Power moderates the impact of desire for exclusivity on luxury experiential consumption

Abstract

This research examines the effect of desire for exclusivity on evaluations of luxury experiences and proposes a boundary condition for the effect. The scarcity effect literature suggests that consumers prefer scarce products due to limited supply because they appeal to consumers’ desire for exclusive consumption. Building on this thesis, the current research argues that luxury experiences are intrinsically scarce enough to appeal to consumers’ desire for exclusivity: Consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity will evaluate luxury experiences more favorably than those with a weak desire for exclusivity. A pilot study confirms a positive correlation between consumers’ desire for exclusivity and attitudes toward luxury experiences. Study 1 demonstrates that consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity show more favorable attitudes toward luxury experiences than those with a weak desire for exclusivity. Further, Study 2 finds that consumers’ power state (powerful vs. powerless) moderates the effect of desire for exclusivity on their affinity for luxury experiences: Only when feeling powerful do consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity evaluate luxury experience more favorably than those with a weak desire for exclusivity. However, this is not the case when consumers feel powerless.

Expert Online Review Platforms: Interactions between Specialization, Experience, and User Power

“…A significant three-way interaction suggests that the psychological effect of platforms’ expert power depends on both the influencer (online review platform) and the influenced (user). The findings are consistent with the psychology literature and confirm that individuals in a powerless state tend to be neutral (Kim 2018; Magee, Galinsky, and Gruenfeld 2007). Tourists’ sense of powerlessness will generate similar perceptions on the quality of task-oriented information in expert and nonexpert platforms.…”

“…One explanation for such moderation is that the powerful and the powerless process and react to information differently (Smith and Trope 2006). The psychology literature has indicated that the powerless tend to make more neutral evaluations, whereas the powerful state their opinions more confidently about what they (dis)like and react to informational cues accordingly (Kim 2018; Magee, Galinsky, and Gruenfeld 2007). Possessing a sense of power facilitates positive and negative decisions when reacting to given information.…”

The Cinderella moment: Exploring consumers' motivations to engage with renting as collaborative luxury consumption mode

“…Although past literature attempted to investigate how the emerging sharing platforms redefine the sense of possession in a wider collaborative consumption context (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012; Hellwig et al, 2015; H. Lee et al, 2019; Milanova & Maas, 2017; Moeller & Wittkowski, 2010), in the case of luxury and luxury fashion products, the research is still at an early stage. Since luxury products demonstrate a certain status and a distinct attachment and product importance (Y. Kim, 2018; Moeller & Wittkowski, 2010; Park & Armstrong, 2019), they require specific investigation. To this end, more studies on the deeper understanding of consumer motivations to join sharing‐based practices and platforms have been encouraged (Davidson, Habibi, & Laroche, 2018; Dellaert, 2019; Lindblom, Lindblom, & Wechtler, 2018; Yuan & Shen, 2019).…”

The drivers of desirability in scarcity marketing

“…A self-attribute was the perceived outcome of interpersonal comparisons or the person assigned himself/herself. Consumers displayed their differences in the pursuit of self-uniqueness through consumption (Kim, 2018). According to Chen and Sun (2014), scarce products enhanced the exclusive and perceived uniqueness of consumers, which in turn lead to consumers having positive emotions, thus increasing their desirability and purchase intentions.…”