Either Bandwagon Effect or Need for Uniqueness? Motivational Factors Driving Young Adult Consumers’ Luxury Brand Purchases: An Abstract

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As young adult consumers have driven much of the growth in the luxury goods market, they become an important target group for luxury brand managers. As more young adult consumers gain access to luxury, it is imperative to understand key determinants that impact their luxury brand purchases. Based on the “Functional Theories of Attitudes,” this study aims to examine the impact of both need for uniqueness and bandwagon effect on multi-motivational functions of attitudes and purchase intentions toward luxury brands with a focus on young adult consumers in order to expand the general understanding of this emerging market and develop appropriate marketing strategies to enhance business success. A total of 711 college students at a Midwestern and a Southern university in the United States participated in the online survey. Respondents who had purchased at least one luxury good (n = 540) were used for this study. Using structural equation modeling, this study finds that both young adult consumers’ need for uniqueness and bandwagon effect of luxury brands positively influenced their functions of attitudes and purchase intentions toward luxury brands. Bandwagon effect can be explained through the conspicuous consumption behavior. In the case of luxury brands with high bandwagon effect, consumers would consume more conspicuous luxury fashion goods to communicate their conformity toward the noticeable branded goods. The need for uniqueness concept in luxury fashion goods consumption reflects one’s self-directed hedonic pleasure attained from using of the luxury goods. This hedonic experience would be heightened through expressing one’s individuality through unique and different luxury goods than others. Interestingly, compared to the direct effect of need for uniqueness, bandwagon effect had much stronger impact on both attitudes and purchase intentions toward luxury brands. This means that young adult consumers tend to have a stronger drive to conform to others by following trends or imitating popular styles and brand choices. Adopting luxury goods allows them to stand out from others by expressing their individualistic or unique style when they shop for luxury brands. This result does not reject the importance of need for uniqueness, yet highlights the greater importance of bandwagon effect in the luxury brand consumption context. These findings offer marketing insights that highlight the greater importance of bandwagon effect in the luxury brand consumption when focusing on young adult segment of luxury consumers.