Introduction
(max 1500 words)
The introduction presents the subject and the structure of the book, and makes the case for the study of authenticity. It includes a summary of the various chapters, provides context and offers the interpretation key to the book. In addition, it presents the objectives, the scope and the structure of the book.
Chapter 1 – Authenticity: a polemical concept
(max 4000 words)
Chapter 1 is the introductory section of the pivot and deals with the importance of the concept of authenticity in marketing and the reasons for reviewing the topic. It lays out the rationale of the book and makes the case for the study of authenticity in marketing.
The chapter begins with describing the concept of ‘authenticity’ as the buzz words of the 21st century (Gilmore and Pine, 2007) and one of the most demanded and popular features of our age. For instance, recent research showed that 91% of global consumers (15,000 respondents) said they would reward a brand for its authenticity via “purchase, investment, endorsement or similar action” (Cohn & Wolfe, 2016).
Further, Chapter 1 points out that authenticity is a polysemous and “implicitly polemical” concept (Trilling, 1972: 94): authenticity most often comes into play when it is put in question (Trilling, 1972; Peterson, 2005), such as when the authenticity of an artwork must be established. In fact, authenticity has been described as an exclusionist notion and “a contrastive term” (Potter 2010: 6), apophatically defined by what it is not, not by what it is, and incapable of picking out the “real properties in the world” (Potter, 2010: 14).
Chapter 1 emphasizes how references to authenticity are countless in so-called high culture and how the notion of authenticity has taken on increasing importance in contemporary society where the technological and digital revolutions have gradually corroded the sacred aura of originals or prototypes (Benjamin, 1936), providing copies with new legitimacy. In fact, the need for authenticity is currently emerging as a growing concern for individuals. A clear sign of this phenomenon is the shift of the concept of authenticity from the realm of high culture (such as the fine arts or philosophy), to that of contemporary popular or low culture. Popular culture is full of references to the human need for authenticity between the authentic and the inauthentic reality television shows can be paradoxically read as a need for more authenticity in the broadcasting industry (Rose and Wood 2005). Contemporary social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr have been increasingly used as a means to gather authentic narratives around identity since they allow for a more authentic disclosure of individuals’ perceptions and feelings (Henderson and Bowley, 2010).
This chapter concludes by making the case for the study of authenticity as a growing consumer concern marketers should keep an eye on.
Chapter 2
The Concept of Authenticity in the Broader Literature
(max 8000 words)
Chapter 2 reviews the broader literature on authenticity and includes discussion of the non-business areas which have more direct relevance to the marketing issues, namely arts, philosophy, sociology and psychology.
In particular, the chapter points out how the first usage of the word authenticity is in the arts context, specifically in the museum “where persons expert in such matters test whether objects of art are what they appear to be or are claimed to be, and therefore worth the price that is asked for them or, if this has already been paid, worth the admiration they are being given” (Trilling, 1972: 93).
The chapter outlines two main perspectives on authenticity, namely modernist and constructivist approaches. On the one hand, modernist (or essentialist) approaches are rooted in positivism and are based on the assumption that there exists only one universal truth that is achieved through scientific measurement, i.e., authenticity is objective (Guba and Lincoln 1994). On the other hand, constructivist approaches are based on relativist ontology and assume that reality is socially negotiated, i.e., authenticity is socially constructed (Berger and Luckmann, 1967).
Based on these premises, the chapter will review the broader literature on the concept of ‘authenticity’ to identify some of the main themes and dimensions of the concept and to garner a greater comprehension of why and how varying approaches to and understandings of the concept are relevant to the marketing field.
Chapter 2 will set the stage for the following chapters, which focus on authenticity in marketing and related sub-fields.
Chapter 3
Authenticity in marketing: reality or oxymoron?
(max 8000 words)
Chapter 3 examines marketing research on authenticity. One of the consequences of the popularization of the concept of authenticity is the emergence of authenticity as a topic in marketing and consumer culture. Consumers are more and more interested in authentic, uncontaminated and real consumption experiences, products and services. Increasing consumer interest in organic and non-adulterated foods, the success of ecotourism and sustainable consumption practices, growing consumer enthusiasm surrounding ‘retro brands’ such as the Volkswagen New Beetle (Brown et al., 2003) and growing consumer preference for ‘high touch’ over ‘high tech’ experiences and practices (Naisbitt, 1982) provide but a few examples of such a tendency. Consumer perceptions of authenticity have been found to have a positive effect on brand attitude (Ewing et al., 2012; Spiggle et al., 2012; Fritz et al., 2017) and purchase intentions (Napoli et al., 2013)
Presenting itself as a critical concern for consumers, authenticity has, therefore, rapidly become central to the study and practice of marketing (Arnould and Price, 2000). As a result, the management of consumer perception of authenticity has become “the primary new source of competitive advantage”, as well as “the new business imperative” (Gilmore and Pine, 2007: 4). Consequently, the consumer search for authenticity has been regarded as “one of the cornerstones of contemporary marketing” (Brown et al., 2003: 21).
By presenting the different perspective on the concept, this chapter emphasizes the inherent paradoxes of the notion (Straub 2012), i.e., authenticity as being a hoax or an oxymoron (Potter, 2010).
Despite the increasing importance attributed to authenticity in the marketing field, the concept has received relatively little scholarly attention (Dickinson 2011) and research in this area is still in its infancy, mainly because authenticity “is still not well understood in its market manifestations” (Peñaloza, 2000: 103). In particular, few marketing scholars have provided explicit definitions of authenticity so that the term has been used in different ways and with a variety of meanings (Grayson and Martinec, 2004). In fact, the notion of authenticity, as developed in other disciplines, is only partially employed or considered in the work of marketing scholars, who have often neglected insights contributed from other fields (Granville Starr, 2011).
The chapter will emphasize how marketing understandings of the concept of authenticity have mirrore
