When others show off my brand: self-brand association and conspicuous consumption
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
ISSN: 1355-5855
Article publication date: 25 November 2019
Issue publication date: 6 August 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of conspicuous consumption on brand attitudes in the context of luxury brands market in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies are conducted to test three hypotheses. In Study 1, the authors examine the mediating effect of self-brand association (SBA) on the relationship between social class and conspicuous consumption (H1 and H2); In Study 2, the authors examine the effect of observing others’ conspicuous consumption on the observer’s SBA (H3).
Findings
Results show that SBA negatively mediates the relationship between social class and conspicuous consumption. Moreover, the negative effect on SBA of observing conspicuous brand usage varies by social class.
Research limitations/implications
The current study focused on the principal linkage between social class, SBA and conspicuousness, and future research could examine the influence of different personality traits on luxury consumption or the existence of sub-types or variants of conspicuous brand users.
Originality/value
The present study has important implications for luxury brand management, and provides rich insights to consumers’ motivations that lead to distinctive luxury consumption behaviors.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71572107).
Citation
Li, J., Guo, S., Zhang, J.Z. and Sun, L. (2020), "When others show off my brand: self-brand association and conspicuous consumption", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 32 No. 6, pp. 1214-1225. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-04-2019-0225
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited