Creating and interpreting brand authenticity: The case of a young brand

Abstract Consumers increasingly seek authenticity in the brands they consume. Although studied extensively, brand authenticity appears to be restricted to older, more timeless brands. This article challenges previous research findings by examining whether or not young brands can be perceived as authentic and, if so, how? Adopting a holistic view, the author investigates interpretation—by consumers—and construction—by the brand—of an authentic image in the case of a young brand. The twofold objective of this research involves identifying dimensions of consumer‐perceived brand authenticity in the early stages of the development of an authentic brand and then understanding the practices employed by the brand to support the observed dimensions of authenticity. Supplemented by seven individual interviews, a netnography of the online community of a young brand quickly recognized for authenticity reveals three central dimensions of authenticity, namely, transparency, virtuousness, and proximity. An analysis of brand publications within the community further expose the interplay of indexical (i.e., evidence‐based authenticity signals) and iconic cues (i.e., impression‐based authenticity signals) in support of the dimensions. Findings substantiate the prevalence of brand transparency over both virtuousness and proximity in the early stages of the development of an authentic brand. In addition, although indexical cues dominate in conveying transparency, iconic cues prove central to virtuousness, and both signal proximity. The article, the first to broach the construction of authenticity for a young brand, enhances the corpus of knowledge on authenticity through a re‐examination of the significance and construction of the concept.