The customer value of space branding ‘authenticity’

Jooyun Kim's 
Spacebranding vol.38
 
"Space branding is to build an authentic value experience that can be assimilated through space."

<'Space' = 'Experience of authenticity'>
According to Richard Florida, author of <The Rise of the Creative Class> says, the new generation of creatives expects “more active, authentic and participatory experiences” in “places that are more authentic, friendly, and natural.” 1) In fact, not only the creative class, but all customers expect the authenticity of a company or business. For customers, sincerity has become an important decision-making criterion along with the quality of services or products.2)

The added value of the future business will be in how to assimilate customer values and corporate values to recognize authenticity and lead to 'value consumption'. The connection, the interface, is 'space'. Customers, who are the subject of perception, evaluate the company through authentic experience in the space of interest and remember it as a valuable relationship.

SUNNYHILLS by KENGO KUMA, Tokyo ©Jooyun Kim

Space branding is to build a valuable experience of authenticity that can be assimilated through space. The 'value experience' in space is the total of experiences felt through sensory stimulation such as vision, hearing, and touch. The stimulus can be divided into ‘aesthetic stimulus’ that consumes beauty, ‘amusement stimulus’ that consumes pleasure and pleasure, and ‘symbolic stimulus’ that symbolizes wealth and status through consumption.

<Customer Value of Space Branding>
Value' is the concept that encompasses the "promised business and value orientation perceived by customers" as the "authenticity" of the business. Brand authenticity is the fulfillment of the essential duties and responsibilities of a company that consumers expect, and can be divided into the following three dimensions. First, 'communication authenticity (communication openness, advertising integrity, brand commitment'). Second, performance authenticity (CEO management ability, originality, brand dignity, consistency), Third, 'Social authenticity (social responsibility, environmental responsibility, fairness of internal employees, fairness of business partners).3)

Modern customers seek mental and emotional abundance based on their awareness of their ‘value of life’. ‘Value’ can be understood as ‘useful things’, ‘things that can satisfy needs’, and ‘things judged to be desirable’.4) The values that companies can deliver to customers can be divided into four categories: functional values (service quality, facility, professionalism, convenience), social values (identity reinforcement, self-esteem evocation), emotional values (aesthetic, pleasure), and relationship-specific values (certainty, special treatment, and social benefits).5)

NEZUCAFE in Nesu Museum by KENGO KUMA, Tokyo ©Jooyun Kim

What is important here is that it is not the company but the customer who judges the value. Space branding decisions must be made based on customer-oriented thinking from the customer's point of view. How can brand space build positive relationships with customers through space branding? What value can brand space have for a customer's visit? In response to these two questions, Kim Ji-Hyun, a professor at Hanbat University, reveals important contents through a Ph.D. study.6)

<Customer Value Dimensions of Space Branding>
Brand space can be largely divided into 'function-oriented space' for practical and functional values of customers, 'experience-oriented space' for pleasure and emotional values of customers, and 'meaning-oriented space' that gives customers social and altruistic values. The space branding space consists of these three types in a complex way depending on how a company defines customer needs.

Professor Kim Ji-Hyun divided the customer value dimensions in the brand space into three as follows. First, 'Form-based Function Value' as a physical space for functional resolution, second, 'Behavior-based Relationship Value' as a behavioral space for relationship formation, and third, 'Meaning-based Object Value' as a semantic space through target acceptance.

1) Form-based Function Value
‘Form-based functional value’ refers to the value of performing the most essential and fundamental role that a brand space can give satisfaction to customers as a functional aspect of the space. Form-based functional values can be divided into useful 'convenient functional values' such as access, convenience, and pleasant environment, as a result, 'Aesthetic form values' satisfy visual expressions such as space form, facade differentiation, and style harmony.

OPAQUE by Sejima kazuyo, Tokyo ©Jooyun Kim

2) Behavior-based Relationship Value
'Behavior-based relationship value' refers to the value that can create a positive relationship between the brand and the customer as the brand space leads the customer's experiences, exchanges, and experiences of active participation. The behavior-based relationship value can be divided into three details: "autonomous behavioral value" where customers travel around the space and accumulate pleasant experiences, "communication participation value" that they actively respond to customer participation content in the brand space, and "playful event value" that they experience by chance.

Comme des Garcons, Tokyo ©Jooyun Kim

3) Meaning-based Objective Value
‘Meaning-based object value’ refers to the social role of a brand. In other words, the brand space refers to the pursuit of social and cultural values ​​and shared values ​​that go beyond the individual level of customers to improve the quality of life of the community, such as public well-being and happiness. The meaning-based target value is 'contextual place value' that considers the environment, history, and culture of the region and place where the brand space is built, and 'social shared value', where the brand space pursues the value of social and cultural programs, 2 It can be classified by the detailed value of the branch.

Temple of Water by Tadao Ando, Hyogoken ©Jooyun Kim

<Correlation between Value Dimensions and Customer Loyalty>
When the value system provided by the brand space and the value system pursued by the customers' lifestyle work together, customer satisfaction goes beyond increasing and leads to customer loyalty that the brand ultimately pursues. Professor Kim Ji-Hyun placed the values divided into the above three as independent variables and analyzed the correlation between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty through a survey. As a result of the analysis, all of them were found to have a significant correlation, and the results of the study are as follows.

First, the greater the influence of all three detailed values presented as 'shape-based functional values', the higher the customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and among them, 'convenient functional value' was found to have the greatest influence.

Second, all three detailed values presented as 'behavior-based relationship values' are also found to have higher customer satisfaction and customer loyalty as the impact is greater, and among them, 'playful event value' is the most affected. An important implication of this result is the fact that the utility of brand space is never the end of construction, but the beginning. Space branding space can only play its role if it is operated as a program. The purpose of space branding can be maximized when increasing the 'playful event value' through various operating programs that trend events such as events.

Third, the two detailed values presented as 'meaning-based target values' also showed that the greater the impact, the higher the customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and among them, the 'contextual place value' was the most affected. Recently, 'space regeneration' has become a national topic, and the analysis that customers already value the context of such a place as a value of space indicates that it is a value element that companies should carefully deal with when building a brand space.

These value dimensions are not distinguished as absolute boundaries. It is just a systematic classification of the value of the brand space. Brand space is like 'variation variations on the theme' of classical music. It is a way to maintain one topic but continue to look at the topic from a new angle. When the 'meaning' pursued by a brand for a space branding space is the theme of space, the 'meaning' is a variation of various semantic systems, and the above detailed values are divided and combined in various ways to have a new and fresh value experience in the brand space.





<5 Summaries>

"Space branding is to build an authentic value experience that can be assimilated through space."

"Authenticity, along with the quality of a service or product, has become an important decision criterion."

“Customers value your company through authentic experiences and remember them as valuable relationships.”

"'Value' is 'useful', 'something that can satisfy needs', and 'something that is judged desirable'."

The utility of the brand space is never the end of construction, but the beginning. We need a play-by-play program to achieve that goal."


1) James H. Gilmore, B. Joseph Pine II, What Consumers Really Want, Harvard Business, 2007, pp. 24
2) James H. Gilmore, B. Joseph Pine II, What Consumers Really Want, Harvard Business, 2007, pp. 25
3) 박성현·김유경, '브랜드 진정성 측정을 위한 척도개발에 관한 연구', "한국광고홍보학보 제16권 2호", 2014 여름, 46~86쪽
4) 김지현, ‘가치기반 공간디자인 마케팅에 관한 연구’, 홍익대학교 박사학위 논문, 2016.2., 60쪽
5) 윤경산, ‘서비스 고객의 가치인식이 재방문의도에 미치는 영향’, 대구대학교 박사학위논문, 2007.12. 14-16쪽
6) 김지현, ‘가치기반 공간디자인 마케팅에 관한 연구’, 홍익대학교 박사학위 논문, 2016.2.
 















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