Luxury Fashion Brands Research Articles

Brand personality and sexuality levels of luxury advertisements

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the perceived personality of brands featuring different levels of sexuality in advertisements of luxury fashion brands. Design/methodology/approach To determine the identity of the company a “personality traits” scale by Geurens et al. (2015) was used with 25 brand personalities: conscientiousness/responsibility, extraversion/activity, emotional stability/emotionality, agreeableness/aggressiveness, and openness/simplicity. The final survey was then made available on Amazon Turk for two weeks. Each participant assessed one photograph at a level of sexuality given the gender they identified with the most. Findings There were 1,266 participants including 701 females and 565 females. Statistical analysis of the responses revealed that the degree of sexuality in the advertisements impacted brand perceptions. Among both genders, the greater degree of sexuality in the advertisement, the more the brand was considered less conscientious and responsible. The results also suggested that men and women view levels of sexuality differently. They varied most in the area of openness and simplicity, with men viewing advertisements of male models that had greater sexuality as simple. Men felt less sexuality was more emotional and romantic, while women viewed mid-level degree of sexuality in this manner. Originality/value Limited research has examined how level of sexuality influences perceived brand personality. The results contribute to theories pertaining to motivations to identify with a luxury fashion brand and provide strategies for luxury fashion brands to enhance their intended brand image.

Exploring relationship between value perception and luxury purchase intention

Purpose Although India is home to the world’s largest millennial population, so far, hardly any studies exist that explain the key drivers leading to the luxury goods consumption among this generational cohort. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop and empirically test the conceptual framework designed to measure the relationship between luxury value perceptions and purchase intentions among the young Indian luxury consumers, and, second, to examine the moderating effect of gender in the relationship between luxury value perceptions and purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach A purposive sampling technique was employed to collect the data from young luxury fashion consumers. Statistical tests including confirmatory factor analysis, multi-group analysis and structural equation modeling were applied for data analysis. Findings The findings show that the conspicuous value is the most significant determinant of luxury purchase intention followed by the experiential value, susceptibility to normative influence and utilitarian value. The uniqueness value was found to have weak relationship with purchase intention. Furthermore, results revealed that the relationship between the luxury values and the luxury buying intentions does not vary significantly between male and female. Originality/value This is one of the first studies that provides meaningful insights to the academicians and marketing practitioners about why millennials buy luxury fashion brands in emerging markets like India.

Luxury fashion goods ownership and collecting behavior in an omni-channel retail environment

Purpose This research provides a comprehensive overview of the luxury brand cognitive and affective experience, category ownerships and consumption level of affluent adult consumers in the USA. The purpose of this study was to illuminate generational cohorts’ differences and/or similarities among the consumers regarding collecting behavior of, brand self-congruity toward and emotional brand attachment with fashion luxury brands. Design/methodology/approach Using a cross-sectional quantitative approach, the authors conducted a national, representative online survey, 443 usable responses were collected from four generational cohorts, namely, older boomers, younger boomers, Generation Xers and Millennials, who reported an annual household income of US$150,000 or more. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses were used to provide the empirical findings. Findings Findings suggest that there are significant differences in the luxury brands they owned the most; Millennials exhibited significantly more frequent purchases of luxury fashion goods for all retail types – both brick-and-mortar and online, as well as upscale and discount-image retailers, compared to older Baby Boomers; and there are clear distinctions of cognitive, affective and behavioral responses toward fashion luxury goods between Millennials and older Baby Boomers. For instance, Millennials are more emotionally attached to luxury fashion brands, they see themselves more aligned with the brand image, and they collect such goods significantly more, compared to the older Baby Boomers. Originality/value By providing empirical evidence of contrasting each generational group’s unique consumption behavior in terms of luxury brand goods such as ownership level (accessible vs high-end luxury), retail channel choice behavior, cognitive, affective and behavioral responses toward the luxury fashion goods, the authors provided clear strategies for the luxury brand managers regarding two distinctive segments in the luxury marketplace.

Optimal advertisement budget allocation and coordination in luxury fashion supply chains with multiple brand-tier products

Advertisement is critical in luxury fashion supply chains. In this paper, we analytically explore the optimal advertisement budget allocation strategy and coordination challenge when there are multiple brand-tier products in the market. In the basic model, we focus our analyses with respect to different risk attitudes that the luxury fashion brand takes and the coordination mechanisms. We show that irrespective of risk attitudes of the luxury fashion brand, the optimal advertisement strategy is a polarized strategy. We derive the coordination mechanisms to overcome the double marginalization effect for each risk attitude case. In the extended model, with the market share considerations, the optimal advertisement strategy is derived and is shown to be no longer polarized in general.

Consumer Attitude Towards Luxury Fashion Brands: A Study of Delhi-NCR

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the effects of functional value, individual value and social value dimensions on consumer attitude towards purchasing luxury fashion brands. Methodology– The study is designed to determine whether the functional value, individual value and social value perceptions positively impact the attitude towards luxury fashion brands. A total of 200 respondents living in Delhi and NCR participated in the survey. Snowball sampling method is used in the study. Rating scale items were adapted from Wiedmann, Hennigns and Siebels (2009) study to investigate consumer attitude towards luxury brands. Correlation and regression analysis techniques along with crosstab analysis are used to test the relationship between variables.Findings – The findings suggest that the functional value positively influences attitude towards luxury brands. Individual value is also positively related to attitude towards luxury brands and the last variable social value too has been found to have significant positive impact on consumer attitude towards luxury brands, using regression analysis. However, the correlation results showed significant positive association between functional, individual value and attitude towards luxury brands but the correlation between social value and attitude towards luxury fashion brands was not significant at significance level of 0.01. And by using multiple regression technique, it has been found that the most important factor out of these three factors is Individual value which has the highest impact on attitude towards luxury brands.Practical implications – This study provides valuable managerial implications that enable the marketers to approve and formalize effective strategies that will facilitate them to capture additional target market and to enhance consumption of fashion products. Further given that functional value, individual value and social value have a significant impact on attitude towards luxury, marketers could realize large scale economies by standardizing their policy for these dimensions of luxury.Originality/value – Given that the Indian market provides growth opportunities for luxury brands, there has been limited empirical research on Indian consumers relating to functional, individual, and social value dimensions and their attitude towards luxury brands. In this regard, this paper is designed to fill this research gap.

CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT THROUGH CONTEMPORARY ART – FONDAZIONE PRADA

This paper is centred on exploring art foundations owned by luxury fashion brands as a potential venue for engaging with the luxury fashion consumer in a meaningful relationship, and without undermining the exclusivity and the controlled access of the luxury product. Specifically, this paper focuses on Fondazione Prada. It will be explained that a more authentic and “peer-to-peer” dialogue is essential to strengthening the relationship with the consumer. For this to happen in the luxury environment without undermining the exclusivity of the luxury product, art foundations might be the preferable venue. In this paper, the concept of Consumer Engagement is associated to the more general concept of public engagement with the arts. For the purpose of this paper, public engagement is an active participation of both producer and receiver of art (Edmonds, Bilda, & Muller, 2009) in a two-way conversation (National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, 2014) with regards to understanding the arts and with the scope of generating benefits and wellbeing (Belfiore, 2002; Hoey, Zutis, Leuty, & Mihailidis, 2010; Kay, 2000). Finally, this two-way conversation has to be free from power structures and hierarchies; the people involved have to act as and perceived to be equals (Lanz & Montanari, 2014; Men & Tsai, 2016).

Celebrity endorsement in the world of luxury fashion – when controversy can be beneficial

ABSTRACTCan a negatively publicised celebrity endorser ever lead to favourable brand attitudes toward a luxury fashion product (i.e. a perfume)? An online experiment was conducted with a sample of 260 target-relevant female consumers where two factors were manipulated: the brand’s positioning objective (image reinforcement versus revitalisation) and the type of celebrity endorser (naturally versus incidentally controversial). Consumer attitudes towards the luxury fashion brand were generally more positive when the type of celebrity endorser was consistent with the brand’s positioning strategy, that is, when a naturally controversial celebrity endorses a brand with a reinforcement strategy and when an incidentally controversial celebrity endorses a brand with a revitalisation strategy. Furthermore, this effect was mediated by consumers’ appreciation of the celebrity-positioning match-up (i.e. the consistency between the celebrity’s persona and the brand’s strategy) but not by their perceptions of appropriateness (i.e. the traditional match-up hypothesis). Several implications suggested by these findings are developed.

Actual Self-Incongruity and Ideal Self-Congruity Effects of Luxury Fashion Brands

Actual Self-Incongruity and Ideal Self-Congruity Effects of Luxury Fashion Brands

European luxury fashion brand advertising and marketing relating to nostalgia

This research seeks to examine how European luxury fashion brands use nostalgia in their advertising and marketing, and the benefits of using nostalgia by analyzing selected adverts from Vogue magazine. The research adopts Narrative Transportation Theory, aims to create a model which develops Van Laer, de Ruyter, Viscanti and Wentzels’ (2014) “Extended Transportation-Imagery Model”, and provides managerial implications. Qualitative content analysis of imagery was conducted to analyze 60 adverts of five luxury fashion brands between 2010–2016. This research offers a different product category to investigate for nostalgia literature: luxury fashion brands’ advertising, a different cultural context: European luxury fashion brands, and examines luxury fashion brand characteristics within the adverts’ narratives by semiotics discipline. Research identifies how nostalgia theme was used in these adverts, provides an understanding among the themes, and adverts’ analysis in terms of luxury brand characteristics, narrative, and semiotics.

Factors Affecting Millennials’ Attitudes toward Luxury Fashion Brands: A Cross-Cultural Study

The millennials are an important cohort in luxury market, because of their purchasing power and the power of social media interaction. However, little is known about factors underlying their attitudes toward luxury fashion brands and online purchase intentions. This study explores whether materialism, a need for uniqueness, susceptibility to informative influence, and social media usage affect millennials’ attitudes toward luxury fashion brands and online purchase intentions. In addition, this research examines cross-cultural differences between Russian and Korean millennials based on four cultural dimensions of Hofstede’s model. The results indicated that all factors significantly related to attitudes towards luxury brands, and this, in turn, positively effect on online purchase intentions. Moreover, the results indicated that millennials from Korea and Russia pursue a need for uniqueness, some differences were revealed regarding materialism, susceptibility to informative influence and social media usage. Theoretical and practical implications are further discussed.

The Mediation of Luxury Brands in Digital Storytelling

This paper considers the mediation of luxury fashion brands in the digital storytelling of the social media account named The Rich Kids of Instagram. Since 2012, Instagram users have been encouraged to use the hashtag #rkoi so photos of a lavish lifestyle can be collected together. The conspicuous consumption of these affluent young people from different countries also became Channel 4’s six-episode reality TV show Rich Kids of Instagram. The Instagram accounts and the TV show displaying well-known luxury fashion pieces, splendid cars and private jets are the object of this study.The motivation for this investigation comes from the need to reevaluate the idea of luxury and its dissemination in contemporary digital media. As is frequently exposed in social media, and in this particular case on Instagram, we aim to examine the outcome of this display. We intend to argue that the represented world on Instagram and the subsequent TV show distorts the expected or the lived experience of luxury as something distinctive and unique, and turns it into a kitsch object. Drawing on Baudrillard’s approach to mass-media culture (1998), we view kitsch as a category that is not to be confused with the real object (in this respect, the luxury one), but understood as a “pseudo-object” that represents an “aesthetics of simulation” of the original.

Storytelling and the making of a global luxury fashion brand: Christian Dior

This article discusses the storytelling strategies adopted by luxury fashion companies to build global brands from the 1990s onwards. Using the example of Christian Dior, it is demonstrated that heritage is a social construction based on strong narratives rather than the mere outcome of the history of a brand. Storytelling is a powerful instrument used in the context of creating global luxury brands over the last two decades. This makes it possible to emphasize the timelessness of a brand while disregarding the contradictions resulting from a change in its identity over time. As a consequence, this article argues that, although the use of heritage through storytelling is a useful tool for the practice of brand management, it is not an academic concept and should be avoided by scholars.

Imperative challenge for luxury brands

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether any differences exist between high- and low/middle-income Generation Y luxury consumers in terms of their service quality perceptions on luxury fashion brands’ own official e-commerce sites.Design/methodology/approachThis study focused on actual luxury consumers who purchased luxury fashion items from luxury fashion brands’ e-commerce sites. An online survey asked participants to evaluate their perceptions of e-service attributes available on luxury fashion brands’ own official e-commerce sites based on their experience with the site. A total of 123 usable respondents obtained.FindingsOf the nine e-service quality dimensions identified, efficiency and web appearance were significant dimensions affecting high-income Generation Y luxury fashion consumers’ overall e-satisfaction. For low/middle-income Generation Y luxury fashion consumers, order/delivery management, personalization and trust were crucial factors that affected overall e-satisfaction.Originality/valueDespite the growth of luxury e-commerce sales and the increasing interest in luxury consumption by consumers from a variety of demographic groups, little research has focused on how luxury consumers perceive luxury brands’ own official e-commerce site and how luxury fashion brands develop their own e-commerce sites to meet demographically dissimilar customers’ necessities. The findings of the study provide valuable practical implications to luxury fashion brands by proving that luxury consumers are unalike and that their perceptions on e-service quality are dissimilar based on different income levels.

Consumers’ Attitude Toward Socially Responsible Consumerism in the Sustainable Fashion Market

The fashion industry is one of the most toxic industries, which has led luxury brands to get involved in their efforts to build a more sustainable fashion future. Although the current fashion industry has put efforts into introducing ethical and sustainable consumption, customers have displayed contradictory attitudes toward green products in the luxury sector. Specifically, customers have generally shown an interest in environmentally friendly apparel while many customers are also shown to be reluctant in purchasing sustainable fashion clothing. This study was aimed at analyzing key variables in regards to attitude towards sustainable fashion advertising for luxury brands. The results showed three statistically significant regression coefficients: Interdependent-self, independent-self, and perceived personal relevancy. In light of the previous discussion, this study also sheds more light into the construal-level influence based on the notion of self-construals on attitude toward sustainable fashion advertisement. Therefore, the results of this study provides empirical evidence for luxury fashion brands seeking to influence and increase green purchase behavior and this gives more insight into the decision making for luxury brand advertisement strategy.

The Role of Omnichannel Experience for Luxury Fashion Brands

The Role of Omnichannel Experience for Luxury Fashion Brands

The relational aspects of luxury consumption in Brazil: the development of a Luxury Customer Relationship Perception Scale and the analysis of brand personality influence on relationship perception on luxury fashion brands

The main objective of this article is to develop a scale to measure relationship perception among customers of luxury fashion brands in Brazil. We followed Churchill’s (1979) and Rossiter’s (2002) guidelines on scale development, emcompassing interviews and the creation of a pilot version of the scale, that went through two purification processes – exploraroty and confirmatory factor analysis. The Luxury Customer Relationship Perception Scale is a 20 items instrument composed by three primary factors (brand experience, customer loyalty and brand image) and a second order factor (customer relationship perception), with good psychometric indices. As a secondary objective, we tested the relation between the dimensions of brand personality on relationship perception in the luxury context, confirming a prediction relation between these variables. Regarding our contributions, we propose a new metric for marketing literature, which enables future relational studies with other consumer behavior constructs. Then, we empirically show the impact of brand personality on relationship perception, filling a gap on literature that can also help the research on the antecedents of relationship marketing.Lastly, we analyse luxury consumption in an emerging country, a topic ofgrowing interest in literature, bringing out the aspects of the relationshipbetween luxury brands and Brazilian customers.

Perceived values, price fairness, and behavioral intentions toward luxury fashion brands - A comparison of luxury, luxury-bargain, and non-luxury consumers -

This study examined whether and how consumers who seek a bargain in their shopping for luxury fashion brands differ from traditional luxury consumers or non-luxury consumers on their market-related attitudes. To do so, this study compared multi-dimensional perceived values, fairness price perceptions, satisfaction with purchase, brand loyalty, and future purchase intention among luxury consumers, luxury-bargain seekers, and non-luxury consumers. Data was obtained from online surveys and the market-related attitudes were compared using an ANOVA test. The comparion of three types of consumers revealed that luxury-bargain seekers and regular luxury consumers are distinct consumer markets. Overall, luxury consumers displayed high perceived values and brand loyalty and were fairly satisfied with the purchase at full-prices. On the other hand, luxury-bargain seekers showed significantly low perceived social value, perceived fairness toward the original price of the brands, and brand loyalty. They were satisfied with the bargain purchase but not likely to purchase the luxury at full-prices in the future. Understanding these distinct types of consumers and targeting them with different product and pricing strategies are important for luxury brands and retailers to expand luxury consumer base without diluting their brands’ prestige image. Potential marketing strategies based on the findings of this study were suggested.

Luxury and Twitter: an issue of the right words

Purpose This paper aims to provide scholars and practitioners with an innovative method of analyzing luxury brand associations in social media (i.e. Twitter). To do so, authors investigated the alignment between luxury brand identity and luxury brand image in online communication, taking into consideration firm- and user-generated content (UGC) in the form of bloggers’ contents. This paper introduces new tools that luxury brand managers could use to manage and adapt the way they communicate and interact with their customers. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative approach based on a content analysis of Twitter posts of six luxury fashion brands (1,334 posts) and the related Twitter electronic word-of-mouth of fashion bloggers (329 tweets). Findings The results show a match between luxury brand identity and luxury brand image on Twitter. Specifically, the findings indicate that both brands and bloggers stress the same dimensions of luxury (aesthetic, desirable, symbolic, restricted accessibility and hedonistic experience) confirming that the ways they communicate luxury brands to consumers are aligned. Moreover, the results suggest that luxury brands could reinforce their brand value by making more use of words that are semantically related to luxury. Originality/value This study approaches the relationship between social media and luxury brands in a novel way and provides scholars and managers with a tool for monitoring the gap between desired and perceived brand associations.

Sense of community and social identity effect on brand love: Based on the online communities of a luxury fashion brands

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the impacts of sense of community and social identity on brand love then its affect on brand advocacy on luxury online brand communities (OBC). It follows the stimulus–organism–response or the S–O–R framework wherein sense of community and social identity represent the stimuli element, while the brand love stands for the organism and lastly the response element is the brand advocacy. Mediating role of the sense of community between social identity and brand love has been also explored. Statistical results of structural equation modelling (SEM) through using AMOS indicate that both sense of community and social identity positively influence the brand love of the customers on OBCs’. Then with the help of these stimuli, the brand love has significant affect on the brand advocacy of the consumers. Mediating effect of the sense of community has been verified and results suggest both theoretical and managerial implications. Exploring the potential influence of the sense of community and social identity is in its infancy and denoting a vital contribution on literature and this paper offers relevant insights that managers could use to strengthen their marketing strategies on the OBCs’ setting.

Branding strategies in transitional economy: The case of Aimer

ABSTRACTThe purpose of the study was to investigate the branding strategies implemented by the Beijing Aimer Lingerie Company Ltd. that support its success. A case study method was used which included on-site visits and in-depth interviews with Aimer executives, mid-level managers, and frontline employees. Additionally, a review of the company’s website and internal documents, as well as an extensive external search of relevant news reports, social media contents, industry information, and academic literature contributed to the data source. The study adopted a deductive content analysis strategy by integrating Balmer and Gray’s (2003) C2ITE framework and the luxury fashion brand dimensions, and used triangulation as a validation strategy. The most important element of Aimer’s success is strategic planning and continuous brand development. In every step of Aimer’s business development, the executive team strategically planned its next step and had a clear vision for the future. Aimer executed well for each dimension of the analytical framework (Cultural, Marketing Communication, Tangible Branding, Intangible Branding, and Commitment) except one: brand signature (Cultural dimension). The findings provide valuable implications for other Chinese apparel manufacturers striving to establish their own brands, as well as global companies that compete in the Chinese marketplace.