Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Hospitality Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhm The impact of brand authenticity on building brand love: An investigation of impression in memory and lifestyle-congruence Aikaterini Manthiou a, ⁎ , Juhee Kang b , Sunghyup Sean Hyun c , Xiao Xiao Fu b a Marketing Department, NEOMA Business School, 1 rue du Maréchal Juin, 76825, Mont Saint Aignan, France b Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, 9907 Universal Blvd, Orlando, FL, 32819, United States c School of Tourism, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdonggu, Seoul, 133-791, Republic of Korea ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Brand authenticity Impression in memory Lifestyle-congruence Brand love Need for uniqueness Luxury hotels ABSTRACT This study investigates how brand authenticity perceptions, impression in memory, lifestyle-congruence, and brand love interrelate with one another. It also examines the moderating effect of the need for uniqueness in the luxury hotel setting. Empirical data was collected from 412 American guests of different luxury hotel brands. The findings indicate that brand authenticity is a critical determinant of impression in memory, lifestyle-congruence, and brand love. Brand authenticity’s relationships with impression in memory, lifestyle-congruence and brand love do not differ between high and low uniqueness perceivers. This study’s findings could help managers un- derstand perceived authenticity better as a key factor that positions luxury hotel brands and influences business performance. 1. Introduction Consumers’ pursuit of authenticity is growing (Gilmore and Pine, 2007), and their quest for experiences that are relevant, original, and genuine is increasing (Arnould and Price, 2000). Hotel brands’ future success depends no longer only on being operationally strong but also on sustaining consumers’ perceptions of the authenticity of their ex- perience (Milman, 2013; Sedmak and Mihalic, 2008). Consequently, ensuring that a hotel has a character and personality emanating from every touchpoint is especially significant for luxury hotel brands (Russell, 2015). This distinctive role differentiates a luxury accom- modation property from its competitors, making authenticity essential for hotel brands (Sedmak and Mihalic, 2008). In addition, USA is the leading player in the luxury hotel sector across the globe (Reportlinker, 2017) and it is going to remain the largest market during the forecast period from 2016 to 2021 due to the huge presence of luxury hotels (Zion Market Research, 2017). To the best of our knowledge, while the construct of authenticity has been discussed in the hospitality and tourism literature (e.g. Cohen 1972; Stroma, 2007; Lu et al., 2015), research in a hotel setting is scant. This is the first gap this study aims to fill. In particular, previous re- search has operationalized authenticity in tourism and hospitality si- tuations such as tourism destinations (Tasci and Knutson, 2004), dif- ferent tourism activities (Steiner and Reisinger, 2006), theme parks (Milman, 2013), festivals (Chhabra et al., 2003) ethnic restaurants (Lu et al., 2015), rural tourism areas (Catrina, 2016) and fast-food brands (Schallehn et al., 2014) etc. Luxury hotels value an experience that is consistent with their guests’ lifestyle (Russell, 2015). Lifestyle marketing comprises con- sumers’ being sorted into groups based on activities they like, how they prefer to pass their leisure time, and how they choose to spend their income (Zablocki and Kanter, 1976). Moreover, an important part of this perspective is to identify products/brands that consumers associate with a specific lifestyle (Solomon, 2015). Customs, values, and norms influence a consumer lifestyle, which encompasses all areas of an in- dividual, including behavior, thoughts, work, leisure, clothing, food, and interests. Drawing on a socio-psychological approach, this paper conceptualizes authenticity as the degree to which consumers’ personal identity is connected to their individual behavior through the influence of external social forces. When it comes to luxury goods/offers, con- sumer prioritize authenticity as a principal dimension (Jones, 2017). Moreover, the word luxury comes from the Latin luxuria and means extras of life (Danziger, 2005). Moreover, luxus which is the root of luxury means extravagant living (Li et al., 2012). Thus, among different accommodation options, a luxury hotel is the right place for guests to experience a sophisticated and excessive stay that is similar or dissim- ilar to their lifestyles (Curtis, 2001). After all, the luxury and affluent market is subdivided by lifestyle as well as other characteristics, showing the close connection of “luxury” and “consumer lifestyle” (Michman and Mazze, 2009). As such, understanding the impact of https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.03.005 Received 22 March 2017; Received in revised form 11 January 2018; Accepted 12 March 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: aikaterini.manthiou@neoma-bs.fr (A. Manthiou), Juhee.Kang@ucf.edu (J. Kang), sshyun@hanyang.ac.kr (S.S. Hyun), Xiaoxiao.Fu@ucf.edu (X.X. Fu). International Journal of Hospitality Management 75 (2018) 38–47 0278-4319/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T