Impacts of U.S. affluent consumers' luxury goods consumption beliefs on repeat purchases of luxury goods: Generational and gender comparison analyses

Abstract

This study examined the influences of affluent US consumers' beliefs about luxury consumption of goods on their repeat purchases of luxury goods in a multichannel retail environment. We also compared luxury goods consumption beliefs among different generations and gender groups. From a national US sample, we obtained 1066 usable responses, using a self-administered online survey. We used univariate and multivariate analyses to examine the research questions. The consumers' beliefs about luxury goods consumption resulted in four dimensions: (1) importance of signaling status through luxury goods consumption, (2) knowledge about luxury goods and brands, (3) experiential aspect of a luxury retailer, and (4) luxury goods purchase and consumption experiences. We found significant mean differences among generational cohorts in Factors 1, 3 and 4. As proposed, female affluent consumers predominantly exhibited statistically higher mean scores on all four factors as compared to their male counterparts. By comparing generational cohorts and genders with regard to their luxury consumption beliefs and their repeat luxury goods purchases made at department stores, this paper offers insights into affluent US consumers' beliefs and actual behavior that are of value for the managerial strategic directions in luxury manufacturing and retailing industries.

Customer emotions and their triggers in luxury retail: Understanding the effects of customer emotions before and after entering a luxury shop

“…Second, the sample of the study was dominated by women (81%). Although luxury fashion consumption is typically dominated by women (Jung & Shen, 2011), consumers' beliefs about luxury can differ by gender (Kim & Lee, 2015). Therefore, future studies could address emotion issues specific to male luxury consumers.…”

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

“…Researchers highlighted the clear differences between Baby Boomers and Generation Y consumers exhibited varied shopping decision-making and shopping pattern (Kincade et al, 2010;Kim and Joung, 2016). In a luxury goods consumption context, Kim and Lee (2015) examined the purchase frequencies of luxury goods among generational cohorts including Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Generation X consumers and provided empirical support on the disparity in the luxury goods consumption beliefs among the generational cohorts. They (2015) found that Generation Xers (the youngest generational cohort in their study) exhibited the highest importance on signaling status through luxury goods consumption, which in turn, positively predicted their repeat purchase behavior of luxury goods.…”

“…According to Alleres' (1990) hierarchy of luxury goods, accessible luxury can be attainable by the aspirational middle socioeconomic class (due to moderate price points and abound quantity available to the public), whereas intermediate or inaccessible (high-end) luxury can be attained by the professional or elite socioeconomic class (due to designer price point and exclusivity/limited quantity available in a given moment). The steadily growing global luxury market calls for sharper understanding of the consumers' motivation, reaction/action toward the different level of luxury brand goods (accessible vs high-end luxury) to master their marketing strategies and increase penetrations into each market segment (Kim and Joung, 2015), especially affluent consumers in the USA.…”

“…Kincade et al (2010) found that different generations, such as Baby Boomers and Millennials, exhibited varied decision-making process and shopping pattern. In a luxury goods consumption context, Kim and Lee (2015) examined the purchase frequencies of luxury goods among generational cohorts including Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Generation X consumers. Kim and Joung (2015) stressed the importance of investigating the Millennials' consumption behavior in the fashion luxury goods industry due to the growing size as well as the discretionary income of this market segment.…”

Study on Overseas Luxury Consumption of Chinese Consumers —The Moderating Role of Fashion Difference Perception

“…On the other hand, due to differences in history and culture, the concept of luxury goods cannot be uniformly measured by the same standard. The definition of luxury by Bagwell and Bernheim (1996) are recognized as the most accept one: luxury goods are considered to be honoured by consumers who own, wear (Han et al 2010) and consumption (Kim & Lee 2015) product or service. The main characteristics of luxury goods are: the price is extremely expensive, the quality is extremely high, and at the same time it is both scarce and unique.…”