IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v65y2012i10p1452-1460.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding luxury consumption in China: Consumer perceptions of best-known brands

Author

Listed:
  • Zhan, Lingjing
  • He, Yanqun

Abstract

This study investigates the underlying motivations for luxury consumption among Chinese middle-class consumers by testing the relationships between psychological traits and attitudes toward the best-known luxury brands. The study examines three psychological traits that make Chinese consumers unique compared to their global peers: value consciousness (VC), susceptibility to normative influence (SNI), and the need for uniqueness (NFU). Results suggest that consumers evaluate the best-known brands more favorably as they become more value conscious, indicating that luxury products are not necessarily extravagant purchases in China. In addition, SNI positively relates to brand attitudes, which suggests that social influence is an important driver for luxury consumption. The relationship between NFU and brand attitudes depends on consumer knowledge. As consumers learn more about different luxury brands, they evaluate the best-known brands more negatively as uniqueness-seeking becomes a more important goal. These findings offer insight into consumer perceptions of luxury brands and provide managerial implications for marketers to build sustainable luxury businesses in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhan, Lingjing & He, Yanqun, 2012. "Understanding luxury consumption in China: Consumer perceptions of best-known brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 1452-1460.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:65:y:2012:i:10:p:1452-1460
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296311003559
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.011?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. Alba, Joseph W & Hutchinson, J Wesley, 2000. "Knowledge Calibration: What Consumers Know and What They Think They Know," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(2), pages 123-156, September.
    2. Cheng Wang & Xiaohua Lin, 2009. "Migration of Chinese Consumption Values: Traditions, Modernization, and Cultural Renaissance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 399-409, October.
    3. Bearden, William O & Netemeyer, Richard G & Teel, Jesse E, 1989. "Measurement of Consumer Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(4), pages 473-481, March.
    4. Westbrook, Robert A & Oliver, Richard L, 1991. "The Dimensionality of Consumption Emotion Patterns and Consumer Satisfaction," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 18(1), pages 84-91, June.
    5. Sandy D. Jap & Erin Anderson, 2003. "Safeguarding Interorganizational Performance and Continuity Under Ex Post Opportunism," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(12), pages 1684-1701, December.
    6. Jan-Benedict E M Steenkamp & Rajeev Batra & Dana L Alden, 2003. "How perceived brand globalness creates brand value," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(1), pages 53-65, January.
    7. Buckley, Peter J. & Clegg, Jeremy & Tan, Hui, 2006. "Cultural awareness in knowledge transfer to China--The role of guanxi and mianzi," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 275-288, September.
    8. Tian, Kelly Tepper & Bearden, William O & Hunter, Gary L, 2001. "Consumer's Need for Uniqueness: Scale Development and Validation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(1), pages 50-66, June.
    9. 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.
    10. Ratner, Rebecca K & Kahn, Barbara E, 2002. "The Impact of Private versus Public Consumption on Variety-Seeking Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 29(2), pages 246-257, September.
    11. Sheppard, Blair H & Hartwick, Jon & Warshaw, Paul R, 1988. "The Theory of Reasoned Action: A Meta-analysis of Past Research with Recommendations for Modifications and Future Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(3), pages 325-343, December.
    12. Veblen, Thorstein, 1899. "The Theory of the Leisure Class," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number veblen1899.
    13. Jay P. Carlson & Leslie H. Vincent & David M. Hardesty & William O. Bearden, 2009. "Objective and Subjective Knowledge Relationships: A Quantitative Analysis of Consumer Research Findings," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(5), pages 864-876, October.
    14. Bearden, William O & Etzel, Michael J, 1982. "Reference Group Influence on Product and Brand Purchase Decisions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 9(2), pages 183-194, September.
    15. Sheth, Jagdish N. & Newman, Bruce I. & Gross, Barbara L., 1991. "Why we buy what we buy: A theory of consumption values," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 159-170, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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).
    2. Antonia Correia & Metin Kozak & Seongseop (Sam) Kim, 2018. "Luxury shopping orientations of mainland Chinese tourists in Hong Kong," Tourism Economics, , vol. 24(1), pages 92-108, February.
    3. Kastanakis, Minas N. & Balabanis, George, 2012. "Between the mass and the class: Antecedents of the “bandwagon” luxury consumption behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 1399-1407.
    4. Kessous, Aurélie & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2019. "“From Prada to Nada”: Consumers and their luxury products: A contrast between second-hand and first-hand luxury products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 313-327.
    5. Ko, Eunju & Costello, John P. & Taylor, Charles R., 2019. "What is a luxury brand? A new definition and review of the literature," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 405-413.
    6. Amélia Maria Pinto Cunha Brandão & Hugo Eduardo Magalhães Barbedo, 2023. "Going (in)conspicuous: antecedents and moderators of luxury consumption," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(2), pages 202-218, June.
    7. Laurent Bertrandias & Paul-Emmanuel Pichon, 2004. "Enrichissements De La Conceptualisation Du Risque Social En Marketing Et Construction D'Une Echelle De Mesure," Post-Print hal-04097759, HAL.
    8. Alfis S. Gayazov & Gulnara F. Zamaletdinova & Artur F. Amirov & Andrey V. Kostryukov & Evgeniya I. Tikhomirova, 2016. "Modern Teaching Tendencies of Critical Thinking Forming of University Students," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 6(2), pages 358-363.
    9. Pengji Wang & Adrian T. H. Kuah & Qinye Lu & Caroline Wong & K. Thirumaran & Emmanuel Adegbite & Wesley Kendall, 2021. "The impact of value perceptions on purchase intention of sustainable luxury brands in China and the UK," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(3), pages 325-346, May.
    10. 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.
    11. Gong Sun & Wangshuai Wang & Zhiming Cheng & Jie Li & Junhua Chen, 2017. "The Intermediate Linkage Between Materialism and Luxury Consumption: Evidence from the Emerging Market of China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 475-487, May.
    12. Se-Joon Hong & Kar Yan Tam, 2006. "Understanding the Adoption of Multipurpose Information Appliances: The Case of Mobile Data Services," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 162-179, June.
    13. Nichols, Bridget Satinover, 2015. "Construction and validation of the in-store privacy preference scale," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 70-78.
    14. Roux, Elyette & Tafani, Eric & Vigneron, Franck, 2017. "Values associated with luxury brand consumption and the role of gender," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 102-113.
    15. Gierl, Heribert & Huettl, Verena, 2010. "Are scarce products always more attractive? The interaction of different types of scarcity signals with products' suitability for conspicuous consumption," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 225-235.
    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. Goldsmith, Ronald E. & Reinecke Flynn, Leisa & Clark, Ronald A., 2014. "The etiology of the frugal consumer," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 175-184.
    18. Yi Xie & Siqing Peng & Daniel P. Hampson, 0. "Brand user imagery clarity (BUIC): conceptualization, measurement, and consequences," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-17.
    19. Sichtmann, Christina & Davvetas, Vasileios & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2019. "The relational value of perceived brand globalness and localness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 597-613.
    20. Wang, Nan & Xie, Wenxuan & Ali, Ahsan & Brem, Alexander & Wang, Shouyang, 2022. "How do individual characteristics and social capital shape users’ continuance intentions of smart wearable products?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    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:jbrese:v:65:y:2012:i:10:p:1452-1460. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    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.