Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Chihyung Ok / This study attempted to investigate antecedents and consequences of consumers’ utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands and to examine the effects of brand prestige on brand preference and word-of-mouth intention with customer involvement as a moderator. In study 1, to investigate the antecedents and consequences of consumer attitudes toward restaurant brands in the full-service restaurant, this study proposed, based on existing theoretical premises, significant interrelationships among three service qualities (i.e., physical environment quality, interactional quality, and outcome quality). This study also hypothesized that these service qualities predict consumers’ utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands. Finally, this study examined the effects of consumer attitudes toward restaurant brands in forming brand preference and relative customer share of visits. A theoretical model was proposed and then tested with data collected from 318 casual and 303 fine dining restaurant patrons. The results of data analysis indicated significant interrelationships among three service qualities in both casual and fine dining restaurants. In addition, interactional and outcome qualities had significant effects on utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands in the casual dining restaurant. In the fine dining segment, interactional quality significantly influenced both utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands, while physical environment and outcome qualities had positive impacts only on hedonic attitude toward the restaurant’s brand. Finally, utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands enhanced brand preference, and in turn, brand preference increased relative customer share of visits in both casual and fine dining restaurants. The purpose of study 2 was to examine the effects of brand prestige on brand preference and word-of-mouth with customer involvement as a moderator in the fine dining restaurant segment. Based on a thorough literature review, this study hypothesized that brand prestige would have positive effects on brand preference and word-of-mouth and that brand preference would have a positive relationship with word-of-mouth. Finally, this study examined the moderating role of customer involvement in the relationships between (1) brand prestige and brand preference, (2) brand prestige and word-of-mouth, and (3) brand preference and word-of-mouth. A total of 293 questionnaire responses were used to empirically test the proposed relationships in fine dining restaurants. This study found that brand prestige has significant effects on brand preference and word-of-mouth. In addition, brand preference had a positive relationship with word-of-mouth. However, customer involvement as a moderator was not supported.

Cette recherche vise à identifier les principaux facteurs susceptibles de motiver les consommateurs à acheter les marques de contrefaçons. Cette recherche adopte une combinaison de données qualitatives (des entretiens en profondeur) et quantitatives (une enquête par questionnaire) pour examiner la perception des consommateurs quant à l’utilisation des marques contrefaites. Notre modèle conceptuel comprend cinq variables explicatives (par exemple, la congruence avec le concept de soi, la perception de marques globales et locales, la propension à l'éthique, la volonté à prendre des risques sociaux). Ces variables explicatives prédisent l'attitude envers les marques contrefaites et leur intention d’achat. L'ethnocentrisme des consommateurs a été proposée comme un modérateur sur la relation entre la perception de marques globales et l’attitude envers les marques contrefaites et l’orientation collectiviste / individualiste joue un rôle modérateur sur la relation entre la volonté de prendre des risques sociaux et l'attitude envers les marques contrefaites. Ce modèle a été bâti dans le cadre du comportement des consommateurs de marques contrefaites dans les pays en développement ou les contrefaçons sont produites et très accessibles et dans lesquels la lutte contre la contrefaçon est extrêmement faible.Les résultats obtenus grâce à la modélisation d'équations structurelles montrent que la congruence avec le concept de soi, la perception de marques globales et la volonté de prendre des risques sociaux influence positivement les attitudes des consommateurs envers les marques contrefaites. La propension à l'éthique a une influence négative sur les attitudes. La perception des consommateurs sur les marques locales n'a pas un effet significatif sur leurs attitudes. Nous constatons que la relation entre la perception du consommateur sur les marques globales et l’attitude envers les marques contrefaites devient plus forte pour les consommateurs faiblement ethnocentriques et vice versa. Contrairement à nos attentes, la relation entre les consommateurs ayant la volonté à prendre des risques sociaux et leurs attitudes envers les marques contrefaites devient plus faible pour les consommateurs collectivistes. Ces résultats permettent d'enrichir la littérature relative à la marque et fournir des recommandations utiles aux praticiens afin de mieux lutter contre la contrefaçon / Counterfeiting impacts upon all industries and economies and is a global phenomenon rapidly increasing worldwide. The thesis focuses on the non-deceptive counterfeit brands which resemble the genuine brands but are typically of lower quality in terms of performance and reliability. The pervasiveness of counterfeit brands’ manufacturing, their wide and easy availability makes it crucial to deal with their ever-increasing demand because of its importance in the context of consumers’ choice processes. The thesis explores the problem of counterfeit brands from a consumers’ perspective. The current research investigates the increase in the sales of counterfeit brands especially in developing countries, since the production, purchase and consumption of counterfeit brands are the disreputable attributes of Southeast Asian consumers; the research also attempts to identify the major factors motivating them to purchase these brands. Following an initial literature review of the counterfeiting phenomenon and marketing, the thesis details an empirical investigation. To achieve this purpose, the present research adopts a combination of qualitative (in-depth interviews) and quantitative (field-survey) research to examine the respondents in terms of how they view their own and other consumers’ use of counterfeit brands. In the proposed research model consumers’ self-congruity (SC), their perception about global brands (PGB)/about local brands (PLB), proneness to ethics (PE) and readiness to take social risk (RSR) have been identified as the predictors forming consumers’ attitude toward counterfeit brands (ACB) leading to their purchase intention (PI). Further consumers’ ethnocentrism plays its role as a moderator on the relationship between their perception about global brands and attitude toward counterfeit brands; similarly their collectivistic/individualistic orientation moderates the relationship between their readiness to take social risk and attitude toward counterfeit brands. Structural equation modeling has been used to measure the psychometric properties of the scale and to test the proposed hypotheses. The results show that consumers’ self-congruity, their perception about global brands and readiness to take social risk positively, whereas their proneness to ethics negatively influence their attitude toward counterfeit brands. Consumers’ perception about local brands is found to have no significant effect on their attitude toward counterfeit brands. Concerning the moderating variables it is found that the relationship between consumers’ perception about global brands and attitude toward counterfeit brands is stronger for low ethnocentric consumers and vice versa; further, contrary to our expectation, the relationship between consumers’ readiness to take social risk and attitude toward counterfeit brands was weaker for consumers having more collectivistic orientation. The research contributes a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of consumers’ choice process in a more complex context, i.e. where the markets abound in counterfeit brands, this will enrich the branding literature. The worldwide substantial growth of counterfeit brands has aroused concern and interest among the academic researchers and policy-makers. For the academicians and the managers’ understanding of illicit consumption activities, the research presents the implications. These highlight the factors that affect consumers’ proneness to counterfeit brands for the practitioners. For the academicians, they show that brand influence should not be ignored in exploring consumer behavior in the context of counterfeit brands