A Scale for Measuring Perceived Artist Authenticity When Artists Are Associated with Brands

Dominique Bourgeon-Renault, Joëlle Lagier, Rémi Bréhonnet

Dominique Bourgeon-Renault is a Professor Emeritus in Management Sciences at the University of Burgundy and a researcher at CREGO (Centre de REcherche en Gestion des Organisations). She co-pilots the AFM thematic research group “Innovations and Marketing in Culture and Tourism.” Her research work has resulted in numerous national and international publications. Her research focuses on consumer behavior (cultural consumption experience), qualitative and quantitative research methods, and the marketing of service activities in the arts, culture, and tourism.
Joëlle Lagier is a Professor Emeritus (PhD and HDR) at Excelia Business School. She is a member of CERIIM, Excelia’s research laboratory, and also a member of the AFM thematic research group “Innovations and Marketing in Culture and Tourism.” Her primary research interests lie in the fields of arts, culture, and tourism. She has published numerous research articles on cultural and tourism marketing in international scientific journals.
Rémi Bréhonnet is an Associate Professor at Excelia Business School and a member of CERIIM, Excelia’s research laboratory. His teaching focuses on advanced quantitative methods and data science, with a particular emphasis on machine learning and predictive marketing. Initially positioned in the field of social and critical social marketing, his research is now expanding to encompass brand-related issues.

ABSTRACT
The arts and culture sector is experiencing many upheavals in the era of the Anthropocene (transition), which may lead to different behaviors on the part of creative and cultural organizations. In this context, some brands develop partnerships with artists through their communication strategy. In this period of transition, artists are responding to this brand policy, while defending their identity and protecting their authenticity. The objective of this research is to answer the following question: how can we measure perceived artist authenticity in the context of a brand/artist association? The first part of the study reviews the literature on brand/artist partnerships and perceived artist authenticity. The second part presents a methodological approach with a view to constructing a scale to measure the perception of an artist’s authenticity in such a context. The results of the construction of this scale will enable us to make a number of recommendations to professionals in the art and culture world, with a view to adopting the most appropriate behavior in this particular field.
KEYWORDS
Brand/artist partnership; authenticity; perceived authenticity of the artist