Cultural consequences of brands' masstige: An emerging market perspective

Abstract

The increase in disposable income and the luxury aspirations of the middle-class have led to the introduction of a new genre of luxury, known as masstige luxury. The extant research has yet to investigate the role of acculturation - changes in an individual’s thoughts and behavior that result from (in)direct exposure to culturally dissimilar individuals or groups - in shaping the masstige perception of a brand. The current study addresses this gap by examining how various acculturation patterns (i.e., integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization) assess the mass-prestige quotient of fashion accessory brands (sunglasses). The study identifies RayBan as a masstige brand in the sunglasses category and observes that the assimilation acculturation group assigned RayBan the highest masstige score, followed by the integration, marginalization, and separation groups. Furthermore, cultural worldview is identified as the underlying mechanism for differences in the masstige scores across various acculturation groups. By explaining the cultural consequences of masstige-based brand consumption, this study contributes to the growing masstige academic literature.