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Brand Equity, Mass Prestige and Masstige Marketing: Advancing Theories, Methods and Constructs


Submission start: 15 Apr 2021

Deadline: 30 June 2021



Guest Editors:



Carolyn Strong (Cardiff Business School, UK & Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Strategic Marketing)



Minas Kastanakis (ESCP, London, England & Editor-in-Chief, European Management Journal)



Justin Paul (University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, USA & Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Consumer Studies)



Shlomo Y. Tarba (University of Birmingham, UK & Deputy Editor-in-Chief, British



Journal of Management; Incoming Co-Editor-In-Chief, British Journal of Management)



Ajay Kumar (Central University of Haryana, India)



In the first decade of 20th century, a group of “irrational” economists acknowledged that non-price related factors can also influence demand (Leibenstein, 1950). Rooted in the existing tenets of ‘markets’, this approach has – decades later – led to the emergence of marketing as a separate discipline and marketing as a term/word emerged in dictionary for the first time. Since then, marketing has gone through many changes and challenges at all levels of marketing mix. Marketing theory has evolved through these times, and scholars have touched on varied sub-disciplines. One major breakthrough in marketing theory was brand equity (Keller, 1993; Yoo, Donthu & Lee, 2000; Yoo & Donthu, 2001; Pappu et al., 2005; Kumar & Paul, 2018). Not a surprise that brand equity became an important consideration for marketers across the globe. Brands could charge premium prices because of high levels of positive customer-based brand equity. The super extra premium prices which luxury brands charge can be explained through the tenets of brand equity and mass prestige (masstige).



Over the years, luxury/premium brands have been catering to a niche market and exclusivity, rarity has been its top most characteristics (Miller & Mills, 2012; Walley, Custance, Copley, & Perry, 2013; Zhan & He, 2012). With time, despite rarity as an characteristic, it was realized that brands have to grow fast to sustain in market and have to go where the market is (Kapferer, 2015). In addition, scholars have explored how the brand luxury generates positive consumer affect in social media (Mandler, Johnen, & Gräve, 2019; Bazi, Filieri, & Gorton, 2020).



Therefore, we have seen calls from scholars asking for scrutiny of rarity and luxury paradox (Dion & Borraz, 2017; Gurzki & Woisetschläger, 2017). There are studies in which the rarity principal was questioned and it has been argued that premium brands can grow with a bandwagon effect by creating mass prestige (Fain, Roy, & Ranchhod, 2015; Kapferer, Klippert, & Leproux, 2014; Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2016; Phau & Prendergast, 2000; Kastankis & Balabanis, 2011, 2012 & 2014; Paul, 2019). Such thoughts continue to become robust with studies like that of Kastanakis and Balabanis (2011; 2012; 2014) where need for uniqueness or rarity was called as unimportant even for status consumption (which is basic tenet of luxury consumption). In contrast, consumers might look for a brand which is known by many and accepted as prestige brand (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2011; 2012; 2014) to achieve the social ideal self and desired identity (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2014). This was pointing towards an important facet that marketers can enjoy luxury image for brands at varied price points (Kapferer et al., 2014). This development is pointing towards a big segment in making since long. We have seen luxury brands extending their pricing spectrum downwards (Boisvert & Ashill, 2018) and yet retained their luxury image. For example, Louis Vuitton in Japan has successfully got strong hold in a larger market without losing the luxury tag (Paul, 2015). With these changes, the world is waking up to a new market - Masstige. This market would require a different strategy to handle and grow. The seminal article of Silverstein and Fiske (2003) published in Harvard Business Review was an important scholarly work towards theory of masstige (Kumar, Paul & Unnithan, 2020; Paul, 2019).



Silverstein and Fiske (2003) convinced scholars with many examples like Bath and Body works lotion, Starbucks coffee, Kendall Jackson wines, Victoria’s Street lingerie that masstige is already here and is being exercised by marketers profitably. Companies following a masstige marketing strategy keep prices relatively high and constant, while formulating marketing strategies which focus on product, promotion and place (Paul, 2018). Kumar et. al (2020) defined masstige marketing as a phenomenon in which Price = f (Product, Promotion & Place strategies).



Masstige is characterized by mass prestige consumption, with consumers trading up for better quality against a reasonable premium, with a careful downward extension of luxury brands to reap a larger market in waiting (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003; Kumar, Paul, & Unnithan, 2020). With increasing roles of brands as carriers of consumer’s ideal self and image, adoption of masstige strategy has been witnessed worldwide. Among all this, it is important to note that masstige is not only about reducing the prices of luxury brands. It is about product innovation, diligent promotional strategies coupled with supportive placement while keeping price relatively high (Kumar et al., 2020). We can look at masstige operationalization across the globe in two broad categories. One is a born masstige brand – for example Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret and Apple. Another one is through downward brand extension – for example Mercedes Benz, Tiffany and Burberry (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003). Both of these strategies have been successful. The idea is to reach to the middle class who are ready and able to pay premium prices if they can be convinced to do so (Paul, 2015). World leading brands like Louis Vuitton (Paul, 2015, 2019), Toyota, Honda (Paul, 2018), Apple (Kumar & Paul, 2018), Starbucks, Bath and Body Works, Kendell Jackson wines, Victoria’s Secret, Mercedes, Tiffany, Burberry (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003) have been following the masstige strategy. Top home and personal care companies have seen annual revenue growth of 6 percent even during recession of 2008 by adopting masstige strategy (Vacirca, Imporzano, Coleman, Gupta, & Jackson, 2013). Therefore, brands should also look at masstige as an effective marketing strategy to deal with recessionary times. In times, when the world is converging towards the emerging economies in general and in terms of luxury brands in particular (Hung & David, 2020; Sharma, Soni, Borah, & Saboo, 2020), and changing paradigms of world economic powers, masstige strategy becomes even more important as these emerging countries have huge mass market.



To look back at the scholarly contribution towards masstige theory, starting from the Masstige Marketing Model given by Silverstein and Fiske (2003), we have travelled through some benchmark efforts including theoretical models and measures such as



Brand Equity Measurement Scale (Yoo and Donthu, 2001)Bandwagon luxury consumption model(Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2011; 2012; 2014),Populence paradigm (Granot, Russell, & Brashear-Alejandro, 2013) andMasstige Model, Masstige Mean Score Scale and Masstige Mean Index (Paul, 2015, 2018, 2019).

To cover the journey of masstige evolution, Kumar et. al. (2020) have comprehensively reviewed the masstige marketing phenomenon and theory and also proposed agenda for future research with reference to theory, methods and constructs. Despite being a proven strategy, masstige research has largely been ignored by scholars with few exceptions (Kumar & Paul, 2018; Kumar et al., 2020; Paul, 2015, 2018). This is evident from the fact that to date there is only one measure of masstige available (Paul, 2019). The marketing world look at masstige as a formidable alternative to brand equity. For example, prior studies have estimated masstige value of competing brands comparing foreign versus domestic laptop and car brands (Kumar & Paul, 2018; Paul, 2019). We therefore, invite scholars to engage in masstige research dialogue and look forward to receiving theoretical and empirical manuscripts that further enhance our understanding of masstige theory; provide the extension of existing theories, measures; and escorts the managers globally with improved brand management decisions. In this context we list below the probable themes of submissions (this is not an exhaustive list, it is for illustrative purposes only). Author(s) may submit in any domain related to masstige:



Estimation and Comparison of masstige value of competing brands in a specific product category, in a country, across countries and product categoriesBrand equity and Mass prestige: Measures, Linkages, Interfaces and dispersionsMasstige theory buildingComputing and comparing Masstige value of foreign versus domestic brands in different product categories such as Smart Phones, Cars, Garments, WatchesRelationship of masstige with various other brand equity constructsMasstige and consumer-brand relationshipsMasstige and consumer psychology in the post-COVID 19 eraMasstige and positioning theory in the post-COVID 19 eraMasstige and consumer satisfactionRelationship between masstige and consumer happinessMasstige brands as a medium of attaining consumer’s desiresMasstige as a tool to handle brands in recessionary timesAttaining masstige for brands through promotions, product and place strategiesMasstige and product innovationMasstige and price strategiesMasstige and its impact on consumer behavior attributes like consumer attitude, self-concept and motivation etc.Born masstige brands vs masstige brands evolved through downward brand extensionsMasstige marketing measuresPerspectives, practices and methodological advances in masstige theoryBrand equity-Mass Prestige interface in the post-COVID era and Managing brands in the recessionary times

References



Bazi, S., Filieri, R., & Gorton, M. (2020). Customers’ motivation to engage with luxury brands on social media. Journal of Business Research, 112, 223-235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.02.032



Boisvert, J., & Ashill, N. J. (2018). The impact of branding strategies on horizontal and downward line extension of luxury brands. International Marketing Review, 35(6), 1033-1052. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-10-2017-0208



Dion, D., & Borraz, S. (2017). Managing status: How luxury brands shape class subjectivities in the service encounter. Journal of Marketing, 81(5), 67-85. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0291



Fain, V., Roy, S., & Ranchhod, A. (2015). Conceptualizing luxury buying behavior: The Indian perspective. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 24(3), 211–228. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-07-2014-0655



Granot, E., Russell, L. T. M., & Brashear-Alejandro, T. G. (2013). Populence: Exploring Luxury for the Masses. The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 21(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/10.2753/MTP1069-6679210102



Gurzki, H., & Woisetschläger, D. M. (2017). Mapping the luxury research landscape: A bibliometric citation analysis. Journal of Business Research, 77(April 2018), 147–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.11.009



Hung, K., & David, K. T. (2020). Luxury brand consumption in emerging economies: Review and implications. In Research Handbook on Luxury Branding. Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786436351



Kapferer, J.-N., Klippert, C., & Leproux, L. (2014). Does luxury have a minimum price? An exploratory study into consumers’ psychology of luxury prices. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 13(1), 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1057/rpm.2013.34



Kapferer, J.-N., & Valette-Florence, P. (2016). Beyond rarity: the paths of luxury desire. How luxury brands grow yet remain desirable. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 25(2), 120–133. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-09-2015-0988



Kapferer, J. N. (2015). The future of luxury: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Brand Management, 21(9), 716–726. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2014.32



Kastanakis, M. N., & Balabanis, G. (2012). Between the mass and the class: Antecedents of the “bandwagon” luxury consumption behavior. Journal of Business Research, 65(10), 1399–1407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.005



Kastanakis, M. N., & Balabanis, G. (2014). Explaining variation in conspicuous luxury consumption: An individual differences perspective, Journal of Business Research 67 (10), 2147-2154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.04.024



Kastanakis, M., & Balabanis, G. (2011). Bandwagon, snob and veblen effects in luxury consumption. In D. W. Dahl, G. V. Johar, & S. M. J. van Osselaer (Eds.), Advances in Consumer Research, 38 (pp. 609–611). Association for Consumer Research: Duluth, MN. https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/v38/acr_v38_16088.pdf



Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1–22.



Kumar, A., & Paul, J. (2018). Mass prestige value and competition between American versus Asian laptop brands in an emerging market—Theory and evidence. International Business Review, 27(5), 969–981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2018.02.007



Kumar, A., Paul, J., & Unnithan, A. B. (2020). ‘Masstige’ marketing: A review, synthesis and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 113, 384–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.030



Leibenstein, H. (1950). Bandwagon, snob, and Veblen effects in the theory of consumers' demand. The quarterly journal of economics, 64(2), 183-207.



Mandler, T., Johnen, M., & Gräve, J. F. (2019). Can’t help falling in love? How brand luxury generates positive consumer affect in social media. Journal of Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.10.010



Miller, K. W., & Mills, M. K. (2012). Probing brand luxury: A multiple lens approach. Journal of Brand Management, 20(1), 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2011.64



Pappu, R., Quester, P., & Cooksey, R. (2005). Consumer?based brand equity: improving the measurement – empirical evidence. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 14(3), 143-154. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10610420510601012.



Paul, J. (2015). Masstige marketing redefined and mapped. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 33(5), 691–706. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-02-2014-0028



Paul, J. (2018). Toward a ‘ masstige ’ theory and strategy for marketing. European J. International Management, 10(April). https://doi.org/10.1504/EJIM.2018.10012543



Paul, J. (2019). Masstige model and measure for brand management. European Management



Journal, 37(3), 299-312.



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Silverstein, M. J., & Fiske, N. (2003). Luxury for the Masses - Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Review, 81(4), 48–57. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2003/04/luxury-for-the-masses/ar/1



Sharma, A., Soni, M., Borah, S. B., & Saboo, A. R. (2020). Identifying the drivers of luxury brand sales in emerging markets: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Research, 111, 25-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.02.009



Vacirca, F., Imporzano, A., Coleman, J., Gupta, A., & Jackson, J. (2013). From prestige to “masstige”— the new face of high performance in Home & Personal Care. Accenture



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Profile of Guest Editors



1. Carolyn Strong



Dr. Carolyn Strong is a Reader in Marketing at Cardiff Business School, where she teaches ethical and social issues in marketing. She is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Strategic Marketing. She is BSc Business Management Programme Director and a Public Value Engagement Fellow. Dr Strong received her Ph.D from the University of Wales. She has published in Journal of Business Research, Marketing Letters, European Journal of Marketing and Journal of Advertising among others.



2. Minas Kastanakis



Minas N. Kastanakis is Professor of Marketing and Editor-in-Chief of the European Management Journal. His research has been published/is forthcoming in academic journals, including Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Operational Research etc., and has also received several Best Conference Paper Awards and frequent media attention (Financial Times, CNBC, BBC etc.). Currently, he serves as Editor-in-Chief for the European Management Journal and he has served as a Guest Editor for several Special Issues for the Journal of Business Research and the European Management Journal.



3. Justin Paul



Dr Justin Paul, currently serves as Editor-in-chief of International Journal of Consumer studies (IJCS), a 45 year old, global academic journal ranked as A grade by Australian Business Deans Council. A former faculty member with the University of Washington, he is a full professor of PhD & MBA programs, University of Puerto Rico, USA and a 'Distinguished Scholar' with IIM- K, India's premier business school. An author/co-author of books such as Business Environment (4th ed), International Marketing, Services Marketing, Export-Import Management (2nd edition) by McGraw-Hill & Oxford University Press respectively. Dr. Paul has experience as Managing Guest Editor with the International Business Review, Journal of Business research, Journal of Retailing & Consumer services, Small Business Economics and European Business Review. He serves as Associate Editor with European Management Journal, & Journal of Strategic Marketing. He was Senior/Associate editor for Services Industries Journal, International Journal of Emerging Markets and European Journal of International Management for 3 years. His articles have been downloaded over 550,000 times during last five years. He has published over 55 research papers in SSCI journals and 70 in Scopus including several papers in UK-ABS 4 & 3 level journals. His

web address is www.drjustinpaul.com



4. Shlomo Y. Tarba



Prof. Shlomo Y. Tarba is an Academician (Fellow) of British Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and Chair (Full Professor) in Strategy & International Business, University of Birmingham. He is a Deputy Editor-In-Chief of British Journal of Management (ABS 4, Impact Factor 2.75) and an incoming Co-Editor-In-Chief of BJM. He is a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Management Studies, Journal of World Business, International Business Review, Long Range Planning, and Thunderbird International Business Review. He serves/has served as a guest-editor for the special issues at Journal of Organizational Behavior (US, Wiley), Human Resource Management (US, Wiley), British Journal of Management , Journal of World Business, California Management Review, Management International Review, International Business Review, Applied Psychology: An International Review, R&D Management, Journal of Business Research, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and others.



5. Ajay Kumar



Dr Ajay Kumar is Assistant Professor with the Central University of Haryana, India. His research interest includes Branding, Brand Equity, Masstige Branding and Brand Personality. He has published on Masstige, Brand Equity and Brand Personality in premier journals including International Business Review, Journal of Business Research etc. He serves as reviewer to multiple leading journals listed in ABDC and UK-ABS. He is member of editorial review board of International Journal of Consumer Studies.