Lifting the curtain on cultural values, materialism and luxury consumption: Evidence from Jordan

Abstract

The demand for luxury goods is growing in new emerging markets. However, there is still minimal research on the influence of culture and materialism on consumers' purchasing behaviour for luxury goods in these markets. Data were collected using an online survey from 532 luxury customers in Jordan. This research provides empirical evidence that adds to brand luxury studies by investigating the relationship between cultural orientations (vertical-horizontal), dimensions of individualism and collectivism with materialism and other interpersonal factors influencing materialism and luxury purchase intentions. The findings show that materialism is highly correlated with vertical orientations. Moreover, the relationship between materialism and purchase intentions is not significant but mediated by the bandwagon effect and status consumption. This suggests that Jordanian consumers buy luxury products to help support their social status and keep up with trends within their social groups. For marketing management strategy, to encourage purchases, communication strategies should emphasise the social value of the purchase.

Measuring the bandwagon effect: Development of a generalized bandwagon luxury motivation scale

“…Inconspicuous luxury motivation can be seen as a reaction by elite luxury consumers to the growth of affordable luxury (Eastman et al, 2022; Eckhardt et al, 2015). As the bandwagon effect has been shown to mediate the relationship between materialism and luxury purchase intention (Shammout et al, 2022), we posit that for those consumers who want to consume luxury that is unknown to the masses (Eastman et al, 2022), this dimension would not be related to the bandwagon effect. In terms of the elite dimension, as consumption of first‐hand luxury products can be motivated by power, elitism, and social ranking (Kessous & Valette‐Florence, 2019) rather than fitting in, we propose that inconspicuous luxury‐motivated consumers are less likely to be impacted by the bandwagon effect.…”

“…• I buy certain luxuries because they were fashionable at that time. Shammout et al (2022) Three items (cite Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012) • A currently very popular and fashionable luxury watch that everyone would approve of its choice.…”

Antecedents of yacht tourism participants’ satisfaction and word-of-mouth intention

“…Owing to the fact that yachting is considered to be a luxury activity, tourists who are able to capture this memorable experience might be able to use it as proof of their social status. According to several authors who studied the human condition, the fundamental aspiration to attain social position, or an upper social standing in the societal pyramid, is an important motivator of how wealthy tourists behave (Shammout et al, 2022):…”

Luxury Consumption Tendency Scale (LCTS): adaptação e validação para o contexto brasileiro

“…Diante dessas particularidades dos produtos de luxo, os consumidores destes bens podem ganhar vantagens sociais, pois estão seguindo os padrões de uma classe social da qual desejam se tornar parte (Shammout et al, 2022;Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012). A facilidade da transição entre classes pode tornar o consumo de luxo mais apelativo (Dogan et al, 2018).…”

“…As práticas de consumo de luxo servem então como uma forma de prover aceitação em grupos sociais (Wang, Tchernev, & Sol-Loway, 2012). Desta forma, pessoas socialmente isoladas podem desejar se engajar no consumo de luxo como uma forma de obter aceitação de indivíduos que realizam tais práticas (Wilcox & Zaichkowsky, 2020;Dion & Borraz, 2017) ou manter o seu status (Shammout et al, 2022;Kim, Park, & Dubois, 2018).…”