COMPLEMENTARY FEATURE EXTRACTION FOR BRANDED HANDBAG RECOGNITION

ABSTRACT Fine-grained object recognition aims at recognizing objects belonging to the same basic-level class such as dog, bird or fish, which is a challenging problem in computer vision. In this paper, we consider the problem of recognizing handbags that belong to a specific brand. In order to identify the subtle differences among handbags, we propose to enhance the handbag local structure pattern by using the Hölder exponent, and extract the feature from the enhanced handbag image to complement the feature extracted directly from the original handbag image. We term such two types of features as the complementary and original features. These features will then be fused by using Multiple Kernel Learning (MKL) for branded handbag recognition. We conduct the experiments on a newly built branded handbag dataset, the results of which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed complementary feature in recognizing the handbags

Exemplar Based Deep Discriminative and Shareable Feature Learning for Scene Image Classification

In order to encode the class correlation and class specific information in image representation, we propose a new local feature learning approach named Deep Discriminative and Shareable Feature Learning (DDSFL). DDSFL aims to hierarchically learn feature transformation filter banks to transform raw pixel image patches to features. The learned filter banks are expected to: (1) encode common visual patterns of a flexible number of categories; (2) encode discriminative information; and (3) hierarchically extract patterns at different visual levels. Particularly, in each single layer of DDSFL, shareable filters are jointly learned for classes which share the similar patterns. Discriminative power of the filters is achieved by enforcing the features from the same category to be close, while features from different categories to be far away from each other. Furthermore, we also propose two exemplar selection methods to iteratively select training data for more efficient and effective learning. Based on the experimental results, DDSFL can achieve very promising performance, and it also shows great complementary effect to the state-of-the-art Caffe features.Comment: Pattern Recognition, Elsevier, 201

Luxury designer handbag or counterfeit? An investigation into the antecedents influencing women’s purchasing behaviour of luxury designer and counterfeit brands

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The drive and appeal of luxury designer products has fuelled consumer desire for luxury designer brands and their counterfeit versions. Some women value luxury designer handbags just the way men value their cars. The luxury designer handbag market has witnessed a surge of counterfeit handbag versions. The study focused on women in London, which has been ranked at number one in relation to demand levels of fashion handbags. Several antecedents were investigated for the purpose of this research, which are as follows: •Social consumption factors which incorporates an investigation into brand meaning and social meaning; •Attitudinal factors; •Individual factors which looks at the BLI (brand luxury index) and materialism; and •Post consumption emotions; Several research gaps were identified: firstly, there are no studies available on investigating identical antecedents in both luxury designer and counterfeit commodities, or even to a specific product category. Secondly, a number of researchers have examined consumers’ evaluative criteria in clothing, yet few have focused on the mentioned antecedents as part of the evaluative criteria of luxury designer handbags and counterfeit handbag versions. The investigation was carried out via quantitative data collection and was cross-analysed. The highlighted antecedents are important domains in the discipline of consumer choice behaviour. The research included two phases; a pilot survey study which pre-tested the acknowledged scales and a main survey incorporating the most important adapted constructs influencing consumer choice behaviours. The main analysis was based on data collected from a sample of 353 respondents in London. The conceptual model is unique in its specifications presenting a new behaviour orientated model which highlights integral factors in consumer behaviour. The research identified contemporary associations and discrepancies among women in London. The result of this research provides general support in understanding consumer decision-making and offers a comprehensive understanding of the effect of consumer evaluation and attitudes towards luxury designer handbags and counterfeit handbag versions. The differences and similarities across the antecedents are used to propose strategies to luxury designer companies thereby improving their marketing activities and achieving a competitive edge

Luxury designer handbag or counterfeit? An investigation into the antecedents influencing women’s purchasing behaviour of luxury designer and counterfeit brands

The drive and appeal of luxury designer products has fuelled consumer desire for luxury designer brands and their counterfeit versions. Some women value luxury designer handbags just the way men value their cars. The luxury designer handbag market has witnessed a surge of counterfeit handbag versions. The study focused on women in London, which has been ranked at number one in relation to demand levels of fashion handbags. Several antecedents were investigated for the purpose of this research, which are as follows: •Social consumption factors which incorporates an investigation into brand meaning and social meaning; •Attitudinal factors; •Individual factors which looks at the BLI (brand luxury index) and materialism; and •Post consumption emotions; Several research gaps were identified: firstly, there are no studies available on investigating identical antecedents in both luxury designer and counterfeit commodities, or even to a specific product category. Secondly, a number of researchers have examined consumers’ evaluative criteria in clothing, yet few have focused on the mentioned antecedents as part of the evaluative criteria of luxury designer handbags and counterfeit handbag versions. The investigation was carried out via quantitative data collection and was cross-analysed. The highlighted antecedents are important domains in the discipline of consumer choice behaviour. The research included two phases; a pilot survey study which pre-tested the acknowledged scales and a main survey incorporating the most important adapted constructs influencing consumer choice behaviours. The main analysis was based on data collected from a sample of 353 respondents in London. The conceptual model is unique in its specifications presenting a new behaviour orientated model which highlights integral factors in consumer behaviour. The research identified contemporary associations and discrepancies among women in London. The result of this research provides general support in understanding consumer decision-making and offers a comprehensive understanding of the effect of consumer evaluation and attitudes towards luxury designer handbags and counterfeit handbag versions. The differences and similarities across the antecedents are used to propose strategies to luxury designer companies thereby improving their marketing activities and achieving a competitive edge.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Unlikely Marriages: An Examination of Customer-Visible Partnerships Between Prestige Brands and Mass-Market Distributors

The prestige goods industry is founded on exclusivity and premium pricing. The challenge for the industry is extracting that premium from the greatest possible number of consumers (the mass-market), while retaining the exclusivity that permits the extraction of that premium. Prestige / mass-market partnerships (PMMP) – one-off, co-branded partnerships between prestige designers and mass-market clothing retailers are increasingly used by participants in the industry to negotiate that precarious balance between volume sales and premium pricing. Exclusivity is the key source of competitive advantage for prestige brands; that exclusivity would appear to be prima facie compromised by undertaking a PMMP. A review of the literature in branding, strategy and organisational research, it was found that none of these schools would direct a prestige partner to undertake a PMMP. Yet PMMPs persist and proliferate in the fashion industry. Either the prestige partners need a new strategy or researchers need a new paradigm, or both. The question is: which is it? This thesis has used a single case narrative to get inside a PMMP through the voice of the designer. It then provided three separate expert readings of that narrative. Those expert readings were found to have some explanatory power in relation to PMMPs but were unable to capture the rich tapestry of drivers on the prestige partner side. The dominant paradigms neglect the entrepreneur as a unit of analysis, over-rely on rational, linear models to explain a phenomenon that defies such categorization, and fail to appreciate the highly-specific context of the prestige fashion industry. iv To achieve this end, the literature on entrepreneurial opportunism was introduced. From the prestige side, PMMPs can be conceived of as four related opportunity events – creative, business, learning and personal. Next, structuration theory was introduced as a means to analyse the context surrounding PMMPs. It was found that the designers is both constrained and enabled by the prestige fashion context; some counter-orthodox behaviour is permitted, and indeed encouraged, but the limits of acceptability are still clearly defined by the community of practitioners. To capture the interaction between the entrepreneur, the opportunity and the context analysis, a model of drivers based on Sahlman’s (1996) PCDO model was proposed. This thesis has found that the drivers motivating prestige designers to enter PMMPs are significantly more nuanced and less linear than convention structure-strategy analyses might wish. Starting with the entrepreneur as the central unit of analysis is the most effective way to capture the range of drivers that stimulate a designer towards a PMMP

Unlikely Marriages: An Examination of Customer-Visible Partnerships Between Prestige Brands and Mass-Market Distributors

The prestige goods industry is founded on exclusivity and premium pricing. The challenge for the industry is extracting that premium from the greatest possible number of consumers (the mass-market), while retaining the exclusivity that permits the extraction of that premium. Prestige / mass-market partnerships (PMMP) – one-off, co-branded partnerships between prestige designers and mass-market clothing retailers are increasingly used by participants in the industry to negotiate that precarious balance between volume sales and premium pricing. Exclusivity is the key source of competitive advantage for prestige brands; that exclusivity would appear to be prima facie compromised by undertaking a PMMP. A review of the literature in branding, strategy and organisational research, it was found that none of these schools would direct a prestige partner to undertake a PMMP. Yet PMMPs persist and proliferate in the fashion industry. Either the prestige partners need a new strategy or researchers need a new paradigm, or both. The question is: which is it? This thesis has used a single case narrative to get inside a PMMP through the voice of the designer. It then provided three separate expert readings of that narrative. Those expert readings were found to have some explanatory power in relation to PMMPs but were unable to capture the rich tapestry of drivers on the prestige partner side. The dominant paradigms neglect the entrepreneur as a unit of analysis, over-rely on rational, linear models to explain a phenomenon that defies such categorization, and fail to appreciate the highly-specific context of the prestige fashion industry. iv To achieve this end, the literature on entrepreneurial opportunism was introduced. From the prestige side, PMMPs can be conceived of as four related opportunity events – creative, business, learning and personal. Next, structuration theory was introduced as a means to analyse the context surrounding PMMPs. It was found that the designers is both constrained and enabled by the prestige fashion context; some counter-orthodox behaviour is permitted, and indeed encouraged, but the limits of acceptability are still clearly defined by the community of practitioners. To capture the interaction between the entrepreneur, the opportunity and the context analysis, a model of drivers based on Sahlman’s (1996) PCDO model was proposed. This thesis has found that the drivers motivating prestige designers to enter PMMPs are significantly more nuanced and less linear than convention structure-strategy analyses might wish. Starting with the entrepreneur as the central unit of analysis is the most effective way to capture the range of drivers that stimulate a designer towards a PMMP

China’s Brands, China’s Brand development strategies and Corporate Brand Communications in China

The main contributions of the article include (a) the identification of different modes of brand development with five dimensions being identified: home-grown, corporate heritage, acquisition, association, joint-venture, alliance) and (b) the introduction of a distinct Chinese corporate brand total communications framework (this comprises primary, secondary, tertiary, family, gaunxi, and party [communist party] communications). This article identifies seven reasons why there has been a growth of interest in brands in China and also provides an overview of the main themes contained in the literature on China’s brands and brand management in China. Taking an historical perspective, it examines the use and significance of brands in China; identifies similarities with the importance accorded to China and the situation which existed in Great Britain during the industrial revolution. It notes the factors which have led to the exponential growth of interest in brands in China

An examination of factors influencing the formation of the consideration set and consumer purchase intention in the context of non-deceptive counterfeiting

Consumers’ perceptions towards counterfeits as well as the effect of consumers’ perceptions on consumer purchase behaviour remain unclear. On the other hand, the study of determinants of the consideration set has recently become attractive to researchers due to its importance in relation to the study of consumer choice processes. Nevertheless, few researchers have examined the influence of consumer perceptions of branded products on the formation of the consideration set. This thesis attempts an investigation of the determinants of the two crucial stages – consideration set and purchase intention – of the consumer choice process in the context of non-deceptive counterfeiting. The research adopted a combination of qualitative (focus group) and quantitative research (individual interview survey) and provides a detailed examination of consumers’ perceptions of both the counterfeit and original branded products studied, as well as their explanatory power on the selected consumer choice processes. This research suggests that there are certain differences in the kinds of determinants of the same stage of the consumer choice process across different versions of a brand. There also exist some differences in the kinds and numbers of determinants of the consideration set and the purchase intention towards one brand. Nevertheless, the band personality appears to be significant across all regression models. Generally, it plays the dominant role in the formation of the consideration set and consumer purchase intention. Consumers are more likely to evaluate more criteria in the process of consideration than at the purchase intention stage. This research enriches the branding theory, suggests a more sophisticated use of Aaker’s (1997) brand personality scale, and develops a new measurement scale for use in the study of multiple brands