8.4 Brand Authenticity
This construct is to be determined, we still have not consensus whether this is a reflective or formative construct. The first paper (Morhart et al. 2015) is a reflective model, but could not find a latent construct of brand authenticity and they have some troubles with the first order dimensions. On the other hand, (Nunes, Ordanini, and Giambastiani 2021) recently introduced the formative measurement scale of authenticity. But their arguments on this paper is still questionable.
Morhart et al. (2015)
Perceived brand authenticity measurement scale
“PBA arises from the interplay of objective facts (indexical authenticity), subjective mental associations (iconic authenticity), and existential motives connected to a brand (existential authenticity).” (p. 202)
Definition: PBA is “the extent to which consumers perceive a brand to be faithful and true toward itself and its consumers, and to support consumers being true to themselves.” (p. 202)
Dependent variables: emotional brand attachment, positive WOM
PBA is the interplay of
Objective facts (indexical authenticity) - objectivist perceptive
Subjective mental association (iconic authenticity) - constructivist perspective
Existential motives connected to a brand (existential authenticity) - existentialist perspective
Four reflective measures:
Continuity
Integrity
Credibility
Symbolism
Nunes, Ordanini, and Giambastiani (2021)
Authenticity has 6 formative constructs: accuracy, connectedness, integrity, legitimacy, originality, and proficiency
Authenticity is defined as “a holistic consumer assessment determined by six component judgments (accuracy, connectedness, integrity, legitimacy originality, and proficiency) whereby the role of each component can change according to the consumption context.” (p. 2)
Definitions of the six components (p. 3)
Authenticity is conceptually different from consumer attitude
Using grounded theory to come up with potential dimension, and verify the measurement model of authenticity based on PLS
Dependent variables: attitudes, behavioral intentions.