Cesare Amatulli

Determinants of purchasing intention for fashion luxury goods in the Italian market

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the latent determinants of the purchasing intention for fashion luxury goods.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 40 in‐depth interviews were conducted with Italian customers in a fashion luxury goods store in Italy. Qualitative research was employed in data collection using the laddering technique and the means‐end chain (MEC) analysis.Findings – Results showed that consumers buy luxury fashion goods mainly to match their lifestyle, thus satisfying their inner drives. The hierarchical value map resulting from the data collection and elaboration demonstrates that self‐confidence and self‐fulfillment are the main hidden final values when buying and consuming luxury goods. Implications for marketers are related to tailoring products, brand values and communication messages to the subjective, self‐rewarding and “internalized” consumption sought after by consumers.Originality/value – The contribution of the paper is based on the use of the laddering te...

Externalised vs. internalised consumption of luxury goods: propositions and implications for luxury retail marketing

This study conceptualises the dichotomy of luxury goods consumption (‘externalised luxury’ vs. ‘internalised luxury’) in terms of six dimensions: on the one hand ostentation, materialism and superfluousness (which refer to luxury as a social statement) and, on the other hand individual lifestyle, emotions/hedonism and culture (which refer to luxury as individual style). Through this literary framework, it presents a series of propositions that might be tested in future research, one for each dimension, about retail strategies and operations for fashion luxury brands. Implications for retail managers of luxury companies are discussed for each proposition, considering the main aspects of retailing strategies and tools (e.g. assortment, sales force, in-store experience and atmospherics) together with possible theoretical developments.

Luxury, Sustainability, and Corporate Social Responsibility: Insights from Fashion Luxury Case Studies and Consumers’ Perceptions

Since the mid-twentieth century, rapid technological and scientific developments have produced continuous and significant improvements in people’s daily lives. However, this growth has had considerable, and sometimes horrifying, consequences for the climate and environment (Egri and Ralston 2008). As a result, sustainability has become a central point in public discourse—not only for consumers, but also for the companies, and in particular those in the luxury industry, who generally operate at the international level and may serve as relevant actors in economic development (Fraj and Martinez 2007; Kerr et al. 2009). Our focus on luxury firms was born from the fact that such firms are still uncertain about how to combine luxury and sustainability; indeed, these two concepts are often seen as contradictory (Joy et al. 2012; Kapferer and Michaut-Denizeau 2014). The very term “Luxus” has a double meaning: It positively connotes such concepts as beauty, prestige, and power, but also implies excessive and ostentatious displays of wealth (Kapferer 1997, 2012). This duality helps to explain consumers’ difficulty in reconciling luxury, sustainability, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and also why a company like Prada recently launched a website dedicated to highlighting initiatives that reflect the brand’s commitment to sustainability. The present chapter thus delves into a currently neglected area of research—namely, consumers’ perceptions of the relationship between luxury, sustainability, and the CSR strategies that major luxury companies adopt to counter said perceptions. To analyze luxury brands’ initiatives, we conducted a qualitative study on three well-known brands—Gucci, Tod’s, and Bulgari—and examined their eco-sustainable collections and approaches. We supplemented this research with a survey of consumers’ perceptions regarding luxury, sustainability, and CSR specifically by interviewing 200 consumers via an online questionnaire. From these data sources, we draw theoretical and managerial implications.

“Mix-and-Match” Fashion Trend and Luxury Brand Recognition: An Empirical Test Using Eye-tracking

Abstract The paper explores the “mix-and-match” consumption trend and the brand recognition of luxury fashion brands. Results show that consumer recognition of luxury fashion brands increases when pairing these branded products with those made by fast-fashion companies. Findings also show that luxury fashion brands are mainly recognized through accessories. Eye-tracking technology has been used to conduct the study.

Tourist destinations and luxury commerce: business opportunities

Purpose – This work aims to analyze the relationship between a tourist destination and the success of luxury stores. The main objective is to examine whether there is any relationship between different features of a tourist destination and the number of years that a store has been operating there.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes a sample of stores located in Venice. A survey was carried out on luxury goods stores in Venice by personally interviewing their managers.Findings – The paper identifies a significant relationship between the number of years that the stores have been operating in the tourist destination and their nationality.Originality/value – Despite the favorable connotations that location in a tourist destination would appear to offer, companies seem to base their general strategy on intangible aspects such as image and brand capital. A number of conclusions and recommendations for managers of luxury stores were obtained from the study. In the light of the minimal impact that c...

Inside Luxury: Main Features, Evolving Trends, and Marketing Paradoxes

The luxury business represents an interesting opportunity for companies that are able to market excellent products also because of its extraordinary evolution. Indeed, the luxury sector has been characterized in the last decades by changes in terms of product features offered by companies and also in terms of the way in which customers approach high-end products.

Luxury advertising and recognizable artworks: New insights on the “art infusion” effect

Purpose This research advances current knowledge about art infusion, which is the ability of art to favorably influence the assessment of consumer products. In particular, the research aims to investigate the effectiveness of artworks that evoke their creators’ most recognizable style in luxury advertising. Design/methodology/approach The research encompasses three studies – two conducted online and one in a real consumption situation. The first study explores the effect that a recognizable vs non-recognizable painter’s style has on consumers’ judgments about luxury products. The second and third studies explore the moderating roles of desire to signal status and desire for distinction, respectively, which are relevant to advertisers interested in targeting these individual differences. Findings Advertisements that incorporate artworks that evoke a painter’s most recognizable style enhance the advertised products’ perceived luxuriousness. Consumers with a higher desire to signal status exhibit greater purchasing intention in response to recognizable artworks. By contrast, consumers with a higher desire for distinction exhibit greater purchasing intention when the painter’s style in the featured artwork is less recognizable. Practical implications The results provide marketers with suggestions on how to select and incorporate visual artworks into luxury brand communication: they could focus on recognizable vs non-recognizable artworks based on whether their main goal is to communicate status or distinctiveness. Originality/value This research offers novel insights into the practical value of art infusion by showing when and for whom the beneficial effects of pairing art with luxury products are more likely to occur.

How to Make Better Consumers in Luxury: The Role of Shame and Empathy

Sustainable consumption—i.e., the use of products that minimize the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as emissions of waste and pollutants so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations (Oslo Roundtable 1994)—has emerged in marketing scholarship as a pressing matter. Indeed, sustainability is a key determinant of future economic growth and development. Both scientific research (e.g., Nidumolu et al. 2009) and business reports (e.g., Deloitte 2011) agree that sustainability has become a crucial driver of innovation, thus serving as a key as a critical success factor for firms. However, in some consumption contexts, such as in the luxury market, consumers are typically more reticent to consume sustainable products (Davies et al. 2011; Davies and Streit 2013). At the same time, the luxury market is also very interesting because of the influence of luxury consumption on socially valued behavior (Wilcox et al. 2014) and because of its relevance for the global economy (Bain & C. 2013). Nevertheless, despite the relevance of the relationship between sustainability and luxury, scientific research has overlooked the study of factors that might determine the effectiveness of communication strategies (e.g., advertisement scenarios or messages conveyed by salespersons) typically employed to promote sustainable luxury products. Indeed, according to Kapferer (2010), real luxury brands have already responded to the demand for sustainability, but have not adequately engaged in communicating their sustainable values. In particular, studies both from Bonini and Oppenheim (2008) and Davies et al. (2011) have underlined how one of the major barriers for sustainable luxury consumers is the lack of awareness and information. Therefore, researchers must investigate what drives conditions consumers to become more willing to buy sustainable products.

Does Popularity in Social Networks Influence Purchasing and Lifestyle Decisions? The Meaning Of Online Friendship

Abstract Nowadays, millions of people use social network sites (SNSs) to communicate with each other, but little is known about the real effects that online popularity (i.e., the number of friends on a SNS) has on users’ behaviors. This paper explores the social influence of SNSs and demonstrates that the number of online friends on an SNS does not influence its users’ purchasing and lifestyle choices. This study also reveals that so-called low-popular users (i.e., users with few friends on a SNS) are influenced by the intensity of their perceived friendships (i.e., how strong they perceive their relations with their online friends). On the contrary, high-popular users (i.e., users with many friends on a SNS) are influenced by their online friends’ perceived coolness (i.e., how “cool” they consider their online friends), and, in particular, their influence on purchasing decisions increases with the value of the products that they intend to buy. Results shed light on a new meaning of the term “friendship” on a SNS, which is substantially different from what is common in offline contexts: this new construct, which we call “Friendoolness”, can be intended as a mix of friendship and coolness (i.e., social attractiveness, likeability and desirability) and it is mainly based on taking actions to demonstrate that a person has a large number of “cool” friends.

Responsible Luxury Development: A Study on Luxury Companies’ CSR, Circular Economy, and Entrepreneurship

In this chapter, we discuss how luxury brands can build their success on corporate social responsibility (CSR), leveraging specifically on the paradigm of circular economy. The idea advanced in the chapter is that luxury and sustainability are not conflicting concepts, as many believe, but they are positively correlated, inasmuch as the quintessential characteristics of luxury goods make them potentially more sustainable than mass-market goods. Through the discussion of four case studies of luxury brands operating in the sectors of fashion (Brunello Cucinelli, Gucci and Stella McCartney brands) and food (Godiva), we point out that the reuse of tangible resources, such as money generated by companies’ activities and raw material, can be a very solid basis for building market success as well as to broaden the positive contribution luxury brands can make to the environment, the employees, the local community of producers, and, as a consequence, to the society at large. A common feature of all the cases discussed is represented by the key role played by the entrepreneur (often the founder of the company) in fostering the balance between brand prestige and sustainability.