IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v66y2013i7p889-896.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is luxury just a female thing? The role of gender in luxury brand consumption

Author

Listed:
  • Stokburger-Sauer, Nicola E.
  • Teichmann, Karin

Abstract

Despite the fact that the functional value of luxury brands is usually not significantly higher than those of non-luxury brands, luxury brands can achieve significant price premiums in the market over non-luxury brands. Additionally, in a majority of markets and product categories, the price for female luxury brands is significantly higher compared to their male counterparts. These differences might result from a higher perceived symbolic and social value of such luxury brands that have traditionally been more important for women than for men. Two experimental studies and one survey study in three product categories (i.e., clothing, perfumes, and wristwatches) in the Western culture show that, overall, women have a more positive attitude toward and a higher purchase intention of luxury brands versus non-luxury brands than men. Additionally, for female consumers, luxury brands provide more uniqueness, status and hedonic value than non-luxury brands. Important implications for marketing theory and practice can be derived. Marketers should use uniqueness claims in their advertising copy and differentiate in their product designs between male and female target groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Stokburger-Sauer, Nicola E. & Teichmann, Karin, 2013. "Is luxury just a female thing? The role of gender in luxury brand consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(7), pages 889-896.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:66:y:2013:i:7:p:889-896
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.12.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296311004140
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.12.007?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. Bloemer, JoseM. M. & Kasper, Hans D. P., 1995. "The complex relationship between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 311-329, July.
    2. Verhallen, Theo M. M. & Robben, Henry S. J., 1994. "Scarcity and preference: An experiment on unavailability and product evaluation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 315-331, June.
    3. Jean-Noël Kapferer, 2010. "Luxury after the crisis: Pro logo or no logo?," Post-Print hal-00521804, HAL.
    4. Aric Rindfleisch & James E. Burroughs & Nancy Wong, 2009. "The Safety of Objects: Materialism, Existential Insecurity, and Brand Connection," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 1-16, June.
    5. Luuk Van Kempen, 2004. "Are the poor willing to pay a premium for designer labels? a field experiment in Bolivia," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 205-224.
    6. McQuitty, Shaun, 2004. "Statistical power and structural equation models in business research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 175-183, February.
    7. Jean-Noël Kapferer & Vincent Bastien, 2009. "The specificity of luxury management: Turning marketing upside down," Post-Print hal-00493180, HAL.
    8. Kleine, Susan Schultz & Kleine, Robert E, III & Allen, Chris T, 1995. "How Is a Possession "Me" or "Not Me"? Characterizing Types and an Antecedent of Material Possession Attachment," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(3), pages 327-343, December.
    9. Zaichkowsky, Judith Lynne, 1985. "Measuring the Involvement Construct," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 12(3), pages 341-352, December.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Jean-Noël Kapferer & Gilles Laurent, 1985. "Measuring consumer involvement profiles," Post-Print hal-00786781, HAL.
    13. Gene M. Grossman & Carl Shapiro, 1988. "Foreign Counterfeiting of Status Goods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(1), pages 79-100.
    14. Bernard Dubois & Sandor Czellar & Gilles Laurent, 2005. "Consumer Segments Based on Attitudes Toward Luxury: Empirical Evidence from Twenty Countries," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 115-128, April.
    15. Jean-Noël Kapferer, 2010. "Luxury after the crisis: Pro logo or no logo?," Post-Print hal-00781524, HAL.
    16. Meyers-Levy, Joan & Peracchio, Laura A, 1995. "Understanding the Effects of Color: How the Correspondence between Available and Required Resources Affects Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(2), pages 121-138, September.
    17. Sandor Czellar & Gilles Laurent & Bernard Dubois, 2005. "Consumer Segments Based on Attitudes Toward Luxury: Empirical Evidence from Twenty Countries," Post-Print hal-00458399, HAL.
    18. Holt, Douglas B, 1998. "Does Cultural Capital Structure American Consumption?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(1), pages 1-25, June.
    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. Kauppinen-Räisänen, Hannele & Björk, Peter & Lönnström, Alexandra & Jauffret, Marie-Nathalie, 2018. "How consumers' need for uniqueness, self-monitoring, and social identity affect their choices when luxury brands visually shout versus whisper," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 72-81.
    2. 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.
    3. Makkar, Marian & Yap, Sheau-Fen, 2018. "Emotional experiences behind the pursuit of inconspicuous luxury," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 222-234.
    4. Holmqvist, Jonas & Wirtz, Jochen & Fritze, Martin P., 2020. "Luxury in the digital age: A multi-actor service encounter perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 747-756.
    5. Stathopoulou, Anastasia & Balabanis, George, 2019. "The effect of cultural value orientation on consumers' perceptions of luxury value and proclivity for luxury consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 298-312.
    6. Joëlle Vanhamme & Adam Lindgreen & Gülen Sarial-Abi, 2023. "Luxury Ethical Consumers: Who Are They?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 805-838, March.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Kapferer, Jean-Noël & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2018. "The impact of brand penetration and awareness on luxury brand desirability:," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 38-50.
    11. Stokburger-Sauer, Nicola & Ratneshwar, S. & Sen, Sankar, 2012. "Drivers of consumer–brand identification," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 406-418.
    12. Godey, Bruno & Pederzoli, Daniele & Aiello, Gaetano & Donvito, Raffaele & Chan, Priscilla & Oh, Hyunjoo & Singh, Rahul & Skorobogatykh, Irina I. & Tsuchiya, Junji & Weitz, Bart, 2012. "Brand and country-of-origin effect on consumers' decision to purchase luxury products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 1461-1470.
    13. Loussaïef, Leïla & Ulrich, Isabelle & Damay, Coralie, 2019. "How does access to luxury fashion challenge self-identity? Exploring women's practices of joint and non-ownership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 263-272.
    14. Lunardo, Renaud & Mouangue, Emilie, 2019. "Getting over discomfort in luxury brand stores: How pop-up stores affect perceptions of luxury, embarrassment, and store evaluations," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 77-85.
    15. Bachmann, Frank & Walsh, Gianfranco & Hammes, Eva K., 2019. "Consumer perceptions of luxury brands: An owner-based perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 287-298.
    16. Pourazad, Naser & Stocchi, Lara & Pare, Vipul, 2019. "Brand attribute associations, emotional consumer-brand relationship and evaluation of brand extensions," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 249-260.
    17. Sandra Awanis & Bodo B Schlegelmilch & Charles Chi Cui, 2017. "Asia’s materialists: Reconciling collectivism and materialism," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(8), pages 964-991, October.
    18. Pillai, Kishore Gopalakrishna & Nair, Smitha R., 2021. "The effect of social comparison orientation on luxury purchase intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 89-100.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.

    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:66:y:2013:i:7:p:889-896. 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.