https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3707-5511
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ABSTRACT
This study aims to explore the moderator role of popular and iconic coolness dimensions on the relationship between hedonic versus utilitarian beauty product brands and high-status perceptions, using internet memes as stimuli. An experimental study was conducted to analyse whether two dimensions of brand coolness (popular and iconic) moderate the relationship between type of internet meme (utilitarian versus hedonic) and high-status. After conducting a pre-test, two internet memes were created for each condition, utilitarian and hedonic. In total, 428 completely answers were collected from an online MTurk panel, and the hypotheses were tested using moderation analysis. The results indicate that (i) hedonic brands are perceived as being high-status in the presence of both moderators (iconic and popular); (ii) utilitarian brands can be associated with high-status perceptions, if moderated by the popular dimension. Findings demonstrate that the popularity of the brand plays an important role in consumers perceptions. This study contributes to the marketing literature by analysing the relationship between three core dimensions of brand coolness, namely, iconic, popular, and high-status, regarding brands associated with hedonics and utilitarian products.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Notes on contributors
Aihoor Aleem
Aihoor Aleem is a PhD in Management, with specialization in Marketing Candidate at ISCTE - IUL. Her research activity is focused on luxury trends, consumption and the future of how brands will communicate and create a relationship with their targets. Her background counts with a MSc in Management with specialisation in Strategic Marketing by the Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, where she started the research on what influences (or not) consumers to engage into luxury consumption. She has professional experience in academia as a researcher and professor, specifically in teaching marketing strategy, finance applied to marketing and digital marketing (at IADE and invited at ISCTE-IUL, during her PhD).
Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro
Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro, Ph.D., is Professor of Marketing at ISTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal. She features on Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientists in Marketing. Her research interests include relationship marketing, tourism marketing, and the VR, AR, and AI adoption in these contexts. Her work has published in journals including Journal of Marketing, Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Retailing, and Journal of Business Research, among others. She is the recipient of several Best Paper Awards (22019, 2016, and 2012), Highly Commended Paper Awards (20114, 2016), and a 2021 Best Reviewer Award (Psychology & Marketing).
Bruno Schivinski
Dr Bruno Schivinski, Ph.D., MA, BSc, FRSS, FHEA is a sociologist and senior lecturer in Advertising at RMIT University, Australia. He consults for online service providers, websites, and scientific institutions such as the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) and the National Science Centre (NCN) in Poland. Dr. Schivinski is associate editor for SAGE Open and the Journal of Management and Business Administration–Central Europe. Dr. Schivinski specializes in quantitative research methods with focus on multivariate data analysis and generalization methods. His latest work can be found in the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising Research, Industrial Marketing Management, and Journal of Clinical Medicine. His personal website: https:// brunoschivinski.wordpress.com/.