Artist Authenticity: How Artists' Passion and Commitment Shape Consumers' Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions across Genders

Despite the fact that the art market is a multibillion dollar industry, marketing researchers have yet to fully explore the factors that drive consumers' purchase intentions toward fine art. This research proposes that information about the artist who created a particular work is an important piece of information that consumers consider. This work is the first to empirically examine the impact of how one such characteristic of the artist, perceived authenticity, affects consumers' behavioral intentions toward the art. This research, drawing on authenticity research in the arts, marketing, and psychology, builds on the proposed art valuation framework presented by Marshall and Forrest (2011) by testing the effect of consumers' perceptions of the artist's motives. Empirical data involving 518 respondents were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results revealed that artist authenticity affected attitude toward the artist, conceptualized as a human brand, which in turn influenced consumers' evaluation of the artist's work and their behavioral intentions. In addition, this research provides support for the selectivity model by showing woman and men evaluate art differently. Attitude toward the artwork had a stronger effect on behavioral intentions for women compared to men, whereas attitude toward the artist had a stronger effect on behavioral intentions for men compared to women. Overall, the results reveal that consumers use information about that artist's brand in the valuation of the artwork and have important practical implications for the management of the artist's human brand. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.