahn, 2014). Research has shown that when luxury brands allow some freedom to customize, customers’ purchase intention becomes higher (Moreau et al., 2020). In addition, luxury brands can present entertaining, interesting and fun, as well as interactive contents to initiate brand relationships with Generation Z consumers. For example, in an attempt to engage fun-seeking millennials and Generation Z consumers, Gucci and Valentino have successfully executed a meme advertising campaign on social media that has garnered considerable attention (Chitrakorn, 2020). Even if using a light-hearted approach in communication may seem uncommon for luxury brands (Taylor, 2019), it may be appropriate for the Generation Z segment looking for fun with luxury (Chitrakorn, 2020). Consumers have always been affected by interpersonal influences such as family members and reference groups (Childers and Rao, 1992; Epp and Price, 2008) and Generation Z is no exception (Bakir et al., 2020). Our analysis showed that family and reference groups, especially celebrities, exert important interpersonal influences in the choice of luxury brands Generation Z consumers have relationships with. Moreover, in the post-hoc analysis, we observed that the impact of interpersonal influence persists regardless of the categories of the brand. Therefore, one obvious implication for luxury brands is to leverage the influences of families and celebrities including social media influencers to help guide Generation Z’s understanding of luxury. Considering family members’ profound role in influencing young adults’ identity through everyday consumption practice (Epp and Price, 2008), luxury brands could use a promotional message that emphasizes how the family bond can be strengthened or memories can be made by using luxury brands with family. One example is Patek Philippe’s iconic ad campaign “Generations” featuring fathers and sons or mothers and daughters sharing special, real-life moments with a slogan “You never actually own a Patek Philippe, you merely look after it for the next generation,” which effectively portrayed family ties and heirloom moments (Naas, 2016). On the other hand, for luxury marketers who want to tap into the power of celebrities or social media influencers, it is necessary to find out whom Generation Z consumers admire and highly identify with, as consumers tend to compare their brand consumption with that of celebrities they are attracted to (Chan and Prendergast, 2008). Such efforts to consciously identify those who will endorse or collaborate with a luxury brand should eventually pay off because luxury brand relationships built through interacting with celebrities or social media influencers positively enhance luxury brand perceptions and luxury brand purchase (Lee and Watkins, 2016). Finally, one of the most important managerial implications of this study is that the Generation Z-luxury brand relationship lacks love or passion that reflects a high level of positive emotions or attachment toward the brand. While this may correlate with the limited financial resources Generation Z consumers currently deal with, it also opens up the opportunity for luxury brands to use relationship marketing strategies to build and maintain strong relationships with this generational cohort. Relationship marketing promotes gratitude-based reciprocal behaviors by consumers (Palmatier et al., 2009). Therefore, through continuous communication and interactions with Generation Z consumers such as those using social media (Heine and Berghaus, 2014; Liu et al., 2021), luxury brands can transition Generation Z consumers to purchase expensive luxury products as their income grows, even if at this point they can only afford a fashion accessory (e.g. belt or wallet), which was the main category of the luxury brands chosen by Generation Z consumers. 5.3 Limitations and future research Future researchers need to compare the nature of luxury brand relationships between Generation Z and other generational cohorts. For instance, how does the nature of Generation Z’s relationships compare to their parents’ relationships with luxury brands and which types of brand relationships will be prominent for this different generational cohort? Moreover, as consumer-brand relationships evolve and change over time (Fournier, 2009), future researchers could use longitudinal research to examine how the consumer-brand relationship with a luxury brand of choice matures in the long run. Recognizing the call for international research on consumerbrand relationships (Fetscherin et al., 2019), future researchers need to examine the luxury brand relationship for Generation Z in emerging countries including China and India given their importance to the luxury market (D’Arpizio et al., 2020; Jain et al., 2014; Jiang and Shan, 2018; Langer, 2020). This is especially important as younger luxury consumers who make up Generation Z present a growing market for luxury brands (Sanyal et al., 2021). As brand identity is culturally driven (Adomaitis and Saiki, 2019) and influences on luxury may have differing impacts by country (Bakir et al., 2020), there is a need to look at consumer-luxury brand relationships globally and examine how luxury perceptions may vary by country (Kapferer and Laurent, 2016; Kapferer and Valette-Florence, 2018). Finally, this research was conducted several months before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has fundamentally changed the luxury industry. As such, research is needed to determine whether and how Generation Z’s luxury brand relationship changes post-COVID-19. 6. Conclusion Despite its growing size, purchasing power and being viewed as a new generational cohort who will dominate the luxury market in the next decade, Generation Z has not received much research attention in terms of its relationship with luxury Generation Z’s brand relationship Hyunju Shin, Jacqueline Eastman and Yuan Li Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 31 · Number 3 · 2022 · 394–414 409

brands. This study comprehensively examined the unique characteristics of the Generation Z-luxury brand relationship by using a collage method. The findings concurred with the observation that luxury is “in the eye of the consumer” (Kapferer and Laurent, 2016, p. 339), highlighting that Generation Z consumers interpret luxury very broadly and have distinctive patterns of relationship with luxury brands compared to previous generations. Furthermore, the results support that the consumer-brand relationship of most Generation Z members in the sample is one of like (i.e. attachment and trust-based) rather than love or passion-based. Thus, risks and opportunities exist together for luxury brand managers, as Generation Z consumers who may display loyalty toward luxury brands do not necessarily have strong, passionate feelings for them. References Aaker, D.A. (1996), Building Strong Brands, Free Press, Ontario, Canada. Adomaitis, A.D. and Saiki, D. 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(2016), “Beyond rarity: the paths of luxury desire. How luxury brands grow yet remain desirable”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 120-133. About the authors Hyunju Shin, Associate Professor of Marketing at Georgia Southern University (PhD, University of Alabama) has published in journals such as European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Brand Management and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. Her research interests include luxury brand management, relationship management in retailing and services and customer engagement on social media. Hyunju Shin is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected] Jacqueline Eastman, Professor of Marketing at Georgia Southern University (PhD, Florida State University) has published in journals such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Generation Z’s brand relationship Hyunju Shin, Jacqueline Eastman and Yuan Li Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 31 · Number 3 · 2022 · 394–414 413

Logistics Management, Technovation, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice and Journal of Marketing Education. She is currently a co-editor of the Journal of Consumer Behavior. Her research interests deal with the strategic application of consumer behavior theory in the areas of luxury, sustainability, generational cohorts and technology. Yuan Li, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Georgia Southern University (PhD, the University of Texas at San Antonio), has published in Journal of Business Research. Her primary research focuses on how consumers’ perceptions and preferences are shaped by visual marketing information. Her research interest includes marketing design, sensory marketing and aesthetics. For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website: www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm Or contact us for further details: [email protected] Generation Z’s brand relationship Hyunju Shin, Jacqueline Eastman and Yuan Li Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 31 · Number 3 · 2022 · 394–414 414

Storygiving as a co-creation tool for luxury brands in the age of the internet: a love story by Tiffany and thousands of lovers Mine Üçok Hughes Department of Marketing, Woodbury University, Burbank, California, USA Wendy K. Bendoni Department of Fashion Marketing, Woodbury University, Burbank, California, USA, and Ekin Pehlivan Department of Marketing, California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo, California, USA Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to introduce the concept of storygiving as a co-creation tool and provides a guideline for its successful use by luxury brand managers. Design/methodology/approach – A study of Tiffany and Co.’s social media-based site and its use of stories as co-created marketing content provides us with managerial strategies applicable to luxury brands in general. The authors emphasize how luxury brands deal with co-created brand images compared to mainstream brands. Findings – Storygiving enables consumers to share their personal experiences through narratives and provides contextualized connections among community members through shared experiences. One successful example of storygiving is Tiffany & Co.’s ‘What Makes Love True’ campaign. Research limitations/implications – Only one luxury brand was used in this case study of online co-creation and storygiving. Further research, especially comparative case studies, would expand understanding of brand image management in the age of social media and consumer empowerment. Practical implications – This paper presents a strategic guideline for luxury brand managers highlighting a customer-centric insight into ways luxury brands can develop marketing strategies incorporating co-creation. Originality/value – To differentiate it from storytelling, the co-creation of brand stories through consumer-generated content is known as storygiving. The use of social media marketing in the process of storygiving is a powerful tool for luxury brands. The changed narrative from the brand’s point of view to that of the brand’s community is a major point made in this research. Keywords Social media, Storytelling, Co-creation, Fashion, Luxury branding, Luxury marketing, Storygiving, Tiffany & Co. Paper type Case report Introduction The marketing landscape has been moving rapidly to digital platforms, more importantly, marketing itself is morphing into a socio-commercial activity. The relationship between seller and the buyer has progressed from a commercial transaction to a personal connection with the values that brands champion. The consumer is now part of a community that defines itself through this association, contributes to online brand images and actively creates value (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000). For mainstream brands, marketing communications have been shifting from unidirectional message dissemination to a dialogue between producers and consumers in which the boundaries between these two parties have been blurred (Beer and Burrows, 2010). While luxury brands have been hesitant, they too have started to adopt social media marketing strategies (Okonkwo, 2009; Geerts, 2013; Morrissey, 2010). Social media marketing, as part of integrated marketing communications, depends heavily on the successful utilization of social media platforms to achieve the brand’s overall goal. Web 2.0 is enabling companies to create promotion campaigns to build online brand communities by using collaborative consumer-generated content (Muñiz and Schau, 2011). Recent research on digital marketing and digital consumers has revealed the increasing involvement of consumers in every aspect of marketing processes, from new product innovation (Hoyer et al., 2010; Kozinets et al., 2008) to print and broadcast advertising (Pehlivan et al., 2013). As online brand communities form collaborations based on their favorite brands, products or hobbies, the companies look for ways to create and sustain these conversations without appearing to be intruders. The marketing world is experiencing a digital revolution fuelled by the rapid changes in Internet technologies and social media. However, as Dhaoui (2014, p. 211) argues, “there appears to be limited academic research about the effectiveness The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm Journal of Product & Brand Management 25/4 (2016) 357–364 © Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421] [DOI 10.1108/JPBM-09-2015-0970] 357

of social media marketing in the context of luxury brands”. In agreement with this argument, Heine and Berghaus (2014) add that “[d]espite growing interest, there exists relatively little empirically founded research on digital luxury marketing (Geerts, 2013). Existing research concentrates on luxury website types (Geerts, 2013) and features (Dall’Olmo Riley and Lacroix, 2003; Seringhaus, 2005) and on luxury consumers’ social media behavior (Phan, 2011, p. 224)”. Ko and Megehee (2012, p. 1,395) state that “the role of fashion marketing of luxury brands is an area in need of new developments, theories, and knowledge in light of the trends toward global luxury and fashion markets”. In an effort to contribute to the literature on luxury marketing, in this paper, we reveal the use of storygiving as a co-creation tool and set out to provide a guideline for the successful use of this tool by luxury brand managers. To this end, we use Tiffany & Co.’s What Makes Love True (WMLT) campaign as the main example accompanied by examples from other luxury fashion brands that have used similar social media campaigns toward the establishment of a brand image cohesive with the feeling of exclusivity. In this paper, we adopt the term storygiving– the practice of co-creation of brand stories through consumer-generated content – as a differentiated tactic from storytelling. In April 2013, at the NYC Digital Storytelling Conference, Mike Monello, CCO of the marketing agency Campfire, described storygiving as “creating a story to tell that in turn creates an experience that enables the participants to become the storytellers” (Young, 2013, p. 7). Tiffany & Co. used this tool to in their campaign to engage their consumers in the co-creation of their online brand identity; therefore, we chose their campaign to derive a roadmap for luxury brand managers. In the following sections, we start with a review of the extant literature of luxury branding and social media, followed by a survey of the literature on co-creation of brand identity through storygiving. This is succeeded by a brief history of Tiffany & Co. and their above-mentioned microsite. Later, we propose a strategy guideline for a successful storygiving campaign for luxury brands by using the WMLT campaign as our main case study. Social media and luxury brands State of the luxury fashion industry Interbrand, a global branding consultancy, reports that in 2013, luxury retail brands were worth as much as US$23 bn (Rapoza, 2013). In his keynote speech at the FT Business and Luxury Summit 2013, Karel de Gucht, the European Commissioner for Trade, stated that the luxury industry “had double-digit growth and stable employment of six million workers in the worst economic conditions in 50 years” (de Gucht, 2013). While the pie has been getting bigger for the luxury industry, the number of companies claiming a piece of that pie has also been increasing. Luxury brands have relied on their premium brand equities and a steady number of regular customers. According to Kim and Ko (2012), this no longer is the case. With the recent increase in the number of new entrants into the market and ever-changing dynamics in the global economy, luxury brands need more than just their brand image to maintain or increase sales. Building and maintaining a trustworthy relationship with current and prospective customers is at the top of their list of marketing goals. Moreover, the traditional view of luxury products as conspicuous goods bought by the wealthy to display their wealth has been shifting such that luxury brand managers cannot truly control consumer perceptions (Granot et al., 2013). As Heine and Berghaus (2014, p. 230) point out, “the digital world is already having a discussion about their brand – with or without their involvement”. They suggest that, for that reason, luxury brands’ social media campaigns should target maximizing favorable consumer-to-consumer communication and coverage on third-party platforms (Heine and Berghaus, 2014). Luxury in the age of the internet Society is indeed as technology does: capabilities create intentions; capabilities create un-intentions. (Berthon et al., 2005, p. 113) Indeed, the impact of technology in marketing is a reflection of this statement. Digital communication technologies starting with the internet age have changed the individual perceptions of brand identities (in World 2) and shaped the collective creation of new brand images (World 3) (Berthon et al., 2005). More specifically the wide adoption of social media platforms has made co-creation of brand images possible through customer engagement and empowerment. While the primary intention for the creation of these technologies may not have consumer empowerment or perhaps even marketing in mind, the unintended consequences are undeniable. Even when companies do not solicit customer feedback, social media provides tools for (re)creation of brand value (Pehlivan et al., 2011). Most of the examples in the current literature focus on ordinary goods and mainstream brands (Muñiz and Schau, 2011) and not on the luxury goods industry. Berthon et al. (2009, p. 54) explain this by focusing on the key dilemma facing the luxury brand manager, “the issue of balancing the exclusivity of the brand while generating increasing revenues”. Therefore, a traditional approach to marketing and social media marketing might be detrimental to luxury brands, which have to maintain a balance between exclusivity and using marketing with optimal reach. The eight pillars (8Ps) of luxury brand marketing have been identified as performance, pedigree, paucity, persona, public figures, placement, public relations and pricing (Arora, 2013). Dhaoui (2014) focused on the effects of luxury brands’ customer engagement on Facebook and found that the two most important among the eight pillars are performance and paucity. Performance is defined as the customer’s experience with the brand, and paucity as the perception of its scarcity (Arora, 2013). The use of the internet as a medium by luxury brands has not been without its challenges (Keller, 2009), which stem from the nature of these two entities. Luxury is all about maintaining a premium image (Keller, 2009) and remaining exclusive to a niche market (i.e. paucity), whereas the internet, with its whole-wide-world availability and accessibility, is all about reaching the masses and democratizing content (Ortved, 2011). Okonkwo (2009) and others (Kontu and Alessandra Vecchi, 2014; Ortved, 2011) argue that this disparity between luxury goods and the internet initially caused luxury brands to resist the lure of the internet. Okonkwo (2009, p. 308) goes on to state that: Storygiving as a co-creation tool for luxury brands Mine Üçok Hughes, Wendy K. Bendoni and Ekin Pehlivan Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 25 · Number 4 · 2016 · 357–364 358

[. . .] for a long time, [the] majority of luxury companies were reluctant to adopt the Internet until it became apparent that the wealthy segment of the consumer population had embraced the Internet and was using it not only beyond information search but also for shopping, converging, sharing and influencing others. The “Follow the Poppy” campaign by Coach, the “The Art of the Trench” campaign by Burberry (Phan et al., 2011) and the “EyeWeb” campaign by Gucci are recent examples of luxury apparel companies experimenting with social media marketing while trying to maintain paucity. Luxury brands should move beyond questioning the need for a digital presence (Heine and Berghaus, 2014) and ask themselves how to create and maintain a digital presence “without damaging their brand identity and spirit of luxury” (Maman Larraufie and Aurélie Kourdoughli, 2014, p. 198). The delicate balance between brand exposure and brand trivialization – the “risk of loss of image control, which would lead to a prestige loss as well (de Chernatony, 2001)” (as cited in Maman Larraufie and Aurélie Kourdoughli, 2014, p. 202) – can be one of the greatest social media marketing challenges brands face. Storygiving on social media for luxury brands Consumer-generated content has been a topic of study in marketing for the past few years (Muñiz and Schau, 2007; Deighton and Leora Kornfeld, 2009; Berthon and Pitt, 2008; Ertimur, 2010; Ertimur and Gilly, 2010; Pehlivan et al., 2011). Researchers have defined, categorized and analyzed the antecedents and consequences of the actions of creative consumers who engage in any type of online communication with brands or other consumers. Consumer-generated content is not a new concept: Word of mouth, letters to the editor regarding a product or eBay or Amazon reviews are early examples of consumer contribution. The media may have moved to a digital platform, but the process of spreading the word remains the same. In marketing, consumer-generated content is defined as “any publicly disseminated, consumer-generated message whose subject is a collectively recognized brand” (Berthon and Pitt, 2008). Luxury brands have stayed away from soliciting consumer input, as they feared this type of content would dilute the brand image and the brand equity, which would reflect on the premium price. Storytelling has become a viable communication strategy (Maman Larraufie and Aurélie Kourdoughli, 2014) for luxury brands wishing to establish online relationships with their customers (Herskovitz and Crystal, 2010). The brand’s story can reveal its unique history or a symbolic event that develops a connection between the community and the brand. The narrative tone of the storytelling derives from the brand’s point-of-view to better educate consumers about the brand. Brands are now stepping back and letting consumers direct the narrative in numerous ways and letting storytelling turn into storygiving. An effective storygiving tool enables the brand’s communities to form around the brand on an independent microsite and have conversations about the brand that occur indirectly through the narrative of user-generated stories. Making use of customers’ stories is not a new technique but was an underused one until social media platforms took off in the past decade. Among fashion luxury brands, Jimmy Choo, a luxury shoe brand, was one of the early adopters of social media. It “has launched a number of on-site and off-site engagement initiatives” (Indvik, 2012, p. 11) using Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter. In the “Your Choo Stories” campaign, Jimmy Choo asked its customers to submit their first or most significant experiences with the brand (Indvik, 2012). Celebrity figures, such as supermodel Elle Macpherson, actress Elizabeth Hurley and the wardrobe director of Sex and the City, were among the contributors to the site (Indvik, 2012). Recent years have seen an increase in the use of hashtags. A hashtag is a pound sign followed by a word or a phrase that is used to signify the theme of the content. A hashtag essentially becomes a hyperlink. Many brands are promoting themselves through the use of hashtags to grow their engagement with their customers. #SaksStyle is one such example: The luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue has launched an image integration platform that serves as an online hub. Consumer-provided content collected from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr create a social-sharing platform that enables e-commerce (Lee, 2014). This hub, created by user-submitted and -curated images, is designed to create a sense of community, strengthen brand loyalty and enhance the digital shopping experience while broadening Saks’s online visibility to new consumers (Lee, 2014). Another upscale New York-based department store, Bergdorf Goodman (BG), also used hashtags and Instagram to engage with its customer base. People were encouraged to post geotagged photos of their shoes around prominent New York City landmarks on Instagram with the hashtag #BGShoes. Images were collected and embedded in a city map, which appeared in multiple social media platforms to ensure maximum visibility. While storytelling is still widely used as a marketing tactic (Fog et al., 2005), consumer-generated content provides companies with new opportunities to co-create stories. Storygiving has been identified as one such opportunity, where brands solicit consumer narratives and create a contextualized landscape of experiences shared by the community. This co-creation tool especially fits luxury brands, as brand managers do not have to relinquish control of information creation completely, but they can still engage with their consumers in the co-creation of their brand image. Previous literature mentions three dimensions to a luxury brand: functional, experiential and symbolic (Berthon et al., 2009). Storygiving enables customers to share the experiential dimension with the brand community, which in turn contributed to the co-creation of the symbolic. Perhaps the reason storygiving works with luxury brands so well is that it feeds these experiential and symbolic dimensions that add to the function of a product and make a luxury brand. Tiffany & Co. has cultivated one successful example of storygiving through their “What Makes Love True” campaign. One of the main reasons we chose this campaign as our primary example is that, in 2012, for the second year in a row, Tiffany ranked number 1 among 35 jewelry and watch brands in L2 Think Tank’s Digital IQ Index (Carr, 2012) (l2inc.com). Storygiving as a co-creation tool for luxury brands Mine Üçok Hughes, Wendy K. Bendoni and Ekin Pehlivan Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 25 · Number 4 · 2016 · 357–364 359

Tiffany asks what makes love true Founded in 1837 in New York City by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young, Tiffany & Co. is a jewelry retailer that sells timepieces, sterling silver goods (other than jewelry), china, crystal, stationery, fragrances, personal accessories and leather goods (Tiffany & Co., 2011). In many ways, Tiffany’s has succeeded in becoming an iconic brand. On June 1, 2011, the luxury brand Tiffany & Co. announced their new microsite called WMLT to provide their current and prospective customer base with a platform to share how, when and where they experienced true love. This seemed like a natural step for the brand, which has a reputation for representing the message of love with their jewelry for special occasions (i.e. symbolic value of Tiffany & Co.) When introduced, WMLT was not a commercial site for the brand but acted as an extension for the brand community (Muñiz and O’Guinn, 2001) to share the idea of love through photographs, stories and locations of true love moments. Consumers took on the role of co-creators (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000; Füller, 2010) and provided a new perspective to others in the online community about true love through their personal stories (i.e. experiential dimension of Tiffany & Co.). In return, the idea of storygiving generated the community’s engagement through consumer-generated content (Muñiz and Schau, 2011). How to develop a storygiving platform In this section, we present a guideline that highlights a customer-centric insight proving the need for luxury brands to develop a marketing strategy that incorporates the co-creation feature. Tiffany’s WMLT microsite will provide our main example. Determine your goals In the planning stage of establishing a platform for the storygiving microsite, it is imperative for the brand to decide how to approach its community and set measurable goals it can expect to achieve. The strategy objective of companies might vary. However, within the company, different channels of communication serve to achieve different goals. While the aim of a social sharing platform is to attract user-generated content (Keller and Fay, 2012; Kim and Ko, 2010) to build a brand community, the purpose of a commercial or corporate website is to increase sales by pushing the product. Storygiving platforms would help luxury brands leverage their existing relationship with their current loyal community as well as their prospective customers in a more personal way. Social media enables the brand to approach the community based on individual customers’ relationship with the brand and the values they share with it. Through community engagement and personal stories (written, images and video), the platform makes the brand accessible to its community while also keeping it exclusive. When developing the platform, it is important for the brand to ask what interest the brand and its loyal customers have in common. Based on the answer to this question, the brand can develop a clear strategy for motivating the community and create connections while accomplishing its goals. In the case of Tiffany & Co., they created a microsite around the common interest of true love and enabled their community to define that term by asking, “What makes love true?” To develop and maintain an ongoing connection with their customers, the brand had to address the challenge of how to stay linked with their customers 24/7 while remaining exclusive. Tiffany’s customers who visit www.tiffany.com are expected to purchase items from the e-commerce site and to be converted into members of the Tiffany community by visiting the www.whatmakeslovetrue.com microsite. It is important to make the microsite accessible through all relevant touchpoints to reach the community. The advantage of an established luxury brand is that the community feels a sense of reassurance sharing their personal stories and also enjoys the opportunity to be featured on an exclusive luxury brand’s microsite. The measure of success is the word-of-mouth and shareability generated by the WMLT microsite and supporting channel touchpoints. Reach the brand community via a brand-owned platform In a study where Tynan et al. (2010) explored how luxury brands differ from their mainstream counterparts in the co-creation of value through social media, they found that the platform or venue that enables brand value co-creation is just as important as the content for luxury brands. The abundance of social media platforms may seem to be an advantage for marketers; however, luxury brands might prefer to choose their own platforms to set themselves apart and perhaps set the standard (Granot et al., 2013). When a brand initiates contact with its community through a social platform, it is vital that they first monitor their community engagement in its organic setting. It is imperative that content extend its reach to where their intended community actively engages. This remains true for the brand’s digital strategy of social sharing. When planning to build an online community based on the idea of sharing personal narrative insights, such as personal stories, the brand must ensure that the community feels personally invested in the digital space provided. The platform that will be provided to the community will be a microsite that is independent of the brand’s main online channel and will serve as a storygiving social space. The luxury market community has high expectations of the service and engagement provided by the brand and expects the same integrity to be upheld when visiting the brand’s microsite or any related social media outlet associated with the brand. It is essential for a luxury brand to remain exclusive while simultaneously building visibility online. The microsite should both streamline the brand’s overall message and support the storygiving process from their community. This social space should remain consistent throughout the microsite with the same prestige associated with the brand (luxury goods and/or services provide). It is important for the microsite to be directly hosted and clearly sponsored by the brand. Previously, brands relied heavily on social media platforms (e.g. Facebook) to host their social media engagement, but now brands are bringing their communities back to their home-based websites or microsites. The storytelling platform (e.g. a microsite) is a subset of the brand’s main online channel (brand website), as Storygiving as a co-creation tool for luxury brands Mine Üçok Hughes, Wendy K. Bendoni and Ekin Pehlivan Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 25 · Number 4 · 2016 · 357–364 360

it is created with the intent of providing a social sharing community. The brand should manage and supervise all uploaded content provided by the consumers to ensure the integrity of the brand. This serves as a filter system to control the content showcased and to maintain consistency and appropriateness in the visuals provided. Proper use of the brand logo and visuals will provide brand consistency across several platforms, and the microsite should reflect the brand’s core values. Having a brand-hosted microsite has both an internal and external value for the brand and the community. Using social media sites such as Facebook for promotion serves its own purpose, but when a brand wants to become more personally engaged with its community, it is imperative that it have its own microsite to promote a higher level of social engagement through co-creation. A social media microsite provides a platform for consumers to socially share their thoughts and opinions. This goes beyond traditional methods of outreach, for example, a call to “like” the brand’s Facebook page. A microsite can be differentiated as one that contains no banner ads, promotions or other misguided information from the brand. It is a platform where the community can create, share and engage. Through letting customers share their personal stories from their own point of view, the microsite also helps the brand increase brand awareness and acquire loyal customers. For the community to share their stories publicly, they need to feel secure within the context where these stories will be shared. The platform provides the community an opportunity to develop multi-way conversations and promotes participation from all. The brand community should be encouraged to carry a social presence on the site and to feel they are contributing to a bigger picture that is the brand’s story. The microsite should create the desire to be a part of the conversation through multiple forms of engagement. Consumers must not be pressured to purchase anything but must still be given the opportunity to visit the e-commerce section of the platform at any time. Tiffany & Co. enable their community to visit their WMLT site to share and engage with other like-minded visitors. The Tiffany & Co. microsite WMLT can be reached in two ways: through the WMLT independent microsite and through a link on the main company website Tiffany.com to the section called The World of Tiffany. The WMLT has gone through a series of changes over the past year, with the two biggest changes being the placement of promotional materials on the same page as the shared true love stories and the ability to access the microsite WMLT from the company’s main website. This switch occurred two years after the official launch of the microsite in 2011 and has now enabled the Tiffany community to purchase products directly after viewing a shared love story. It is also important to note that the WMLT mobile app remains separate from the Tiffany & Co. ecommerce website and features only the elements of WMLT. One component that has remained consistent with both touchpoints is Tiffany & Co.’s use of this microsite to promote the idea of true love through shareable co-created content with their community. Create a common thread for storygiving Creating a common thread for the brand community on the platform to share enables its members to feel connected and be part of the community. They are encouraged to share their stories collaboratively through images and text-based input. To create a platform for the community to share their own stories, it is necessary to clearly show how they connect with the brand, interests or relatable topics. Brand narratives created through storytelling encompass the characteristics customers might look for in the brand. Tiffany & Co. reaches its community through serial collaborative campaigns. The first introduction to the WMLT was a commissioned short film by director Edward Burns called Will You Marry Me? And captured the love stories of various couples throughout New York City. Among the couples featured in the film, Burns included himself and his supermodel wife Christy Turlington and shared how he purchased a Tiffany engagement ring to entice her when he proposed. Including his connection to the Tiffany’s as a loyal customer and sharing his true love story brought integrity to the film, as well. In a similar fashion, Scott Schulman, of The Satorialist, and his girlfriend photographed people on the streets to create a photo documentary for Valentine’s Day 2012. Create motivation and incentive to co-create Storygiving caters to the “intrinsically motivated consumers” (Füller, 2010, p. 103) who view and monitor the shared content. When developing a platform for the community, it is important to remember what the consumers are familiar with on other popular online social sharing platforms. Users of Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are accustomed to dealing with consumer-generated content. These calls to action to include features in the microsite that enable digital consumers to comment, share or show some form of acceptance, such as the “like” feature in Facebook. Motivations encouraging people to create content and participate in social media campaigns can be extrinsic or intrinsic. In the case of Tiffany & Co., there are no extrinsic motivations, such as contests. However, there are intrinsic motivations. People who submit their stories do so in order to be part of the community, to be acknowledged by others, and to be affiliated with a luxury brand by appearing on its website. The photos sent by couples can be categorized by popularity, which in itself can be a motivation for the participants. Set the stage for storygiving Unlike a product review, which shares dislikes, concerns and satisfactions, the storygiving narrative is written as an experience related to the common theme that is shared by the author. The experience presented in the story is authentic and gives insight into the brand from the consumer’s point of view. Storygiving must be in the words of the community but monitored by the brand itself when posted on the microsite. Photos, videos or images must never be uploaded directly to the site by consumers; they should be sent to a feeder that allows the brand to control the look and curation of the site. Tiffany & Co. invites their community to join in the conversation through the use of various media featured on the microsite. The WMLT site captures consumers’ attention Storygiving as a co-creation tool for luxury brands Mine Üçok Hughes, Wendy K. Bendoni and Ekin Pehlivan Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 25 · Number 4 · 2016 · 357–364 361

when they first arrive at the landing page and encourages them to access and explore the site through images and quotes. When setting out to connect with a brand’s community, it is imperative to develop a seamless approach through multiple touchpoints (phones, tablets and home computers). The WMLT community engages through these touchpoints by “liking”, sharing with others on Twitter or Facebook, uploading Instagram images and using geolocation to mark the scene of a memorable “true love” moment. The WMLT mobile application (e.g. for iPhone and iPad) allows the community to access the microsite and upload content from any location. The four sections on the application are: 1 Tiffany’s New York; 2 The Art of Romance; 3 Love Stories; and 4 Love Is Everywhere. The mobile app features resemble the ones on the microsite, and the various touchpoints work together seamlessly. The first two Sections – Tiffany’s New York and The Art of Romance– were created by Tiffany & Co. to promote the idea of romance but are not directly part of the co-creation storytelling segment. The third and fourth Sections – Love Stories and Love Is Everywhere– are parts of the co-creation segment; these two Sections share stories and insight into “true love” directly from the Tiffany & Co. community. The guidelines to develop a storygiving platform are as follows: ● Set your goals: The strategy objective of companies might vary. The goal of WMLT is to attract the brand community to the microsite and allow community members to share their brand-related experiences, similar to the Saks Fifth Avenue customers who feel a heightened sense of community when they take part in the #SaksStyle campaign, where they share their purchases from the luxury department store. ● Reach the brand community via a brand-owned platform: By reaching the brand community via their own platforms, luxury brands set themselves apart and maintain their paucity. WMLT started as a microsite separate from the main website. Lancôme’s Rose Beauty microsite works as a successful digital hub in China. ● Create a common thread for the brand community: While love stories are the common thread for WMLT, sharing geotagged shoe images with #BGShoes on Instagram brings the BG fans together. ● Create motivation and incentive to co-create: Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations can encourage people to create content and participate in social media campaigns. The main motivation in WMLT is intrinsic: to be chosen to appear on the iconic luxury brand’s website. In the case of the “Your Choo Stories” campaign by Jimmy Choo, the main motivation was extrinsic: to win a pair of exclusive shoes from Project Crystal. ● Set the stage for storygiving: Storygiving must be done in the words of the community but be maintained by the brand itself once posted to the microsite. Tiffany invites its community to join in the conversation through use of various media to be featured on the WMLT microsite. The “The Art of the Trench” campaign by Burberry combines the curation of content with crowdsourcing. When Saks consumers provide #SaksStyle-tagged images, it allows the retailer to create an organic-looking book full of pieces bought by actual Saks consumers, rather than a catalogue designed by the company. Conclusion Social media has shifted the method by which brands create and share a narrative. While, for mainstream brands, this has been a more-or-less seamless transition to extend their reach, for luxury brands, it has proven a challenge that needs to be handled carefully. Regardless of the challenges luxury brands may face in the struggle to keep their brand image exclusive, the co-creation of that brand image is inevitable. Therefore, it is of vital importance for the luxury brands, to keep up with the changing marketing landscape and become part of the co-creation process by enabling their customers to share their connection with the brand. According to Heine and Berghaus’ (2014) recent study, the majority of luxury brands still use mainly digital platforms to disseminate information to consumers in the classical sense of marketing rather than using social media to engage with their consumers. In this paper, we examined the marketing strategies that can be derived from the WMLT microsite launched by Tiffany & Co in 2011. During the course of this research, there have been multiple alterations to the microsite. It was inactive for two months in the summer of 2013 with a notification stating that it was being updated. Another major update at the end of 2013 joined the WMLT microsite with the company’s main ecommerce site (www.tiffany.com). The microsite could still be reached from the original microsite address but would redirect the user to the main website and offer WMLT through The World of Tiffany Section. This collaboration between the main website and the microsite provided the True Love community with access to the e-commerce section of the Tiffany & Company website. In this conceptual paper, we believe our main contribution is the guideline we derived for luxury brands to use social media and co-creation techniques such as storytelling effectively while maintaining performance and paucity as expected from a luxury fashion brand. We conclude that managers should set clear goals for a brand-owned platform to reach their consumers. This platform should be accessible through multiple touchpoints, and it should encourage consumers to share their stories using different media. One effective way of facilitating the co-creation of the brand image is understanding consumers’ motivation to share and create common threads along those lines. Consumer empowerment through social media is here to stay, and brands – whether they are mainstream or luxury – will need to find novel ways of involving their customers in the co-creation process. It is imperative to avoid diluting the established brand image in the process. Tiffany & Company is only one of the luxury brands using social media effectively not only to market their products but also to create a loyal brand community. Careful examination of other such examples will yield a more comprehensive understanding of social media marketing strategies, especially for luxury branding. Using social media marketing through the process of storygiving is a powerful tool for luxury brands. Changing the narrative point of view from the brand’s to the brand Storygiving as a co-creation tool for luxury brands Mine Üçok Hughes, Wendy K. Bendoni and Ekin Pehlivan Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 25 · Number 4 · 2016 · 357–364 362

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Muñiz, A.M. Jr and Schau, H.J. (2011), “How to inspire value-laden collaborative consumer-generated content”, Business Horizons, Vol. 54 No. 3, pp. 209-217. Okonkwo, U. (2009), “Sustaining the luxury brand on the Internet”, Brand Management, Vol. 16 Nos 5/6, pp. 302-310. Ortved, J. (2011), “Is digital killing the luxury brand? Adweek”, available at: www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/digital-killing-luxury-brand-134773 Pehlivan, E., Berthon, P. and Pitt, L. (2013), “When outsourcing fragments: customer creativity and technological transmutations”, Production Planning and Control, Vol. 24 Nos 4/5, pp. 284-293. Pehlivan, E., Sarican, F. and Berthon, P. (2011), “Mining messages: exploring consumer response to consumer- vs firm-generated Ads”, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 313-321. Phan, M. (2011), “Do social media enhance consumers’ perception and purchase intentions of luxury fashion brands?”, Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 81-84. Phan, M., Thomas, R. and Heine, K. (2011), “Social media and luxury brand management: the case of Burberry”, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 213-222. Prahalad, C.K. and Ramaswamy, V. (2000), “Co-opting customer experience”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 78 No. 1, pp. 79-88. Rapoza (2013), “World’s most valued luxury brands”, available at: www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/06/07/ the-worlds-most-valued-luxury-brands Seringhaus, F.H.R. (2005), “Selling luxury brands online”, Journal of Internet Commerce, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 1-25. Tiffany & Co. (2011), “Tiffany introduces true love”, available at: http://press.tiffany.com/News/NewsItem.aspx? id!129 Tynan, C., McKechnie, S. and Chhuon, C. (2010), “Co-creating value for luxury brands”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 63 No. 11, pp. 1156-1163. Young, V.M. (2013), “Digital is about people, not technology”, Women’s Wear Daily, available at: www.wwd. com/media-news/marketing/digital-is-about-people-nottechnology-6890002 Further reading L2 (2016), “Business intelligence for digital”, available at: www.l2inc.com/about About the authors Dr Mine Üçok Hughes is an Associate Professor of marketing at Woodbury University. She conducts mainly qualitative and ethnographic research that is aligned with Consumer Culture Theory. Her research focuses on non-mainstream consumers and sustainable marketing. Her work appeared in Advances in Consumer Research, Business Horizons and Qualitative Market Research among others. Mine Üçok Hughes is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected] Wendy K. Bendoni is an Assistant Professor of fashion marketing at Woodbury University. Her research focuses on new technology and how it relates to fashion marketing and trend analysis market research. Ms Bendoni remains active in her area of expertise as a fashion forecaster and correspondent, covering European and Asian fashion for the past 23 years. In the field of fashion forecasting, she assists marketers, retailers, designers and manufacturers globally in developing design concepts and marketing strategies. She continues to develop new methods of tracking lifestyle trends through not only traditional means but also using analytics to monitor consumer lifestyle interest and behavior on social media. Dr Ekin Pehlivan is an Assistant Professor of marketing at California State University Channel Islands. Her main research interests are situated in the intersection of consumer behavior and advertising strategy. More specifically, she focuses on advertising strategies that try to reach skeptical consumers, such as using humor and irony in advertising or consumergenerated advertising in social media. Her secondary research interests include brand value determinants and consumer perceptions of products and their advertisements. For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website: www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm Or contact us for further details: [email protected] Storygiving as a co-creation tool for luxury brands Mine Üçok Hughes, Wendy K. Bendoni and Ekin Pehlivan Journal of Product & Brand Management Volume 25 · Number 4 · 2016 · 357–364 364