From Art to Marketing

  Chapter 1 emphasizes how references to authenticity are countless in so-called high culture and how the notion of authenticity has taken on increasing importance in contemporary society where the technological and digital revolutions have gradually corroded the sacred aura of originals or prototypes (Benjamin, 1936), providing copies with new legitimacy. In fact, the need for authenticity is currently emerging as a growing concern for individuals. A clear sign of this phenomenon is the shift of the concept of authenticity from the realm of high culture (such as the fine arts or philosophy), to that of contemporary popular or low culture. Popular culture is full of references to the human need for authenticity between the authentic and the inauthentic reality television shows can be paradoxically read as a need for more authenticity in the broadcasting industry (Rose and Wood 2005). Contemporary social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr have been increasingly used as a means to gather authentic narratives around identity since they allow for a more authentic disclosure of individuals' perceptions and feelings (Henderson and Bowley, 2010).



 

This chapter concludes by making the case for the study of authenticity as a growing consumer concern marketers should keep an eye on.

Chapter 2

 

The Concept of Authenticity in the Broader Literature

 

(max 8000 words)

Chapter 2 reviews the broader literature on authenticity and includes discussion of the non-business areas which have more direct relevance to the marketing issues, namely arts, philosophy, sociology and psychology.

 

In particular, the chapter points out how the first usage of the word authenticity is in the arts context, specifically in the museum "where persons expert in such matters test whether objects of art are what they appear to be or are claimed to be, and therefore worth the price that is asked for them or, if this has already been paid, worth the admiration they are being given" (Trilling, 1972: 93).

  The chapter outlines two main perspectives on authenticity, namely modernist and constructivist approaches. On the one hand, modernist (or essentialist) approaches are rooted in positivism and are based on the assumption that there exists only one universal truth that is achieved through scientific measurement, i.e., authenticity is objective (Guba and Lincoln 1994). On the other hand, constructivist approaches are based on relativist ontology and assume that reality is socially negotiated, i.e., authenticity is socially constructed (Berger and Luckmann, 1967).



 

Based on these premises, the chapter will review the broader literature on the concept of 'authenticity' to identify some of the main themes and dimensions of the concept and to garner a greater comprehension of why and how varying approaches to and understandings of the concept are relevant to the marketing field.

 

Chapter 2 will set the stage for the following chapters, which focus on authenticity in marketing and related sub-fields.  



Chapter 3

 

Authenticity in marketing: reality or oxymoron?

 

(max 8000 words)

Chapter 3 examines marketing research on authenticity. One of the consequences of the popularization of the concept of authenticity is the emergence of authenticity as a topic in marketing and consumer culture. Consumers are more and more interested in authentic, uncontaminated and real consumption experiences, products and services. Increasing consumer interest in organic and non-adulterated foods, the success of ecotourism and sustainable consumption practices, growing consumer enthusiasm surrounding 'retro brands' such as the Volkswagen New Beetle (Brown et al., 2003) and growing consumer preference for 'high touch' over 'high tech' experiences and practices (Naisbitt, 1982) provide but a few examples of such a tendency. Consumer perceptions of authenticity have been found to have a positive effect on brand attitude (Ewing et al., 2012; Spiggle et al., 2012; Fritz et al., 2017) and purchase intentions (Napoli et al., 2013)  



Presenting itself as a critical concern for consumers, authenticity has, therefore, rapidly become central to the study and practice of marketing (Arnould and Price, 2000). As a result, the management of consumer perception of authenticity has become "the primary new source of competitive advantage", as well as "the new business imperative" (Gilmore and Pine, 2007: 4). Consequently, the consumer search for authenticity has been regarded as "one of the cornerstones of contemporary marketing" (Brown et al., 2003: 21).  



By presenting the different perspective on the concept, this chapter emphasizes the inherent paradoxes of the notion (Straub 2012), i.e., authenticity as being a hoax or an oxymoron (Potter, 2010).

 

Despite the increasing importance attributed to authenticity in the marketing field, the concept has received relatively little scholarly attention (Dickinson 2011) and research in this area is still in its infancy, mainly because authenticity "is still not well understood in its market manifestations" (Peñaloza, 2000: 103). In particular, few marketing scholars have provided explicit definitions of authenticity so that the term has been used in different ways and with a variety of meanings (Grayson and Martinec, 2004). In fact, the notion of authenticity, as developed in other disciplines, is only partially employed or considered in the work of marketing scholars, who have often neglected insights contributed from other fields (Granville Starr, 2011).

 

The chapter will emphasize how marketing understandings of the concept of authenticity have mirrored the vexata quaestio existing in the broader literature on whether authenticity should be regarded either as an objective feature of objects (MacCannell, 1973) or as a social construct (Bruner, 1994; Cohen, 1988). However, this strict either/or logic (Erickson, 1995) has proved problematic, owing to the contingent nature of the concept of authenticity (Cohen, 1988).

 

This chapter emphasizes that the marketing literature on authenticity seems to be characterized by a number of conceptual and methodological issues, including, prevalence of a modernist conceptualization of authenticity; absence of a generalizable definition of authenticity; predominance of a taxonomic approach to the concept of authenticity; no consideration of the active and co-creative role of the consumer in constructing authenticity; dominance of institutional perspective on authenticity; research methodologies to study authenticity are mainly modernist; authenticity is studied in very specific contexts of analysis; lack of an operational definition of authenticity; the study of relationships among factors of authenticity is scant.

 

In sum, the purpose of this chapter is to summarize recent developments, highlight the state of the art and to offer some critical observations of various understandings of the concept of authenticity in the marketing field, in order to identify conceptual or methodological gaps and limitations and directions for future research. Chapter 4



 

Building brand authenticity: the manager perspective

 

(max 8000 words)

 

Chapter 4 reviews the concept of brand authenticity with a focus on managers' perspective. It deals with different marketing aspects (including advertising, branding and communication of authenticity) in subfields such as consumer culture, luxury and tourism. For instance, Beverland (2005) found that luxury wineries purposely created images of object authenticity through deliberate marketing activities, particularly through the protection of status and the projection of a sincere story, commitments to quality, using place as a referent, commitment to traditional production practices, ensuring stylistic consistency, using history and culture as referents (through the use of rituals and ceremonies), and appearing above commercial considerations. Similarly, tourism products are often characterized by stage authenticity (McCannell, 1976).  



Chapter 4 also includes interviews with luxury brand managers (including Zegna and Cucinelli) on the concept of authenticity and its relevance to brand management. In fact, authenticity as 'truth to oneself' has emerged as especially crucial for fashion luxury brands (Carù et al., 2017). In times of mechanical and digital reproduction (Benjamin, 2008), when infinite copies can be produced from an original prototype, e.g., counterfeited goods (Nia and Zaichkowsky, 2000), luxury fashion brands need to stress the importance of traditional handcrafted and artisanal methods, and intuitive expertise to create a sense of authenticity (Beverland, 2005). In order to make theirs brands authentic, managers create images of 'disinterested' brands, which are 'disseminated by parties without an instrumental economic agenda' (Holt, 2002: 83).

 

Chapter 4 also deals with the relationship between artification and authenticity. Long been considered as characterized by excess and surplus, many luxury fashion brands are increasingly getting 'artified' (Kapferer, 2014) to become legitimate and differentiate themselves from competitors by defining a unique identity.

 

The chapter emphasizes how luxury brand managers are increasingly promoting their products as a form of art and presenting their designers as artists, to provide their brands with an allure of authenticity. Yves Saint Laurent clothes that reproduce Mondrian and Picasso, or Trussardi garments that recall Caravaggio's artworks are just few examples of the consistent attempt of fashion brands to be perceived authentic just like artworks, by employing artification strategies.  In this way, limited editions from fashion brands (e.g., the Louis Vuitton collection designed by Murakami) become "authentic artworks, not mere techniques to create demand" (Kapferer, 2014: 376).

Chapter 5 -

Authenticity: Is it really what consumers want?

 

(max 8000 words)

 

Chapter 5 looks at authenticity from the perspective of consumers and focuses on consumption experiences and perceived authenticity. Consumer perceptions of authenticity have been found to be critical determinants of brand equity (Liu et al., 2005). Progress in this research stream is confirmed by a study conducted by Beverland and Farrelly (2010: 854), who identified two major limitations in marketing research on authenticity: 1) "they result in a diversity of conceptualizations of authenticity", and; 2) "they are unable to account for unexpected results, such as consumer inclination to attribute authenticity to the fictional" (e.g., Rose and Wood, 2005; Grayson and Martinec, 2004). Rejecting the dichotomous interpretation of authenticity (real vs. fake) allows for adopting a constructivist perspective on authenticity.

 

This chapter will present the results of a study on consumers' definitions of the authenticity. The methodology employed is content analysis, which allows for the systematic and objective identification and categorization of themes (Neuman, 1997). This research is aimed at understanding whether the dimensions of authenticity identified in the literature review correspond to how consumers conceive of authenticity.

 

This conclusive chapter will also outline the main managerial implications emerging from the study and propose a new research agenda for the study of authenticity in marketing.