Brand prominence in luxury consumption: Will emotional value adjudicate our longing for status?

Abstract

This study extends the existing analysis of brand prominence undertaken by Han et al (J Mark 74:15–30, 2010), to individually measure a broader range of prominence measures, including branding elements of style, design, colours, logos, and shapes, assessed across three luxury items (shoes, handbags, and belts). Perceptions of such prominence are utilized to examine how status consumption and product perceptions (including perceptions of quality and emotional value) influence consumers’ desire to purchase a range of luxury fashion goods. Results reveal that this enhanced assessment of brand prominence influences consumer perceptions of the quality of luxury goods, with quality and the status consciousness of respondents influencing the emotional value they derive from luxury goods. This emotional value in turn substantially influences purchase intentions alongside the direct influence of brand prominence. Intriguingly, significant differences are observed when comparing the level of prominence of brand elements manipulated in the data collection phase, with distinct influence evidenced across groups. The enhanced capture of brand prominence reveals to luxury practitioners that the prominence of branding extends to a range of brand elements, and that differing acknowledgment of such prominence impacts significantly on both how consumers view luxury items, and their drivers of purchase.