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The influence of gender roles in the drivers of luxury consumption for women: Insights from the gulf region

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  • Semaan, Rania W.
  • Lindsay, Val
  • Williams, Paul
  • Ashill, Nick

Abstract

Luxury consumption is a complex phenomenon that has been shown to convey prestige, signal wealth, boost self-esteem, and express self-concept and identity. Many of the earlier studies have been conducted in Western societies, and lack a detailed understanding of how culture and demographics such as gender may influence such consumption. In this exploratory study, we unravel the complexity further, and explore the drivers of luxury consumption among Gulf Arab women. Utilizing focus groups comprising 31 Gulf Arab females, we gain a deeper understanding of luxury consumption and evaluate the respective drivers in this context. Grounded in social role theory, we find a striking contrast between our results and the drivers of Gulf Arab female luxury consumers as predicted by extant theory. Specifically, Gulf Arab women displayed a number of independent and agentic behaviors in their luxury consumption, which contrasts to their social role in the Gulf Arab society that is often more communal and interdependent. We suggest a number of theoretical and practical implications from our study.

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  • Semaan, Rania W. & Lindsay, Val & Williams, Paul & Ashill, Nick, 2019. "The influence of gender roles in the drivers of luxury consumption for women: Insights from the gulf region," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 165-175.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:51:y:2019:i:c:p:165-175
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.06.006
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    4. Shahid, Shadma & Paul, Justin, 2021. "Intrinsic motivation of luxury consumers in an emerging market," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Raluca CIORNEA, 2021. "Insights Into Women’S Luxury Consumption – A Teenagers Versus Young Adults Comparison," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(1), pages 7-26, May.
    6. Dorota Anderlová & Michal Pšurný, 2020. "Exploring the Importance of Emotions Within Consumer Behaviour on the Czech Luxury Cosmetic Market," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 363-372.
    7. Li, Fajin & Cheng-Xi Aw, Eugene & Wei-Han Tan, Garry & Cham, Tat-Huei & Ooi, Keng-Boon, 2022. "The Eureka moment in understanding luxury brand purchases! A non-linear fsQCA-ANN approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

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