Conceptualizing 'Country of Ingredient Authenticity' of Luxury Brands

PRADA goes local: the ‘Made In’ Campaign features its products being made in countries such as Peru, Scotland, India and Japan has proven to be something out of the ordinary and a bold move taken by the prominent luxury brand. The paper proposes a research framework to study the influence of “country of ingredient authenticity” towards product and brand evaluations of the luxury brands and the willingness to buy. Categorization theory and confirmation bias form the theoretical underpinning of the model and is structured around the research. Consumer needs for ingredient authenticity is proposed to have a direct relationship between the country cues and willingness to buy, willingness to recommend and actual purchase of luxury brand. A scale for consumer needs for ingredient authenticity will be developed alongside this research to fill the gap in the industry and research sector pertaining to consumers’ motivation to seek authentic products

Enhancing hospitality service quality with artificial intelligence

The resurgence of the hospitality industry and the increasing use of artificial intelligence in service have resulted in new customer expectations and opportunities to enhance the quality of hospitality services. Accordingly, a clear understanding of these new service quality expectations and how best to design and implement these new technologies for the benefit of hospitality managers and consumers is key. This chapter provides theoretical and practical insights into how artificial intelligence service agents such as chatbots and robots in key hospitality sectors can provide excellent service quality and enhance customer relationships and well-being. The latest examples are illustrated to explore the application of AI within the hospitality industry, outlining the diverse prospects and obstacles that these advanced technologies offer to restaurant owners, hotel operators and other experts in the field

Conceptualizing Country-of-Ingredient Authenticity of Luxury Brands

The research investigates the influence of country-of-ingredient authenticity towards product judgement and ultimately how the construct influences the willingness to buy and recommend luxury branded products. This research is divided into 2 studies where the methodology takes on a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental research design looking at the raw materials acquired to craft Alpaca wool sweaters from brand and country of origin (COO) such as Prada (Made in Peru), Prada (Made in Italy) and Touchè (Made in Peru) and artisan skills used for Chikan-embroidered dresses from Prada (Made in India), Prada (Made in Italy) and Touchè (Made in India). Some findings indicate that Alpaca wool sweater ‘made in Peru’ does improve consumers' judgment of the branded product however country image and brand image played a part in authenticating the Chikan-embroidery that is ‘made in India’. Sustainable and ethical practices also positively improve product judgement of the products

Development and Validation of Consumers' Need for Ingredient Authenticity (CNIA Scale)

© 2018 Taylor & Francis. Concepts from country-of-origin, the authenticity concept, and ingredient branding make up the essential literature for this scale development. This study intends to develop a scale specifically to measure consumers' motivation to seek for ingredient authenticity. While studies on authenticity have heavily looked into brands, this study aims to uncover consumers' motivations of ingredient authenticity of the raw materials and artisan skills of the products. Four studies were undertaken to develop and validate this scale. The research adopted the Churchill's (1979) method of scale development. The methods for scale development and its implications are also highlighted