IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/aumajo/v19y2011i2p108-114.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trading-up mass-market goods to luxury products

Author

Listed:
  • Heine, Klaus
  • Phan, Michel

Abstract

This paper addresses the current lack of consensus on what defines a luxury product. It demonstrates the adequacy of a consumer-oriented approach anchored in a list of product attributes. These attributes were identified from the literature and a study of 31 German millionaires with high spending on luxury goods. A combination of five research methodologies was employed including open interview, the repertory grid method (RGM), the preference differences technique, the critical incident technique and the projective technique. The findings suggest that consumers distinguish luxury products using six major characteristics: price, quality, aesthetics, rarity, extraordinariness, and symbolic meaning. The paper concludes with practical implications for luxury brand managers and for those who wish to trade up their mass-market goods. Suggestions for further research directions are also offered.

Suggested Citation

  • Heine, Klaus & Phan, Michel, 2011. "Trading-up mass-market goods to luxury products," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 108-114.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:aumajo:v:19:y:2011:i:2:p:108-114
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2011.03.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441358211000164
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ausmj.2011.03.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Belk, Russell W, 1988. "Possessions and the Extended Self," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(2), pages 139-168, September.
    2. Gilles Laurent & B. Dubois, 1994. "Attitudes Towards the Concept of Luxury: an exploratory analysis," Post-Print hal-00829066, HAL.
    3. Kemp, Simon, 1998. "Perceiving luxury and necessity," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 591-606, October.
    4. Eric Vernier & Pierre Ghewy, 2006. "La banalisation du luxe (Democratization of luxury) Abstract : La plupart des achats pratiqués sont effectués par des clients occasionnels, ce qui a conduit les entreprises à s’adapter par une nouvell," Working Papers 121, Laboratoire de Recherche sur l'Industrie et l'Innovation. ULCO / Research Unit on Industry and Innovation.
    5. DUBOIS, Bernard & LAURENT, Gilles & CZELLAR, Sandor, 2001. "Consumer rapport to luxury : Analyzing complex and ambivalent attitudes," HEC Research Papers Series 736, HEC Paris.
    6. Gilles Laurent & Sandor Czellar & Thierry Lageat, 2003. "Engineering Hedonic Attributes to Generate Perceptions of Luxury: Consumer Perception of an Everyday Sound," Post-Print hal-00458437, HAL.
    7. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-326, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kilsheimer Eastman, Jacqueline & Iyer, Rajesh & Babin, Barry, 2022. "Luxury not for the masses: Measuring inconspicuous luxury motivations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 509-523.
    2. Loureiro, Sandra Maria Correia & Jiménez-Barreto, Jano & Romero, Jaime, 2020. "Enhancing brand coolness through perceived luxury values: Insight from luxury fashion brands," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Nobre, Helena & Simões, Cláudia, 2019. "NewLux Brand Relationship Scale: Capturing the scope of mass-consumed luxury brand relationships," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 328-338.
    4. Songyee Hur & Sejin Ha, 2023. "Would luxury brands benefit from empowering consumers in product decision-making?," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 30(6), pages 516-534, November.
    5. Kauppinen-Räisänen, Hannele & Mühlbacher, Hans & Taishoff, Marika, 2020. "Exploring consumers’ subjective shopping experiences in directly operated luxury brand stores," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    6. Chailan, Claude, 2018. "Art as a means to recreate luxury brands' rarity and value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 414-423.
    7. Farhad Aliyev & Taylan Urkmez & Ralf Wagner, 2019. "A comprehensive look at luxury brand marketing research from 2000 to 2016: a bibliometric study and content analysis," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 69(3), pages 233-264, September.
    8. Aldhamiri, Ali & Carlson, Jamie & Vilches-Montero, Sonia & Rahman, Syed Mahmudur & Gudergan, Siegfried P., 2024. "What drives higher active customer engagement in luxury brands’ social media? Measurement and contingencies," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Francisco J. Conejo & Lawrence F. Cunningham & Clifford E. Young, 2020. "Revisiting the Brand Luxury Index: new empirical evidence and future directions," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(1), pages 108-122, January.
    10. Ken Kumagai & Shin’ya Nagasawa, 2020. "Launch of Sustainable Plastic Apparel: Effects of Brand Luxury and Experience on Consumer Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-15, September.
    11. Vilches-Montero, Sonia & Nik Hashim, Nik Mohd Hazrul & Pandit, Ameet & Bravo-Olavarria, Renzo, 2018. "Using the senses to evaluate aesthetic products at the point of sale: The moderating role of consumers’ goals," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 82-90.
    12. Inwon Kang & Ilhwan Ma, 2020. "A Study on Bandwagon Consumption Behavior Based on Fear of Missing Out and Product Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.
    13. Paul, Justin, 2019. "Masstige model and measure for brand management," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 299-312.
    14. Giuseppe Colella & Cesare Amatulli & Maria Pilar Martinez-Ruiz, 2020. "Social Media Marketing and Luxury Consumption: A Literature Review," International Journal of Marketing Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(4), pages 1-30, March.
    15. Zahra MajlesiRad & Abdol Hamid Haji pour Shoushtari, 2020. "Analysis of the impact of social network sites and eWOM marketing, considering the reinforcing dimensions of the concept of luxury, on tendency toward luxury brand," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-19, December.
    16. Estelle Dinh & Hans Mühlbacher & Mariaterasa Torchia, 2024. "Necessary perceptions of family values and luxury characteristics for brand luxuriousness: evidence from luxury watch brands," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(1), pages 58-78, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Farhad Aliyev & Ralf Wagner & Stefan Seuring, 2019. "Common and Contradictory Motivations in Buying Intentions for Green and Luxury Automobiles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Stępień Beata, 2018. "Snobbish Bandwagoners: Ambiguity of Luxury Goods’ Perception," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 26(1), pages 79-99, March.
    3. Gil, Luciana A. & Kwon, Kyoung-Nan & Good, Linda K. & Johnson, Lester W., 2012. "Impact of self on attitudes toward luxury brands among teens," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 1425-1433.
    4. Béatrice Parguel & Thierry Delécolle & Pierre Valette-Florence, 2014. "The impact of price display on perceptions of luxury: a masstige perspective," Working Papers halshs-00948953, HAL.
    5. Schade, Michael & Hegner, Sabrina & Horstmann, Florian & Brinkmann, Nora, 2016. "The impact of attitude functions on luxury brand consumption: An age-based group comparison," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 314-322.
    6. F. Magnoni & Elyette Roux, 2011. "Stretching a luxury brand down: An experimental study of core brand dilution effects," Post-Print halshs-00644899, HAL.
    7. Ostovan, Nima & Khalili Nasr, Arash, 2022. "The manifestation of luxury value dimensions in brand engagement in self-concept," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Liselot Hudders & Mario Pandelaere, 2012. "The Silver Lining of Materialism: The Impact of Luxury Consumption on Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 411-437, June.
    9. Dahan, Momi & Sayag, Doron, 2024. "Scarcity and consumption priorities," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    10. Anwar Sadat Shimul & Ian Phau & Michael Lwin, 2019. "Conceptualising luxury brand attachment: scale development and validation," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(6), pages 675-690, November.
    11. Natee Srisomthavil & Nuttapol Assarut, 2018. "The Impact of Perceived Counterfeit Luxury Brand Proliferation on Luxury Brand Values and Patronage Intention," Tržište/Market, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 30(1), pages 41-60.
    12. Sharma, Amalesh & Soni, Mauli & Borah, Sourav Bikash & Haque, Tanjum, 2022. "From silos to synergies: A systematic review of luxury in marketing research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 893-907.
    13. Gurzki, Hannes & Woisetschläger, David M., 2017. "Mapping the luxury research landscape: A bibliometric citation analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 147-166.
    14. Chailan, Claude, 2018. "Art as a means to recreate luxury brands' rarity and value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 414-423.
    15. Gwarlann de Kerviler & Carlos Rodriguez, 2019. "Luxury brand experiences and relationship quality for Millennials: The role of self-expansion," Post-Print hal-02114441, HAL.
    16. Seo, Yuri & Buchanan-Oliver, Margo, 2019. "Constructing a typology of luxury brand consumption practices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 414-421.
    17. Klaus Heine & Glyn Atwal & Sandrine Crener-Ricard & Michel Phan, 2018. "Personality-driven luxury brand management," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(5), pages 474-487, September.
    18. repec:dau:papers:123456789/14326 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Sangeeta Devanathan, 2020. "Indian Consumers’ Assessment of ‘Luxuriousness’: A Comparison of Indian and Western Luxury Brands," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 9(1), pages 84-95, January.
    20. Virginie de Barnier & Sandrine Falcy & Pierre Valette-Florence, 2012. "Do consumers perceive three levels of luxury? A comparison of accessible, intermediate and inaccessible luxury brands," Post-Print halshs-00786023, HAL.
    21. Anja Marie Bundgaard & Rikke Dorothea Huulgaard, 2019. "Luxury products for the circular economy? A case study of Bang & Olufsen," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 699-709, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:aumajo:v:19:y:2011:i:2:p:108-114. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/australasian-marketing-journal/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.