Title: Toward a 'masstige' theory and strategy for marketing

Authors: Justin Paul

Addresses: University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, 00931, USA

Abstract: The term 'Masstige' stands for mass prestige. Masstige marketing is a strategic phenomenon with the goal of market penetration and brand management in the era of globalisation. The main purpose of this paper is to contribute towards the development of the masstige marketing theory to explain the brand management phenomenon of high value/premium/moderately highly priced (but attainable) brands with a new theoretical model - focused on product, promotion and place strategies, keeping prices constant. Besides, we assess and contrast the effectiveness of marketing strategy of foreign and domestic car brands in the USA using Masstige Mean Index (MMI) developed by Paul (2015). This study is based on the survey data of owners of Japanese and American car brands. It was found that brands can create higher mass prestige value in a foreign country if they follow masstige marketing strategy. The study shows how MMI may facilitate masstige score estimates, allowing comparisons and aiding brands in devising strategies.

Keywords: brand perception; foreign brand; brand equity; mass prestige; masstige mean index.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2018.094466

European Journal of International Management, 2018 Vol.12 No.5/6, pp.722 - 745

Received: 07 Jul 2017
Accepted: 05 Mar 2018
Published online: 03 Sep 2018 *

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