Luxury Brands Essay

ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE CONCEPT OF LUXURY AN EXPLORATORY nobble Bernard Dubois, Groupe H. E. C. Gilles Laurent, Groupe H. E. C. Even though recent years devour non been super affable for the sumptuousness industry (the ComitT Colbert which includes umteen prestigious French label Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent, etc reputations a 1. 5% increase in real terms for 1993), its harvest-home rate, subscribe toed over a longer period, remains impressive. Colbert companies have more(prenominal) than three-fold their sales over the last eight years (ComitT Colbert, 1991, 1993).In 1993, they achieved a global turnover of about USD 5. 5 billion. The Pacific Rim countries stand for 28% of that amount (21. 6% in 1988), equally divided in the midst of Japan and the other Asian countries. Interestingly enough, save, such(prenominal)(prenominal) growth in demand has non been matched by an equivalent progress in give birthr question and what was estimated by McKinsey (in 1990) t o be a USD 60 billion market largely remains unexplored territory (McKinsey, 1991).Some studies obviously have been conducted and print in the past exactly they run fored to focus on relatively intend aspects. For example, the consumption habits of the affluent have been examined regularly since Veblens seminal control (Veblen, 1899) and, immediately, anecdotal reports (Stanley, 1988, 1991) as well as in-depth monographies of specific segments such as upper class wasps (Hirschman, 1988) or nouveaux-riches (LaBarbera, 1988) argon available.Limiting the investigation of the opulence market to the analysis of privileged consumers however would fail to recognize that, chthonic the influence of diffusion strategies adopted by many a(prenominal) sumptuousness goods companies (for brands such as Dior or Yves Saint-Laurent, accessories may represent up to two thirds of their sales), todays demand for sumptuosity goods primarily consists of ordinary consumers who, from time to t ime, convert their desire to acquire a sumptuosity item into reality.Similary, a a couple of(prenominal) studies have been published on sumptuousness brands, for instance on issues such as their relative positions in peoples mind (Dubois and Duquesne, 1993 weber and Dubois, forthcoming) or their adopters characteristics (Andrus, Silver and Johnson, 1986) but many highlife goods (houses, diamonds, furniture, etc ) belong to overlap categories where branding is not a salient balance, firearm, at the same time, a few brands (such as FabergT) which were in the past considered as sumptuousness call seem to have lost their affiliation to the prodigality world, usually because they have overdiffused their products.Finally, some re pursuit has besides been published on the determinants of the attainment of sumptuosity products, emphasizing economic (Leibenstein, 1950 Mason, 1981) socio-demographic (Dubois and Laurent, 1993) or cultural aspects (Dubois and Duquesne, 1993 Maso n 1993) but no overall beliefual scheme, mannequin or theory has been developed yet. Paradoxically, iodine of the untapped research areas concerns the very personalizedity of perceptions and attitudes given up to the word sumptuousness itself.This is somewhat surprise because even casual conversations reveal that the word prodigality evokes instead pie-eyed connotations among people. Some attach to it very positive feelings musical composition others are quick to express their disdain, but few are left(a) indifferent. The absence of research on the word highlife as well as is adverse because, in several product categories, the sumptuosity adjective is used routinely to segment markets and to position products. In the car industry for example, twain manufacturers and consumers clear identify luxury models (Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac, etc) usually advertised as such. The same holds confessedly for such services as hotels or restaurants. The objective o f this paper is to report on an exploratory analysis of the perceptions and attitudes attached to the word (and underlie imagination of) luxury. It is hoped that the results presented below will stimulate further research in the area and eventually contribute to the development of a theory of luxury acquisition and consumption behavior. METHOD In order to explore the substances attached to the word luxury, a two- measuring stick survey methodology was adopted. spring(a) approaches such as semiotics could similarly have been used but were left less appropriate to explore, and to some extent, quantify consumers attitudes towards the luxury concept (Wargnier, 1985). First, in-depth interviews were conducted by a professional psychologist with sixteen consumers selected for their widely different (and complementary) profiles. twain males and females were equally represented in the panel and age varied from 17 to 70 years. Occupations were also strongly contrasted, ranging from sale s rep to student and from opera house singer to mechanic.All interviews were conducted at home, on a face-to-face basis, and taped. On the basis of results obtained from such qualitative research, a battery of attitudinal items was developed and administered to a stress of 440 French consumers. Although not randomly drawn, the sample was chosen check to quotas set in terms of sex, age and geographical location. addicted the nature of the topic under investigation, it was decided to overrepresent female respondents and to underrepresent lower income categories. All interviews were conducted by professional interviewers on a face to face basis.Although the questionnaire included many questions about specific product categories such as perfumes, jewelry, etc only the results machine-accessible with qualitative research and the everyday attitudinal statements are inform in this paper. RESULTS www. acrwebsite. org/search/view-conference-proceedings. aspx? Id=11539 1/4 3/4/13 Attitu des Towards the Concept of sumptuosity an explorative Analysis by Bernard Dubois and Gilles Laurent From the results obtained through qualitative research, several fundamental themes emerge in relation to the concept of luxury.First, the world luxury itself is impromptu associated with other terms such as (in decreasing order of frequency) upmarket, quality, good try out, class, but also intensity and bad taste. All of these terms overlap in meaning to a certain extent but also have distinguishable connotations. For example, the key perceived difference between up plateful and luxury products is that the former imply a relative position on an evaluative scale while the latter add up to a self-contained entity. Upscale products also are naturally connected with material goods while the concept of luxury encapsulates emblematical and cultural values.During interviews, many respondents referred to abstracts concepts such as space, time, or liberty to convey their perceptions of luxury. The fact that both good taste and bad taste are associated with luxury, sometimes by the same people, clearly reveal the ambivalent nature of respondents feelings, a theme which has been recently investigated in the context of plump over giving behavior (Sherry, McGrawth and Levy, 1993). Typical contrasts emerge on attributes such as essential/superfluous, decent/indecent, quality/gadgetGiven this ambivalence, it is not surprising to find that luxury items often provoke avoidance/attraction reactions. For many respondents, luxury products are desirable when contemplated at a distance, at a day-dreaming level when a specific purchase is considered (sometimes ruminated), guilt feelings arise however and the debaseing act is experienced by many as a transgression, a not totally excusable t whizz-beginning to break take away daily routine and run away, at least temporarily. TABLE 1 (/volumes/ap01/01274t01. gif) (/volumes/ap01/01274t01. gif) ATTITUDINAL STATEMENTS ABOU T LUXURY (/volumes/ap01/01274t01.gif) At the same time, the luxury transgression base also be a regression, a trip back to anes viewlized childhood, when everything was warm and smooth. This would explain why the concept of luxury was felt by many to be relative and idiosyncratic. During interviews, a sum up of respondents spontaneously started to describe their luxury, as if they were talking about a inexplicable garden, only turn inn to them. The dual nature of luxury-a world in itself and a world for me-certainly accounts for a large proportion of the ambivalence of feelings.Without oversimplyfing too much, unity could say that many negative feelings are attached to others luxury, while the positive ones are kept for my luxury. On the basis of such themes, a battery of 34 attitudinal items was developed, pretested and administered. The attitudinal statements as well as the overall frequencies are presented in Table 1 and discussed in the following sections. Overall results tend to confirm conclusions obtained from qualitative research about the ambivalent nature of respondents feelings.As far as the concept itself is concerned for example, a majority of respondents considers that luxury is synonymous with good taste, is pleasant, not old-fashioned and effective but also flashy and too dear(predicate) for what it is. When commenting on their personal rapport to luxury, most respondents express a positive attitude (I like luxury, Im interested in luxury, highlife makes me dream, high life products make life more beautiful) but also confess their relative drop of expertise (I dont know much about it, I could not talk about it for hours) and odd purchase activity (I just about never buy luxury products).When asked (in a projective mode) to comment on others behavior, a vast majority subscribes to the luxuriant motive (One buys luxury goods primarily for ones pleasure) and refutes the snobbish argument, but more than 50% of those who express an opinion consider that people who buy luxury products seek to imitate the rich and, on issues like people who buy luxury goods try to differentiate themselves from others or people who buy luxury products are refined people the sample is totally divided.Similarly, one out of two respondents does not support the idea of a heavier tax but one out of three welcomes such a proposal In order to improve our understanding of the underlying attitudinal structure, correlation and principal component analyses were performed. Rather than displaying the full 34 x 34 correlation matrix, not easy to read (1156 coefficients), we decided to attempt to graphically represent the underlying structure, even though we recognize that it is not always possible to completely eliminate arbitrariness in place the items on the resulting map.Figure 1 depicts the map obtained when only intercorrelations higher than 0. 4 are considered. To make it easier to read and to interpret, all items which imply a favorabl e predisposition towards luxury are positioned on the left side of the date while negative statements appear on the right side. Coefficients between 0. 40 and 0. 50 are indicated by dotted lines while solid lines correspond to correlations above 0. 50. Obviously, all coefficients are statistically signifi groundworkt. It appears that the backbone of perceptions and attitudes evolves around the attraction-avoidance dimension mentioned previously.The two attitudinal statements I like luxury and Im not interested in luxury exhibit a strong (negative) correlation, with an dictatorial value which is the highest one in the whole matrix. From such a map, a number of conclusions can be drawn 1. There are two basic reasons underlying the lack of interest in luxury. The first one is a negative perception of the luxury world, considered in an absolute, general and abstract sense. Those who adopt this perspective tend to describe luxury goods as useless, old-fashioned, too expensive and fla shy.Since they fail to see much value in luxury items, they do not develop an appetite for them. 2. The second reason is more linked to a perceived lack of fit between the private and luxury. Those who feel this absence of connivence tend to explain it in terms of their feature inexpertise, their uneasiness with luxury environments and an impression of artificiality when they wear their luxury items (in case they aver some). All those factors logically result in a minimal interest separate in both interest for luxury goods and acquisition behavior. 3. Although not reported on the map, the correlations between, on the one hand, those two sets of items and, on the other hand, the group of three statements related to the perceived reasons why others buy luxury goods (located at the extreme right of the figure) are statistically significant, typically in the 0. 20 0. 40 range.Those who dont feel at ease with luxury goods and admit their incompetence also tend to believe that othe rs buy luxury items to imitate the rich or to differentiate themselves from the rest of the population. www. acrwebsite. org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx? Id=11539 2/4 3/4/13 Attitudes Towards the Concept of Luxury an Exploratory Analysis by Bernard Dubois and Gilles Laurent Those who believe that luxury goods are too expensive and flashy have a similar perception of the behavior of others. still the factors underlying such perceptions are not the same for both groups. turn the former find one more reason to deepen the whirl which separates them from the world of luxury, it looks as if the latter have one more justification in support of their disdain of an environment perceived as barren and futile.4. The two mechanisms underlying disinterest have their counterparts on the positive (left hand) side. Although not shown on the map, the correlation between I like luxury and I could talk about it for hours is highly significant (0. 32). People who like luxury also are people who feel knowledgeable about it, both in terms of expertise and familiarity (Alba and Hutchinson, 1987). The luxury world is their world and they move in it like a fish in water, as revealed by their strong opposition to the statement I almost never buy luxury goods. 5. But the appetite for luxury goods can be also developed on a more abstract and symbolic dimension (upper left corner). Those who adopt this viewpoint see the luxury word as a source of fascination and enlightment. Luxury products make them dream and contribute, in their opinion, to a more beautiful life. This ethereal perception of luxury is also the most hedonic of all in nature, as revealed by the strong correlations obtained with the items related to pleasure. Luxury becomes a permanent source of inspiration and happiness, almost a goal for life, far beyond transient fads and fashions.All these facets of luxury are easily confirmed by the rotated factor structure. Applying the varimax surgery to the table of intercorrelations yields the matrix reproduced in Table 2. Ten factors were extracted explaining about 60% of the variance. While the last six correspond to specific items (or pairs of items) not right off linked with the core attitudinal structure but useful to illustrate such topics as price perceptions and their consequences (Factor 5), or the scarcity issue (Factor 6), the first iv correspond rather closely to the structure discussed previously.Factor 1 expresses the lack of interest due to limited expertise and familiarity, while Factor 2 corresponds to the positive evaluation of luxury goods fostered by hedonistic motives. Factor 3 summarizes the negative perceptions attached to the behavior of others and Factor 4 corresponds to the mythical and symbolic values attached to the luxury fairy tale. Taken together, these cardinal factors contribute to a better understanding of the underlying structure and can be helpful for someone interested in developing a short scale inte nded to measure attitudes toward the concept of luxury.As an illustration, the factorial structure of a subset of twelve items appears on Table 3 and is rather straightforward in its interpretation While the first factor corresponds to perceptions related to the concept of Luxury in general, factor 2 expresses a more personal rapport to luxury, and the remaining two factors describe attitudes towards those who consume luxury items. CONCLUSIONS Despite the importance and growth of the luxury sector, the determinants of luxury acquisition and consumption have received very little attention in the consumer research literature.There is a distinct lack of systematic studies to model and test the processes whereby individuals develop an appetite for the world of luxury (or fail to do so). FIGURE 1 (/volumes/ap01/01276f01. gif) TABLE 2 (/volumes/ap01/01277t02. gif) (/volumes/ap01/01277t02. gif) FACTOR STRUCTURE (/volumes/ap01/01277t02. gif) Given its exploratory nature, the present resear ch only represents a first step in the development of a model of luxury acquisition and consumption. exclusively the attitudes towards the concept in general have been investigated here.The dual nature of those attitudes has emerged as a major conclusion of both qualitative and quantitative info The structure of peoples predispositions towards luxury, as a concept, are stirred both by their perception of the luxury world in general and their perceived personal fit with such a world. Future studies could investigate 1) the socio-demographic and psychographic elements associated with such predispositions 2) the role of specific product categories in the development of attitudes towards luxury and 3) the evolution of these predispositions over time.A program of research on all(prenominal) of these topics is being conducted by the authors and its results will be reported in prospective contributions. TABLE 3 (/volumes/ap01/01278t03. gif) (/volumes/ap01/01278t03. gif) A TWELVE ITEM ATTITUDINAL SCALE ON THE CONCEPT OF LUXURY (/volumes/ap01/01278t03. gif) REFERENCES Alba, Joseph, W. and J. Wesley Hutchinson (1987), Dimension of Consumer Expertise, journal of Consumer Research, 13, March, pp. 411-454. Andrus, David M. , Edward Silver and Dallas E. Johnson (1986), term Brand Management and Gift Purchase A Discriminant Analysis, The diary of Consumer trade, vol.3, Winter, pp. 5-13. 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