“…To the new luxury consumer the tangi ble elements of brand luxury are a badge, a measure of social stratifi cation by which consumers measure their own self-worth and the worth of others by the luxury brands worn and / or conspicuously displayed ( Gao et al , 2008 ;Park et al , 2008 ). The visible symbols and markings ensure observers recognise the brand ( Han et al , Cailleux et al , 2009 ;Fionda and Moore, 2009 ;Keller, 2009 ), a brand that is a leader, successful ( Kapferer and Bastien, 2009 ), remarkably resilient ( Beverland, 2004 ) with a global reputation ( Dubois and Duquesne, 1993 ;Nueno and Quelch, 1998 ;Aiello et al, 2009 ).…”