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Introduction
Branding issues have become a top priority for management in the modern era. Similarly, many studies have focused on brand management because brands are a source of several benefits for consumers and companies (Coelho et al., 2020). Likewise, experiential marketing has emerged as a novel and revolutionary concept in modern research, and it is proliferating by engaging consumers through the experiences of products and services (Beig and Nika, 2019). Experiential marketing allows consumers to interact with brands through experiences that arouse their feelings, emotions and senses; as a result, positive experiences help to build brand trust, loyalty and good relationships between consumers and brands (Brakus et al., 2009). Consumers' positive brand experiences are essential in building brand loyalty and attaining business sustainability because business growth is linked to consumer loyalty (Ong et al., 2018). In recent years, the importance of brand experience has been emphasized in management practices. Freeman (2017) discovered that 59% of 1,000 chief marketing officers believed that brand experiences were important for maintaining relationships in a survey conducted by international meetings and event specialists. However, many academic researchers are struggling to demonstrate similar interests for advancement in conceptualizing brand experience (Andreini et al., 2018). Given the importance of brand experience, many researchers are interested in investigating brand experience in various consumer environments (de Oliveira Santini et al., 2018; Nayeem et al., 2019).
The unforeseen changes in consumer behavior and uncertainty in the current era have increased the importance of perceived brand authenticity (PBA). Consequently, many researchers are keen to investigate PBA in various consumer scenarios (Safeer et al., 2021b; Sodergren, 2021). PBA is defined as consumers' perceptions of a brand's authenticity in terms of quality commitment, sincerity and heritage (Napoli et al., 2014). Consumers today are confronted with the ever-growing commercialization of products, services and the globalization of markets (Morhart et al., 2015; Khan et al., 2021). The excessive proliferation of brands and the growth and maintenance of consumer-brand relationships are two critical strategic challenges in brand management (Oh et al., 2019). Consumers' rising need for brand experiences demonstrates the importance of PBA in building positive consumer relationships (Rodrigues et al., 2018; Safeer et al., 2021a). Thus, brand...