Pierre Valette-Florence

Is luxury sufficient to create brand desirability? A cross-cultural analysis of the relationship between luxury and dreams

A key feature of the luxury industry is its ability to sell dreams, such that consumers often refer to luxury products as desirable dream objects. This study aims to assess the empirical validity of this proposition. Does luxury actually fuel dreams? Because brands are manifestations of these dreams, this study examines if the dream value of an expansive set of brands relates directly to perceptions of them as luxury brands. More than 3,200 real luxury buyers, from six countries, participated in interviews about 60 luxury brands. The results reveal a strong correlation between luxury perceptions and the dream value of brands, across all countries. Yet, despite being categorised as luxury representatives though, many brands are not endowed with as much dream value as might be expected. Being perceived as a luxury product is not sufficient to evoke dreams and boost brand desirability. This is important for luxury brand management.

Does intensity of personally felt emotions matter more than nature of emotions to influence attitude toward the ad (Aad) and attitude toward the brand(Ab)

This study examines the effects in the persuasion process of the intensity of personally felt emotions combined with the nature of these emotions according to their three dimensions (Pleasure, Arousal and Domination). More specifically effects on both attitude toward the ad (Aad) and attitude toward the brand (Ab) have been examined dividing the population in two groups : those feeling no or low affective responses and those feeling intense affective responses while watching TV ads. Path analyses suggested that emotions matter in assessing the effectiveness of advertising since they are strong predictors of attitude toward the ad (Aad) and attitude toward the brand (Ab). It has been found that the three dimensions of emotions do lead to significant differences on Aad and Ab. In addition, the intensity level of personally felt emotions has been found as a strong determinant of Aad and Ab. Among the group feeling low or no affective responses only Arousal emotions have an effect on both Aad and Ab. Among the group feeling intense affective responses, the three dimensions of emotions were found effective on both Aad and Ab. Finally, limitations of this study are underlined and issues for further research are discussed.