Hey big spender! The reasons we become attached to luxury brands

By Prof. Noel Y.M. Siu

When splurging on big ticket items, we often buy into much more than the object itself. With designer labels or expensive cars, it’s a coveted lifestyle or the kind of person we aspire to be which is the real motivation behind serious cash being spent. More importantly, our feelings of heightened self-esteem, social recognition and hedonism offer the ‘high’ of indulging in retail therapy.

A report investigating the relationship between self-perception and luxury brand attachment of international consumers finds there to be a higher level of attachment when a buyer perceives a brand to be aligned with their own personality. We are more likely to be brand loyal when we feel like the label represents us as an individual. Brands take on seemingly human personality traits, and the in-store experience becomes a way to bring it to life.

Not only are consumers more likely to continue purchasing from a brand they believe reflects them, but the emotional reward of doing so can be affirming and a way to express themselves. It makes sense then that luxury brands prioritise fostering deep-rooted emotional bonds to encourage shoppers to splurge.

The five key factors that come into play in making a connection between a brand’s values and our own are prestige, emotion, trust, anxiety and order, which varies depending on nationality. Most countries ranked trust highly, with the exception of China, Italy and Korea — likely due to an abundance of counterfeit products in those countries which creates doubt in the minds of consumers — as well as France, which may be explained as taking trust for granted given the long history of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Hermès.

Order was important in Japan — possibly a result of its organised economy and society — in addition to China, Korea and Russia, who may perceive order to be synonymous with consistence and quality. In terms of personality congruence, French and Italian consumers strongly linked the emotional components of luxury, while those in Australia, UK, US and Germany were more balanced between a brand’s emotional and rational components. Russian consumers ranked prestige and emotion last, positioning themselves in contrast to the other countries analysed.

The differences and similarities between reflect the way countries perceive luxury, though grouping them logically presents a challenge. The maturity of a market is another important consideration. In greener markets, elitism is less present as luxury brands are a relatively new phenomenon, whereas the emotional pull of brands is stronger in more established ones.

Regardless of nationality, brand attachment is strongest when the brands and store experience combined are believed to mirror a shopper’s own personality. Every high-end purchase we make, from the eateries we frequent to the clothes we wear are a conscious representation how we view ourselves — and want the world to.

Reference:

Donvito, R., Aiello, G., Grazzini, L., Godey, B., Pederzolic, D., Wiedmannd, K., Halliburton, C., Chan, P., Tsuchiya, J., Skorobogaty, I., Oh, H., Singh, R., Ewing, M., Lee, Y., Fei, L., Chen, C., Siu, N. (2020). Does personality congruence explain luxury brand attachment? The results of an international research study. Journal of Business Research.