The young luxury consumer in Qatar

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine the factors influencing Qatari youth’s attitude toward luxury brands and intentions to purchase luxury brands. The appetite for luxury spending in the Gulf region and specifically in Qatar is accelerating even with the fall in oil prices and faltering economic growth. Design/methodology/approach Both qualitative research in the form of in-depth interviews and quantitative research in the form of survey were utilized in this study. Initially, eight in-depth interviews were conducted with luxury store owners and/or salespersons to identify the most important factors influencing attitude toward luxury brands. Furthermore, 330 Qatari respondents between the ages from 16 to 25 years were interviewed via a mall-interception method at two different malls with high-end/ luxury stores in Doha. Structural equation modeling using AMOS was run to analyze the hypothesized relationships between variables and test the model fit. Findings The findings indicated the overall fitness of the model. More specifically, the results indicated that fashion involvement, brand consciousness, social comparison and experiential needs have a significant impact on attitude toward luxury brands and consequently on their purchasing intentions. Research limitations/implications This study has several limitations. A more comprehensive framework can be proposed including more variables that may also influence the attitude of youth toward purchasing luxury, for example, brand prominence, vanity and functional value. Comparative studies across demographics (e.g. male vs female and adult vs young luxury buyers) as well as across different cultures and countries can also provide interesting insights related to luxury purchasing behavior among youth. Developing a typology for Qatari luxury consumers can also be very insightful, specifically for supporting brand owners in fine-tuning their marketing and targeting strategies. Finally, other moderating variables like influence of social media or peer influence can also be considered in future studies. Originality/value The study sheds light on a significantly important and emerging phenomenon; the increasing consumption of luxury in the gulf region and specifically in Qatar in an attempt to understand the main drivers to their attitude toward luxury brands in general.

Exploring relationship between value perception and luxury purchase intention

“…The findings are consistent with the theoretical assumptions that underpinned the study and were in line to the findings obtained by Eng and Bogaert (2010) and Jiang and Shan (2018). This result confirms the fact that experiences play a huge role today for millennial consumers (Fromm, 2018; Farrag, 2017).…”

The Factors Affecting Luxury Brand Purchase Intention in Terms of Rational and Emotional Impact in Qatar

“…The effect of quality on purchase intention of buying luxury brands was supported by the finding of the study. As this result is confirmed with what (Farrag, 2017) said which is that the opinion of the managers of luxury stores, who she had interviewed in Qatar, emphasized that the Qatari consumers used quality as an indicator of their luxury consumption. Nevertheless, even though, some studies stated that Asian countries are more materialistic than European ones (Li and Zhang, 2011), but this wasn't the case in Qatar as the findings of this study showed that materialism didn't have a significant impact on the consumer intention of buying luxury brands in Qatar.…”

“…Nevertheless, even though, some studies stated that Asian countries are more materialistic than European ones (Li and Zhang, 2011), but this wasn't the case in Qatar as the findings of this study showed that materialism didn't have a significant impact on the consumer intention of buying luxury brands in Qatar. Even though, the result supports (Farrag, 2017) İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi Journal of Business Research-Turk 2201 research which conducted research about what affect young consumers in Qatar to purchase luxury brands. (Farrag, 2017) excluded materialism of her study factors based on exploratory research.…”

“…Even though, the result supports (Farrag, 2017) İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi Journal of Business Research-Turk 2201 research which conducted research about what affect young consumers in Qatar to purchase luxury brands. (Farrag, 2017) excluded materialism of her study factors based on exploratory research. As she concluded that based on the interviews she conducted with experts materialism doesn't have an effect on consuming luxury brands in Qatar.…”

“…Even though, the world witnessed an increase in the luxury brands consumption, the researches in this domain still limited, especially in the middle east as most of the studies tended toward European countries and United estates (Chipp et al, 2011). Additionally, the researches concerned and aimed to study the luxury related matter in Qatar are limited as well (Farrag, 2017). As the consumption of luxury brands is increasing year after year in Qatar.…”