EXPLORING THE CONCEPT OF BEAUTY IN CONSUMER RESEARCH: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK & RESEARCH AGENDA

글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

The cosmetic industry has been rapidly expanding over the last decades. The industry itself generates about $230 billion each year and is consumed daily by 90% of female consumers. Despite its weight in the economy, consumer research has largely neglected the specificity of beauty products and consumption. The first aim of this paper is thus to offer an integrative conceptual framework to better understand beauty consumption from a consumer psychology point of view, incorporating findings from evolutionary, cognitive and cultural psychology. The second aim is to encourage consumer research on the topic by offering a research agenda taking into consideration different dimensions of beauty perception. This working paper is based on a critical and systematic literature review conducted on the topic of beauty in cognitive, evolutionary and cultural psychology. Whilst the beauty industry is booming, a gap exists in the consumer research literature in terms of understanding the applications of traditional evolutionary, cognitive and crosscultural research on the topic. This working paper introduces a framework and agenda to understand, frame, and study beauty in consumer research. On the basis of the literature reviewed, we propose a model with two decision-making systems related to beautyrelated cognition and behaviors: an impulsive decision-making system and a socially constructed decision-making system. In the impulsive decision-making system, sexual selection and cognitive mechanisms function simultaneously. We expect impulsive buying behavior to occur when consumers are exposed to highly aesthetic packaging of beauty products. In the socially constructed decision-making system, consumers choose certain brands depending on the brand image being aligned with the consumer’s cultural perception of beauty. We argue that decision-making behavior is reflective, as opposed to impulsive. Finally, we argue that both systems are mutually reinforcing and need to be better integrated into further studies looking at beauty consumption.

EXPECTED UTILITY OF SPORTS SPECTATORS; CLOSE OR LOPSIDED MATCH

글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

People want to watch a sports game which cannot anticipate the result until the end of the game. Sometimes, however, excessive tension of contest lowers the interest of audience. Vast amount of existing researches have focused on finding explanation about what makes a difference of the preference level of suspense among sports fans and where is the optimal level of suspense. We apply Expected Utility Theory and Prospect theory to illustrate the expected utility of sports spectators. According to our findings, if someone someone who is satisfied more when the cheering team wins, he or she may prefer lopsided match than close match. And fans who support winning team, which means team which wins often, prefer lopsided match to close match because they forecast their team will win more than fans who support losing team, which means team which loses often. We manipulate the level of satisfaction when the cheering team wins (S) and subjective forecasted probability of win before the game (Q) of respondents and measure the utility of them toward difference game aspect (P) to verify our hypothesis. This study was carried out to investigate how the satisfaction of sports spectators will change according to the change of the game aspect. In particular, research model was set up using the Expected Utility Theory and Prospect Theory of economics. The use of economics models to explain sports consumer behavior is different from that of previous studies, and consumers' prior expectations can affect the current game viewing based on Prospect Theory is another contribution of this research.

THE INFLUENCE OF TWO FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS ON CONSPICUOUS LUXURY CONSUMPTION

글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2017 Global Fashion Management Conference Vol.2017 No.07

In real life most are searching for ways to pursue happiness through positive affirmation from others. This practice includes conspicuous luxury consumption in capitalist societies. Veblen Thorstein critically describes this construct as lavishing money on unnecessary evident goods as a means to gain social status and recognition from others (Veblen, 1899). Following Veblen, researchers have examined various antecedent and consequent factors of conspicuous luxury consumption behaviour from broad research streams such as power, social class, culture and materialism (e.g., Berger & Ward, 2010; Han, Nunes, & Drèze, 2010; Lee & Shrum, 2012; Rucker & Galinsky, 2008, 2009; Sivanathan & Pettit, 2010; Wang & Griskevicius, 2014). Though research on conspicuous luxury consumption has received great attention over the past decade, and previous research discovered how various factors affect conspicuous luxury consumption, the ways in which core factors influence conspicuous luxury consumption are still not well understood. In this research, we revealed two important factors; self-focus versus other-focus and self-transformative versus self-expressive motivation. In multiple experiments, the major dependent variable is the logo size of luxury brands, which is generally accepted to reflect the conspicuous consumption intentions of the purchaser. This research reveals the following two important findings. First, individuals have a greater desire for conspicuous luxury products when they focus more on others than themselves, because of brand logo visibility of luxury consumption. This is because focusing on others makes individuals more concerned about others’ opinions of them and social criticism (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975), thus leading individuals to gravitate towards the products that can guard against potential social criticism. This in turn, makes other-focused individuals place more value than self-focused individuals on conspicuous luxury products that have socially favourable indicators. Secondly, the current research shows that individuals who are motivated to transform themselves into the person they wish to be prefer conspicuous luxury products more than those who are motivated to express their actual selves. This is because conspicuous luxury products are highly associated with an ideal self. The current research offers several important contributions. First, the studies reported here will enrich the extant conspicuous luxury consumption literature by unveiling the fundamental motivations lying behind the various factors that have been shown to influence conspicuous consumption in previous research (e.g., Lee & Shrum, 2012; Rucker & Galinsky, 2008, 2009). Second, the findings of this research highlight ways to attenuate conspicuous luxury consumption that affect the happiness of individuals; the self-focused and self-expression. Consequently, this research’s findings advance understanding of luxury consumption as most research has focused more on antecedents that increase conspicuous luxury consumption behaviour (e.g., Lee & Shrum, 2012; Sivanathan & Pettit, 2010; Wang & Griskevicius, 2014) than factors that decrease conspicuous luxury consumption behaviour (Stillman, Fincham, Vohs, Lambert, & Phillips, 2012).

FASHION LUXURY E-COMMERCE ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

Patricia SanMiguel,Cristina S?nchez-Blanco,Marta Torregrosa,Jorge del R?o 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2023 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2023 No.07

Offering a good shopping experience on the web is key for fashion luxury brands. However, it is not a field much analyzed by researchers. This research presents a systematic analysis of the usability of the web and its content in more than 60 fashion luxury e-commerce.

THE EFFECT OF VIRTUAL REALITY AND CONSUMER EXPERIENCE IN THE VIRTUAL FASHION SPACE

Hyojo Jung,Eunju Ko,Minjung Cho 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2023 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2023 No.07

Digital technologies that travel between the real and virtual worlds are rapidly adopted by many fashion brands for building virtual fashion spaces. This study aims to investigate the consumer experience of the components of the virtual fashion show and their effect on virtual fashion space, perceived benefits, perceived risk, and behavioral intention in the immersive fashion virtual space. The stimulus for this study was selected as the Prada virtual reality (VR) fashion show which is one of the most active in the VR field. The influence of perceived virtual fashion space and the moderating effect of VR sickness and fashion innovativeness are discussed. This study provides implications about consumer perception and behavior using VR in the context of virtual fashion space for researchers and practitioners.

BRAND EXPLORATION IN METAVERSE: EFFECTS OF SELF-AVATAR RESEMBLANCE ON BRAND ATTITUDE AND PURCHASE INTENTION, AND MODERATED MEDIATION OF COPRESENCE

Jaehyun Lee,MinChung Kim,Yeolib Kim 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2023 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2023 No.07

A ‘brand’ metaverse is a virtual space where customers experience the brand via digital avatars. With the advancement of augmented and virtual reality technologies, a brand metaverse is an important medium for communicating the brand with customers. In this study, we focus on the resemblance between a customer’s self and his/her avatar (i.e., self-avatar resemblance) in the brand metaverse and examine its influence on brand attitude. Prior studies examine self-avatar resemblance exclusively in non-brand-related virtual gaming platforms and test its effect on identity perception and immersion in the platforms. However, few studies probe the extent to which self-avatar resemblance influences customers' exploration in a brand metaverse and their attitude toward the brand. We fill this research gap by uncovering the positive effects of self-avatar resemblance on brand attitude and purchase intentions. Moreover, we proffer that the customers’ engagement toward the brand metaverse platform mediates the relationship between self-avatar resemblance and brand attitude. In addition, based on the interactive nature of metaverse, we hypothesize copresence―the number of avatars exploring the brand metaverse at the same time―to be a moderator, which strengthens the mediation. We conduct an experiment using a fashion brand’s virtual world positioned in a popular metaverse platform. In this experiment, participants create an avatar and freely roam around in the brand metaverse with their avatars. By reviewing the screen recording of each participant’s brand exploration in the metaverse, we measure self-avatar resemblance and other constructs. We also collect responses from questionnaires designed to measure attitudinal and behavioral variables. With the accumulated data, we test the hypotheses using partial least square structural equation model and find the results largely consistent with the hypotheses. With the findings, we provide important and interesting implications to marketing practitioners considering and doing ‘metaverse marketing.’

CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF TRADITIONAL AND OUTLET CHANNELS

Jared Wong,Foo Nin Ho 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2023 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2023 No.07

Factory outlet stores represent an integral part of a dual distribution channel strategy, in which products are sold through two different channels: (1) factory outlets and (2) traditional store formats. However, there are potential risks, including cannibalization and brand dilution. Our research considers perceived quality of the item from each channel. Through two experimental studies, our findings suggest that without any pricing information, consumers spontaneously assign products from outlet channels to be of lower subjective quality than those from the traditional channel. However, when both products in each channel are discounted, then this reduction in quality perception is attenuated, following the belief in the price-quality relationship.

REVIEW OF CHINESE OUTBOUND TOURISM RESEARCH

Ying Wang,Xin Jin 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2014 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2014 No.3

The Chinese outbound travel market has been one of the fastest-growing international markets for destinations, with Chinese tourist arrivals grown from 10 million to 83 million from 2000 to 2012 and their expenditures abroad reaching US102 billion in 2012 to position China as the world’s largest tourism source market in spending (CTA, 2012; UNWTO, 2013). Investigations into how Chinese tourists behave in comparison to their Western counterparts will have tremendous potential for developing insights into tourism literature, especially if previously developed Western theoretical models can interpret Chinese tourist behaviour. Practically, a better understanding of the Chinese outbound tourism phenomenon benefits destinations, which seek to effectively promote economic and social development associated with the ever-growing Chinese outbound market. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic, quantitative review of 118 articles published in 15 top tourism and hospitality journals between 2000 and 2012 to determine the status of research on Chinese outbound tourism. This study adopted a hybrid design that incorporated the characteristics of both the narrative and systematic quantitative review methods. The review outlines current achievements and future directions for Chinese outbound tourism research, and is pertinent to both theory building and professional practice. Based on Weaver and Lawton’s (2009) model of multi-disciplinary linkages, the 118 articles were classified into: psychology (38 articles), marketing (33), business management (16), economics (6), history (4), sociology (3), political science (1), and others (17). Credit shall be given to research efforts manifested in several areas such as travel motivation, expectations, travel barriers, destination image and preference, market segmentation and business management issues. However, much of existing literature focuses on one specific domain of sustainability - economic, reflecting an initial excitement about the development potential of this market, promoting it as an ideal source for economic growth at the destinations. The majority of studies are within the positivistic/post-positivistic paradigm. Few studies take a platform beyond advocacy to dialectically evaluate Chinese outbound tourism phenomena and impacts. In general, these studies applied existing theories to the Chinese market but fall short of making a significant breakthrough beyond the widely adopted Western models. As such, knowledge generated is to some extent fragmented and context-confined. Long-term strategic development requires recognition of the complexity and reality of the Chinese outbound tourism phenomenon as well as a need for sustainable and responsible development. In response, research needs to move toward the sustainable, knowledge-based and ethics platforms that adopt a holistic view of tourism as an integrated and interdependent system.

THE EFFECTS OF ANTHROPOMORPHISM AND AURA OF A DIGITAL HUMAN ON PERCEIVED INTERACTIVITY

Juran Kim,Joonheui Bae 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2023 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2023 No.07

Digital humans integrating anthropomorphism into the performance and problem-solving features of AI offer innovative sources of insights and value that promotes a product, service, or brand. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a digital human’s aura and anthropomorphism on perceived interactivity, attitude toward a brand, attitude toward a digital human, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) intention, and purchase intention. An entrenched digital human’s aura and anthropomorphism increase perceived interactivity, attitude toward a brand, attitude toward a digital human, eWOM intention, and purchase intention. This study contributes to the literature by clarifying the concept of the digital human’s aura and anthropomorphism and the relationships between perceived interactivity, attitude toward a brand, attitude toward a digital human, eWOM intention, and purchase intention.

“SHOULD I KEEP IT OR SELL IT?” THE EFFECT OF EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT ON CONSUMERS’ SELLING BEHAVIOR IN THE CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER MARKETPLACE

Hikaru Yamamoto 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2023 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2023 No.07

This study focuses on resale behavior in online consumer-to-consumer market platforms and examines the factors that promote and hinder the resale behavior of sellers. The evidence from the experiment suggests the negative effect of emotional attachment on resale intention and the moderating effect of resale possibilities.