Abstract: Authenticity has been the important content of contemporary life, and also has been identified as the pivotal attribute of time-honored brand’s success. This paper investigates the meaning of time-honored brand’s authenticity for the fist time. Based on the data collected from in-depth interview, we use grounded theory to define the concept of authenticity of time-honored brand, and to divided the authenticity into three dimensions—objective, constructive and self authenticity. Then, we interpret the characteristics of authenticity as original leading, social context and non-commercial leading. Finally, we point out some limitation and propose some suggestion for future research.

摘要： 真实性是当代生活的重要内容，也是老字号成功的核心元素，研究则首次探讨老字号真实性的内涵问题。在深度访谈的基础上，利用扎根理论将老字号真实性界定为消费者对老字号客体或自我主体展示老字号原物程度的感知，它有客观真实、建构真实和自我真实三种形式。同时，研究通过阐释将老字号真实性的特征归纳为原物主导、社会情境驱动和非商业性三个方面。