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Luxury tourism is the behaviour of a minority of travellers. Our objective is to assess how Celebrities perceive and experience tourism luxuries. Furthermore, their inner concept of luxury tourism is analysed by comparison with their everyday perception of luxury, and, finally, to understand to what extent luxury relates to outrageous spending. We interviewed 36 Portuguese Celebrities and a group comprising ordinary individuals in order to account for heterogeneity control. A mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative methods was applied in the interpretation of the interviews. The findings reveal diverse perceptions of luxury tourism by the different groups.

Advances in digital technologies coupled with the shift toward sustainable consumption present promising opportunities for luxury fashion brands to engage younger consumers. To this end, this paper aims to provide a forward-looking approach to creating luxury experiences targeted toward young consumers by proposing a new experience consumption framework.

This paper presents a viewpoint on creating luxury experiences that address the changing dynamics of the luxury industry by responding to the disruptive surge of young consumers and their growing preference for digital connections.

The authors develop a new experience consumption framework which demonstrates how luxury brands can successfully engage young consumers and fulfill their desire to share experiences with others by leveraging sustainable participation and digital technologies. The framework identifies different sustainable and digitally immersive experiences that luxury brands can incorporate for their young consumers.

This paper offers important managerial insights for luxury fashion brand marketers and identifies future research opportunities to advance knowledge in this field.

This concluding paper offers an overview of the academic and practitioner approaches to the issue of well-being in the luxury yachting sector of tourism, highlighting the significance of the theme issue. The paper proposes a Model of Luxury Yachting Research illustrating the relationship between the areas directly affecting well-being and suggests that the Model can serve as a road map for further research in the field.

This paper argues that luxury yachting could be considered as a form of tourism which contributes to the well-being of a wide range of stakeholders relevant to the sector, and not only to those who experience their holidays on board luxury yachts. It builds on the range of contributions in this theme issue, using a synthesis of the knowledge generated from this publication.

The paper argues that luxury yachting as a specific and unique sector of tourism, which presents itself as a meta economic sector, is representative of the evolution of global finance and the global economy. Additionally, luxury yachting can act as a transformative societal force which positively encompasses and impacts its relevant stakeholders and sectors. The synthesises of the articles presented in this issue identifies four main areas of further academic enquiry in the field.

The value of this paper is that it presents luxury yachting as a prism which enables the investigation of the issue of well-being in the context of luxury tourism. This theme issue has addressed the well-being aspect of the luxury yachting tourism and, by doing so, has emphasised the significance of luxury yachting as a field of research which is ripe for extensive academic investigation. The outcomes of the issue have informed the Model of Luxury Yachting Research, a road map which is offered as a guide for further research in the field of luxury tourism.

Augmented reality (AR) provides consumers with added value by allowing them to experience products via mobile devices. An increasing number of brands have adopted AR apps, but little is known about how consumers respond to AR app attributes or what motivates them to use luxury brand AR apps. To fill this gap, this study aims to use the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model to examine how AR app attributes (i.e. interactivity and virtuality) and customer-based brand equity (CBBE) (i.e. brand awareness and brand image) of luxury brands affect consumers’ behavioral intention to share about the app and use it for future purchases.

Participants were recruited using a quantitative online survey (n = 214) and asked to use the Gucci mobile AR app before completing the survey. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. All measures were adapted from existing literature.

Findings indicate that AR app attributes lead to positive consumer experience, in turn, creating behavioral intention, while CBBE partially leads to positive consumer perceptions. Post hoc analysis confirms that consumers’ perceived values mediate the relationship between AR app attributes and consumers’ attitudes toward a luxury brand AR app.

Theoretically, this study expands the application of the S-O-R model along with brand equity to AR adoption and luxury retail by demonstrating the intricate mechanism of how AR app attributes and CBBE promote consumers’ behavioral intentions toward luxury brand AR apps. Practitioners may create more interactive and immersive virtual product demonstrations and focus on establishing the overall brand image.

This study aims to confirm the causal relationship between emotional brand attachment, brand love, and brand commitment, and then explain how these variables affect active engagement. In addition, it is to confirm the effect of brand prestige, brand consciousness, and brand trust on emotional brand attachment and to identify the moderating role of self-congruity in the causal relationship between these variables.

In this study, a survey was conducted targeting 320 consumers who have recently purchased luxury products or brands. In addition, structural equation model analysis (SEM) was used to test the research hypotheses raised in this study.

The results found that brand prestige and brand consciousness affect on emotional brand attachment. Emotional brand attachment had a significant effect on brand love and brand commitment. And brand love affect brand commitment and active engagement. Emotional brand attachment affects active engagement. Brand love was mediated in the relationship between emotional brand attachment and active engagement. Self-congruity was moderated in the relationship between brand prestige and emotional brand attachment. However, self-congruity was not moderated in the relation to brand consciousness, brand trust and emotional brand attachment.

This study has significance in that it identified the antecedent factors that cause consumers' emotional brand attachment and confirmed that they have differential effects depending on the degree of consumer self-congruity. In addition, this study is meaningful in that it confirmed the concept of the causal difference between attachment and brand love as consumers' emotional responses to luxury brands. However, the scope of this study was limited to offline stores excluding online purchases as a place of purchase for luxury brands. In a situation where the purchase of luxury brands is gradually increasing in various online environments, limiting the scope of the study to offline stores may have problems in generalizing the study. Therefore, in future research, we would like to propose a study on the relationship and influence between these variables by integrating all purchasing environments, such as offline and online.

The management implications of the results of this study are as follows. First, brand marketers and managers must suggest strategies to increase emotional attachment to customers who are satisfied with the brand and have a favorable brand attitude. After segmenting target customers and identifying their tendencies, behavioral characteristics, and preferred brands, emotional attachment can be strengthened by providing information about the brand to each segment and strengthening the brand image. Strategies like these can help target customers strengthen their emotional connection to a luxury brand, build positive attitudes toward the brand, and prevent them from switching to competing brands. Second, a strategy is needed to ensure that target customers have a strong emotional response to the company's luxury brand and become immersed in the brand. Target customers who have an affinity for the brand can strengthen their level of brand attachment and become immersed in the brand by allowing them to directly participate in brand activities through various advertising campaigns, events, and content. Third, you can strengthen your brand by developing a brand that fits the self-concept of your target customers. Brand marketers or managers can strengthen brand attachment by presenting a brand that fits the characteristics of each target customer and recognizing that the brand's status is relatively high compared to competing brands.

This study identified how consumers' brand engagement in a luxury brand environment is influenced by its components. In other words, the preceding factors for consumers' brand emotion were identified, and the influence of emotional brand attachment and brand love, which represent the consumer's emotional state that affects consumers' brand engagement, was investigated. The theoretical implications of the results of this study are as follows. First, Shahid et al. (2022) found that emotional attachment was expressed more strongly when emotional bonds were formed through relationship formation. Hwang and Kandampully (2012) found that emotional attachment and brand love are conceptually similar but differ in intensity. And Gómez-Suárez (2019) said that brand attachment is a prerequisite for brand love. As mentioned earlier, previous research has shown that emotional attachment and brand love differ depending on the consumer's emotional state. The results of this study showed that emotional brand attachment did not affect active participation, while brand love did. This means that active engagement is directly influenced by brand love rather than emotional attachment. Through these research results, it can be confirmed that even if consumers have similar brand emotional states, the impact on consumer behavior is different depending on the intensity of the emotional state. Therefore, in the consumer-brand relationship, the intensity of emotions arising from the interaction between the consumer and the brand is different, and only when brand emotions are at a high level, consumers engage in behavioral participation toward the brand. Second, Morris and Keltner (2000) found that consumers activate the integration of emotions in the decision-making process. Hwang and Kandampully (2012) found that love induces consumers to maintain a relationship with a brand, and that brand commitment increases when consumers feel intimacy and a strong emotional bond between themselves and the brand. Through these prior studies, it was confirmed that emotions play an important role in the consumer's decision-making process, and in particular, it was confirmed that maintaining close relationships with others induces emotional commitment to the object. In this study, brand loyalty was also found to have a positive effect on brand immersion and active participation. Therefore, consumers need to foster strong bonds with luxury brands to create brand love and strengthen their relationship with the brand, leading to brand commitment and active participation. Third, Ji et al. (2018) found that brand reputation has a positive effect on consumer attitudes and behaviors, including brand attachment, purchase intention, and brand loyalty. Casidy et al. (2015) found that consumers with high brand awareness are likely to have high brand preference and have favorable and positive brand attitudes due to their high brand knowledge. Previous research has shown that consumers' brand reputation and brand consciousness influence brand attachment.

This study dealt with a more comprehensive variable in the relationship between luxury brand factors as an antecedent variable of emotional brand attachment in luxury brand situations, and provided important evidence for the mediating effect of brand love, which was a limited emotional variable. In addition, additional implications for the moderating role of brand self-congruity on emotional brand attachment were suggested.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight critical sustainability challenges facing luxury fashion firms and to describe examples of best practice in responding to these challenges.

The research approach combines a detailed literature review with multiple-case examples. The paper adopts the triple bottom line framework for structuring the analysis and findings, which suggests reporting sustainability efforts in three categories of actions – social, environmental and economic.

Prior research suggests that luxury fashion marketing and principles of sustainability may represent contradictory philosophies. However, this paper of case examples suggests that this may no longer be the case. We identify six lessons in guiding future sustainability practices.

The findings have implications for managers operating in luxury fashion, but the findings are also pertinent to managers in other industries.

Prior research in luxury fashion has generally focused on the industry’s poor record in sustainability and how luxury and sustainability may be incompatible. In this paper, we conclude that most luxury fashion firms are aware of the need to integrate sustainability into their business models. By uncovering examples of best practice in sustainability, we demonstrate how luxury fashion firms have responded to these challenges with lessons for other industry sectors.

This study investigates Singaporean millennials’ attitudes toward luxury brands. The research focuses on the financial, functional, individual, and social dimensions of luxury value perception and whether ethnicity influences these dimensions.

The research measures luxury value perception among millennials of the three main ethnic groups in Singapore (Chinese, Indians, and Malays) via more than 200 questionnaires. Data were analyzed through Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric ANOVA and cluster analysis.

Luxury value perception does not vary across ethnicity, with the exception of the financial value dimension. Four market segments of young luxury consumers in Singapore are identified and profiled. These segments do not differ in terms of ethnicity.

Millennials are an evolving and moving population segment, and thus longitudinal analyses would be useful to develop a more comprehensive understanding of this segment.

Ethnicity does not affect luxury value perception. The results of the cluster analysis suggest that luxury companies should address the millennials as a global target sharing the same luxury value perception. At the same time, luxury companies can emphasize some different aspects (i.e., the financial dimension) of their value offer.

The research studies the most interesting market for luxury brands—millennials—in a fast-growing luxury market. It adds knowledge to the previous literature on luxury value perception. This research can guide managers to devise suitable marketing strategies addressing the millennials segment as a global market that has the same set of luxury values worldwide.

This research aims to investigate differences between cohorts and perceptions of luxury goods and services.

A survey asked participants to rate goods to determine their perceptions of luxury. Participants also provided information concerning elasticity and motivations for purchasing goods and services. A total of 347 participants in three age groups completed the questionnaire.

The study shows that there are significant differences between cohort groups in their perceptions of luxury goods and services, especially between the oldest and youngest cohorts. The elasticity measures showed that for all three cohorts, certain goods and services were inelastic and, therefore, were considered not to be luxury goods. The reasons why people buy goods they do not need varied between cohorts.

The results of the study may not be generalizable to other groups of consumers because it was a convenience sample.

The results of this study show that marketers need to tailor messages to individual cohort groups. Consumers' experiences at their “coming of age” do influence perceptions of luxury. There are different motivations for buying among the cohort groups. Identifying and leveraging these motivators in marketing communication will help to target these groups with appropriate messages. Marketers need to understand those motivations and develop communication campaigns that target those groups.

Little research has focused on the cohort perception of luxury. Although there is evidence to suggest there will be differences between age groups, this study seeks to investigate those differences to help marketers to tailor their messages more effectively.

The paper delves into the international expansion of luxury SMEs to investigate their internationalization pathways, namely how the internationalization process unfolds in terms of timing of entry into foreign markets, the geographic scope of operations and the scale. The paper examines also the determinants of the internationalization pathways as a set of factors that contribute to developing an asset of foreignness.

The paper adopts a multiple case study approach and reports findings from four cases of Italian SMEs operating in the luxury fashion industry.

SMEs’ specific characteristics at the firm and entrepreneurial levels (i.e. craftsmanship, quality, product creativity, entrepreneurial mindset), country of origin attributes (e.g. Italy’s positive image) and the inherently global nature of the luxury industry, can turn foreignness into an asset of foreignness that allows luxury fashion SMEs to pursue internationalization pathways of born globals.

The paper highlights that the global luxury market is not the exclusive domain of MNEs and sheds light on luxury SMEs, overlooked by extant literature. The paper also contributes to understanding early internationalization by highlighting a potential link between internationalization pathways and foreignness and discussed the asset of foreignness by extending it to SMEs.