This study aimed to determine the potential of packaging to strengthen brand equity in female apparel retail stores. A field experiment was conducted in the Tshwane metropolitan - a key political, economic and urban area in South Africa - to investigate the potential of packaging to be acknowledged as an additional element of the marketing mix in terms of its influence on consumers’ perceptions of the service offering of retailers and their brand equity. The study was done in the context of an emerging economy, where international clothing brands have infiltrated the market and become widely accessible in recent years. The data was collected by using convenience sampling methods, and the self-completion of a structured questionnaire after respondents acted as mystery shoppers at a Single Brand Retailer (SBR) and a Department Store (DS) that carry the same footwear brand in a major shopping centre in this metropolitan. The SBR offers consumers a branded high quality canvas tote bag after purchase, whereas the DS offers a generic plastic bag irrespective of the type of purchase or the price paid. Willing females, all final year students at the University of Pretoria (n =103) were divided in two groups. Individuals visited the two retailers according to a schedule compiled by the researcher. One group visited the SBR first, followed by the DS. The other group did the task in the reverse order. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, specifically Principle Component analysis using PROMAX and PROCRUSTES rotation for the two scales that investigated the service offering and brand equity respectively, Means, Standard deviations, Cronbach’s Alpha as well as paired and non-paired 2-tailed t-tests. This study confirmed the potential of secondary packaging as an independent element of the marketing mix in the branded clothing retail industry. The packaging construct dissociated it from the construct ‘Product’ as the literature suggests, which confirms that marketing elements adapt over time and that these changes have to be acknowledged in retail. Respondents generally had a less favourable instore experience in the DS compared to the SBR. The packaging format of SBR was also evaluated more favourably, which enhanced perceptions of the overall service offering. This suggests that respondents’ less favourable evaluation of the less prestigious packaging offered in the DS, is partly to blame for the lower overall evaluations of the service offering of the DS. Packaging also contributed/enhanced brand equity as consumers’ perceptions of the packaging formats – irrespective of whether it was a SBR or a DS – positively contributed to consumers’ perceptions of the brand equity of the retailers that they visited. The contribution of packaging towards brand equity was mostly more prominent than the contribution of other marketing elements such Advertising and Promotion. An order effect was noted. Respondents who visited the DS first, were significantly more impressed with the SBR. Those who went to the SBR first, seemed more forgiving and evaluated the service offering and the brand equity lower compared to the SBR but nevertheless evaluated it more favourably than the group that patronized the DS first. Packaging does not seem to relieve post purchase regret. Respondents were more regretful after their SBR experience. Several explanations may be used to explain this and future studies are envisaged to expand the findings. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Consumer Science / unrestricted

This research tested a conceptual model predicting the propensity to engage in two distinct forms of conspicuous consumption (bandwagon and snob consumption) that was developed by Kastanakis and Balabanis (2014) in a collectivistic Iranian context. This study found that this conceptual model was more successful in accounting for the variance in bandwagon consumption (i.e., conformity seeking conspicuous luxury consumption) than snob consumption (i.e., uniqueness seeking conspicuous luxury consumption) in the Iranian context. In addition to status seeking, it was found that consumer susceptibility to normative influence (CSNI) and consumer need for uniqueness (CNFU) mediates the influence of self-concept on bandwagon consumption. This finding suggests that the relationship between snob consumption and CNFU may differ in the Iranian context. Results also show that the relationships between CSNI, unpopular counter choice conformity (a sub-construct of CNFU) and status seeking with bandwagon consumption were all negatively moderated by consumer knowledge for fashion luxury goods. These findings extend the original conspicuous consumption model and provide some insight for the development of marketing strategies in Iran.

The following premise is based on the ideas of social theorists who have contributed to understanding the importance of image in society. This proposal argues that political participation is susceptible to exploitation in the form of conspicuous consumption as defined by Thorstein Veblen. The analyses that follow will test the degree to which Americans who demonstrate more traditional forms of conspicuous consumption also tend to show more activity in political venues. While the correlation of these two variables is not sufficient to demonstrate cause and effect, it may be significant enough to attract more researchers to this question: are Americans using political involvement to positively influence the way that their social status is perceived by others?

By examining the donations by the local nobility to the local church, this thesis aims to study the church as a public room. By analyzing the donations of the nobility in relation to Habermas concept of the public sphere and the concept of conspicuous consumption the donations to the churches can be viewed as manifestations of power. This thesis studies all donations to the churches that leaves material and visual remnants in the church room. The results shows that there was a conscious strategy for the nobility to use the church for manifestation and representation of power. The nobility used their donations to manifest their power and to represent the power towards the people. This was done by filling the church with their names and coats of arms. By donating liturgical objects, church silver, chapels and coats of arms used for funerals the nobility was able to symbolically place themselves in the religious rituals. The church as a room was a symbolically and hierarchical place, and by connecting themselves with this room by donations the nobility could manifest their position in society, both locally and nationally.

This study is based on young adults’ identity in Japan and Hong Kong and its relation to conspicuous consumption. The purpose of this study is to explore how conspicuous consumption influenced the young adults’ identities in Japan and Hong Kong. In order to study this phenomenon, we created a conceptual model, we named “Young Adults Conspicuous Consumption Identity” (YACCI), which is based on previous research on identity and luxury values. The research is based on a qualitative study and the empirical data was gathered through 11 semi-structured interviews with young adults from Hong Kong and Japan. Findings show that the identities of young adults in Japan and Hong Kong are heavily influenced by the society that surrounds them. The results of the societal pressures force them to keep up with a certain standard of image which increase their conspicuous consumption behaviour. This study has contributed to a further understanding of underlying factors that influence young adults’ identities in Japan and Hong Kong.

A Swedish excavation took place in the settlement of San Giovenale between the years 1956 to 1965 to shed further light on Etruscan settlements. During the excavation, a great amount of bucchero was uncovered at the site. This study focusses on the forms of bucchero that were uncovered in the San Giovenale area and how these vessels might be connected to a broader network of the ware. By identifying the forms of bucchero found in the area and by bringing together all the earlier publications concerned with the bucchero finds from San Giovenale, this study tries to look at the bucchero material in its totality. By locating and counting the forms and context in which the bucchero was found, together with the other finds from the area, this study attempts to contextualize and uncover the status of the bucchero ware within the settlement and how this particular ware might be connected with the Etruscan banquets. By bringing all the material together from all the areas in San Giovenale, this study hopes to paint a clearer picture of the bucchero in San Giovenale in terms of form, amount, chronology and spread of bucchero. By studying the bucchero from the settlement of San Giovenale we might greatly enhance our understanding of the bucchero ware outside of the tomb context that it is usually found within.

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Cette thèse traite de deux sujets principaux : l’impact du territoire d’origine de la marque sur le comportement du consommateur, et l’impact de la consommation ostentatoire sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur.D’une part, notre étude met en évidence l’importance du territoire d’origine de la marque dans la création de la perception de l’authenticité du consommateur. Elle valide d’une manière empirique une chaine d’effets, depuis les associations du territoire d’origine d’un produit en passant par son authenticité perçue jusqu’à la connexion du consommateur à la marque. Une méthode d’expérimentation et la régression des moindres carrés partielle ont été choisies, afin de tester les hypothèses avec 665 consommateurs chinois. Les résultats montrent que le territoire d’origine a un effet positif sur la perception de l’authenticité du consommateur, qui ensuite a un effet positif sur la connexion du consommateur à la marque. De plus, par rapport au pays d’origine, le territoire d’origine est le facteur unique qui a un effet positif sur l’authenticité perçue du produit et contribue à créer la connexion du consommateur au produit. Nous avons aussi montré que la familiarité au territoire d’origine du consommateur et la congruence de la catégorie du produit avec son origine territoriale renforcent l’effet positif du territoire d’origine sur la perception de l’authenticité du consommateur. Cependant, une seule catégorie de produit (savon à la lavande) et une seule variable dépendante (l’authenticité perçue) ont été considérés dans cette étude. Compte tenu de la pertinence décroissante des associations du pays d’origine, cette étude démontre que le territoire d'origine est une stratégie alternative intéressante pour le renforcement de la valeur de la marque.D’autre part, malgré l’importance croissante de la consommation ostentatoire dans le monde, peu de recherches s’intéressent à l’impact de la consommation ostentatoire sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur. De plus, il existe des avis contradictoires sur leur relation. Cette étude propose une explication de la motivation duale et considère que la consommation ostentatoire a un effet positif sur le bien-être du consommateur si le consommateur utilise l’objet pour se prouver sa valeur, et un effet négatif sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur si l’objet est utilisé afin d’éveiller l’attention des autres. Les résultats des trois études empiriques montrent que le sens de l’impact de la consommation ostentatoire sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur dépend de ce qui motive la consommation. Ainsi, le matérialisme du consommateur augmente l’effet de la consommation ostentatoire pour éveiller l’attention des autres sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur. / This thesis consists of two main topics: the impact of brand territory of origin (TOO) on consumer behaviour, and the impact of conspicuous consumption on consumer subjective well-being (SWB).On one side, this thesis highlights the importance of territory associations for consumers’ perception of product authenticity and empirically tests the chain of effects, from a TOO association to perceived authenticity to consumers’ self–brand connections. An experimental method and a partial least square (PLS) approach were adopted to test hypotheses with 665 Chinese consumers. Results demonstrate that TOO exerts a positive impact on perceived product authenticity, which improves consumers’ self–brand connections. In addition, compared with country of origin (COO), TOO has a unique positive impact on perceived authenticity and a direct positive effect on consumers’ self–brand connections. Also, the positive impact of TOO on perceived authenticity is enhanced by consumers’ familiarity with the TOO and congruence between the product category and TOO. But only one outcome of TOO (perceived authenticity) and one product category (lavender soap) have been considered in this study. Noting the diminishing relevance of COO associations, this study demonstrates that territory of origin is an appealing alternative strategy for strengthening brand equity.On the other side, despite the growing importance of conspicuous consumption in all parts of the world, little research focuses on the effect of conspicuous consumption on consumer SWB, and when this is the case, the results are controversial. We propose and test a bi-motive hypothesis whereby the valence of the effect of conspicuous consumption on consumer SWB depends on whether the conspicuous object is used as self-signaling conspicuous consumption or other-signaling conspicuous consumption. The results of three studies demonstrate that the self-signaling conspicuous consumer has a significantly higher level of SWB than the other-signaling conspicuous consumer. Furthermore, consumer materialism enhances the negative relationship between other-signaling conspicuous consumption and consumer SWB.