Theorising brand aura

Abstract

PurposeBuilding on Walter Benjamin's philosophical reflections on aura and authenticity, this article aims to conceptualise and theorise brand aura.Design/methodology/approachThis article extends understanding of brand aura within the management, marketing and tourism literature with reference to Benjamin's framing of aura and authenticity in time and space.FindingsWithin a Benjaminian framework this article theorises brand aura and offers a conceptualisation of the antecedents of brand aura. It explores the duality of what is termed here as artefactual authenticity and existential authenticity. It illustrates the central role of consumers' mémoire involontaire in the realisation of brand aura. Within this Benjaminian framework, the article explores how artefactual authenticity is preceded by brand essence, while existential authenticity precedes brand essence. Implications for the management of the service encounter are discussed with reference to territorial legitimacy and historical testimony in the context of the firm's role in supporting consumer experiential engagement.Originality/valueThis article advances theoretical understanding of how consumers engage experientially with brand aura and how firms curate brand aura.

The effect of investment in the brand value chain on profitability and market value of the firm: lesson of success taken from Amazon

“…The study makes several contributions to the extant literature on investment in BVCH. First, in accordance with Rautet al [2] and Alexander and Doherty [11] brand value has a major influence; the study of this paper contributes to the dearth of work on this topic by analyzing the direct and indirect effects of an investment in BVCH on brand resonance, firm profitability, and the firm's MV. This study is among the first to examine how investment in BVCH affects brand resonance, firm profitability and firm's MV by checking the multiple mediation processes between the study's variables.…”

“…While Alexander and Doherty [11] asked the question: How can Benjamin's understanding of aura and its notions of artificial authenticity and existential authenticity be reconciled with the process of mass consumption and brand meaning? They have shown the concept of a brand aura addresses a fundamental tension at the core of our understanding of authenticity.…”

Brand heritage on Twitter: a text-mining stereotype content perspective

“…Comparing drivers of warmth and competence with drivers of brand heritage suggests certain similarities. For example, brand authenticity, an established driver of brand heritage perceptions (Alexander and Doherty, 2023; Merchant and Rose, 2013), can increase brand trust through warmth and competence (Portal et al , 2019). Perceived warmth, competence (Kolbl et al , 2020) and brand heritage (Wuestefeld et al , 2012) can all increase the perceived value of a brand.…”

“…Understanding how consumers discuss brand heritage on contemporary social media is particularly important from a co-creation perspective (Burghausen, 2022). UGC may complement and supplement the consciously and selectively reframed brand histories used by managers to create brand stories (Alexander and Doherty, 2023; Pfannes et al , 2021). Social media can engage consumers and provide heritage brands with a platform for co-creating content to disseminate brand value propositions.…”

The moderating effect of the use of virtual reality technologies in the branding of the cultural tourism sector: an analysis from the brand heritage

“…Considering the primary studies in the field of heritage, it is possible to find some areas of interest in research as a corporate strategy (Brunninge 2023), adverse effects (Sørensen et al 2021), studies of theoretical foundation (Burghausen 2023;Alexander & Doherty 2023), country studies (Pecot et al 2023;Thondhlana et al 2021;Den Hartog & Martínez 2022), sector studies (Shen 2022), the consumer (Chen 2022), and sustainability (Manta et al 2022;Madan et al 2022).…”