Brand cultural symbolism, brand authenticity, and consumer well-being: the moderating role of cultural involvement
| Date | 15 July 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-08-2018-1981 |
| Published date | 15 July 2019 |
| Pages | 529-539 |
| Author | Yufan Jian,Zhimin Zhou,Nan Zhou |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Brand cultural symbolism, brand authenticity,
and consumer well-being: the moderating role
of cultural involvement
Yufan Jian
College of Management, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China, and
Zhimin Zhou and Nan Zhou
Department of Marketing, College of Management, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to improve knowledge regarding the complicated relationship among brand cultural symbolism, consumer cultural
involvement, brand authenticity and consumer well-being. Although some literature has mentioned the relationship between the above concepts,
these relationships have not been confirmed by empirical studies.
Design/methodology/approach –Based on the self-determination theory and the authenticity theory, a causal model of brand cultural symbolism,
consumers’enduring cultural involvement, brand authenticity and consumer well-being is developed. The structural equation model and multiple
regressions are used to test the hypothesis. The primary data are based on an online survey conducted in China (N= 533). A total of six brands from
the USA, France and China were selected as study samples.
Findings –The data reveal that brand cultural symbolism has a positive relationship with brand authenticity and consumer well-being; brand
authenticity partially mediates the relationship between brand cultural symbolism and consumer well-being; and find a weakening eff ect of
consumers’enduring cultural involvement on the relationship between brand cultural symbolism and brand authenticity.
Research limitations/implications –The weakening effect of consumers’enduring cultural involvement on the relationship between brand
cultural symbols and brand authenticity should be further verified through experiments and the model should be tested in different cultural
backgrounds from a cross-cultural perspective.
Practical implications –The present study offers novel insights for brand managers by highlighting brand authenticity as the fundamental princ iple
that explains the effect of cultural symbolism of brands, consumers’enduring cultural involvement, as well as eudaimonic and hedonic well-being.
Originality/value –The findings suggest that cultural significance of a brand is closely related to brand authenticity and consumer well-being;
however, on consumers with a highly enduring cultural involvement, the effect of brand culture symbolism and brand authenticity is weakened. This
is an interesting finding because in this case, consumers may measure brand authenticity more based on the brand actual behavior (e.g. brand non-
commercial tendency and brand social responsibility) rather than the symbolic image.
Keywords Brand authenticity, Brand image, Brand meaning, Brand heritage, Consumer psychology, Brand cultural symbolism, Indexical cues,
Iconic cues, Consumer hedonic well-being, Consumer eudaimonic well-being
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Achieving comprehensive well-being is the ultimate goal of all
human activities, and for this reason, numerous studies in the
fields of psychology, economics and sociology have been
dedicated to well-being or happiness (Diener and Seligman,
2002). Throughout the years, as studies on well-being
progressed, researchers of consumer behavior have also begun
to explore the concept of consumerwell-being (Mogilner et al.,
2012). They demonstrated that consumer well-being can
influence consumers’brand choice, brand loyalty, hedonic
consumption and word-of-mouth behavior (Mogilner et al.,
2012;Šeinauskien_
eet al.,2016;Schnebelen and Bruhn, 2016).
At the same time, researchers looked at various drivers of
consumer happiness and the effects of phases of consumption
(Hedhli et al., 2013), the objectof consumption (Bhattacharjee
and Mogilner, 2014),the manner of consumption (Aaker et al.,
2011) and the personality of consumers (Belk, 1984)basedon
factors and situations related to consumption. Other
researchers focused on the impact on consumer well-being of
various brand-related factors, such as brand experience
(Bettingen and Luedicke, 2009; Brakus et al., 2015), brand
relationship quality and brand self-congruence (Schnebelen
and Bruhn, 2018).
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
28/4 (2019) 529–539
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-08-2018-1981]
This article was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grant No. 71772126).
Received 13 August 2018
Revised 5 December 2018
23 January 2019
Accepted 25 January 2019
529
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