Cross-Cultural Understandings of “Face” and Their Influence on Luxury Brand Consumption : A Comparison of British and Korean Attitudes and Practices

Yoosun Hann 한국마케팅과학회 2011 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.2 No.1

??人?奢侈品牌的?品表?出?大的?趣而且?洲?已成?奢侈品牌?品在全球范??最大的目?市?。??也毫不例外的有一股奢侈?。一些??人甚至借?或陷入????中也要??奢侈品。?什???人如此?衷于奢侈品??本文??解??一?象背后的“面子”和?面(社?地位的一??法)的?念和“面子消?”的?点。作者探索了面子和?面之?的??以及英?和??消?者?奢侈品牌?品消?程度的不同。本硏究探?前????的?著不同?分?使用?????,?管?????泛的被互相替代的使用。 ?然面子是一?普遍?象,但?在一些特定的文化中尤其强?其重要性。英?的消?者不太?面子同他?的社?价?相??,他?甚至可能?有?面?一?念。?一方面,由于?面在??文化中十分普遍,??的消?者?乎每天都在和面子相?的??打交道。而且,不同的文化,面子的特点也不同。西方文化中的面子的?念多是?向于自身??的,?面?是更多的同社?地位和?位相?。因此,??消?者通?穿著或??奢侈品牌?品???他?的社?地位?以??方式?保持。但在英?消?者中,他??少以??奢侈品牌?品??面子。 面子消?和炫耀性消??似以?他?都涉及奢侈品牌商品。但是面子消?和炫耀性消?不同的地方在于面子消?不全是因?要炫耀而是一?人?得好像他/?一定要有奢侈品牌?品才能和其他人一?。?一方面,因??方的面子?念强????和??,所以面子消?又抑制?多的奢侈品牌?品。 ?卷??包括面子消?的??,英?和??的大?生??了?卷??。奢侈品牌商品?限于手提包,?包,手表和鞋。因??些?品上的品牌符??容易被?人?出?。???包括?有奢侈品的?量和?人????。最后用??据分析的有252?有效?卷,100??自??,152??自英?。 我?用主成分分析中的方差旋?法得出面子消?的?性。面子消?有???度:“追求不同和?可的面子消?”和“?同性面子消?”。??因子的?部一致性?高,Cronbach’s alpha的??.851和.868。 ?立?本t??的?果表明??消?者在追求不同和?可的面子消?以及?同性面子消?上都具有?高的水平。但是在面子消?的道德意?方面,??和英?的消?者之??有???上?著的差?。 作者用多元回?分析??明面子消?和??地位??有奢侈品的?量的影?。?同性面子消????消?者?有的奢侈品?量有?著的影?。但是??地位只?英?消?者?有的奢侈品?量有影?。 ??消?者不管其??地位如何,都???奢侈品牌?品,而英?的消?者在??奢侈品牌?品???考?他?的??地位。???果?在 East Asians show high interest in luxury brand goods, and Asia is now the world’s largest target market for luxury brand goods. South Korea is no exception to this luxury fever, and some Koreans even fall into debt to participate. Why are Koreans so attracted to luxury brand goods and their cachet? This paper seeks an explanation for this phenomenon by drawing on the concept of “face” and chemyon (the Korean notion of social face) and the idea of “face consumption.” The author investigates the differences between face and chemyon, as well as the differences in the degree of face consumption through luxury brand goods in British and Korean consumers. This study uses the first two terms distinctly when discussing their salient differences but combines them when they are being used more generically. Even though face is a universal phenomenon, it is an especially important concept in a collectivist culture. British consumers are unlikely to relate face to their social worth, and even the concept of (social) face may be unfamiliar to them. However, Korean consumers deal with face-related issues almost every day because chemyon is pervasive in the Korean culture. Furthermore, the specific characteristics of face differ from one culture to another. While the Western notion of face is oriented towards an independent self, chemyon is more closely linked with social status and position. Thus, Korean consumers show their social status and maintain chemyon by wearing or purchasing luxury brand goods. Among British consumers, however, purchasing luxury brand goods has little to do with preserving face. Face consumption is similar to conspicuous consumption as they both involve luxury brand goods. However, face consumption differs from conspicuous consumption in that not all face consumption is intended to show off and that the possession of luxury brand goods feels necessary to keep up with others in the practice of face consumption. Furthermore, face consumption inhibits the consumption of too many luxury brand goods because the Eastern notion of face emphasizes frugality and modesty. The questionnaire containing the face consumption scale was administered to British and Korean undergraduate students. Luxury brand goods were limited to bags, purses, watches, and shoes because brand logos are sufficiently revealed in these items allowing others to recognize their presence. Questions regarding the number of luxury brand goods possessed and the individual economic status were also included in the questionnaire. Data from 100 Korean and 152 British respondents (252 total) were used for data analysis. Principal component analysis using varimax rotation was conducted to figure out the properties of face consumption. The face consumption scale contained two dimensions: “face consumption in pursuit of distinction and acknowledgement” and “conformity face consumption.” Both factors had high internal consistency as Cronbach’s alpha was .851 and .868. The result of the independent samples t-test indicated that Korean consumers show a higher degree of face consumption in pursuit of distinction and acknowledgment. Korean consumers also exhibited a higher degree of conformity face consumption than British consumers. However, there was no statistically significant difference in morality-conscious face consumption between British and Korean consumers. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to illustrate the effect of face consumption and economic status on the number of luxury brand goods one possesses. Conformity face consumption has a significant effect on the number of luxury brand goods for both British and Korean consumers. However, economic status has a significant effect on the number of luxury brand goods for British consumers only. Whereas Koreans purchase luxury brand goods regardless of their economic status, British consumers seem to consider their economic status when purchasing luxury brand goods

위조명품 구매의도에 미치는 영향 요인

문연희 한국상품학회 2017 商品學硏究 Vol.35 No.5

Although the relationship between luxury goods and counterfeit luxury goods has characteristics of substitutional or complementary relationship according to consumers, existing studies on the buying behavior of these products have been carried independently. In this study, we focused on the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury goods and attempted to analyze the factors related to counterfeit luxury goods as well as factors related to luxury goods at the same time in one research model. The factors related to the counterfeit luxury goods include the attitude toward the purchase behavior of counterfeit luxury goods and the moral norms of purchasing counterfeit luxury goods. The attitude toward the buying behavior of luxury goods and the perceived behavior control power of luxury goods are included in the study model . The effects of factors related to purchase of counterfeit luxury goods on the intention to purchase counterfeit luxury goods were approached based on theory of reasoned action. Among the factors related to the purchase of luxury goods, the influence of perceived behavior control of purchasing luxury goods on the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury goods has been hypothesized based on the theory of planned behavior, and the attitude toward buying behavior of luxury goods affecting the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury goods was developed based on the theory of cognitive dissonance. 282 questionnaires were used for empirical analysis and the research hypothesis was tested by regression analysis. As a result of analysis, it was found that the factors related to counterfeit luxury goods had a positive effect on the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury goods, and the moral norms against counterfeit luxury goods purchase had a negative significant influence on the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury goods . On the other hand, it was found that there was no significant relationship between the attitude of purchasing behavior of luxury goods and the intention of purchase of counterfeit luxury goods in luxury goods related factors, and perceived behavior control power of purchasing luxury goods was significantly negative on the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury goods Based on the results of this analysis, implications and future direction of the research were suggested. 명품과 위조명품의 관계는 소비자에 따라 대체적 혹은 보완적 관계의 특성을 지니고 있음에도 불구하고, 이들 제품의 구매행동에 관한 기존 연구는 각각 독립적으로 이루어져 왔다. 본 연구에서는 위조명품의 구매의도에 초점을 두고, 위조명품 구매의도에 미치는 영향 요인으로 위조명품 관련 요인뿐만 아니라 명품 관련 요인을 하나의 연구모형에서 동시에 고려하여 분석을 시도하였다. 위조명품 관련 요인으로는 위조명품의 구매행동에 대한 태도와 위조명품 구매의 도덕적 규범이 고려되었으며, 명품관련 요인으로는 명품의 구매행동에 대한 태도와 명품구매의 지각된 행동통제력을 연구모형에 포함시켰다. 위조명품 구매에 관련된 요인이 위조명품 구매의도에 미치는 영향은 합리적 행동이론에 기초하여 접근하였다. 명품 구매에 관련된 요인 중에서 명품구매의 지각된 행동통제력이 위조명품 구매의도에 미치는 영향은 계획된 행동이론을 토대로 가설이 수립되었으며, 명품의 구매행동에 대한 태도가 위조명품의 구매의도에 미치는 영향은 인지적 부조화 이론을 토대로 가설이 개발되었다. 282부의 설문자료가 실증분석에 이용되었으며, 회귀분석을 통해 연구가설을 검증하였다. 분석결과, 위조명품 관련 요인에서 위조명품 구매행동에 대한 태도와는 정(+)의 방향으로 그리고 위조명품 구매에 대한 도덕적 규범은 부(-)의 방향으로 위조명품의 구매의도에 유의한 영향을 미치고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 반면에 명품관련 요인에서는 명품의 구매행동에 대한 태도와 위조명품 구매의도 간의 유의한 관계가 존재하지 않는 것으로 밝혀졌으며, 명품구매의 지각된 행동통제력은 부(-)의 방향으로 위조명품 구매의도에 영향이 있는 것으로 발견되었다. 이러한 결과는 위조명품 시장 통제에 대한 마케팅전략 수립의 방향을 제시하고 있으며, 더 나아가 명품 브랜드의 확장 전략을 시사하고 있다. 마지막으로 연구의 시사점 및 향후 연구방향이 제시되었다.

성인여성의 패션명품 구매실태에 관한 연구

홍은실(Eun-Sil Hong),신효연(Hyo-Yeon Shin) 전남대학교 생활과학연구소 2011 生活科學硏究 Vol.21 No.-

The purpose of this study was to investigate the purchasing practice in luxury goods in adult women. The samples were 548 adult women living in Gwangju. Statistical analysis was achieved by using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, X². The main results of this study were as follows: First, The women were mainly bought the luxury goods such as bags and purses. The purchasing items in luxury goods differed significantly according to variables such as age, marital status, level of education, monthly household income, monthly personal expenditure, value of ostentation, value of symbolism, value of high quality, satisfaction for luxury goods. Second, The source of information in luxury goods were family and friends. The source of information in luxury goods differed significantly according to variables such as age, marital status, level of education, job, value of high quality, satisfaction for luxury goods, repurchase intention for luxury goods. Third, The women were mainly bought the luxury goods at department store. The luxury goods purchasing place differed significantly according to variables such as age, marital status, level of education, job, monthly personal expenditure.

헤어디자이너의 소비성향과 명품구매동기, 명품구매태도의 관계

손병창,박은준 한국미용학회 2023 한국미용학회지 Vol.29 No.5

The need for research on luxury consumption behavior is increasing as individual luxury consumption is expanding among various consumers as a symbolic factor representing their individuality and social status due to the economic development of society and the increase in personal income. Therefore, in this paper, propensity to consume, motivation for purchasing luxury goods, and luxury purchase attitude were investigated and analyzed to study the consumption behavior of the hair designer group. This study directly distributed 400 questionnaires to adults in their 20s and older in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province through a self-response survey, and collected 338 questionnaire analysis data, excluding 62 that were deemed insufficient to analyze. Through reliability analysis and factor analysis, the validity and reliability of hair designers' propensity to consume, motivation for purchasing luxury goods, and luxury purchase attitude were confirmed. In addition, through regression analysis, it was analyzed how propensity to consume, affects motivation for purchasing luxury goods and luxury purchase attitude, and how motivation for purchasing luxury goods affects luxury purchase attitude. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that consumers with high ostentatious and planned tendencies are more likely to have an incentive to motivation for purchasing luxury goods, and consumers with reasonable tendencies have a negative relationship with the motivation for purchasing luxury goods. It has also been confirmed that hair designers who want to purchase luxury goods for social or practical purposes have a more positive attitude toward luxury goods. This shows that there is a close relationship between motivation for purchasing luxury goods and purchase attitude, and suggests that consumers' purchase motivation should be considered through strategies that emphasize brand value.

명품디자인의 창조원리에 관한 연구 II

박지다 한국디자인문화학회 2009 한국디자인문화학회지 Vol.15 No.4

본 논문은 일시적 유행으로 끝나는 대다수의 디자인 양식과 달리 시대를 초월하여 지속적인 생명력을 지속하고 있는 ‘명품(produit de luxe, luxury-goods) 디자인’의 창조원리를 규명하고자 시도했던 1차 연구에 이은 후속연구이다. 본 연구에서는 1차 연도 선행연구에서 수행된 명품디자인의 창조원리인 ‘새로움을 창조하는 디자인’, ‘정신과 혼을 담는 디자인’, ‘심미안(審美眼)’을 만들어감에 요청되는 환경적 측면을 주로 다루고 있다. 지속적 생명력을 부여받고 있는 명품 디자인을 빚어내는 환경 분석을 위해 본 연구에서는 세계적 명품 디자인을 만드는 디자이너 및 조직에 대한 사례분석(Case Study)을 진행하였다. 이들 사례연구를 통해 명품을 빚어내는 디자인 조직 혹은 디자이너를 둘러싼 환경적 특질을 도출하고자 시도하였다. 명품디자인이 산실을 만들기 위한 거시적 환경요인에 대한 사례분석 결과, 독특한 명품 디자인의 탄생이면에는 ‘소비자 경험의 공유와 디자인화’, ‘창의성 추구의 디자인 조직문화’, ‘문화의 본질 이해에 충실한 디자인’, ‘문화주체 간 지식교류와 융합’이 놓여 있었다. 따라서 향후 한국 디자인의 새로운 진화를 위해서는 ‘과거와 현재, 미래의 지향가치와 철학, 이념이 투영된 독특한 디자인’과 더불어 ‘자유의 허용을 통한 창의성 추구의 디자인 조직문화’, ‘한국다움에 대한 진지한 고민과 성찰에 근거한 독자적 디자인의 세계화’가 시급한 것으로 나타났다. This study has been carried out with the purpose of verifying what the creative environmental elements of luxury-goods can influence in the product design and designer. For such purpose of this research, First, the case analysis has been performed in order to extract the common environmental traits of luxury-goods design. The common traits are 'the sharing of consumer's experience and designing', 'the creative culture in organization' and 'the design of rooted in own-culture'. The cases have a soul and spirits in their own designs. Their designs are evolved by the free design culture and management practices in company and designers. In this research, the extracted core creative environment principles of luxury-goods design & designer are 'the sharing experience by design' and 'the creative driven organization cultures', 'the eyes of own culture rooted in design'. 'the task of the environment of design'. For inquiring of the core environmental principles in luxury-goods design, the research is designed. In this research, the case analysis are consisted of the 5 cases, including IDEO,, Alessandro Mendini, Hara Kenya, McCann Erickson, BMW & Automobile companies.

캠핑 장비 소비자의 체면민감성이 명품선호도 및 명품구매의도에 미치는 영향

이병관(Lee, Byung-Kwan),이병수(Lee, Byoung-Soo) 한국체육과학회 2021 한국체육과학회지 Vol.30 No.2

The purpose of this study was to structurally identify the influence of face-sensitive consumers on camping equipment"s preference for luxury goods and intention to purchase luxury goods. The subjects of the study were campers with experience in camping activities and purchasing camping equipment, and 204 people were used for the final statistical analysis. Statistical analysis was conducted as a confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model analysis, and the results were as follows: First, it has been shown that the face sensitivity of consumers of camping equipment does not affect the preference of luxury goods. Second, it has been shown that consumers" sensitivity to face of camping equipment does not affect their intention to purchase luxury goods. Third, consumers" preference for luxury goods in camping equipment has a positive effect on their intention to purchase luxury goods. These results can be interpreted as that consumers of camping equipment prefer or do not purchase luxury equipment due to their face sensitivity, but consumers who tend to prefer luxury goods are more likely to purchase luxury goods.

Why Korean Young Women Consumers Buy Luxury Goods? The Influence of Cultural Orientation and Media Use

Yuri Cha,Yeji Kwon 한국유통과학회 2018 Asian Journal of Business Environment (AJBE) Vol.8 No.2

Purpose - This study investigated the relationship among cultural disposition (Chemyeon, Noonchi, Woozzul), media use, and attitude toward luxury goods consumption. Research design, data, and methodology - We analyzed online survey data for 300 Korean Women between 20 and 39 years of age who lived in Seoul, capital of South Korea. We used multiple regression analysis to examine the relative influence of cultural orientation on cognition of luxury goods, Sobel test. to determine mediating effect, and a two-way analysis of variance in IBM SPSS 23.0. Results - The finding suggests that cultural disposition (Chemyeon, Noonchi, conspicuous Woozzul) correlated significantly with perceived self-identity, attitude toward luxury goods. The effects of Chemyeon, Noonchi, and selfish Woozzul on the attitude toward luxury goods was fully mediated by perceived self-identity. However, association between conspicuous Woozzul and attitude toward luxury goods was partially mediated by perceived self-identity. Regarding media effects, the results indicate that there were interaction effects between selfish Woozzul and amount of time spent on TV on attitude toward luxury goods, as well as between selfish Woozzul and amount of time spent on Internet. Conclusions - These findings suggest that luxury goods consumption of Korean young women is consumer behavior that reflects individual cultural disposition and media use.

명품 화장품 브랜드 자산구성 요소에 관한 연구

박정원(Park Jung-Won) 한복문화학회 2008 韓服文化 Vol.11 No.3

In Korea, luxury goods refer to high-priced exported brands due to the influence of the luxury goods syndrome. Many researches on luxury fashion goods have continued to be made. Cosmetics have been researched as part of luxury fashion goods. As high-priced functional cosmetics have been lately popular in line with the well-being syndrome, a variety of luxury cosmetic brands have been popular. New cosmetic brands have been launched rapidly. Consumers have favorably reacted to the new products of their preferred brands. This immensely affects increase in sales. Under these circumstances, the detailed research of luxury cosmetic brands needs to be made. Competition between overseas luxury brands and domestic ones have become to be fierce, and the import of new cosmetic brands have been actively performed. The luxury cosmetic brands of Korea should occupy the cosmetics market by using their strong brand equities. In this study, the analyses of why only a few luxury cosmetics are recognized as luxury goods and of what brand equities luxury cosmetics companies have were performed. I hope that this study will be a good research material for launching the luxury cosmetic brands of Korea.

EXPERIENTIAL E-LUXURY: THE RISE OF ONLINE FASHION BRANDING

Kate Armstrong,Eva Schwarz,Nikita Richards 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2015 Global Fashion Management Conference Vol.2015 No.06

The global luxury goods sector is particularly buoyant and showing steady growth, it was worth an estimated €122.2 billion in 2012 (Mintel, 2013), and generated more than 230 billion Euros in worldwide sales in 2014 (Bain 2014). These factors signify that the luxury sector is experiencing a boom with strong annual growth in terms of both value and volume. Practitioners and researchers are increasingly interested in the complexities associated with the consumption of luxury products, a focus that has led to the need of contribution to the understanding in the field and as a result, new concepts and research frameworks are emerging. Strong competition from an over-subscribed luxury market is further challenged by the practice of counterfeiting, which can damage brand image and profitability of luxury brands, but serves to further reinforce the importance and aspirational attributes of luxury goods. Similarly, e-commerce is growing rapidly and the fashion industry has become the fastest growing product category in the UK (Mintel, 2012). As Internet penetration is increasing rapidly, e-commerce becoming an indispensable complimentary distribution channel for offline retailers. In particular, the demand for luxury online sales is growing as the luxury consumer is reported to be more tech savvy and willing to purchase online in comparison to the offline purchases preferred by the average consumer (Google, 2013, Brandchannel, 2014) Luxury fashion brands have been slow to adopt digital and online channels, as the internet challenges a number of characteristics that have been intrinsic to luxury fashion brands (Okonkwo, 2010). Kapferer and Bastien (2012) proclaim that digital is in strong contradiction with luxury in most aspects. The main question this poses for luxury brands is how to be exclusive in an inherent democratic medium that can be accessed by anyone at anytime (Okonkwo, 2017, Kontu and Vecchi, 2014, Jin 2012). Whereas the digital world is about being instant, available and accessible, luxury fashion brands are very careful to exude timeless style, heritage, rarity and service (Kapferer and Bastien 2012, Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge, 2013). Luxury brands have been keen to maintain full control over their distribution channels and marketing messages whereas the internet and in particular social media empowers the consumer, allowing them to co-create the brand message (Christodoulides et al., 2012). Further distribution is essential in luxury management (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012) and direct operated points of sale of luxury fashion brands are often based on their flagship stores and act as a marketing communication tool as much as a sales channel (Manlow and Knobbs, 2013; Moore and Doherty, 2007). As such, luxury retail brands have been careful to create exclusive and sensory rich experiences with particular attention to the materials of the product and the environment they are being displayed and sold in (Okonkwo, 2007, Fionda and Moore, 2009, Kapferer, 1998, Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). This points to another difficulty for luxury fashion brands who seek to communicate and distribute their goods online; the sensory appeal of websites is limited to visual and audio stimulation which does not satisfy the requirement for multisensory experiences deemed necessary for promoting luxury products. Due to these challenges scholars are in disagreement whether online fashion brands should distribute their products online or purely use the online channels to engage their consumers, but keep sales to their physical stores. Kapferer and Bastien (2012) consider selling a luxury product online as “extremely dangerous” as it reduces the “dream value”, Okonkwo (2007, p179) argues that the “adoption of the internet as a sales channel is now essential for luxury brands that aim to maintain a competitive edge.” This is supported by the prediction that by 2018 the online channel will account for 14% of worldwide luxury expenditure (Verdict, 2013), and that the luxury consumers in all markets are more tech-savvy than the general population with over 97% of luxury buyer using the internet (Google, 2013). This study adopts Okonkwo’s (2007) point of view that most luxury fashion brands will have to adapt and distribute their products across multiple channels to satisfy the consumer’s expectations. It is theorised that the digital revolution has empowered consumers, raising expectations for different experiences and changing behaviour (Deloitte, 2011; Pine and Gilmore, 2011; Rosenblum and Rowen, 2012): The consumer experiences their shopping experience as a whole (Interbrand, 2012) and looks for an integrated and consistent experience between channels (Roy et al., 2005; Zhang et al. 2010). These new shopping behaviours have exposed retailers’ vulnerabilities in brand and process and the challenge for fashion retailers is to provide a consistent experience and tone of voice across each of these channels. This difficulty is even more prominent for luxury fashion brands. Despite the difficulties and risks for luxury fashion brands to adapt to the multichannel retail environment several advantages in serving the multichannel consumer are identified: the multichannel consumer is considered to spend on average more money (Schoenbachler and Gordon, 2002; Lu and Rucker, 2006, Weinberg et al., 2007), buy more frequently (Kumar and Venkatesan, 2005) and has a longer customer lifetime value (Neslin et al., 2006, Schramm-Klein et al., 2011). An alterative interpretation of the luxury brand paradox could be viewed as the contradiction between the need for luxury brands to increase sales and explore new consumer segments, whilst also retaining their aura of mystery and exclusivity.. Consequently luxury fashion brands have to develop strategies to sustain their luxurious image in the online channels and even though there are an increasing number of luxury fashion houses to do so successfully like Burberry (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012) there remains a need to gain insight into how luxury fashion brands can utilise the online channel efficiently to communicate and engage with its customers. (Tungate, 2009; Okonkwo, 2010; Hanna, Rohm and Crittenden, 2011; Geerts, 2013; Heine and Berghaus, 2014; Kontu and Vecchi, 2014). This working paper seeks to address questions relating to the online consumption experiences and explores online atmospherics and their role in providing a luxury experience. This robust, inclusive approach aspires to contribute to current understanding of online luxury fashion consumption with the aim of identifying meaningful, workable recommendations for both future research and current practice within these sectors. The study will integrate the research findings with current literature in the experiential marketing and atmospherics debate positioning the research in an area where experience and atmospherics are found to be of crucial importance to the brand: luxury fashion retail. We propose a new phrase called ‘e-luxury’ to denote our conceptual framework, which has been developed to address the current gap in knowledge surrounding online experiences in the luxury retail sector. Research that employs experiential e-luxury as the conceptual framework has not been used in the context of understanding online luxury brand consumption, as it is a recent area of growth. As such, more research is required that interrogates the complexities associated with this sector, so it is hoped that by doing so, we may better understand what is driving luxury brands to co-exist online alongside fast fashion and how they can retain their brand equity and position whilst doing so. This notable rise in interest in online behaviour in the luxury good sector is receiving increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers as an area of growth, as such, there are many gaps in our understanding of e-luxury and the experiences of consumers online, that a study of this kind hopes to address. Thus, the aim of this working paper is to explore how to translate the crucial experiential value from the physical luxury retail environment to an omni-channel brand experience to engage a luxury consumers senses and emotions across all channels.

BUYING COUNTERFEIT: A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF COUNTERFEIT LUXURY PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR

Juliette Wilson,Beverly Wagner,Anne-Flore Maman Larraufie 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2015 Global Fashion Management Conference Vol.2015 No.06

The purpose of this paper is to explore underlying motivations relating to the purchase of counterfeit luxury brands. Due to an increased demand for counterfeit goods in the luxury sector, understanding the motivations and determinants of counterfeit purchasing behaviour is becoming increasingly important for both academics and managers (Wee et al 1995; Perez et al 2010; Bian and Moutinho 2011). Counterfeit products rely on original brand features and leverage the brand’s evocative power and symbolic values, even if they don’t possess its intrinsic attributes and original materials. Therefore, consumers might choose a specific brand (and the associated brand values) and in the meantime compromise on the functional values of the product itself, because they are attracted more towards the symbolic features of recreating a brand experience (Gentry et al. 2001). This “brand importance” in counterfeit consumption represents for Grossman and Shapiro (1988) the possibility for consumers to “unbundle the quality and prestige attributes of branded products”, so that counterfeit consumers can “enjoy the status of displaying a prestigious label without paying for a high-quality product” (Grossman and Shapiro, 1988, p.98). Wiedmann et al (2012, p. 554) highlight the need to “examine the reasons why consumers choose the counterfeit over the authentic product,” arguing that an understanding of counterfeit purchase behaviour has to be informed by an understanding of the motivational value dimensions related to genuine luxury brands and goods. This paper uses their luxury value framework to explain the values related to counterfeit consumption. This study focuses on European consumers of luxury products, specifically Italians and Germans. Using a qualitative research approach we were able to evaluate consumers’ multidimensional luxury and counterfeit consumption decision making patterns. Since counterfeit is ultimately an illegal trend, there was a risk that consumers might not want to discuss their perspectives in front of other peers (Bryman and Bell, 2007). Hence, in order to avoid the appearance of potential bias linked to social desirability issues, this research has been structured around in-depth interviews. These semi-structured interviews were informed by existing literature (Saunders et al., 2009). Overall, the sampling frame had to exhibit different socio-demographic psychographic characteristics, so to give a more widespread overview on the response type. Therefore, the sample consisted of consumers with a differentiated educational and employment background and different lifestyles. All respondents were domiciled in larger cities, which increased the possibility for previous interaction with the counterfeit market. Analysis focused on the key themes and patterns that that emerged throughout the interview process (Yin, 2011). Findings have shown how there are major differences in how German and Italian respondents value and engage with counterfeit consumption. Indeed, the research has underlined the presence of varied counterfeit value dimensions that are linked to a consumer’s own luxury values (Wiedmann et al., 2012). Moreover, while luxury consumption is motivated by a consumer’s intrinsically and extrinsically driven desires, counterfeit consumption has been assessed to be motivated more by the values attached to the financial or functional dimensions of a counterfeit product, which complies with past researches on consumer’s value consciousness and on the possibility to engage with short-term trends without the economic investment of purchasing a genuine product (Geiger-Oneto et al., 2012). The research outcome emphasises how consumers from both countries are stimulated to engage with counterfeit goods according to the values they attach to. Since the evaluated consumers are mainly also active luxury goods purchasers, who therefore are aware of and can recognise the difference between a genuine and non-genuine good, it appears as restrictive and ineffective to highlight differences between luxury and counterfeit goods. Additionally, as highlighted by Hieke (2010) and Hart et al. (2004), the more consumers grow familiar with purchasing counterfeit goods, the more they reduce dramatically the consideration they have for the illicitness of this purchase behaviour. The contribution of this study is twofold; theoretical and managerial. Using Wiedmann et al’s (2012) framework we develop theory by delineating motivations of counterfeit buying behaviour. We present practical suggestions to managers for mitigating against the negative impact of counterfeiting on legitimate luxury brands.