Personal aspirations and the consumption of luxury goods
Yann Truong
ESC Rennes Business School
Past. research. has. rarely. included. both. intrinsic. and. extrinsic. aspirations. antecedents. in. predicting. luxury. consumption,. and. most. studies. have. assumed. that. conspicuous. antecedents. are. predominant. in. consumers’. motivations .. The. objective.of.this.study.is.to.build.and.test.a.model.of.the.effects.of.extrinsic.and. intrinsic.personal.aspirations.on.consumer.decision.making.in.the.luxury.goods. market .. The. findings. of. the. study,. conducted. in. France,. show. that. extrinsic. aspirations. are. more. strongly. related. to. conspicuous. consumption. than. to. quality. search. and. self-directed. pleasure,. suggesting. that. extrinsically. motivated. consumers. buy. luxury. brands. mainly,. but. not. wholly,. as. part. of. conspicuous. consumption. behaviour .. However,. intrinsic. aspirations. are. much. more. strongly. related. to. self-directed. pleasure. and. quality. search. than. are. extrinsically. aspirations,. suggesting. that. these. consumers. are. more. focused. on. their. own. pleasure. of. ownership. than. on. the. display. of. conspicuous. consumption .. The. findings. suggest. that. practitioners. should. take. into. consideration. both. types. of. consumer. motivation. in. the. design. of. their. marketing. campaigns,. in. order. to. increase. audience. reach. and. improve. brand. loyalty. in. the. long. run .. It. is. also. recommended. that. market. researchers. adapt. current. segmentation. and. brand. measurement.tools.to.include.intrinsic.motivations .
Introduction
The.market.for.luxury.goods.and.services.has.been.enlarging,.steadily.and. strongly,.since.the.early.1990s ..Commentators.have.estimated.its.total.worth. at.$840.billion.in.2004,.reaching.$1.trillion.by.2010.(Fiske.&.Silverstein. 2004;.Metha.2006;.Luxury.Institute.2007)