一 : Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity

二 : Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity

JournalofBusinessResearch65(2012)1480–1486

ContentslistsavailableatSciVerseScienceDirect

JournalofBusinessResearch

Dosocialmediamarketingactivitiesenhancecustomerequity?Anempiricalstudyofluxuryfashionbrand☆

AngellaJ.Kima,1,EunjuKob,?

ab

UniversityofMinnesota,CollegeofDesignDepartmentofDesign,Housing,andApparel,346McNealHall,1985BufordAvenueSt.Paul,MN55108,USA

University,CollegeofHumanEcologyDepartmentofClothingandTextiles,262Seongsanno,Seodaemun-gu,SamsungHall318,Seoul120-749,RepublicofKorea

articleinfoabstract

Inlightofagrowinginterestintheuseofsocialmediamarketing(SMM)amongluxuryfashionbrands,thisstudysetouttoidentifyattributesofSMMactivitiesandexaminetherelationshipsamongthoseperceivedactivities,valueequity,relationshipequity,brandequity,customerequity,andpurchaseintentionthroughastructuralequationmodel.FiveconstructsofperceivedSSMactivitiesofluxuryfashionbrandsareenter-tainment,interaction,trendiness,customization,andwordofmouth.Theireffectsonvalueequity,relation-shipequity,andbrandequityaresigni?cantlypositive.Fortherelationshipbetweencustomerequitydriversandcustomerequity,brandequityhassigni?cantnegativeeffectoncustomerequitywhilevalueequityandrelationshipequityshownosigni?canteffect.Asforpurchaseintention,valueequityandrelationshipequityhadsigni?cantpositiveeffects,whilerelationshipequityhadnosigni?cantin?uence.Finally,therelationshipbetweenpurchaseintentionandcustomerequityhassigni?cance.The?ndingsofthisstudycanenablelux-urybrandstoforecastthefuturepurchasingbehavioroftheircustomersmoreaccuratelyandprovideaguidetomanagingtheirassetsandmarketingactivitiesaswell.

?2011ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.

Articlehistory:

Received1December2010

Receivedinrevisedform1June2011Accepted1August2011

Availableonline28October2011Keywords:Luxurybrands

Perceivedsocialmediamarketing(SMM)activitiesValueequity

RelationshipequityBrandequityCustomerequityPurchaseintention

1.Introduction

Theluxurymarkethasattainedmaturity,alongwiththegradualexpansionofthescopeofitsmarketandarapidgrowthinthenum-berofcustomers.Luxurymarketisahighvalue-addedindustrybas-ingonhighbrandassets.DuetotheincreaseddemandforluxuryinemergingmarketssuchasChina,India,andtheMiddleEast,opportu-nitiesaboundtoexpandthebusinessmorethanever.Inthepast,lux-uryfashionbrandscouldrelyonstrongbrandassetsandsecureregularcustomers.However,therecententranceofnumerousfashionbrandsintotheluxurymarket,followedbyheatedcompetition,sig-nalsunforeseenchangesinthemarket.

Adecreaseinsalesrelatedtoaglobaleconomicdownturndrivesluxurybusinessestochange.Nowtheycannolongerdependsolelyontheirbrandsymbolbutmustfocusonbrandlegacy,quality,es-theticvalue,andtrustworthycustomerrelationshipsinordertosuc-ceed.Akeyelementtoluxuryindustrybecomesprovidingvaluestocustomersineverywaypossible.

☆TheauthorsgratefullyacknowledgethereadingandrevisionsuggestionsbyC.AnthonyDiBenedettoandRajanNataraajantoanearlierdraft.Theauthorsaloneareresponsibleforalllimitationsanderrorsthatmayrelatetothestudyandthepaper.?Correspondingauthor.Tel.:+82221233109.

E-mailaddresses:angie.jy.kim@gmail.com(A.J.Kim),ejko@yonsei.ac.kr(E.Ko).1

Tel.:+1612624

2254.0148-2963/$–seefrontmatter?2011ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.doi:

10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.014

Asameanstoconstitutecustomerassetsthrougheffectivecom-municationwithconsumers,luxurybrandshavetiltedtheireyesto-wardsocialmedia.MarketingcommunicationusingsocialmediasuchasTwitter,Facebook,andYouTubehasalreadybeenevaluatedasbusinesstake-offtoolsforluxuryfashionbrands.Traditionalde-signerhousessuchasLouisVuittonprovidelivebroadcastingfashionshowsontheirblogs.RalphLauren,Chanel,DonnaKaran,andGuccihaveworkedwithAppletocreateiPhoneapplications.

ManyluxuryhousescreatetheirownTwitteraccountsorpostthemselvesonFacebook.Brandsandcustomersarecommunicatingwitheachotherwithoutanyrestrictionintime,place,andmediumsothatold-fashionedone-waycommunicationischangedtointerac-tivetwo-waydirectcommunication.Inthisway,brandsandcus-tomersareworkingtogethertocreatenewproducts,services,businessmodels,andvalues.Meanwhile,brandscangainexposureandstrengthenrelationshipswithcustomers.Socialmediamarketing(SMM)isatwo-waycommunicationseekingempathywithyoungusers,andevenenforcingthefamiliaremotionsassociatedwithexist-ingluxurybrandstoahigheragegroup.Inaddition,socialmediaac-tivitiesofbrandsprovideanopportunitytoreducemisunderstandingandprejudicetowardbrands,andtoelevatebrandvaluebycreatingaplatformtoexchangeideasandinformationamongpeopleonline.

WiththeincreaseduseofSMMbyluxurybrands,ithasbecomehighlynecessarytoquantitativelyanalyzetheeffectsofthesocialmedia.Thus,thepurposeofthisstudyistoidentifytheconstructsofperceivedSMMactivitiesofluxuryfashionbrands,andtoevaluate

A.J.Kim,E.Ko/JournalofBusinessResearch65(2012)1480–14861481

thein?uenceofthoseactivitiesoncustomerequityandpurchasein-tention.Astheluxurybusinessenvironmentisundergoingarapidchange,thisresearchwillrede?nethepropertiesofluxurybrandsthataffecttheirperformancesoastoguidebusinessestomanageandelevatethem.Thisresearchwillproposeastrategytoenhancebrands'performancebyde?ningspeci?cfactorsrelatingtocustomerequityandpurchaseintention.Moreover,the?ndingswillenableluxurybrandstoforecastcustomerpurchasingbehaviorandmanagetheircustomerequityandsocialmediaactivityaswell.2.Socialmediamarketingactivities

2.1.SMMactivitiesandtheireffectson?rmperformance

Socialmediaareonlineapplications,platformsandmediawhichaimtofacilitateinteractions,collaborationsandthesharingofcon-tent(Richter&Koch,2007).Theytakeavarietyofforms,includingweblogs,socialblogs,microblogging,wikis,podcasts,pictures,video,ratingandsocialbookmarking.Astheiruseincreasesexponen-tially,notonlyexistingsocialnetworkersbutevenbusiness?rmsandgovernmentalorganizationsarejoiningandusingthemascommuni-cationtools.Unlikeindividualsocialnetworkers,theseentitiesactive-lymakeuseofthemediaforadvertisingandmarketing.Whilecommercialmessagesandinteractionswithconsumerspartnerwithmedia,events,entertainment,retailers,anddigitalservicesthroughsocialmedia,itispossibletoperformintegratedmarketingactivitieswithmuchlesseffortandcostthanbefore.

AccordingtoKimandKo(2010a),socialmediacanhaveadramat-icimpactonabrand'sreputation.One-thirdofsurveyparticipantspostedopinionsaboutproductsandbrandsonthebrand'sblog,and36%thoughtmorepositivelyaboutcompaniesthathaveblogs.Are-centstudybyDEIWorldwide(2008)providesthefollowingstatistics:70%ofconsumershavevisitedsocialmediasitestogetinformation;49%oftheseconsumershavemadeapurchasedecisionbasedontheinformationtheyfoundthroughthesocialmediasites;60%saidtheywerelikelytousesocialmediasitestopassalonginformationtoothersonline;and45%ofthosewhosearchedforinformationviasocialmediasitesengagedinword-of-mouth.Thereportstatesthatcompaniesnotengaginginsocialmediaaspartoftheironlinemar-ketingstrategyaremissinganopportunitytoreachconsumers.Withasigni?cantpercentageofpeoplepassingalonginformationtoothersthroughsocialmedia,thevalueofonecustomerisworthfarmorethanwhatheorsheinitiallyspends.Thus,?rmsandbrandsnowneedtofactorinthevalueofcustomersandalsothein?uenceofsocialmediaonthem.

2.2.SMMactivitiesofluxurybrands

Technologydevelopmentbene?tstheworldoffashionbyattract-ingcustomerstointeractwiththebrands.Fashionbrands'involve-mentinsuchthingsastweeting,blogging,andnetworkinghasledluxurybrandstoparticipateinthecurrenttrend.At?rst,mostofthebrandsweresomewhatreluctanttousetechnology;however,theindustryhascometoconsidertechnologyasanopportunityrath-erthanathreat.Unlikethe?rstpredictions,socialmediadonotactagainstthepositivereputationofbrands.InteractionwithcustomersviasocialmediasitessuchasFacebookandTwitteractuallybuildsupfriendlyattention,evenaffection,towardbrandsandstimulatescus-tomers'desireforluxury.

Luxurybrands'useofsocialmediabegantosurgein2009.Guccicreatedamulticulturalsocialnetworksite,“Guccieyeweb.com,”asGuccilaunchedanewsunglassescollectiontargetingdigitalgenera-tioncustomers.GucciupdatesitsFacebooksiteasoftenasthreetimesadayandisconstantlytweetingonTwitter.Burberrylaunchedasocialnetworksite,“Artofthetrench.com,”inNovember2009,withthepurposebeingnoncommercial:toelicitadmirationforthedesign

oftheirtrenchcoatsandcreateBurberryfanswhilecommunicatingitsculturewithcustomers.Onlinesalesincreasedafterthesitewaslaunchedandtheparticipationofcustomersonlineresultedinbroad-enedinsightsforBurberryasBurberrycreatesmorestoriesofthebrand(SamsungDesignNet,2009).

Dolce&Gabbanausessocialmediainordertogetdirectfeedbackfromitscustomers.Dolce&Gabbanainvitesfashionbloggerstothefrontseatsofitsfashionshows,andthebloggersinstantlyuploadfeedbackfromtheshowonFacebookandTwitter.Inthatway,cus-tomersgettoseetheirfavoritebrandmodeleddirectlywithouttheinvolvementoffashioneditorsormerchandisers,andthecompanybuildspurchaseintentionsrightaway.Chanel,LouisVuitton,YvesSaintLaurent,andStellaMcCartneynowhaveFacebookaswellasTwitteraccounts.

3.Customerequityanditsdrivers

Thevalueacustomerbringstoa?rmisnotlimitedtothepro?tfromeachtransactionbutisthetotalpro?tthecustomermayprovideoverthedurationoftherelationshipwiththe?rm(Kumar&George,2007).Thus,customersareseenastheintangibleassetsa?rmshouldwiselyacquire,maintain,andmaximizejustlikeother?nancialassets(Blattbergetal.,2001).Customerequity,usuallyde?nedasthedis-countedsumofcustomerlifetimevalues,hasbeenconsideredthemostdeterminantofthelong-termvaluesofthe?rm(Kim,Park,Lee,Knight,Xu&Jeon,2010;Lemonetal.,2001).

3.1.Driversofcustomerequity

Lemonetal.(2001)de?nesthreetypesofequity—value,brand,andrelationship—askeydriversofoverallcustomerequity.First,“valueequity”isthecustomer'sobjectiveassessmentoftheutilityofabrand,basedonperceptionsofwhatisgivenupforwhatisre-ceived(Vogeletal.,2008).Threekeyin?uencesonvalueequityarequality,price,andconvenience(Lemonetal.,2001).

Second,relationshipequityexpressesthetendencyofcustomerstostayinarelationshipwithabrand,goingbeyondobjectiveandsubjec-tiveassessmentsofit.Usually,loyaltyprogramsundera?rm'scontrolmayenhancerelationshipequity;however,loyaltytowardacertainbrandgrowsweakerthanyesterdayasavarietyofalternativesareof-feredtocustomers.Whatisnecessaryistobuildstrongcustomerrela-tionshipthroughspecialtreatmentorrecognition,andcommunityprogramscanbeanef?cientwaytoboostrelationshipequity.

Third,brandequityisacustomer'ssubjectiveandintangibleas-sessmentofthebrandoverandaboveitsvalue(Kimetal.,2008;Lemonetal.,2001).Brandsarethebestatbuildingimagesthatmakecustomersidentifythatspecialtyfromamongothers(Keller,1998).Thekeyactionableleversofbrandequityarebrandawareness,attitudetowardthebrand,andcorporateethics(Lemonetal.,2001).

4.Purchaseintention

Purchaseintentionisacombinationofconsumers'interestinandpossibilityofbuyingaproduct.Asaresultofmanystudies,itstronglyrelatestoattitudeandpreferencetowardabrandoraproduct(Kim,Kim&Johnson,2010;Kim&Ko,2010b;Kim&Lee,2009;Lloyd&Luk,2010)sothatmeasuringpurchaseintentionassumesconsumers'futurebehaviorbasedontheirattitudes.Purchaseintentionisanat-titudinalvariableformeasuringcustomers'futurecontributionstoabrand,whereascustomerequityisabehavioralvariableaccountingforactualpurchasingrecord.Asforecastingofconsumers'futurebe-haviorbecomesacriticalissuefora?rm,thatfuturebehaviorshouldbeestimatedmorepunctually(Park,Ko&Kim,2010).

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5.Designofhypotheses

Initially,thepurposeofmarketingistoformacommunicationbywhicha?rmisabletoinformcustomersofitsproductsandservicesandcreateinterestinitsoffering.Marketingisamultidimensionalprocessmadeupofvariousstrategies;however,aprimarygoalofanymarketingstrategyistoincreasesalesandpro?tability.Accord-ingtoSrivastavaetal.(1998)marketingisaninvestmentthatim-provescustomerequitydrivers.Asabrand'sengagementinsocialmediaperformsasamarketingactivitytobuildarelationshipwithcustomersandincreasecorporatepro?ts,luxurybrands'socialmediaactivityisexpectedtoinitiatepositivein?uenceonthedriversofcustomerequity.

H1.Perceivedsocialmediamarketingactivitieshavepositiveeffectonvalueequity.

H2.Perceivedsocialmediamarketingactivitieshavepositiveeffectonrelationshipequity.

H3.Perceivedsocialmediamarketingactivitieshavepositiveeffectonbrandequity.

Incalculatingcustomerequity,Rustetal.(2000)attempttolinkmarketinginputtocustomerreaction.Sinceexaminingcustomereq-uitydriversanddevelopingtheRLZmodelincorporatingacustomer-speci?c,brand-switchingmatrix,Rustetal.(2004)testedtheirpreviousmodelintheairlineindustryandprovedthatvalueequity,relationshipequity,andbrandequityareallrelatedtocustomerequity.Thesamemodelwasalsoappliedtomeasuringcustomerequityoffashionbrandsinseveralstudies(Ko&Oh,2009;Ko&Lee,2009;Yun&Ko,2006;Zhang,Ko,&Kim,2010).InordertoidentifyconstructsofeachcustomerequitydriverandprovetheRLZmodel'sacceptanceintheluxuryfashionindustry,considerthefollowingthreehypothesesweredeveloped.

H4.Valueequityrelatespositivelytocustomerequity.H5.Relationshipequityrelatespositivelytocustomerequity.H6.Brandequityrelatespositivelytocustomerequity.

Inordertopredictfuturecustomerbehavior,waysofmatchingtheirattitudesandactionsseemsnecessary.Asproveninmanystud-iesdealingwithdecision-makingprocesses,attitudeistheantecedentofbehavior.Thus,customerequitydriversarelikelytohavesimilarin?uencesonpurchaseintentionaswell.Therefore,thisstudy(a)comparesandanalyzestheeffectsofcustomerequitydriversoncus-tomerequityandpurchaseintention,and(b)examinesapathfrompurchaseintentionandcustomerequity.Hence,the?nalhypothesesareputforthasfollows:

H7.Valueequityrelatespositivelytopurchaseintention.H8.Relationshipequityrelatespositivelytopurchaseintention.H9.Brandequityrelatespositivelytopurchaseintention.H10.Purchaseintentionrelatespositivelytocustomerequity.

6.Method6.1.Preliminarytest

Apreliminarytestwascompletedtoselectasampleluxurybrand.Fifteengraduatestudentsmajoringinfashionmarketingwereaskedtolistthreeluxuryfashionbrandsthatcametomindwhenthinkingofluxury.LouisVuittonwasmentionedmostoften.Accordingto

DigitalIQRankingdevelopedbyScottGalloway,NYUStern(L2ThinkTank,2010),LouisVuittonwasrankednumberoneamonglux-uryfashionbrands.Gucci,Burberry,andDolce&Gabbanafollowedafter.DigitalIQofluxurybrandswereratedbaseduponfourcatego-ries;(1)effectivenessofbrandsite,(2)marketingeffortsandoff-sitebrandpresenceandvisibilityonsearchengines,(3)brandpresence,following,content,andin?uenceonmajorsocialmediaplatforms,(4)compatibilityandmarketingonsmartphonesandothermobiledevices.SinceKoreanconsumershavedevelopedhighbrandaware-nessofLouisVuittonandthebrandalsoshowshighengagementinSMMactivities,LouisVuittonwaschosentorepresentluxurybrandsinthisstudy.6.2.Measures

SMMactivitiesofluxurybrandsincludeintroducingabrand'sproducts,services,andabranditselfinasinceremannerandprovid-ingvarietyofservicestoconsumerswhoengageinsocialmediaactiv-itiesasmeansofmarketingcommunications.Thisstudymeasuredperceivedactivitiesandprovidedvaluesonbrand'ssocialmediaplat-forms.90%ofluxurybrandsareonFacebookand48%areonTwitterasfor2010(L2L2ThinkTank,2010).SinceFacebookandTwitteraremostoftenusedbyluxuryfashionbrandsasmeansofSMM,avi-sualstimulusexpressingLouisVuitton'sSMMactivitiesonthosesiteswasemployedinthemeasurements.

Twenty-?veitemsformeasuringperceivedSMMactivitiesweregatheredfrompreviousstudiesonluxurybrand'ssocialmediamar-keting,attributesoftwo-waycommunicationmedia,in?uenceofmo-bileadvertising,andcharacteristicsofmobilefashionshoppingrelatedresearchesandmodi?edto?tforthisresearchthroughpre-test(Chung&Lee,2008;Han&Shu,2010;Kim,2010;Kim&Chung,2009;Lee,2007).

Twenty-twoitemsweredevelopedinaccordancewithBerry(1995),GaglianoandHathcote(1994),Rustetal.(2000),andWiedmannetal.(2009)tomeasurevalueequity.Constructsofvalueequitymeasuresincludedprice,productquality,servicequality,convenience,andthetangibleenvironmentoftheretailer,individualvalue,andsocialvalue.TenitemstomeasurerelationshipequityweredevelopedfromHennig-Thurauetal.(2002)andJuandChung(2002).Itemsassessedpreferredtreatmentcustomerservice,coinci-denceofimagewithbrand,andoverallaffection.Measuresofbrandequityincludedbrandawareness,perceivedvalue,brandpersonality,brandassociation,andperceiveduniquenessaspects.TenitemstomeasurebrandequityweredevelopedfromAaker(1991)andYun(2006).

CustomerlifetimevalueofLouisVuittonwasestimatedtorepre-sentcustomerequityaspresentedinRustetal.(2004).Measuresin-cludenumberofexpectedpurchasesduringthespeci?edtimeperiod(customerlifetime),purchasefrequencyinaunittime(oneyear),discountrate,purchasevolume,probabilityofpurchasingthatbrandovercompetitors(equalorfewerthanfourcompetitors),andcontributionmargin.Brand'sdiscountedrateandcontributionmar-ginwascitedfromLVMH2009AnnualReport(2010).MeasuresofpurchaseintentionweredevelopedfromtheinstrumentusedinParketal.(2007).Alloftheabovemeasurementstatementsweremeasuredusing?ve-pointLikert-typeScales(1=Stronglydisagree,5=Stronglyagree).

6.3.Sampleanddatacollection

ConveniencesamplesweredrawnfromtheSeoulmetropolitanareaviamallinterceptmethod.MajorluxuryshoppingdistrictsinKoreaareformedaroundtheSeoulareaandconsumerslivingtheretendtobemoreconsciousofpurchasingluxurybrandsandtohavecomparablyhighpurchasingpowerforluxuryfashiongoods.Sincethisstudyfocusesonluxurybrand'sSMM,respondentswere

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restrictedtoconsumerswhohadpurchasedanyluxuryfashionitemwithintheprevioustwoyearsandwhohadpreviousexperiencewithLouisVuitton'ssocialmediasites.Datawerecollectedfromsur-veyquestionnairesfromMay10to25,2010.Fromamongthe400surveyquestionnairesdistributed,362were?nallyanalyzedafterex-cludingincompleteresponses.6.4.Dataanalysis

Inordertoachievethepurposeofthisstudyandtotesthypothe-ses,theSPSS17.0andAMOS18statisticspackageprogramswereused.WithSPSS17.0,descriptiveanalysiswasadoptedtoanalyzetheresultsofthepreliminarytestandto?ndoutdemographicchar-acteristicsofthesample.Also,Cronbach'sαwasadoptedtotestreli-ability.UsingAMOS18.0,con?rmatoryfactoranalysiswasconductedtoprovethevalidityofeachinstrument,whilestructuralequationmodelingwasusedtotesthypotheses.7.Findings

7.1.Demographicanalysis

Amongatotalof362luxuryconsumers,mostoftherespondentswerefemale(79.3%),58%wereintheirtwenties,and22.9%wereintheirthirties(consumersintheirfortiesand?ftiestookupalmost9%each).Withregardtoeducation,44.2%hadagraduatedegree,38.1%hadacollegedegree,and17.7%werecurrentlyincollege.Over-all,thesampleshowedveryhighstatusineducation.Regardingaver-agehouseholdincomelevels,23.3%ofincomeswerebetween12millionand15millionKRW,whereas22.1%earnedbetween9mil-lionand12millionKRW.Thetotalpercentageofrespondentswhoseincomewasover9,000,000KRW(ahighincomelevel)was61%.Thisresultwasanexpectedoutcomesincethestudysamplerepresentedluxuryconsumerswithhighpurchasingpower.Becausethisstudydealswithluxuryfashionbrands,respondents'luxurypurchasingbe-haviorwasaskedaswell,indicatingthat31.5%spendbetween1mil-lionand3millionKRWperyearand23.8%between3millionand5millionKRW.High-volumeconsumerswhospendmorethananav-erageof5millionKRWweresummedupto24.6%,whilethoseattheminimumlevelofluxurypurchasing(b1millionKRW)comprised20.2%.Exceptforthislattergroup,nearly80%ofthesamplewasrealconsumersofluxuryfashionbrandsentailingacertainamountofmonetarycontribution.Table1summarizesthedemographicchar-acteristicsofthesample.

Asforcustomerlifetimevalue(CLV)acrosssamples,thoselessthan50,000KRWrepresented64.1%ofthesample,50,000to100,000KRWmadeup10.2%,and100,000to500,000KRWrepre-sentedthesecondmostat22.9%.ThosewithCLVofmorethan500,000KRWtotaled2.7%.

Table1

Con?rmatoryfactoranalysisofperceivedsocialmediamarketingactivities.ConstructEntertainmentInteraction

Items

7.2.Constructsofperceivedsocialmediamarketingactivities

Inadvanceofinvestigatingthein?uenceofSMMactivitiesoncus-tomerequitydrivers,theconstructsofthoseactivitiesperceivedbyconsumerswererevealed.SincedimensionsofSMMactivitieswerenotclearlydistinctiveasaresultofexploratoryfactoranalysis,con?r-matoryfactoranalysis(CFA)wasconducted.Cronbach'sαofcon-structswasmeasuredtoproveinternalconsistencyofeachvariable.First,amodeltotestthevalidityoftheactivitiesresultedinasatisfac-tory?twiththedata:χ2=138.5,df=34,p=.000,AGFI=.88,GFI=.93,NFI=.94,IFI=.96,CFI=.95,RMSEA=.05.The?vecon-structsofSMMactivitieswerethenveri?ed;seeTable1.

The?rstconstructrelatedtohavingfunusingLouisVuitton'sso-cialmedia;thus,itwasde?nedas“Entertainment.”Factorloadingofeachitemwas.95and.92,withahighCronbach'sαof.94.Thesec-ondconstructrelatedtoitemsrepresentinginteractionamongotherusersaccompaniedbytheuseofLouisVuitton'ssocialmedia.Thisfactorwasnamed“Interaction”becauseitemsincludedinformationsharingandopinionexchangeattributes.Factorloadingsrangedfrom.68to.92,withaCronbach'sαof.87.

Thethirdconstructrepresentedfashion-forwardcharacteristicsofLouisVuitton'ssocialmediabyincludingitemsthatexplainedtrend-inessandnewness.Therefore,thethirdfactoris“Trendiness.”FactorloadingsandCronbach'sαwerequali?ed.Construct4representscus-tomizedpropertyofsocialmedia,involvingcustomizedinformationandwayofinformationsearching.Thisfactoris“Customized”andfactorloadingswere.91and.83,withCronbach'sαoftwoitemsat.86.Thelastconstructincludedcustomer'sintentiontopassalongin-formationseeninLouisVuitton'ssocialmedia,andis“WordofMouth.”FactorloadingsandCronbach'sαwerequali?ed.Astandard-izedfactorloadingofeveryiteminthemodelwasatasigni?cantlevel(pb.001).

Resultindicatesthataluxurybrand'smarketingactivityusingso-cialmediaplatformsentertainscustomersbyofferingavarietyoffreecontentsaswellassocialnetworkactivity,andenablescustomizedinformationsearching.Activitiesonthebrand'ssocialmediaplat-formscreateinteractionamongusersthatcanleadtoword-of-moutheffectsandincludefashionandtrendattributes.Incontrasttoexistingmarketingactivitiesthatappealdirectlytothevalueofac-tualproductsorservices,aluxuryfashionbrand'sSMMactivitiesfocusmoreonhedonicandempiricalvaluesthatcanbereachedbyindirectbrandexperience.7.3.Measurementmodel

Con?rmatoryfactoranalysis(CFA)onthewholesetofconstructsinthestructuralequationmodelwasconductedtotestforconvergentfactorvalidityoftheconceptualmodelandCronbach'sαwasappliedtotestthereliabilityofeachconstruct.TheCFAmodelincludessocialmediamarketingactivities,valueequity,relationshipequity,brand

Factorloading.95.92.92.90.68.93.75.91.83.72.75

Cronbach'sα.94.87

TrendinessCustomizationWordofmouth

UsingLV'ssocialmediaisfun.

ContentsshowninLV'ssocialmediaseeminteresting.LV'ssocialmediaenablesinformationsharingwithothers.

ConversationoropinionexchangewithothersispossiblethroughLV'ssocialmedia.ItiseasytodelivermyopinionthroughLV'ssocialmedia.

ContentsshowninLV'ssocialmediaisthenewestinformation.UsingLV'ssocialmediaisverytrendy.

LV'ssocialmediaofferscustomizedinformationsearch.LV'ssocialmediaprovidescustomizedservice.

Iwouldliketopassalonginformationonbrand,product,orservicesfromLV'ssocialmediatomyfriends.IwouldliketouploadcontentsfromLV'ssocialmediaonmyblogormicroblog.

.83.86.70

Model?t:χ2=138.5,df=34,p=.000

AGFI=.88,GFI=.93,NFI=.94,IFI=.96,CFI=.95,RMSEA=.05

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equityandpurchaseintention,andcustomerequityisexcludedintheanalysissinceitismeasuredincustomerlifetimevalueasaratiovar-iable.ThemeansofmeasuredvariablesofeachlatentconstructsfromtheresultsofpreviousCFAwerecalculatedtorepresentrespectivela-tentconstructswhichbecamemeasuredvariables(items)ofCFAonmeasurementmodel.Thelatentconstructswerecorrelated,whereasthemeasurementitemsandtheirerroritemswereconstrainedtobeuncorrelated.Afterdroppingsomeitemsthatpossessedlowfactorloadings,validityofconstructswasassessedbyestimatingthecon?r-matorymeasurementmodel.

Asaresult,TrendinessandCustomizationconstructsofSMMwereremovedfromthemodel.Themodelresultedinsatisfactory?ttothedata:χ2=161.3,df=34,p=.000,AGFI=.85,GFI=.92,NFI=.92,IFI=.93,CFI=.93,RMSEA=.05.Allvariablesdemonstrateadequateconstructreliability(Cronbach'sα>.7);seeTable2.

FollowedbyCFAofmodelconstructs,Pearsoncorrelationanalysiswasexaminedtoverifydiscriminantvalidityamongallthevariablesintheconceptualmodel.SeeTable3for?ndings.7.4.Structuralmodel

TheconceptualmodelwastestedaccordingtoAndersonandGerbing(1988).WiththeresultsoftheCFAinthepriorsection,themodelwastestedbystandardizedcoef?cientsandother?tstatistics.Fig.1showsthe?ndings.

Overallmodel?twassatisfactory.Thechi-squarestatistic(χ2

=183.5,df=43)wasatasigni?cantlevel(p=.000),andthe?tindiceswerewithinacceptedstandards(RMR=.04,NFI=.91,IFI=.93,CFI=.93,GFI=.92,RMSEA=.05).

Aftertheoverallmodel?twasapproved,hypothesesweretestedviastructuralequationmodeling.Withregardtothethreepathsbe-tweenSMMactivitiesandcustomerequitydrivers(H1–H3),theesti-mationresultsshowedthateverypathwassigni?cantatthep=.000level.SMMactivitieshadpositiveeffectsinvalueequity(β=.19,t=3.75),relationshipequity(β=.36,t=5.40),andbrandequity(β=.36,t=5.91).Torestate,theentertainment,interaction,andword-of-moutheffectsofSMMactivitiesworkpositivelyinenhanc-ingcustomerequitydrivers.

Withregardtotherelationshipbetweenthecustomerequitydriversandcustomerequity(H4–H6),onlyonepathwassigni?cantatthelevelofpb.05.Unlikepreviousstudies,valueequityandrela-tionshipequityhadnosigni?canteffectoncustomerequity,whilebrandequityhadanegativein?uence(β=?.45,t=?2.53).There-sultforH6wassupposedtobeaconsequencefollowedbycharacter-isticsofasamplebrandusedinthisstudy.AsLouisVuittonbecomespopularamongKoreanconsumersandcounterfeitsofitsproductssweepthroughthemarket,theuniqueanddistinctiveelementsthat

Table2

Validityandreliabilitytestforstructuralequationmodel.Construct

Items

FactorCronbach'sαloadingSocialmediamarketingEntertainment.76.77

activitiesInteraction

.66Wordofmouth

.75ValueequityProduct/servicequality.90.77Socialvalue.71RelationshipequityAf?nity

.84.81Specialtreatment.80BrandequityUniqueness.84.78Distinctiveness

.75Purchaseintention

IwouldliketopurchaseLV.83.80

Iwouldliketorecommend.79

LVtoothers

ModelFIT:χ2=161.3,df=34,p=.000

AGFI=.85,GFI=.92,NFI=.92,IFI=.93,CFI=.93,RMSEA=.05

Table3

Correlationmatrixamongeachconstructs.Constructs1

2

3

4

5

6

MeanS.D.1SMM

1.00

3.19.762Valueequity

.37????1.00

2.68.813Relationshipequity.28??.70??1.00

2.43.814Brandequity

.41.50????.53??1.00

3.09.805Purchaseintention.48??6

Customerequity

??.53.54??.65??1.00

3.07.92.18.43??.36??.31??.51??1.00

5.27

1.16

??pb.01.

formtheLouisVuittonbrandequitysomewhatdegradethescarcityvalueofthebrand,resultinginanegativeeffectoncustomerequity.

Inregardtotherelationshipbetweenthethreecustomerequitydriversandcustomerequity,thestudyevaluatesthedrivers'in?u-encesonpurchaseintention(H7–H9).Theestimationresultsshowthatvalueequity(β=.47,t=3.47)andbrandequity(β=.66,t=7.73)hadpositiveeffectsonpurchaseintentionatasigni?cantlevelofp=.000.However,relationshipequitydidnothaveasigni?-cantin?uenceonpurchaseintention.PurchaseintentionlikelywillimprovebySMMactivitiesthroughvalueequityandbrandequity.Apossibleexplanationforthisnonsigni?canteffectofrelationshipequityoncustomerequityandpurchaseintentionisthatrelationshipequitycanbeformedbyalong-termrelationshipbetweenabrandandacustomer;thus,insofarastherespectivesamplewerenotloyalcustomersofLouisVuitton,measuringrelationshipequitybe-camedif?cult.

Finally,apathbetweenpurchaseintentionandcustomerequity(H10)wassigni?cantatthelevelofp=.000(β=.83,t=4.13).Sinceapathfrompurchaseintentiontocustomerequityissigni?cant,SMMactivitiesofluxuryfashionbrandscouldconsequentlyin?uencecustomerequitythroughtheeffectsofvalueequityandbrandequityonpurchaseintention.

8.Conclusionsandimplications

Thestudypresentshereexaminestheeffectsofthesocialmediamarketingactivitiesofluxuryfashionbrandsoncustomerequityandpurchaseintention.SMMactivitiesperceivedbyconsumersweresigni?cantlyef?cacioustoluxuryfashionbrands'futurepro?ts.The?ndingsofthestudysupportthefollowingconclusions.

First,SMMmarketingactivitiesofluxuryfashionbrandscomprise?veconstructs;entertainment,interaction,trendiness,customization,andwordofmouth.Thebrands'SMMactivitiesperceivedbycon-sumersincludedistinctivevaluescomparedtoold-fashionedmarket-ingperformances.

Second,SSMactivitiesperceivedbycustomersarein?uentialtoallcustomerequitydrivers.Sincetheseactivitiesforluxuryfashionbrandsactaf?rmativelytowardalldrivers,theyarefairlyeffective.Asanintegratedmarketingmedium,SSMactivitieseffectivelyen-hancevalueequitybyprovidingnovelvaluetocustomersthattradi-tionalmarketingmediadonotusuallyprovide.Thebrand'ssocialmediaplatformsoffersvenuesforcustomerstoengageinsincereandfriendlycommunicationswiththebrandandotherusers,sothebrand'sintendedactionsonthesocialcommunicationscenewerepositivelyaffectingrelationshipequityandbrandequityaswell.

Asthemainpurposeofmarketingcommunicationistoimprovecustomerequitydriversbystrengtheningcustomerrelationshipandcreatingpurchaseintent,SMMactivitiescontributeaseffectivemar-ketingcommunicationmethods.Withthegrowinginterestofluxuryfashionbrandsinprovidingluxuriousvaluestocustomersineverywaypossible,usingsocialmediaformarketingappearstobeanap-propriatemediumtoattractluxuryconsumersatthemoment.Asso,moreluxurybrandsshouldengageinsocialmediaactivitiesto

A.J.Kim,E.Ko/JournalofBusinessResearch65(2012)1480–14861485

*** p < .001

χ2 = 183.5, df = 43, p = .000

RMR = .04, NFI =.91, IFI = .93, CFI = .93, GFI = .92, RMSEA = .05

Fig.1.Resultsofstructuralequationmodel.

anticipatepositivecontributionstobrandsbyprovidingnewluxuryvaluestocustomers.

Third,unlike?ndingsinpriorstudies,thethreecustomerequitydriversshownopositivein?uenceoncustomerequityinthecaseofaluxuryfashionbrand.Infact,brandequityhasanegativein?uenceinthepresentstudy.Possiblereasonsfortheresultsareasfollows.First,intheprocessofmeasuringthecustomerequityofthesampleluxurybrand,futurepurchasingbehaviortowardacertainbrandwascollectedfromgeneralluxurycustomerswhosecustomerlife-timevalueforthemeasuredbrandwasnotcomparablyhigh.

Second,duetoincreasedcompetitionamongluxuryfashionbrands,ithasbecomemoredif?culttosustaincustomerloyaltyto-wardaspeci?cbrandandotherfactorsmighthavebeenaffectingcustomerequitymorethanthethreedriversexaminedinthisstudyarehardlycontrolledbybrandsovertime.The?ndingsofthisstudynotonlydrawattentiontode?ningcustomerequitydriversofluxuryfashionbrands,theyalsoindicatethegreatdif?cultyinmeasuringcustomers'futurebehavior.Ascompetitionamongluxuryfashionbrandsbecomesmoreintensivefromprovidingplentyofalternativestocustomers,theprosperityofthebrandsnolongerseemspromising.Theimportanceofmanagingcustomersasbrands'valuableassetscannotbeemphasizedmore.

Incomparingthein?uenceofthreecustomerequitydriversonpurchaseintention,valueequity,andbrandequity,thisstudyfoundsigni?cantpositiveimpacts.TheKoreanluxuryfashionindustryisbarelyintoitsmaturestage,andKoreancustomerstendtobetrend-sensitivecross-shopperswithshallowloyaltytowardspeci?cbrands.Restatingthat,Koreanluxuryconsumershardlycandeveloprelationshipequitytowardaluxuryfashionbrand.Fornow,brandandvalueequityaremorein?uentialtoluxuryfashionbrands'per-formancethanrelationshipequity.

Finally,concerningtherelationshipbetweenpurchaseintentionandcustomerequity,whichcanberede?nedasashort-termattitudi-nalvariableandalong-termbehavioralvariable,thetwofactors

connecteachotherhighly.Luxuryfashionbrandsshouldcontinuous-lyinvesttheireffortstoimprovevalueequityandbrandequitybe-causebothequitiesaffectpurchaseintention.AsSMMactivitiesin?uencethesefactors,takingsocialmediamarketingintoaccountcanbeapossiblesolution.

Thisstudyhadsomedif?cultiesinlocatingtheeffectsofSMMac-tivitiesonabrand'scustomerequity.However,thestudyshouldbecountedmeaningfulinthatithasde?nedattributesofanewlyintro-ducedmannerofmarketingcommunicationandevaluateditseffectsinitsintroductorystage.

9.Limitationsandfutureresearch

Thelimitationsandfutureresearchdirectionsareasfollows.First,asaninitialefforttoevaluateeffectofsocialmediamarketing,avisualstimulususedtomeasureattributesofsocialmediamarketingactiv-itiesfacedif?cultiesincontrollingpossibleerror.Duetoareasonmentionedabove,limitationfollowsingeneralizingtheresultofthestudy.Futurestudyshoulddevelopeffectiveinstrumenttomeasuresocialmediamarketingmoreappropriately.

Second,thestudyquestionsprior?ndingsontherelationshipamongcustomerequitydriversandcustomerequityinthecaseofluxuryfashionbrand.Asthreeequitydrivershavenosigni?cantef-fectsonluxurybrand'scustomerequity,studiesto?gureoutrelevantfactorsaffectingcustomerequityofluxurybrandsseemnecessaryinordertoprovidepracticalinformationonmanagingandenhancingtheirimportantasset.Plus,worthofcustomerlifetimevaluethatthisstudycalculateswasquitelowconsideringpriceofluxuryfashiongoods.Withnecessityofde?ningfactorsdrivingcustomerequityofluxuryfashionbrandspointedout,anaccurateequationtomeasurecustomerlifetimevalueofluxuryfashionbrandsisnecessary.

Lastly,empirical?ndingsonthisstudyfromsamplesofKoreanluxuryconsumerswhoareinnovativeinuseoftechnologyandfansofluxurybrands.However,westernconsumersmostlyuseluxury

1486A.J.Kim,E.Ko/JournalofBusinessResearch65(2012)1480–1486

brand'ssocialmediaduetothechallengesinlanguage.EventhoughKoreaisatestmarketforluxuryinAsianmarket,replicatingthisstudy's?ndingswithadditionalsamplesconsumersofluxurybrandsisnecessary.References

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