Immersive gaming in the fashion arena: an investigation of brand coolness and its mediating role on brand equity

Abstract

PurposeThis study's aim was to investigate the role of the perceived values of gaming on consumers' perceptions of brands as cool as well as the impacts on the consumer–brand equity relationship. The study proposed a framework highlighting the influences of fashion-branded games on brand coolness and building fashion brands' overall equity. As significant factors affecting gamers, gender and gaming have been studied as moderators affecting the overall proposed framework.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative method was used to assess the significance of the relationships within the proposed model. Partial least squares structural equation modeling technique was implemented to assess the framework's relationships with a sample size of 248 active online gamers.FindingsThe findings indicate that brand equity is positively associated with perceived brand coolness. Furthermore, of the three core online game values, perceived enjoyment was most strongly associated with perceived brand coolness, with other values, such as self-expression and perceived emotional challenge, having a weaker association. The multigroup analysis results further suggest that in the fashion industry, building brand equity through online games is strongly related to perceived brand coolness among female respondents, with the role of perceived brand coolness affecting male respondents to a lesser degree.Originality/valueThe contribution of this study to the existing literature consists in providing a deeper understanding of the impact of branded games on fashion brands' overall equity. The results provide insights for fashion brand managers into the significant effect of fashion gaming collaborations on consumers' behavioral outcomes.

Branding fashion through gameplay: the branded gaming and the cool dynamics in the fashion markets. A game-theory approach

“…On the other hand, brand equity was found to be influenced by consumers' perceptions of brand coolness. Consumers develop awareness, satisfaction, and loyalty towards fashion brands they perceive as cool (Salem et al, 2023a), which impacts their virtual-and maybe physical-consumption of those brands.…”

The Moderating Role of Entrepreneurial Networking between Entrepreneurial Alertness and the Success of Entrepreneurial Firms

“…Gaining an understanding from studies on the entrepreneurial opportunity process is one approach to progressing the field's understanding of the effects of entrepreneurial alertness on success [40]. Although there are many different ways to conceptualize an entrepreneurial opportunity in the literature [41,42], hardly one prevalent theory holds a cognitive process that involves the act of identifying and then seizing an opportunity. Research has demonstrated that entrepreneurs can create opportunities or objectively find them [43,44].…”