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From the last 20 years world is living a new “smart age” due to a series of transformations regarding technology, globalization, political, economy impacting consequently on cultural, social, demographic aspects. Past decades have in particular been marked by incredible technological advancement and innovations. Just think that in 1998, cell phones were still a rarity, and internet was only just catching on. These deep changes continue to play themself out shaping new lifestyle and consumption behaviour, on the one hand, and causing new firms processes, on the other hand. Notably, digitalization has changed consumers’ everyday lives, and radical changes in consumer behaviours have taken place especially related to information acquisition and decision-making.
In this context of uncertainty and high competition, influenced by the fatigue determined by consumers’ overchoice, we witness an amplified importance of the intangible assets of brands and authenticity appears to be a reply to hyperreality and globalness (Arnould & Price, 2003; Ballantyne & Varey, 2006; Lazzini, Lazzini, Balluchi, & Mazza, 2022). As such, the concept of authenticity was found to be one of the “cornerstones of contemporary marketing” (Brown, Kozinets, & Sherry, 2003) and a new business imperative for the experience economy (Gilmore & Pine, 2007; Södergren, 2021). These facts may be even greater for managers dealing with different typologies of consumers that don’t share the same behaviour, perception and preferences. In a digital and virtual communicative platforms world, not paradoxically, the “quest for authenticity” from consumers is becoming more emphasized and today it is defined as a socially constructed phenomenon (Beverland & Farrelly, 2010; Napoli, Dickinson, Beverland, & Farrelly, 2014; Pattuglia & Mingione, 2017; Södergren, 2021). On this line, a number of scholars have claimed that brand authenticity has the capability to legitimize a brand within its context and its consumers (Beverland, 2005, 2006; Beverland, Farrelly, & Quester, 2010; Grayson & Martinec, 2004; Kates, 2004; Rose & Wood, 2005; Thompson, Rindfleisch, & Arsel, 2006).
Consequentially, how customers perceive brands as authentic and what motivates them to pay price premium is an important theme in research as well as among practitioners (Anselmsson, Johansson, & Persson, 2007; Nunes, Ordanini, & Giambastiani, 2021). In line with these, in acknowledging the interpretative nature of brand authenticity, it is evident that consumers may differ in their evaluation, perceiving the same brand as authentic or inauthentic (Beverland & Farrelly, 2010; Rose & Wood, 2005). Brand authenticity can now inform a new consumers’ clusterization (Pattuglia & Mingione, 2017).
Finally, despite authenticity has been studied and analyzed in many sectors, such as luxury wine, beer, sport, green products, music (Beverland, 2005; D.R. Ewing, Allen, & R.L. Ewing, 2012; Kolar & Zabkar, 2010; Rose & Wood, 2005; Spiggle, Nguyen, & Caravella, 2012), the hi-tech companies haven’t been analyzed yet.