Measuring Luxury Brand Consumption and Female Consumers' Religiosity in the Uae

Abstract

Luxury brand consumption by female consumers in the rich Arab Gulf states has never been systematically studied, and thus most of our knowledge in this area remains shaped by preconceived notions that are not likely to withstand scientific scrutiny. This study fills that gap in research and provides significant evidence on the actual consumption behavior of this enigmatic consumer segment. In our study, focus groups and expert feedback were used to construct a Luxury Consumption Scale (LCS) to measure actual luxury purchases, while Tiliouine's Scale (RS) was used to measure religiosity. Results show that the sample tended to be religious with moderate luxury consumption, but no relationship was observed between these two. Results also demonstrate that brands transcend boundaries; ridges created by politicians and extremists are bridged by Burberry, Hermes and Versace. Religious Arab women did not perceive a problem in being defined by international brands of non-Muslim origin. This study contributes to the literature by examining the underexplored intersection of female luxury brand consumption and religiosity in the lucrative markets of the Arab Gulf.

The effect of religiosity on luxury goods: The case of Chilean youths

“…Studies indicated that consumers have different materialistic values and as previously mentioned, several studies have found that religion does not produce negative effects on luxury consumption (Alserhan et al, ; Arli et al, ). In contrast, other studies confirmed that religion has significant effects on luxury consumption (Al‐Hyari et al, ; Burroughs & Rindfleisch, ).…”

“…Previous studies investigated this issue (see Bakar, Lee, & Hazarina Hashim, ; La Barbera & Gürhan, ; Pace, ), but the results were inconsistent. Recent studies found that religion does not have a negative effect on luxury consumption (Alserhan, Bataineh, Halkias, & Komodromos, ; Arli, Cherrier, & Tjiptono, ; Dekhil, Boulebech, & Bouslama, ; Teimourpour & Heidarzadeh Hanzaee, ). In contrast, prior studies found that religion has a significant effect on luxury consumption.…”

Are Millennials a Global Cohort? Evidence from the Luxury Goods Sector

“…Saudis are the greatest luxury admirers with social, hedonic and functional components playing a critical role in evaluating value. High levels of these factors can be explained by a general Muslim perception of consumption as a key element of identity formation (Alserhan, 2014). Buying luxury goods builds a positive social image showing a high material status (Tjahjono, 2011, Teimourpour & Hanzaee, 2014.…”

Expressing herself through brands: the Arab woman’s perspective

“…The fact that Arab women living in the GCC region perceived brands as less important vehicles for self-expression than women in all other countries is interesting indeed when considering how much they spend on brands and the sheer size of the market, which is expected to reach a value of nearly 2.9 billion USD in the year 2015 in the UAE alone (Euromonitor International, 2010). Moreover, and according to the same report from Euromonitor International, the GCC market is characterized as a "label me" one, where the person becomes the sum of the brands possessed (Alserhan et al, 2014).…”

“…Therefore, if respondents reported that brands are less important for self-expression, how come they spend so much to acquire them? Why do they converse so much about the brands they own and the places they acquired them from (Alserhan et al, 2014)? Did respondents report the ideal, not the factual?…”