Emerging adults’ luxury fashion brand value perceptions: A cross-cultural comparison between Germany and China

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores the differences in luxury fashion brand value perceptions between German and Chinese Generation Y’s emerging adults. This study chose Chinese and German young adults aged between 18 and 25 as the primary data source. An online self-administered questionnaire was selected as data collection method. One hundred and ninety-nine observations were retained. Sample size was deemed sufficient to test our hypotheses based on the most conservative minimum-sample-size methods. The outcomes indicate that the multi-dimensional nature of luxury fashion ascertained in literature appeals to Generation Y’s emerging adults across both countries. However, multiple unexpected cross-national differences regarding the importance attributed to specific value dimensions of luxury fashion are found. Chinese emerging adults have higher socio-symbolic, hedonic, and functional as well as higher price value perceptions of luxury fashion compared to their German peers. This study helps luxury fashion brand managers to attune their customer value propositions to the expectations of Generation Y’s younger cohort members from Germany and China under consideration of cultural particularities. Results suggest that marketing strategies conceived in disregard of cultural dynamics might prevent luxury fashion brands from fully leveraging market potentials across different geographies.