Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Generation Y consumers’ luxury fashion consumption. Generation Y is becoming a very important segment for the luxury market in the USA. Specifically, this study is designed to investigate Generation Y consumers’ consumption of luxury fashion products from the following perspectives: the influence of self-related personality traits on their brand consciousness; and the influence of brand consciousness on consumption behaviours in terms of consumption motivations, purchase intention, and brand loyalty.

A conceptual model was developed to represent the proposed relationships among the related variables. An online survey was conducted and 305 valid surveys were collected. The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses.

From the perspective of self-concept, this research shed some light on the luxury fashion consumption behaviour of Generation Y consumers. Public self-consciousness and self-esteem were both found having significant influence on Generation Y consumers’ brand consciousness and in turn their luxury consumption motivations and brand loyalty.

Limitations for this study mainly come from the representativeness of the sample, which was recruited from a panel of a third party research group. Implications for luxury fashion brand managers and retailers focus on strategies that influence the social and self-motivation for luxury consumption and level of brand consciousness.

This research is unique because it focuses on luxury fashion consumption of Generation Y consumers, an emerging segment in the luxury market. Generation Y consumers’ behaviour towards luxury fashion was examined in terms of their self-related personality traits, brand consciousness, motivation, and brand loyalty.

The unprecedented increase in brand development among one of the fastest‐growing consumer markets, the new generation of Chinese consumers, compels a greater understanding of the psychological factors that were largely stereotyped to be collective and homogeneous. Grounded in self‐congruity theory, the primary purpose of this study is to understand the joint impact of Chinese consumers' self‐ and gender consciousness on their ensuing brand perceptions. This study aims to critically explore the process that underlies the aforementioned relationships with consumers' need for uniqueness and brand consciousness.

An online survey using consumer panel data was conducted in three “tier‐one” cities in the People's Republic of China. The focus on these cities coincided with the competitive density of retail brands, and resulted in 302 respondents in the population of interest. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).

Self‐ and gender consciousness do impact brand consciousness indirectly through Chinese consumers' need for uniqueness. Contrary to expectations, the study finds that self‐consciousness has a negative direct impact on brand consciousness, while gender consciousness does not have a direct impact on brand consciousness. Furthermore, brand consciousness leads to positive brand perceptions, including brand attitudes, brand loyalty, and willingness to pay a price premium.

The research provides an in‐depth understanding of self‐congruity in Chinese consumers' brand perceptions. The research findings can be used to formulate brand positioning and promotion strategies for brand managers.

The study integrates extant theories in gender schema and self‐congruity to understand brand perceptions in light of self‐ and gender consciousness. To date, no research has explored this relationship. Furthermore, the study discusses the role of consumers' need for uniqueness as a process that underlines the relationship between consumer self‐ and gender consciousness, and brand perceptions in terms of brand consciousness, brand attitude and loyalty and willingness to pay a price premium.

This study aims to examine the role of face consciousness, materialism and risk of embarrassment in determining consumer purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury brand. In addition, the authors explore boundary conditions of these relationships.

Study 1, a survey research (N = 321), examines the mediating role of risk of embarrassment between face consciousness on the purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits. Study 2 (N = 345), an experimental study, examines the moderating role of brand prominence of counterfeit (i.e. whether it contains prominent brand signals). Study 3 (N = 315) explores how the above-mentioned relationships are moderated by consumers’ moral rationalization (i.e. whether consumers seek rationalization when behaving unethically).

First, this research shows that risk of embarrassment mediates the negative relationship between face consciousness and Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits, whereas this relationship was not found between materialism and counterfeit purchase intentions. Second, this negative mediating effect holds only when the counterfeit brand is highly prominent. Third, the mediating effect depends on consumers’ moral rationalization, with a positive impact on the purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits, regardless of brand prominence.

This study represents a preliminary inquiry into the dynamics between face consciousness and materialism in influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury products. Unlike their Western counterparts, whose materialistic views of possessions predict their counterfeit luxury consumption (Davidson et al., 2019), Chinese consumers are more likely to be driven by the social implications of counterfeit luxury to communicate a prestigious social image to others on account of genuine luxuries’ high social recognition.

While Chinese consumers are one of the most potent global luxury buyers, they are immersed in the world’s biggest counterfeit luxury market. By digging into the core value of Chinese consumers (i.e. face consciousness), this research provides a number of managerial implications for luxury goods companies to engage in international efforts to educate consumers against counterfeit luxury.

This study makes at least three contributions to the counterfeit consumption literature. First, this study represents a preliminary inquiry into the dynamics between face consciousness and materialism in influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury products. Second, this research identified the complex mechanism of face consciousness as an independent variable on consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits. Finally, the authors examined the boundary conditions of brand prominence and consumers’ moral rationalization. The findings may help luxury brand managers identify strategies to discourage counterfeit consumption.

This paper aims to examine the relationships among two distinct yet interconnected forms of value orientations, namely, terminal and instrumental values, brand consciousness and behavioral intentions. This study validated the conceptual model for branded fashion apparel consumption in an emerging market, e.g. India.

The research design followed a two-step approach to test the measurement and structural models for partial least squares structural equation modeling with SmartPLS (v.3.0) as recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988).

The results illustrated that both the instrumental and terminal values influence brand consciousness and, consequently, brand consciousness had an impact on behavioral intentions for fashion apparel consumption. Instrumental values had a greater influence on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions than terminal values. Brand consciousness mediated the relationship between instrumental/terminal values and behavioral intentions.

This study defined two value orientations (i.e. instrumental versus terminal) using cross-sectional data from an emerging market. Future studies may examine the research findings’ generalizability using diverse data sets (longitudinal and cross-sectional) and evaluate the value orientation and customers’ favorable behavioral intentions for luxury fashion consumption.

This study provides insights into luxury marketers and practitioners to understand the contribution of instrumental and terminal values on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions for luxury fashion apparel. The findings would assist in developing marketing strategies for an emerging market, i.e. India.

With the rapid proliferation of materialism, the Indian market has witnessed the dawn of a new era of luxury fashion acceptance. The research offers evidence that in emerging markets such as India, consumers exhibit value orientation toward luxury brands while holding a sense of fashion involvement in their consumption behavior.

This study is a pioneering attempt to understand the relationships between the value orientation, namely, instrumental and terminal values and their underlying influence on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions toward fashion apparel. Rokeach’s (1973) two-dimensional value dichotomy was adapted to understand luxury apparel consumption in an emerging market context, specifically India.

There has been substantial research on luxury globally, but there is a dearth of studies empirically investigating the key relationships affecting luxury consumption. The aim of this paper is to consider the role of consumer vanity and brand consciousness and to set their relationships in context of luxury consumption.

To measure consumer vanity, brand consciousness, attitude towards luxury brands and purchase intentions, pre-established scale items were adopted. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed through luxury exhibitions and festivals in major cities of India. A sample of n = 342 luxury consumers was analysed using structural equation modelling.

The findings support that brand consciousness is mediating the relationship between consumer vanity and luxury consumption. Luxury consumers are primarily driven by achievement vanity. They are likely to evaluate luxury brands based on their price, fame and their ability to portray their professional achievements. They incur unreasonable costs to acquire the expensive, famous and prestigious luxury brands and conspicuously consume them to display their success and accomplishments.

The study provides an in-depth explanation of how consumer vanity is leading to consumption of luxury brands. The marketers may benefit by focussing on promotion of their brand's symbols and logos than on specific product features.

This is the first empirical examination understanding the mediating effect of brand consciousness as a mediator between consumer vanity and luxury consumption.

This study aims to examine the roles of face consciousness, materialism and emotions play in sustainable luxury brand consumption (SLBC) among Millennials in a Collective society.

Three experimental design studies using scenario-based methodologies along with the survey method were conducted in China to test the proposed research model.

Study 1 shows that face consciousness negatively and significantly affects SLBC, and this effect is mediated by materialism. Study 2 reveals that when Millennials experienced great authentic pride, there is a positive association between face consciousness and SLBC. Furthermore, Study 3 reveals that when Millennials are exposed to a high risk of embarrassment, materialists’ willingness to engage in SLBC increases.

The current research has significant theoretical implications for studying SLBC, especially among young consumers. This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationships among face consciousness, materialism, pride, risk of embarrassment and SLBC in a Collective culture context, where luxury consumption is valued.

Sustainable luxury consumption is a new and under-examined research area. This research extends the SLBC literature in the context of a collective society and provides empirical evidence for sustainable consumption and luxury consumption in general. The research also contributes to the literature by examining the moderating role of self-conscious emotion in the relationship between face consciousness and SLBC.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of social media marketing activities on brand loyalty, value consciousness and brand consciousness.

A self-administered questionnaire was developed and administered to a convenience sample of 346 undergraduate students

The findings of this research indicated that social media marketing has a significant effect on brand loyalty; brand consciousness and value consciousness mediate the relationship between social media marketing and brand loyalty.

This study confirms the growing importance of social media marketing. It also provides insights for marketers on envisioning brand loyalty.

Private label brands have achieved double-digit growth in the Thai market. To expand market share, private label brands need to identify clearly what triggers consumer purchases. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between consumer decision-making styles and actual purchases of private label products in a Thai market context, using price consciousness, quality consciousness, brand consciousness, value consciousness, and risk perception as factors for investigation.

Responses from a total of 240 respondents from four product categories were collected through mall intercepts in five hypermarkets and supermarkets in Bangkok, and a regression-based model was employed to identify the associations.

The results indicate a significant relationship between price-conscious and brand-conscious consumers, and private label purchases and show that the relationship between quality-conscious, value-conscious, and risk-adverse consumers and private label purchases is insignificant. It concludes that price-conscious consumers are the ones most likely to purchase private label products in low-differentiation categories. An opposite relationship prevails for consumers who are brand conscious in low-differentiation, high-risk, and low-risk categories.

The outcomes of this research suggest that private label brands should maintain a low-price strategy while striving for continuous improvement in quality to capture additional quality- and value-conscious consumers. It also suggests that national brands invest in brand-building strategies rather than competing on price.

This study enhances an understanding of consumer decision-making characteristics for actual private label purchases rather than the intention to purchase and is useful in suggesting an alternative to socio-economic factors as a method of identifying private label purchasers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the activities of environmental consciousness from socio-psychographic perspectives and hence evaluates its effect on brand equity through intervening elements of environmental attributes (EAt). It further attempts to research the effect of the environmental performance, environmental communication and environmental positioning in enhancing brand equity. Indian refrigeration industry, particularly the air conditioners and refrigerator brands are chosen to convey and receive the research inputs as their impact on environment is easily interpretable.

A hypothesized model comprising the environment consciousness and association dimensions with brand equity is framed. In total, 74 expert respondents from four state capital cities of India participated in the survey and the model has been tested in the scope of analytical hierarchy process (AHP).

The result shows that the EAt and activities can be prioritized and subsequently efficient resource allocation can be done. It also gives theoretical arguments to legitimize the environmental practices.

On the other hand, clients have numerous options, and a competitive advantage may not be maintained. Regardless of the fact that clients are environmentally conscious of a given refrigeration brand at the present time that they are utilizing, they may observe that they are much more charmed with a competitors’ enhanced environmental dimensions. All methods that take a try at an enhanced brand equity must be continually determined by environmental consciousness. The above can be accomplished if the evaluations of competitors by the clients are known. The AHP-ECBE technique depicted in this study accordingly helps refrigeration organization to devise and keep up a pertinent, focused plan for persistent improvements in environmental dimensions. It offers a “greater image” in brand equity administration.

If legitimately done in a generalized way, environmental activities like eco-literacy, interpersonal influence and value orientation can impact EAt and contribute in building brand equity.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the symbolic representations of non-users compared to the life experiences of users related to a luxury brand. In particular, the study examines whether product design mediates the relationship between antecedent factors of country-of-origin effect and product experience, and it also investigates the moderating effects of reference groups (non-users vs users) on the relationship between antecedent factors of country-of-origin effect and product design related to a luxury brand, namely, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class or E-Series.

A sample of convenience of 272 persons classified as non-users and users is investigated. An online questionnaire was used and 28 statements are included in the analysis based on a seven-point Likert scale.

The study reveals that the country-of-origin effect for the model of non-users and users has a very good fit with current data and is statistically significant. It also reveals that all relationships are significant except for price consciousness to product design and for brand familiarity to price consciousness. There is also partial mediation of product design between antecedent factors and product experience. Furthermore, the moderating effect of reference groups appears to play an important role, as it impacts the relationship between antecedent factors of the country-of-origin effect and product design/product experience.

This study indicates that the non-users’ group based on the hypothetical purchases of a luxury brand with a strong country image has a different country-of-origin effect to the users’ group of the same luxury brand. Moreover, the study concludes that there are statistically significant differences between the non-users’ group versus users’ group of a luxury brand (Mercedes-Benz), and these differences are concerned with the constructs of brand familiarity, brand commitment, product design and product experience. Finally, the study reveals that “price consciousness” is not relevant for luxury brands. Managerial implications, limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.