CONNECTING OR DISCONNECTING: LUXURY BRANDS’ SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES AND AFFLUENT CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS’ INTERPRETATIONS

Huan Chen,Ye Wang 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2016 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2016 No.7

With its fast growing economy and huge population, China has become one of the most lucrative markets for luxury brands (Zhan and He 2012). In fact, China has surpassed Japan and become the No.1 luxury products spender in the world, accounting more than one-quarter of the global luxury brand expenditure (Artsmon et al. 2012). Chinese middle-class consumers thus have become important targets of luxury brands (Zhan and He 2012). However, China’s culture is different from Western cultures (Li, Li and Kambelle 2012), and Chinese luxury consumers have their distinctive characteristics (Buchwald, 2015). Therefore, Chinese luxury consumption may not follow the trends of Western world (Li, Li and Kambelle 2012). Previous studies have explored Chinese luxury consumers’ perceptions and receptivity of luxury brands in different cultural contexts (Bian and Forsythe 2012; Wang, Sun and Song 2011; Zhan and He 2012; Wang, Sun and Song 2011; Li, Li and Kanbelle 2012; Oswald 2010, Li and Su 2007; Wang and Ahuvia 1998). However, all those studies have only investigated luxury brands’ marketing strategies in traditional offline worlds. With the emergence of digital technology, luxury brands have started building presence in online world through different digital marketing strategies (Okonkwo 2009). Among all the digital marketing tools, social media marketing has become an increasingly important marketing communication weapon (Kim and Ko, 2012). While the luxury brands have widely accepted social media marketing, the academic research largely lags behind, Only limited number of studies have examined luxury brands’ social media marketing strategies (Tynan, McKechnie, and Chhoun, 2010; Kim and Ko, 2012). No study, to the authors’ knowledge, has been conducted to investigate luxury brands’ social media marketing strategies in connecting with Chinese consumers. In addition, previous studies on luxury brands marketing have conducted either quantitatively (Bian and Forsythe 2012; Wang, Sun and Song 2011; Zhan and He 2012; Wang, Sun and Song 2011; Li, Li and Kanbelle 2012) or qualitatively (Oswald 2010, Li and Su 2007; Wang and Ahuvia 1998) from either consumers’ or marketer’s perspective. In order to fill the research gaps, the current study is designed to explore the phenomenon with a mixed method by integrating both marketers’ social media marketing strategies and consumers’ interpretation of those marketers’ social media marketing in the contextof China. Specifically, a quantitative content analysis was conducted to examine marketers’ social media marketing strategies on a Chinese social media platform: WeChat; in the meanwhile, a qualitative study was conducted to explore Chinese female affluent consumers’ interpretations of those social media strategies transmitted via WeChat. Based on the research purpose, two overarching research questions were proposed: R1: Do Western luxury brand use social media platform of WeChat to build social presence, create self-presentation or interact with consumers? R2: What are Chinese female affluent consumers’ perceptions and interpretations of luxury brands’ social media marketing communication strategies via WeChat? Methodology The current study used a mixed methodological approach (Creswell 2014). Specifically, a quantitative content analysis (Krippendorff 2012) and a phenomenological study (Creswell 2012) were conducted to investigate luxury brands’ social media marketing communication strategies via WeChat and Chinese female affluent consumers’ perception toward those marketing communication strategies. Initial Findings Study 1 So far, 50% (N = 60) of the sample was analyzed. RQ1 asked about the luxury brands’ marketing communication strategies. The initial frequencies of each coded variable are reported in Table 1. Table 1. Frequencies of Coded Variables The results showed that more than half of the coded messages had images, showed products/brands in images or videos, provided event, discount and other promotional information, described products’ physical features and attributes, contained celebrities, sought action-based participation, and applied hyperlinks. The initial data suggest that a major use of social media in luxury brand advertising is to build the brand’s social presence by extensively using visuals. Images were found in 44 messages, and 25 of them used 6 or more images. Most of these images showed products or brands. Video also appeared in 14 messages. The initial results also suggest consumer interaction and engagement is restricted to the lowest level. The two major ways of interaction were hyperlinks and action-based participation. A close examination showed that these two were often used together. A hyperlink used anchor text that contained a call for action-based participation, like “read more,” “get the coupon,” etc. A lot of these actions related to consuming content, like reading, downloading or sharing, which is the lowest level of brand related-activeness on branded social media sites (Muntinga, Moorman, and Smit 2011).Additionally, product/brand information and physical features and attributes were frequently mentioned, suggesting that luxury brands use social media for information dissemination. WeChat has a large size of active users, and self-disclosure of information on social media can create a sense of close relationship (Kaplan and Haelein, 2010). High product quality, especially in terms of design and craftsmanship were frequently addressed, suggesting that that social media are used to communicate the nuances of brand’s social meanings. For example, some messages described the conceptualization of the design, the processing of handcrafting, and the meaning of the design, etc. These deeper meaning of a brand is often left out of traditional methods of advertising because of limited space or time. Celebrity was one of the major methods to create social meaning, suggesting that luxury brands use social media to leverage parasocial interaction between celebrities and consumers. Parasocial interaction refers to consumers’ perception of personal relationship with media personalities (Men and Tsai 2013). Among the sample messages, there were interviews with famous designers, advices and recommendations from celebrities about luxury brand and fashion, etc. These messages offer an opportunity for consumers to connect with celebrities, and subsequently, associate luxury brands with these iconic figures (McCraken, 1989). All in all, Western luxury brands largely use social media to build social presence, disseminate information, and communicate brand’s social meanings. Luxury brands frequently interact with audiences on social media but the level of consumer engagement is restricted. Study 2 The participants’ interpretations of WeChat provide a unique context and form a crucial referential framework for them to interpret luxury brands’ marketing communications on this particular social media platform. Specifically, the themes that emerged regarding those Chinese female affluent consumers’ perceptions of the social medium are an intimate friend vs. an everyday assistant, simple vs. complicated, and stickiness vs. interactivity; and, the themes regarding the participants’ interpretation of luxury brands’ marketing communications include inactive, conservative, and distance. Based on their own experiences of social media marketing and from consumers’ perspectives, the participants also provided insightful suggestions for luxury brands to improve their social media marketing to better connect with their consumers. Interpretation of WeChat An Intimate Friend vs. An Everyday Assistant According to the participants, their usage and composition of friends on WeChat has kept changing and evolving. At the initial stage of their usage, all the friends on WeChat were family members and close friends. At that time, WeChat constructed a small, closed, and intimate social circle for them to communicate, socialize, and entertain themselves and their WeChat friends in a carefree and relaxing way. In this sense, WeChat is like a good friend, who can accompany them and chat with them whenever they need him/her. Later, with the number of WeChat friends increasing and expanding, the composition of theirWeChat friends has also become complicated: different social relationships have been added to their WeChat friend list. Accordingly, based on the closeness and remoteness, they categorize their WeChat friends and communicate and socialize with them in a more cautious and delicate way. In this sense, WeChat has also changed to an office assistant who helps them to manage and maintain their social relationships. Simple vs. Complicated With the change of WeChat and the revolution of participants’ usage and experiences, in the life-worlds of the participants, WeChat has transformed from a simple chatting app to a multi-functional personal service hub. At the initial usage of stage, according to the participants, the major function of WeChat is a chatting app to communicate with their friends conveniently. Later, with more functions to be added to WeChat, WeChat has evolved to a complicated personal service hub to serve various personal and commercial purposes for the participants. Stickiness vs. Interactivity According to the participants, WeChat is a unique social media platform with high stickiness but low interactivity. The participants indicated that they use WeChat all the time, and they have to check their WeChat numerous times during a day. In other words, WeChat is considered as a high frequency social media app. In the meantime, the participants felt that WeChat is lacking interactivity when comparing to other social media platforms such as microblogging. They stated that the possible interactive activities on WeChat are very limited. In other words, in the life-world of the participants, WeChat is perceived as a less reciprocative social media platform. Interpretation of Luxury Brands’ Marketing Communication on WeChat Inactive According to the participants, the luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts are less active than other brands’ public accounts. Those luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts post information less frequently and seldom interact with followers. This is actually put those luxury brands in a relatively negative marketing position on WeChat. The participants indicated that they follow many public accounts. Because the luxury brands’ public accounts are not very active, without constant reminder, the followers may gradually forget about those luxury brands’ public accounts and stop checking their accounts’ updates. Conservative In addition to be seen as inactive, the luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts are also perceived to be conservative. According to the participants, compared to other brands, luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts are too serious, less interesting, and lacking entertainment. The participants felt that the luxury brands are very cautious and careful regarding their WeChat presence. Therefore, their WeChat posts are generally too conservative and formal, lacking creativity and uniqueness. As a result, the participants couldn’t remember any impressive and unforgettable post from those luxury brands’ WeChat public accounts.Distance In the participants’ eyes, the luxury brands are perceived to intentionally keep a certain distance from WeChat users. The participants felt that on the one hand the luxury brands are trying hard to connect with their consumers on social media, on the other hand, they are also trying to preserve their luxury brand image on this media platform by alienating general WeChat users. However, the participants felt it is not easy for luxury brands to achieve those two purposes successfully on WeChat. Suggestion of Luxury Brands’ Marketing Communication on WeChat Based on their perceptions and experiences of luxury brands’ social media marketing, the participants offered several insightful suggestions for luxury brands to improve their social marketing endeavors to better connect with their consumers. According to the participants, the most important marketing communication strategy via social media that luxury brands could adopt is to collaborate with opinion leaders (Katz and Lazarsfeld 1957) on social media to humanize, personalize, and entertainize their marketing communications. As the participants indicated, there are many successful and popular personal fashion public accounts on WeChat which have millions of loyal followers. Those personal fashion public accounts usually have unique styles and characteristics that are attractive to and well-liked by their followers. Compared to luxury brands’ official public accounts, those personal public accounts are perceived more humanized, personal, and closer to consumers. In addition, those accounts also have more flexibility to be creative and entertaining thus providing a better social media experience for luxury brands’ consumers. For luxury brands’ own public accounts on social media, the participants suggested that those luxury brands should become more active on social media by posting messages more frequently and constantly reminding consumers of their social presence. In addition, the participants think those luxury brands should be more adventurous on social media by being more creative and expressing more entertaining spirit.

Correlation Between Knee Muscle Strength and Maximal Cycling Speed Measured Using 3D Depth Camera in Virtual Reality Environment

Ye Jin Kim(Ye Jin Kim),Hye-seon Jeon(Hye-seon Jeon),Joo-hee Park(Joo-hee Park),Gyeong-Ah Moon(Gyeong-Ah Moon),Yixin Wang(Yixin Wang) 한국전문물리치료학회 2022 한국전문물리치료학회지 Vol.29 No.4

Background: Virtual reality (VR) programs based on motion capture camera are the most convenient and cost-effective approaches for remote rehabilitation. Assessment of physical function is critical for providing optimal VR rehabilitation training; however, direct muscle strength measurement using camera-based kinematic data is impracticable. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a method to indirectly estimate the muscle strength of users from the value obtained using a motion capture camera. Objects: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the pedaling speed converted using the VR engine from the captured foot position data in the VR environment can be used as an indirect way to evaluate knee muscle strength, and to investigate the validity and reliability of a camera-based VR program. Methods: Thirty healthy adults were included in this study. Each subject performed a 15-second maximum pedaling test in the VR and built-in speedometer modes. In the VR speedometer mode, a motion capture camera was used to detect the position of the ankle joints and automatically calculate the pedaling speed. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to assess the isometric and isokinetic peak torques of knee flexion and extension. Results: The pedaling speeds in VR and built-in speedometer modes revealed a significantly high positive correlation (r = 0.922). In addition, the intra-rater reliability of the pedaling speed in the VR speedometer mode was good (ICC [intraclass correlation coefficient] = 0.685). The results of the Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant moderate positive correlation between the pedaling speed of the VR speedometer and the peak torque of knee isokinetic flexion (r = 0.639) and extension (r = 0.598). Conclusion: This study suggests the potential benefits of measuring the maximum pedaling speed using 3D depth camera in a VR environment as an indirect assessment of muscle strength. However, technological improvements must be followed to obtain more accurate estimation of muscle strength from the VR cycling test.

Intestinal Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Selenized Ulva pertusa Polysaccharides in a Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Inflammatory Bowel Disease Model

Yifan Wang,Han Ye,Leke Qiao,Chunying Du,Zhengpeng Wei,Ting Wang,Jingfeng Wang,Ruizhi Liu,Peng Wang 한국식품영양과학회 2021 Journal of medicinal food Vol.24 No.3

The purpose of this study was to examine the alleviative effects of selenized polysaccharides from Ulva pertusa (ulvan-Se) on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in mice. The dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced IBD mouse model was used to explore the protective effects of ulvan-Se on the intestinal mechanical and immune barrier. At doses less than 1208 mg/kg·bw ulvan-Se showed no significant damage to Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice in an acute toxicity test. The results showed that DSS destroyed the mechanical barrier, which includes epithelial cells, while ulvan-Se promoted mRNA expression of tight junction proteins (zonula occludens protein 1, occludin, and claudin-1) and inhibited the infiltration of white blood cells into the intestines. At 100 mg/kg·bw, ulvan-Se enhanced the antioxidant capacity of mice more effectively than the 50 mg/kg·bw ulvan-Se. Furthermore, ulvan-Se improved the intestinal immune barrier by increasing immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin M, while regulating the levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, interferon-γ, and IL-4. Oral administration of ulvan-Se also suppressed tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA expression mediated by the nuclear factor kappa B pathway. Taken together, our findings reveal that ulvan-Se could be used as a potential alternative supplement for reducing intestinal inflammation in IBD.

Timosaponin AIII induces apoptosis and autophagy in human melanoma A375-S2 cells

Ye Wang,Lei Xu,Li-Li Lou,Shao-Jiang Song,Guo-Dong Yao,Meng-Yao Ge,Toshihiko Hayashi,Shin-ichi Tashiro,Satoshi Onodera,Takashi Ikejima 대한약학회 2017 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.40 No.1

Timosaponin AIII (AIII), a steroidal saponinisolated from Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge. Our studyshowed that AIII induced both apoptosis and autophagy,and autophagy inhibited apoptosis in A375S2 cells. Furtherly,this study was carried out to investigate what kindof cytokines plays an important role in this process. Theresults revealed that AIII induced apoptosis through activatingc-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) or extracellularsignal related kinase (ERK) signaling pathway andgenerating NO. However, JNK or ERK inhibited autophagy,while NO had no effect on autophagy. Therefore,JNK, ERK or NO regulates two programmed death processesin different ways. AIII did not show obvious cytotoxiceffect on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells,which indicated that AIII has less side effects on normalcells, and could be considered as a leading compound fordeveloping novel anticancer drug.

Novel Microwave Absorption Materials of Porous Flower-Like Nickel Oxide@Polyaniline in the X-Band

Ye Liu,Honglong Xing,Lei Wang,Zhenfeng Liu,Huan Wang,Hanxiao Jia 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2018 NANO Vol.13 No.6

Porous flower nickel oxide@polyaniline (NiO@PANI) composites as excellent microwave absorption (MA) materials in the X-band were synthesized via a two-step strategy in this work. The porous NiO flower is uniformly dispersed and homogeneous in particle size after Ostwald ripening process. Coating conductive PANI on the surface of porous NiO microspheres could improve interfacial polarization and dielectric loss property that will lead to a great improvement of MA properties. Electromagnetic (EM) parameters of NiO@PANI composites with different NiO contents were investigated by a vector network analyzer and the reflection loss (RL) values with varied thickness were also calculated. The results showed that the effective absorption bandwidths (RL < -10 dB) of all NiO@PANI composites can cover the whole X-band. Especially, the NiO@PANI0.1 composite is able to attenuate microwave energy in the X-band with the thickness of 2.5mm. The NiO@PANI0.2 has a maximum RL of -32.8 dB at 10.1GHz and the effective absorption bandwidths cover 4.64GHz (11.12–15.76GHz) at 2.0mm. The excellent MA absorption performance may be ascribed to the polarization effect, dielectric loss and structure of porous flower-like NiO@PANI. Our work confirms that the synthesized NiO@PANI composite is an attractive candidate as a highly efficient MA material in the X-band.

Expression and Effects of JMJD2A Histone Demethylase in Endometrial Carcinoma

Wang, Hong-Li,Liu, Mei-Mei,Ma, Xin,Fang, Lei,Zhang, Zong-Feng,Song, Tie-Fang,Gao, Jia-Yin,Kuang, Ye,Jiang, Jing,Li, Lin,Wang, Yang-Yang,Li, Pei-Ling Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.7

Previous studies have demonstrated that JMJD2A is a potential oncogene and is overexpressed in human tumors. However, its role in the endometrial carcinoma remains largely unknown. In this study, we discovered that JMJD2A was overexpressed in endometrial carcinoma, using immunohistochemistry, quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction, and western blotting. Downregulation of JMJD2A led to reduced endometrial carcinoma RL95-2 and ISK cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis as asessed with cell counting kit-8, cell migration and invasive assays. Collectively, our results support that JMJD2A is a promoter of endometrial carcinoma cell proliferation and survival, and is a potential novel drug target.

Cellular uptake mechanism and comparative <i>in vitro</i> cytotoxicity studies of monomeric LMWP-siRNA conjugate

Ye, Junxiao,Pei, Xing,Cui, Hui,Yu, Zhili,Lee, Hyukjin,Wang, Jianxin,Wang, Xu,Sun, Lu,He, Huining,Yang, Victor C. THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING 2018 JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY -S Vol.63 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The covalent attachment of CPPs to siRNA molecules offers great potential for CPP-mediated siRNA delivery. We recently reported a concise and high-yield synthesis strategy of the cell-permeable, cytosol-dissociable LMWP-siRNA covalent conjugate. Herein, cell uptake mechanism and cellular toxicity studies of this conjugate were performed to evaluate the potential of LMWP-siRNA conjugate for clinical translation. Cellular uptake mechanism study indicated that the conjugate could be taken up by cells via multiple pathways, including direct penetration of the plasma membrane and clathrin- and caveolae-independent endocytosis. <I>In vitro</I> cytotoxicity study revealed that the conjugation promoted internalization in a low-toxic fashion.</P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Down-regulated MYH11 Expression Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Stage II and III Colorectal Cancer

Wang, Ren-Jie,Wu, Peng,Cai, Guo-Xiang,Wang, Zhi-Min,Xu, Ye,Peng, Jun-Jie,Sheng, Wei-Qi,Lu, Hong-Fen,Cai, San-Jun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.17

The MYH11 gene may be related to cell migration and adhesion, intracellular transport, and signal transduction. However, its relationship with prognosis is still uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate correlations between MYH11 gene expression and prognosis in 58 patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed in fresh CRC tissues to examine mRNA expression, and immunohistochemistry was performed with paraffin-embedded specimens for protein expression. On univariate analysis, MYH11 expression at both mRNA and protein levels, perineural invasion and lymphovascular invasion were related to disease-free survival (p<0.05; log-rank test). Cancers with lower MYH11 expression were more likely to have a poor prognosis. Otherwise, MYH11 expression was unrelated to patient clinicopathological features. On multivariate analysis, low MYH11 expression proved to be an independent adverse prognosticator (p<0.05). These findings show that MYH11 can contribute to predicting prognosis in stage II and III colorectal cancers.

A Comparative Study on PMIPv6 and Partially DMM Network Architecture

Ye Wang,Xiaobo Li,Wenhui Zhang 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Vol.11 No.8

This paper provides A performance analysis and implementation between Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) and partially distributed mobility management (DMM) network architecture. The simulation results indicated DMM networks perform better benefits than PMIPv6 network by analyzing packet delivery ratio (PDR) and CPU point-to-point utilization.

Microstructure-modified proton exchange membranes for high-performance direct methanol fuel cells

Wang, Manxiang,Liu, Guicheng,Tian, Zhe,Shao, Yingna,Wang, Lei,Ye, Feng,Tran, Minh Xuan,Yun, Yanbin,Lee, Joong Kee Elsevier 2017 Energy conversion and management Vol.148 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>To lower methanol crossover and volume swelling degree, and to improve proton conductivity, a simple hot-mould-modifying method has been introduced to modify Nafion membrane for the direct methanol fuel cell application. To evaluate effect of the modification on properties of the Nafion membrane and fuel cell performance, a series of measurements of membranes and fuel cells have been carried out. The results show that, compared with the normal membrane, the modified Nafion membrane with regular spindle-type groove array possesses higher proton conductivity and methanol diffusion resistance, and 31.9% better dimensional stability, owing to its larger electrical double-layer capacitance come from the higher contact area between electron-electrode and ion electrolyte, and its more compact internal structure. And also, the direct methanol fuel cell based on the modified Nafion membrane shows 13.3% higher discharge power density and better long-time running performance than the normal one. Furthermore, this hot-mould-modifying method could be introduced into doping/coating-modified membranes reported in the current literature to further modify Nafion membranes, because this method is compatible with the current modifications.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> A simple hot-mould-modified Nafion membrane is used for direct methanol fuel cells. </LI> <LI> Regular spindle-type groove array is uniformly distributed on the membrane surface. </LI> <LI> Modification lowers methanol crossover, swelling, and improves proton conductivity. </LI> <LI> Power density and long-time running performance of fuel cells are improved visibly. </LI> <LI> This method provides a practicable way for direct methanol fuel cell applications. </LI> </UL> </P>