1.dissertation主題:

a.萬寶龍品牌在奢侈品行業(yè)的發(fā)展”好

b.“萬寶龍品牌在奢侈品行業(yè)的延伸”好

c.“萬寶龍品牌:從專業(yè)的奢侈品牌到全球奢侈品牌”
 

2.dissertation問題/關(guān)鍵問題:

a.“萬寶龍,在書寫工具市場(chǎng)上的專業(yè)的奢侈品牌,擴(kuò)大其“奢侈品牌”對(duì)其他的產(chǎn)品的影響力。

b.萬寶龍,書寫工具市場(chǎng)專業(yè)的奢侈品牌,成功影響了其他產(chǎn)品，擴(kuò)展了奢侈品的概念。
 

3.文獻(xiàn)綜述:

奢侈品的定義:

*不同的觀點(diǎn)

*關(guān)鍵字/概念(進(jìn)行調(diào)查)

奢侈品牌的定義

c.多元化戰(zhàn)略的概念:

*目標(biāo)

*類型

*成功的驅(qū)動(dòng)力(消費(fèi)者知覺/反應(yīng))

*性能(程度)

*萬寶龍:戰(zhàn)略診斷(布)

d.品牌延伸：一個(gè)奢侈品牌認(rèn)知:

*(如何衡量消費(fèi)者的反應(yīng))
 

4.研究:

關(guān)鍵問題:一個(gè)專業(yè)的奢侈品牌擴(kuò)展其“奢侈品牌”的感知?萬寶龍的品牌。
 

今天,萬寶龍是全球奢侈品牌(沒有了專門的奢侈品牌)?這如何可能?全球奢侈品核心業(yè)務(wù)的聲譽(yù)(質(zhì)量、設(shè)計(jì)、社會(huì)地位)和鄰近領(lǐng)域的選擇。
 

Dissertation subject:

a. “Montblanc. Its development in the luxury industry” OK
 

b. “The Montblanc’s brand extension in the luxury industry” OK
 

c. “Montblanc brand: from a specialised luxury brand to a global luxury brand”
 

2. Dissertation issue / key question:

a. “Did Montblanc, a specialised luxury brand in the writing instrument segment, extend its perception of “luxury brand” to its other product categories?” OK
 

b. Has Montblanc, a specialised luxury brand in the writing instrument segment, been successful in extending this perception to its other product categories?
 

3. Literature review:

a. Definition of luxury:

* Different points of view

* Key words/concepts (to be tested in the survey)
 

b. Definition of luxury brand
 

c. Concept of diversification strategy:

* Objectives

* Types

* Drivers to be successful (consumer perception / reaction)

* Performance (to which extent)

* Montblanc: à strategic diagnosis (SBU)
 

d. Brand extension à Luxury brand perception:

* (How to measure it? Consumer’s reaction)
 

4. The research:

a. Key question: can a specialised luxury brand extend its perception of “luxury brand” to other product categories? The case of the Montblanc brand.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Today, is Montblanc a global luxury brand (not anymore a specialised luxury brand)? Therefore how was it possible? Well know reputation in its core business (for quality, design, social status) and the choice of neighbouring segments.
 

b. Hypothesis: Montblanc is today an established global luxury brand. Montblanc is a clear example of a successful brand extension. How was it possible? (Reputation, tradition, quality, Montblanc extended its way of doing business based on quality and style next to its outstanding reputation in its historical core business)
 

5. The research:

a. Objective: To prove that Montblanc has been able, in a relatively short time, to become a global luxury brand.
 

6. The research method:

a. Which is the information to be collected in order to answer the issue discussed within our work and to verify the hypothesis? à the consumer’s perception of the Montblanc brand (the only boss) and the point of view of the Montblanc’s managers (figures on diversification mix, and resources allocated)
 

b. How to collect the data (survey, interviews)?
 

c. Which is the pitch of the research? Luxury sector, Montblanc and its major competitors in jewellery / watches / leather categories, luxury brand current and potential consumers.
 

Becker, Howard S. (1998), Tricks of the trade, How to think about your research while you’re doing it, The University of Chicago Press.
 

7. Analysis of the research findings:

a. Analyse and understand the collected data à as usually it helps identify some factors that may answer our issue, although often these elements are not complete
 

b. Criticise the research method and its limits (limited sample)
 

8. Conclusion:

a. Buyers of Montblanc products (not only writing instruments): confirm the hypothesis
 

b. Buyers of only Montblanc writing instruments à to gain tradition in watch and jewellery segments requires times although a good quality but not impossible
 

c. Montblanc’s managers: good results so far.
 

Recommendations:

a. Montblanc has to go on investing in its diversification strategy because failing in doing so would be highly risky for its brand perception among the final consumers. Could Montblanc extend its perception to other product categories? Not right now: low resources and need to be definitively established as a luxury brand in key categories such as watches and jewellery.
 

Write:

* “la problématique” involves the key question, the hypothesis of the research and the elements / factors which will help to develop the chosen subject.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

This first part includes the definition of the subject, the review of the literature (plus bibliography), the question, the hypothesis and the method of the research other than the action plan.
 

* Final dissertation: develop the different topics without any linking parts, add these linking parts, further develop underestimated parts and cut what is useless. Add the table of contents, bibliography, appendix, etc.
 

Executive Summary

* The research and its Interest

* The key question and the hypothesis

* Research method

* Major findings

* Conclusion

* Recommendations
 

Introduction

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate if and how a specialised luxury brand can extend its perception of “luxury brand” to other products categories. Being the luxury industry so wide of dimensions, the researcher decided to focus on one specific brand: Montblanc.
 

This choice permitted to closer define the pitch of the analysis in order to carry out a reliable and feasible research that might prove the success of the diversification strategy pursued by the Montblanc brand. Montblanc represents, indeed, an interesting case study to show how the diversification strategy can be an effective tool to increase the luxury brand perception among the final customers.
 

Montblanc, market leader for what concerns the writing instruments, has been striving during the last few years to definitively become a global luxury brand. To do so, Montblanc entered many different segments of the luxury world, such as leather, watches, fragrance and eyewear in the last ‘90s and the silver jewellery at the beginning of the 21st century. Moreover, a couple of years ago, Montblanc stepped forward into the fine jewellery business which is seen as “the critical step” in its strategic development to attain the full status of global luxury brand.
 

In order to verify how the Montblanc brand is viewed and perceived in its competitive environment, the researcher adopted both a quantitative and a qualitative research method.
 

On one hand, a customer survey consisted of XXX questions was developed. This survey submitted to actual and potential customers had the objective to impartially investigate the customer perception of the Montblanc brand.
 

On the other hand, in-depth interviews with some Montblanc’s managers were carried out. The interviewed, who represented different levels of the Montblanc’s management, allowed the researcher to gain a full picture of the Montblanc brand and its strategic movements. Moreover the direct comparison with the Montblanc’s management was important to identify on which resources and competences the final recommendations could be based.
 

For practical purposes, this study can be divided in five major parts:#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

1. the first part outlines the theme and the key question of the research paper;
 

2. the second part concerns the review of the literature as regards the following points: the definition of luxury and of luxury brands, some approaches to measure the brand perception / the reasons why people buy luxury goods (status-laden or conspicuousness-laden), and the diversification strategy. This part will be concluded with an in-depth analysis of the Montblanc brand;
 

3. the third part gives a fulfilling view of the undertaken research with particular attention to the objective, the hypothesis and the research method;
 

4. the fourth part covers the relevant findings coming from the analysis of the research results;
 

5. the last part presents the conclusions of the study and the researcher’s final recommendations to the brand.
 

The theme of the study

The theme of the research paper “Luxury and the Montblanc brand” gives an important insight of the key constructs at the core of the work.
 

In first position one finds the term “luxury” whose meaning and definition are almost fuzzy. It is the reason why, this work will examine some important findings coming up from the literature so wide in this respect, at the end of which some major traits of the definition of luxury will be underlined. Especially, the literature review will cover the evolution of the definition of luxury all along the “recent” history. To be noticed that, the construct of luxury will be also investigated in the survey submitted to the final customers and also in the interviews to the Montblanc’s management and other practitioners of the luxury industry. This research, carried out by exploring both the customers’ and the professionals’ point of view, enriches the research itself and helps to get a good understanding of the major characteristics emerging nowadays about this fascinating concept. To be clarified that this study, focusing on the Montblanc brand, is related to a part of the luxury market such as the accessories, jewellery and watches segments.
 

The second part of the theme of this study is represented by three words: “the Montblanc brand”. This recalls two topics. The first one refers to the term “brand”. By revising the literature, a definition of brand will be proposed. In this respect, there are not important doubts and we will briefly comment the definition of brand recently provided by Jevons (2007). Nevertheless, some issues may arise for the definition of “luxury brand” which is obviously related to the construct of luxury. The expression “the Montblanc brand” as a whole, moreover, puts the attention on the leader German brand whose unmistakable star logo is worldwide the icon of quality and excellence. As previously said, the researcher chose a specific brand to be able to concretely study the fundamental question of his research paper that will be clarified in the next lines.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

To be noticed that the two parts of the theme title “luxury” and “the Montblanc brand” are tied up by the conjunction “and” that underlines the strict link between luxury and the Montblanc brand. Nevertheless, this link requires a further consideration because it can be misleading if not misunderstood.
 

Which is the real mean of this linkage? There are no doubts that Montblanc is a luxury brand; but is it a specialised luxury brand or a global luxury brand?
 

This question is strictly connected to the core issue of this master thesis. More precisely, the driver question is if a specialised luxury brand can extend its perception of “luxury brand” to other product categories.
 

In order to answer this key issue, the researcher chose to study a well-known brand which has been pursuing a diversification strategy to become a global luxury brand. The construct of diversification strategy will be explained from a literature point of view. Moreover, an in-depth analysis of the Montblanc brand and its strategic business areas will be undertaken by applying some tools learned during the studies at the ESCP Europe especially during the modules of strategy and of strategic diagnostic. This becomes fundamental to better understand in which kind of diversification strategy Montblanc is engaged and to give a wide knowledge to the reader about the brand itself.
 

To conclude, herein the reasons why the student chose this theme for his master thesis. There are three major reasons bringing to this choice.
 

The first one refers to the luxury world. The construct of luxury, albeit widely analysed in the literature, remains somehow mysterious. Today, the definition of luxury is strongly evolving mainly due to the economic uncertainty mostly caused by the financial crisis of 2008. Therefore, although the probability to uniquely define luxury is very low if not nil, the challenge to better understand what luxury is/means/represents/is perceived nowadays represents to the researcher a great topic of interest. His interest in luxury is also nourished by the will to work in this sector in the upcoming future. This surely stems from the professional experiences made by the student as part of his studies within companies (Montblanc and Concord) operating in the jewellery, watches and accessories segments. Indeed, during these experiences, the student was impressed by this world rather mysterious where the care of the smallest detail makes a huge difference.
 

The second reason concerns the Montblanc brand. The researcher had the chance to work for five months at Montblanc International, at the Headquarter in Hamburg within the Jewellery Category Department, and for three months at Montblanc UK, in London within the Retail Department. During this extremely positive experience, the student discovered in-depth this fascinating brand, from its tradition to its vision, from a strategic and more operational point of view. Surely the experience personally gained at Montblanc became highly useful in the development of the research and mainly in the analysis of the brand and of its strategy. Moreover the ongoing meetings/interviews with the Montblanc’s management had a double advantage. On one hand, it enriched the content of the study and on the other hand helped the student maintain the contacts with a firm that is at the top of his personal ranking of his employment research.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

The third reason concerns the strategic aspect behind this theme. Indeed, the diversification strategy pursued by Montblanc offered to the student the possibility to develop this construct often used/abused by luxury brands to extend their perception of luxury and, as a consequence, to finally increase their revenues. The diversification strategy has often been the object of strong discussions, mainly for what regards the results of pursuing this strategy and the ways of implementing it. This work has got the objective to rationalise the different types of diversification strategy and to investigate this theoretical concept on a concrete case study, thanks to the study of the Montblanc brand. This research will focus on the key factors of success or failure standing from the analysis of the diversification strategy pursued by Montblanc.
 

The key question of the study

“Did Montblanc, a specialised luxury brand in the writing instrument segment, extend its perception of “luxury brand” to its other product categories?”
 

This key question gives a stricter view on the content of this research paper. This study will focus on the strategic development of a specialised luxury brand as Montblanc was/is in the writing instrument segment since its origin. In detail, the research has got the purpose to investigate how the Montblanc brand is nowadays perceived from the final customers. The findings coming up from the customer survey will help the researcher evaluate if the Montblanc brand is still perceived as a specialised luxury brand or if its image has developed to the status of a global luxury brand. The customers’ responses represent indeed the most reliable feedback to assess the degree of success of the diversification strategy pursed by Montblanc in the last years which has brought the brand to operate in relevant luxury segments such as leather, watches, fragrance, eyewear and jewellery next to the historical business area of writing instruments.
 

At a second stage, the customers’ responses will be compared with the Montblanc management’s point of view in order to verify if some discrepancies exist. This step is important to get a full picture of the Montblanc brand’s standing.
 

Then, after an accurate presentation of the research, the student will point out the major findings in order to draw his conclusions about his study. The conclusions will include the major factors of the diversification strategy pursed by Montblanc to extend its perception of “luxury brand” to other segments in the luxury industry, in addition to the fields of improvement coming out of the research.
 

Finally this research paper will present the student’s recommendations which will take into account the strategic objectives standing out from the interviews with the Montblanc’s management and also the Montblanc brand perception outlined by the customer survey.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

In the next pages, the student will study, by starting from the literature review, some key concepts at the core of this research paper which include:

* the definition of luxury and its evolution;

* the definition of luxury goods;

* the definition of brand and of luxury brands;

* briefly the different approaches to measure the brand perception among the final customers.--> the reasons why people buy luxury goods (status or conspicuousness);

* and the presentation of the diversification strategy: the objectives, the different types, the advantages and the drawbacks, the risks, and the key success factors.
 

The literature review, as said, will be completed by the contextualisation of these constructs to the Montblanc brand. At this stage the Montblanc brand will be studied in order to give all the required basics to launch the following research.
 

Literature review

In order to better define the constructs at the core of this research paper that will give the background of the following research, an in-depth literature review will be made. Four major concepts will be discussed thanks to the support of different literature material which includes insights from books, articles, management and fashion websites and personal references in terms of power point presentations, excel documents and excel files.
 

The activity of research consisted mainly in going through the databases accessible from the Intranet at ESCP Europe in order to directly access to a wide range of reference material.
 

The definition of luxury

The first part of the literature review regards the construct of “luxury”. Luxury has always been a central field of research. Indeed its specific characteristics have attracted the interest of the researchers all along the history. However, albeit the meaning of luxury is widely discussed in the literature, researchers did not come up with a commonly accepted definition of this construct. For sure, it is not possible to uniquely define luxury. Simply, the words do not seem to be able to describe what luxury means. In this respect, the literature leaves this concept shrouded in mystery.
 

This research paper will face the definition of luxury by going through different steps. At the beginning some different definitions of luxury will be put forward by touching its literal and economic meaning, and also by exploring some philosophical and social interpretations. Then, an interesting brief explanation of the etymology of the term “luxury” will be presented. Afterwards, the “history” of luxury will be outlined before entering in more detailed considerations regarding the notions of old and new luxury. At the end of this first part, the student will show the latest development of the “luxury” construct by getting important insights from the practitioners’ point of view founded in articles related to the luxury world.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Literal definition of luxury

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913): “Anything which pleases the senses, and is also costly, or difficult to obtain; an expensive rarity.”[1][2]
 

Economic definition of luxury

Mason (81): “Un produit est considéré comme luxueux si l’élasticité de la demande par rapport au revenu est supérieure à 1.”

Philosophers’ definition of luxury

Paul Iribe (1932): “Luxe: besoin qui commence où finit la nécessité.”[3]

Voltaire (1694-1778): “Superflu chose très nécessaire. J’aime le luxe et même la mollesse.”

Rousseau: “Le luxe doit être rejeté car il est contraire aux exigences de la nature.”

Sociology researchers’ definition of luxury

Bourdieu (79,84): “Comme tout acte de consommation, l’achat d’une marque de luxe est un moyen d’affirmer sa position sociale, de faire croire à un changement de position ou prouver un changement de position sociale. Tout dépend du rôle que l’individu joue ou pense jouer au sein de son groupe de référence.”

Baudrillard (68): “L’accès au luxe est déterminé par une volonté sociale de se distinguer, de se démarquer ou bien encore de s’affilier à un groupe. Suivant le groupe social auquel la personne se réfère, le luxe aura une signification différente.”

Maffesoli (96): “L’analyse du luxe par le prisme des classes ne prend pas en compte le resserrement des individus autour de groupes restreints, de tribus. La consommation devient alors un plaisir personnel et intime, sans volonté ostentatoire.”

Management researchers’ definition of luxury

Gutsatz M. (96): “Le luxe comprend deux niveaux de représentation. Le premier niveau est matériel, il comprend le produit et la marque (son histoire, son identité, son savoir faire unique, le talent). Le second niveau est psychologique. Il s’agit de représentations qui nous sont propres, influencés par notre milieu social et les valeurs de la marque.”
 

Roux E. (91): “La marque de luxe se caractérise par une valeur ajoutée symbolique, imaginaire ou sociale qui la différencie des autres. La marque de luxe correspond ainsi aux besoins symboliques que le consommateur peut ressentir (par opposition aux besoins fonctionnels ou de variété).”
 

Laurent G., Dubois B. (95): “Le luxe est subjectif, personnel et perceptuel. Si l’on cherche à déterminer les attributs caractérisant un produit de luxe, 6 dimensions apparaissent : Une qualité supérieure et perçue, un prix élevé, une sélectivité et une rareté des produits et de la distribution, un pouvoir attractif important un savoir faire certain et la non nécessité.”#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Practitioners’ definition of luxury

Coco Chanel: “Le luxe est le contraire de la vulgarité.”

Boucheron A.: “Le luxe est une « mayonnaise » constituée de différents ingrédients. Si l’un d’entre-eux manque ou est mal dosé, la mayonnaise tourne. Le luxe est un concept et non un produit”.[4]
 

Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermès, historic Chairman and CEO of Hermès: “[5]

Just by analysing these few definitions of luxury, one can notice the absolute subjectivity of this concept. It stands out that luxury has got a close linkage with pleasure, rarity, exclusivity, quality, high price tag. Economists define luxury as something which is unnecessary, statement which would be probably argued by some studies on the consumers’ reasons to buy luxury. For someone (Rousseau) luxury should even be avoided because it is not a primary need of the human being.
 

Luxury is something that belongs to the inner part of each individual but it can be also highly other-oriented. By wearing or experiencing luxury items, an individual expresses his own personality and can show his social status and position in the community.
 

The fact is that luxury is probably a bit of everything, a perfect trade off of opposite concepts. This makes luxury a kind of mystery.
 

After this round-up, the study will briefly present the etymology of the term “luxury” before briefing touching the historical evolution of luxury.
 

Etymology of word luxury

According to Dubois, Czellar and Laurent (2005) the English term[6] “luxury” is derived from the Latin “luxus”, which, according to the Oxford Latin Dictionary, it signifies “soft or extravagant living, (over-)indulgence” and “sumptuousness, luxuriousness, opulence”; “luxus” also means sensuality, splendour - and its derivative “luxuria” is extravagance, riot etc. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “luxuriance” as something characterized by richness and extravagance, often tending to excess.
 

The word “luxury” is also often semantically associated with “lux” the Latin word for light; therefore, luxury carries connotations of brightness. It is glittering and, in addition, it is something visible.
 

The evolution of luxury

Until the Middle Ages the writings point out that luxury was the reflection of the religious mystery that drives the human being to go beyond himself driven by an offer or a sign.
 

But the heyday of luxury is without any doubt the Renaissance (15th and 16th century), flourishing period for literature, art and science. This period reflects the explosion of luxury, vogue of the ostentatious architecture coming from Italy. At that time, luxuries are exclusive items belonging to the aristocracy and the court. During the Renaissance luxury becomes the prerogative of the bourgeoisie.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

During the 18th and 19th century luxury remains exclusive of the “élite”. The 20th century signs an important step in the evolution of luxury. Mainly after the Second World War luxury becomes almost conformist, not extravagant or eccentric. In the ‘80s, the focus is on the luxury consumer; in this time, younger period discover luxury thanks to the accessories. At the end of this decade, there is the boom of luxury for what concerns the distribution channel development. The major players widen their reach by exploiting the markets where they are present and even by entering new markets. At the beginning of the ‘90s, the crisis that hit also the luxury industry, pushed to rethink the concept of luxury that gained a higher spiritual/moral meaning in addition to the impeccable quality.[7]
 

Old-luxury vs New-luxury

With the 21st century, new terms about luxury are emerging in the practitioners’ literature. For the purpose of this research paper, in the next few lines some considerations will be made on the expression of “old luxury” in opposition to “new luxury” in order to clarify their meaning.
 

Some practitioners argue that “old luxury” is about the good itself and is defined by the company, in opposition to This seems to trace a clear line between the two concepts: “old luxury” is about the material thing, it is about stuff. Instead, “new luxury” is about experiencing.
 

Nowadays, it seems evident that “old luxury” cannot anymore survive. The high quality of luxury products is assumed by consumers who are looking forward for something more. In our time, luxury is increasingly defined as those special qualities, features and attributes intrinsic to a product and that go beyond the item itself. According to Ms. Danziger (2008)[9], the product itself does not anymore create personal fulfilment.
 

Today, luxury is in the eye of the beholder and the consumers’ perceptions are not anymore, exclusively depending on the exceptional quality of luxury products and on the high price tag. This does not mean that the materialism is not important but only that consumers are eager of experiences. Therefore, as a consequence, a shift from "product-centric" to "consumer-centric" point of view becomes inevitable to attract luxury consumers.
 

The needed clarification of “old luxury” and “new luxury” concepts will become also useful when the study will discuss the definition of luxury brands and in the research of the consumers’ perception of the Montblanc brand which will lead to the student’s recommendations at the end of this research paper.
 

At this point, it becomes interesting to see how the today’s definition of luxury has evolved in the light of the recent events occurred in autumn 2008 which had an important impact on the entire economy and, therefore, also on the luxury industry.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Today’s definition of luxury ppt vale, crisis, bling bling, tradition,
 

According to Yeoman and McMahon (2005), luxury is “incredibly fluid, and changes dramatically across time and culture”[10]. This opinion becomes very much clear by thinking if the meaning of today’s definition of luxury is the same definition of luxury of just eighteen months ago.
 

Today it is even harder to give an accurate definition of luxury. After the financial crisis, culminated with the bankruptcy of some key players in the real estate and banking industry which caused a chain reaction hitting all the other sectors, the perception of luxury has surely changed, at least to a certain extent. This critical point merits further considerations and, therefore, it will be investigated in the following research at the core of this study.
 

In the next lines some leaders’ opinions in luxury will be presented. Some of these thoughts were collected in a confidential in-depth research carried out at the beginning of 2009, supplied by Montblanc’s management. They will introduce the student’s point of view about the “sharp” evolution of luxury meaning in the last months.
 

Herein, some comments about the change of luxury construct in the last year.

S. Toledano, Dior: “Compulsive shopping, it’s over.”

M. Nieto, Baume & Mercier: “Price sensitivity is coming back fiercely.”

C. Binkley, The Wall Street Journal: “It's bling over”

J. Rupert, Richemont: “During a recession, I’m sure consumers will choose solid values.”

B. Pavlowski, Chanel: “Don’t neglect any aspect of the product quality.”

R. Palti, Le Nouvel Economiste: “Many markets are saturated and there is an increasing number of offers proposing the same service. Finding what will best meet the clients' expectations is no easy task. And yet, in these days of economic, financial (& lack of confidence) crisis, there is not a single company that can afford not to satisfy its clients, even just to sell.”

B. Arnault, LVMH[11]: “post-recovery customers will not only place a particular emphasis on values like quality and craftsmanship, but also on exclusivity and commitment to social and environmental responsibility.

D. Dion, Sorbonne University: “Luxury has to return to its exclusive and extraordinary roots.”

B. Fornas, Cartier: “We are witnessing a return to true luxury and high end luxury products, which Cartier symbolises.”

JC Biver, Hublot: “When there is a crisis, it is necessary to get as close as possible to one’s clients to better understand them, to reassure them and to make in due time the right decisions.”

S. Toledano, Dior: “There should be both empathy and connivance between the brand and the client.”#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

A. Ahrendts, Burberry: “Even though the overall market may become difficult, I think that retailers and customers are always open to a new innovative idea or a new exciting concept.”

Jeffry M. Aronsson, Donna Karan: “luxury is attention to detail and quality backed by superior service.”[12]

B. Pavlowski, Chanel: “One should keep investing in creation.”

D. Peters, Jewelers of America: “Selling in challenging times is not about product and it’s not about price. Rather, it’s about people and relationships, and the quality of the customer experience.”

J. Taylor, Harrison: “The definition of living well is changing. There is a desire to not stand out. If you’re laying people off, you don’t want to buy a Ferrari.”

S. Geary, Mulberry: “In the coming months, the mood will be against that ‘blind consumption.’”

A. Arnault, LVMH: “The collection focused on elegance and discretion and used materials that were noble but not too visibly noble.”
 

Giorgio Armani: “Those who deliver what they promise to their customers, and bear their customers in mind, will survive the current economic climate.”
 

After this round-up, some further considerations have to be made. At our time, some relevant trends can be observed in luxury. These trends have an important impact on today’s interpretation/ perception of luxury.
 

Increasing of price sensitivity is one of them. In time of crisis, luxury sector is one of the most negatively affected due to the nature itself of luxury products. According to Maslow’s pyramid, luxury products do not belong to the first steps of the human beings’ needs (physiological and safety)[13]. Therefore, their purchase can be easily postponed causing a time of “diet” for luxury brands.
 

But according to some experts, reducing prices is one of the things that luxury brands cannot do because it will irremediably harm their in the eyes of customers.
 

Another direction is that the return of luxury to its exclusive and extraordinary roots, someone would say to true luxury and high end products.
 

But probably one of the most important tendencies is that, nowadays, the luxury business model is evolving from a model driven by supply to a model driven by demand. In other words, the era of “the client is king” is back. Customer satisfaction is again the priority. But consumers have become more and more demanding. And, albeit an impeccable product quality is something that cannot be at all neglected by luxury brands, today it seems not to be enough to fulfil final customers. They want more...
 

Luxury brands have to dedicate themselves to fully and deeply understand their customers. The key success factor to overcome challenging times is not about product and price but it is about the quality of the customer experience, people and relationships. Customers want to be reassured, guided, supported, understood and surprised by luxury brands. Luxury brands have to build up solid, growing and ongoing relationships with their customers, which go beyond the customer experience during the act of purchase.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

In the present day, the era of “bling bling” is over. The desire not to stand out is noticeable. Luxury, today, is about an accurate simplicity. This new modesty reflects as well a particular attention to all that concerns a social responsibility of the brand.
 

To sum up, quality, confidence, proximity, creativity, service, new modesty, exclusivity, responsibility, are key terms that could somehow outline the today’s definition of luxury. This construct will be investigated in this study thanks to specific questions in the questionnaire submitted to final customers.
 

After having exhaustively covered the definition of luxury by underlining the evolution of its interpretation along the history with major attention to our time, the literature review will proceed in studying the construct of luxury goods. This represents a good opportunity to clarify some key doubts related to the classification of luxury goods. This will be followed by a further analysis and classification of luxury brands.
 

The definition of luxury goods

Luxury goods

The definition of luxury goods has been attempted by many researchers of different fields. It is evident from the literature that there is a lack of consensus particularly among academics regarding the definition of luxury goods products. In this regards, it is undoubtedly important the underlying context of the definition.
 

The discipline of economics provides a rather precise definition of luxury goods which can be empirically tested based on [14]. These curves gives a classification of goods, by showing the relationship between quantity demanded of particular goods and disposable income given a constant price.
 

A first classification consists in distinguishing between normal goods and inferior goods. Inferior goods are goods whose demand decreases as disposable income increases. On the contrary, normal goods are goods whose demand increases as disposable income increases.
 

Moreover within normal goods, one can identify between “necessity goods” and “luxury goods”. The former category has a downward sloping Engel curve since the proportion spent on such goods proportionally decreases as income increases, the latter one has an upward sloping Engel curve indicating that as income increases, a greater proportion is spent on these goods.
 

Moreover, form an economic point of view, luxury goods are characterised to have high inferior good at different income levels, e.g. a wealthy person stops buying increasing numbers of luxury cars for his automobile collection to start collecting airplanes (at such an income level, the luxury car would become an inferior good).
 

GRAPH (Engel Curve for a Normal Good ?i> 0; Luxury Goods are Normal Goods but they have an ?i≥1, Quantity demanded is very sensitive to changes in disposable income; “Necessity Goods” are Normal Goods but 0< ?i<1, Quantity demand is not very sensitive to changes in disposable income; Engel Curve for an Inferior Good, ?i< 0.)#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

In other words, economists define luxury goods as goods that have a comparatively high price-to-quality ratio. However, for the economist, quality means tangible functions; therefore, a luxury good has a significantly higher price than another good with similar tangible functions.
 

But, according to Dubois and Duquesne (1993)[15], the purchase of luxury goods is clearly not governed simply by economic factors, as income is a necessary but not sufficient condition to explain purchase. Further considerations on the factors which drive the purchase of luxury goods will follow.
 

Their opinion seems to be in line with the studies of Vickers and Renand (2003)[16] who remark that “although luxury and non-luxury goods can be conceptualised on the basis of functional, experiential and interactional symbolic dimensions, there is a distinctive difference in the mix of these components.” In particular, they point out that luxury goods score higher in the psychological, social and symbolic dimensions, while non-luxury goods are higher in the functional dimension.
 

Moreover, according to Veblen (1899)[17] the distinction between luxury and non-luxury goods products cannot be made by appearance or intrinsic qualities of the goods themselves, but they have to be assessed into their socio-economic context. As a consequence, a luxury goods product is something that is definitely out of the ordinary in terms of daily living needs.
 

Definition of brand

Although the academic and practitioner branding literature is extensive, it is challenging to find a universally accepted definition of the term “brand”.
 

Cambridge Dictionary defines brand as “a mark that is burnt or frozen into the skin of an animal such as a cow to show who owns it”. Therefore, branding is the act of making something uniquely recognisable.
 

Jevons (2007)[18], after several studies, provides the following definition of brand: “A brand is a tangible or intangible concept that uniquely identifies an offering, providing symbolic communication of functionality and differentiation, and in doing so sustainably influences the value offered.”
 

This definition, albeit quite recent, was criticised for two main reasons. The first one concerns the high number of the key components which renders this classification rather complicated. The second one refers to the fact that a key component is missing, that is to say the experiential dimension of the brand (Buchanan-Oliver et al. 2008)[19].
 

Definition of luxury brands

After having clarified the construct of luxury and of luxury goods, the student will address the concept of luxury brand. It is demanding also in this regards to find a uniquely accepted definition and classification. As seen, the concept of luxury itself is rather arbitrary. Moreover, this task becomes even harder after the so called “democratisation of luxury” phenomenon. In his studies Kapferer (2006)[20] stresses the ambiguity in defining a luxury brand “where does luxury stop and where does upper range start for instance? Is what has been called mass-stage products (a contraction from mass prestige) or new luxury still luxury?”#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Although it is difficult to clearly define a luxury brands, all the major researchers classified luxury brands in three different categories. In the ‘90s D. Allérès (1990)[21], proposes three different luxury worlds related to three distinctive social classes:
 

· At the top of the pyramid there is “the inaccessible luxury” characterised by absolute products accessible only by a narrow elite socio-economic class. These products, few in quantity and definitely custom-made, are distributed in few points of sales and have an extremely high price tag. They offer the owner exceptional social prestige and distinctiveness.
 

· In the middle, there is “the intermediate luxury” which describes luxury products attainable by the “professional” socio-economic class. These products are not anymore custom-made but anyway they can be adapted to the customer’s needs. Their distribution channel is still limited and their price is still very high.
 

· At the bottom of the luxury brand pyramid there is “the accessible luxury” which includes luxury products attainable by the middle socio-economic class. Also defined “mass-luxury”, these products are produced and distributed in large scale.
 

However, this categorisation is open to some criticisms for two main reasons. On one hand, some concerns are raised due to the difficulty to establish the difference between the intermediate and the accessible level, mainly related to the shift of socio-economic groups within western industrial nations towards a professional middle class position. On the other hand, some researchers underline the fact that to classify a luxury goods product as accessible or inaccessible, it is necessary to understand the sellers’ desired product position and the consumers’ perceived product position (Renand, 2003)[22]. This would confirm the importance of the consumer’s role in the brand positioning pursued by a luxury brand.
 

A very close classification was presented by Nueno and Quelch (1998)[23] which identify three types of luxury brands:

* “Limited awareness brands”, focalised on one limited product line targeting an exclusive niche market. Their distribution is absolutely selective and their price is out of range.

* “Well-known luxury brands” which are inaccessible to the mass market due to their limited distribution and high price.

* “Well-known luxury brands” which are affordable to a broader audience for availability and price.
 

Finally, Kapferer (2006)[24] admits the difficulty to uniquely define the construct of luxury and, instead adding another definition, provides a classification of two different models of luxury brands. Both of them represent luxuries but their philosophy is different: one is rooted in “history, rarity and craftsmanship” and in most cases is associated with European luxury brands, a second model is based “upon stories, image and marketing finesse” and represents the American luxury brands.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Within the European model, he identifies three different classes of luxury brands which follow the direction given by his predecessors such as D. Allérès, 1990 and Nueno and Quelch, 1998:

* The “griffe”, which represents pure creation of a single person, materialised in the perfection of unique products.

* The “luxury brands” produced in small series within a workshop or “manufacture” and mostly hand-crafted.

* The “mass-production luxuries”. In this respect the author argues “at this level of industrialization the brand’s frame generates an aura of intangible added values for expensive and prime quality products which, nonetheless, gradually tend to look more and more like the rest of the market”.
 

However, the Kapferer’s categorisation of the European luxury brands as well as the Nueno and Quelch’s work do not seem to be exhaustive because it is up for interpretation to draw a line between the last catogeory of luxury brands and the upper-range of non-luxury brands.
 

With regard to the American model which surely includes also European brands, everything is built up around the brand itself and stories related to the brand, creations of marketing. The brand power is the engine thanks to which “everything” becomes possible, even a brand extension to close and less close product categories (Ralph Lauren).
 

This typology offers an important field for investigation. Indeed, if empirically proved, this would mean the possibility that newcomers or regular brands in the luxury market may be able to tackle effectively the issue of authenticity, heritage and tradition by re-inventing or repositioning themselves.
 

Whether they are luxuries and how long they will survive is something that remains to be seen after time. As Kapferer notes “at some point in time, illusion may not work anymore and authenticity[25] could become the very exclusive benefit of luxury brands”.
 

Luxury brands

Were always commanding big premiums; therefore the sub-optimal economics[26] are definitely not worth the risk of sacrificing their high-margin business for the thinly profitable move to less prestigious offerings.
 

Finally, referring back to the discussion of European vs. USA typologies, one could establish a speculative link between these typologies and the “democratization of luxury”[30].
 

Even though the above - mostly definitional - discussion doesn’t offer a precise, clear-cut solution to the classification problems of luxuries, however at this point we can, based on these definitions, debates and typologies, make an important observation regarding luxuries and their relation to regular (non-luxury) brands: their territory is safeguarded by a combination of high price tags and additional quality, aesthetic, hedonic and emotional elements not usually found - at least altogether - in non-luxury brands; these together with their enhanced symbolic - social or identity-related - functions are the elements that draw the line between the luxury and the non-luxury brand (and partly between the old and new luxuries).#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

The same view is taken by Dall’Olmo, Lomax and Blunden (2004) where the main distinction seems to be the enhanced symbolism of the luxury brands vs. the emphasis in functionality for the regular brands; that is, “luxury goods are higher in the psychological, social and symbolic dimensions while non-luxury goods score higher in the functional dimension”. In addition the following differences between luxury brands and regular brands are mentioned based on their literature review:
 

Luxury brands target a niche market (Phau and Prendergast, 2000) and follow an exclusive distribution strategy while regular brands address the mass market (Dibb et al., 2001) and go for mass distribution; for luxuries the focus is on status and rarity while regular brands focus on price competition (Nueno and Quelch, 1998); finally, the importance of craftsmanship and founder’s heritage are noted as important elements of luxury brands (Kapferer, 1998).
 

Even though the above - mostly definitional - discussion doesn’t offer a precise, clear-cut solution to the classification problems of luxuries, however at this point we can, based on these definitions, debates and typologies, make an important observation regarding luxuries and their relation to regular (non-luxury) brands: their territory is safeguarded by a combination of high price tags and additional quality, aesthetic, hedonic and emotional elements not usually found - at least altogether - in non-luxury brands; these together with their enhanced symbolic - social or identity-related - functions are the elements that draw the line between the luxury and the non-luxury brand (and partly between the old and new luxuries).
 

The same view is taken by Dall’Olmo, Lomax and Blunden (2004) where the main distinction seems to be the enhanced symbolism of the luxury brands vs. the emphasis in functionality for the regular brands; that is, “luxury goods are higher in the psychological, social and symbolic dimensions while non-luxury goods score higher in the functional dimension”. In addition the following differences between luxury brands and regular brands are mentioned based on their literature review:
 

Luxury brands target a niche market (Phau and Prendergast, 2000) and follow an exclusive distribution strategy while regular brands address the mass market (Dibb et al., 2001) and go for mass distribution; for luxuries the focus is on status and rarity while regular brands focus on price competition (Nueno and Quelch, 1998); finally, the importance of craftsmanship and founder’s heritage are noted as important elements of luxury brands (Kapferer, 1998).
 

In the late ‘90s Kampfer (1997) provides the following ladder of luxury brands:
 

2. Le diverse tipologie di beni di lusso

Si farà riferimento nel prosieguo, alle fasce media e bassa dei prodotti di lusso, per due motivi fondamentali. Innanzi tutto sono considerate l’ambito più profittevole per le imprese del lusso. Ai livelli del lusso inaccessibile, pur essendovi elevatissimi prezzi unitari di vendita, i profitti ottenuti sono più bassi di quelli relativi al lusso intermedio e al lusso “seriale”, per effetto degli alti costi di produzione (creazioni su misura, fatte a mano) e del limitatissimo numero di clienti. A questi livelli vi è quasi la sensazione che la produzione debba essere considerata una forma d’arte creativa e non un business.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Le considerazioni presentate, potranno dunque essere approfondite e verificate, in seguito, sugli annunci pubblicitari utilizzati dalle imprese del lusso per presentare quei beni che, essendo prodotti su più ampia scala, sono indirizzati a segmenti più allargati della popolazione. I prodotti di lusso elevato, invece, essendo per loro natura altamente esclusivi e limitatamente distribuiti, utilizzano per la comunicazione il passaparola e le pubbliche relazioni più che la pubblicità tradizionale.
 

KASTANAKIS violet No but check

Silverstein, M. J. and Fiske, N. (2003) “Luxury for the Masses”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 81 Issue 4, p. 48-57

Silverstein and Fiske (2003) in their work on trading up argue that today’s consumers accept paying premiums of 20% to 200% for the “well-designed, well-engineered, and well-crafted goods - often possessing the artisan touches of the traditional luxury goods” that were not found before in the mass middle market. Even when these goods address basic needs, they evoke and engage consumers’ emotions while at the same time feeding their aspirations for a better life. Such “new-luxury” goods, unlike old-luxury goods, have the potential to generate high volumes despite their relatively high prices; challenging the conventional wisdom that suggests the higher the volume the lower the price.
 

NEW-LUXURY BUT NOT LUXURY

The authors go on to offer the following classification of these “new-luxury” (but not “luxury”) brands:

-“Accessible Superpremium”: these products are priced at or near the top of their category, but middle market consumers can still afford them, primarily because they are low-ticket items.
 

-“Old-Luxury Brand Extensions”: these are lower-priced versions of goods that have been traditionally been affordable only by the rich. This is a category that is problematic in its distinction from pure luxuries.
 

-“Mass Prestige or ‘Masstige’”: these goods occupy a spot between mass and class: while commanding a premium over conventional products, they are priced well below superpremium or old-luxury goods.
 

As with the previous definitions, in these too it is up for interpretation to draw a line between the so-called “new luxury” and the traditional; especially the second category of the “old-luxury brand extensions” seems to be blurred with the definition of the ‘“well-known” luxury brands that are affordable to a broader audience’, offered above by Nueno and Quelch (1998).
 

Nueno, J. L. and Quelch, J. A. (1998) “The mass marketing of luxury”, Business Horizons, Vol. 41 Issue 6, p. 61
 

LUXURY VS NON-LUXURY BRANDS#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

Another important issue, within the domain of definitions, is how luxury brands can be distinguished from regular or normal (non-luxury) brands. Vigneron and Johnson (2004) argue that brands are of two kinds: either luxurious or non-luxurious and agree with Kapferer (1997) who points out that a luxury brand is a discontinuity vis à vis other types of brands. According to their point of view the degree of luxury contained in a luxury brand can be measured on a continuum within the luxury range; outside this range - but not as an extension of it - lie the rest regular brands. Thus between premium and luxury brands, in marketing terms, there is a difference of degree; however, a premium, prestige or luxury brand cannot be compared to a regular brand.
 

If then luxury is a discontinuity - and this view certainly seems to have its merit - then how can luxury brands be distinguished from the common ones? A clear answer is not given in the existing literature[31] and, therefore, this issue remains to be explored.
 

Luxury brands (official definition) Redefine luxury article
 

http://www.redefineluxury.co.cc/2009/09/market-characteristics-of-luxury-goods.html
 

A luxury brand or prestige brand is a brand for which a majority of its products are luxury goods. It may also include certain brands whose names are associated with luxury, high price, or high quality, though few, if any, of their goods are currently considered luxury goods.
 

Another market characteristic of luxury goods is their very high sensitivity to economic upturns and downturns, high profit margins as well as prices, and very tightly controlled brands.
 

For prestige

Title: Luxury Redefined. Authors: Kletter, Melanie Source: WWD: Women's Wear Daily; 11/25/2003, Vol. 186 Issue 109, p13-13, 1/4p Document Type: Article Database: Business Source Complete Defining luxury goods or brands is difficult
 

Marketing academics are using ‘luxury’ in different ways: for example, Vigneron and Johnson (1999) use ‘luxury’ to describe the very top category of prestige brands, whereas Dubois and Czellar (2002) view ‘prestige’ to stem from a unique accomplishment in the brand and ‘luxury’ to merely concern self-indulgence.
 

Luxury brand perception Status and Conspicuousness – Are They Related? Implications for Luxury Brands Yann Truonga, Geoff Simmonsb*, Rodd McCollc and Philip J. Kitchend, Reference, Open University Research School, France; University of Ulster; École Supérieure de Commerce de Rennes, France; Hull University Business School, UK, (Received 9 November 2006; final version received 8 April 2008)
 

Traditional luxury vs New luxury brands

The scope of this study goes beyond the new luxury brands that are more affordable and can be found in most shopping malls or department stores. A Polo Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein shirt can be found in outlet stores at prices as low as $19 in the United States and J25 in Europe. BMW offers starting prices at lower than J21,000 for its 1 series, while the least expensive Tag Heuer watch can be purchased at J700. Several major factors have contributed to this affluence of new luxury brands.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#


First, consumers’ purchasing power in western countries has never been as high, while the growing middle class has higher disposable incomes to consume hedonic and status products. Second, substantial gains in productivity, and the emergence of low labor cost countries as the factories of the world, have allowed mass production of high quality products with decreasing costs and therefore prices. Furthermore, consumers are getting more sophisticated in their taste, more educated, more culturally curious, and have nurtured a desire for product personalization (see Silverstein & Fiske, 2005).


They are also more materialistic, placing greater value on status possessions (Eastman et al., 1997). More and more consumers are now therefore willing and able to pay a price premium for higher quality, higher status products. Supported by the increased scale of mass production means, new luxury brands have emerged to satisfy these new consumer needs. A growing number of luxury manufacturers have stretched their brands to capture these enthusiastic middle-class consumers by offering lower entry-prices. Among the most evident examples are BMW and its 1 series car, Calvin Klein jeans sold at discount retail stores, and online retailers offering luxury watches at half-price tags. Koehn (2001) notes that it was 200 years ago when Josiah Wedgwood noticed that people from a particular social class seemed to have an innate tendency to ape the habits and purchases of the income class directly above them, thus directing a sizeable portion of their spending towards social emulation. Belk (1988) points out that this desire for social emulation has always been around and touches even the most modest consumer in Third World countries. Now, more than ever, consumers can emulate the elite by acquiring new luxury goods, which are now more affordable and accessible by the masses.
 

Article Information, Title: Trading up: The New American Luxury, Author(s): Traci Warrington, Journal: 2, Page: 157 – 158, ISSN: 0736-3761, Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
 

“New luxury” has been defined as “products and services that possess higher levels of quality, taste, and aspiration than other goods in the category but are not so expensive as to be out of reach”.
 

New luxury goods differ from traditional luxury goods by being more affordable, more accessible, and by targeting new customers. According to Twitchell[32] (2002, p. 272), these consumers are “younger than clients of the old luxury used to be, they are far more numerous, they make their money far sooner, and they are far more flexible in financing and fickle in choice”. This phenomenon may be referred to as the democratization of luxury.
 

Luxury brand marketing — The experience is everything!

Original Article

Received (in revised form): 3 rd September 2008#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

Glyn Atwal worked for Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam and Publicis, and is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Rennes School of

Business, France.
 

Alistair Williams is Professor of Marketing at Johnson & Wales University, USA, and has published widely in the fi eld of leisure and hospitality.ABSTRACT
 

Although the definition of a ‘ luxury ’ brand is open for debate, the natural evolution of luxury, with luxury brands first being adopted by the affluent and wealthy before inevitably being translated and reinterpreted down to mass markets, raises new challenges for marketing strategists. Luxury brands need to stay in front of luxury consumers, through the discovery of new and different ways to give expression to their desires.
 

Phau and Prendergast 2 state that luxury brands ‘ evoke exclusivity, have a well-known brand identity, enjoy high brand awareness and perceived quality, and retain sales levels and customer loyalty ’ . Changes in contemporary consumer behaviour in western societies have led to the emergence of a new meaning and perception of luxury.
 

I. Phau, G. Prendergast, (2000), Consuming luxury brands: the relevance of the rarity principle, in ''Journal of Brand Management'', Vol.8 No.2, 2000
 

PRESTIGE & LUXURY BRANDS

KASTANAKIS

Vigneron and Johnson (1999), following the categorization introduced by Horiuchi (1984), make use of the term prestige brands and propose three further sub-divisions (Figure 1):

- “Upmarket brands”,

- “Premium brands”, and

- “Luxury brands”
 

PRESTIGE VS LUXURY BRANDS

Therefore, within the “prestige” brand category, the “luxury brands” occupy the extreme end; however, in subsequent research (2004) the authors take exactly the opposite view and go on to argue that “prestige brands” should be the term to be used when discussing the brands positioned on the extreme end of the “luxury brand” category; adding to the confusion between the two terms.
 

The relationship between the concepts of “luxury” and “prestige”, as applied to brands, has been explored in a more detailed way by Dubois and Czellar (2002); according to this point of view, the use of these terms as synonyms in the literature (Bagwell and Bernheim, 1996) should be avoided, as they cover different conceptual domains in the customers’ eyes. Specifically:
 

- At an objective reality level, prestige requires a “perception of a positive and outstanding accomplishment that can be deferred to”. Therefore, the key criterion for a product or service brand to be judged as prestigious is an inherent, unique know-how, which may either concern a specific attribute or the overall quality and evaluation of the brand. On the other hand, luxury concerns “self-indulgence, be it private or public; luxury is linked to subjective perceptions of comfort, beauty and a sumptuous lifestyle”, or “everything that is more than what one needs”. This is in accordance with Berry’s (1994) definition of luxury as a concept opposite to necessity; consequently, the product and service brands associated with luxury are more restricted, relatively to prestige brands, and are all related to comfort, beauty and refinement. In addition, prestige is “always a positive evaluative judgement, whereas luxury can be negative if it is too ostentatious”.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

- At a symbolic level, prestige can be also acquired by association when consumers interpret prestige symbols (such as a name, person, high prices, events or characters) as being associated with a brand. In this case the two concepts converge since luxury can, among other connotations, emerge “as a type of prestige symbolism” where consumers perceive the high luxury of a brand as a prestige symbol.
 

Therefore, brands may be prestigious without being luxurious or luxurious without being prestigious, or - in some cases - be both; to summarize, prestige is a positive evaluative judgement towards the brand, influenced by a unique accomplishment inherent to the brand or by prestige symbols associated with it, while luxury is linked to perceptions of comfort, beauty and a sumptuous lifestyle.
 

Prestige Brands or Luxury Brands? (Consumer Perceptions)

An Exploratory Inquiry on Consumer Perceptions

Bernard Dubois

HEC School of Management

Sandor Czellar1

University of Geneva

An interpretative analysis of in-depth consumer interviews explores the relationship between the concepts of "prestige"
 

as applied to brands. Prestige is based on unique human accomplishment inherent to the brand whereas luxury refers to benefits stemming from refinement, aesthetics and a sumptuous lifestyle. Results indicate that prestige can be achieved independently of luxury in many categories. At a symbolic level, consumers can interpret luxury as the symbol of brand prestige. A discussion of managerial insights and future research directions ends the paper.
 

Introduction

A few years ago, during a press conference, "prestige" and "luxury" cover different conceptual domains in the customers' eyes, bearing substantial consequences in terms of research and practice.
 

Subjective perceptions of objective reality: Prestige and luxury
 

Prestige. For our informants, prestige is a subjective evaluative judgement about the high social status of people or inanimate objects such as brands. Research on affect shows that evaluative judgements (appraisals) are often followed by emotional reactions (Bagozzi, Gopinath and Nyer 1999). Such is the case in our interviews since informants refer to feelings of liking, awe and admiration toward prestigious people or objects. The basic antecedent of prestige judgements is the perception of a positive and outstanding accomplishment that can be deferred to. This unique accomplishment stems directly from the perception of objective reality and not from the interpretation of symbols. To illustrate, in the following excerpt, one informant explains spontaneously that: "Prestige – it's to do with admiration … It depends, it can be, if it's the prestige of an object – it's admiration toward the object, if it's the prestige of a person, it's admiration toward the person for what they've done, their success, for what they are."#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Brands that merit such a deference might come from many product or service categories. Examples cited by our informants include sportswear (e.g. Nike), cars (e. g. Aston Martin, Ferrari), wristwatches (e. g. Patek Philippe, Blancpain) and universities (e. g. Harvard, Sorbonne). In product categories, the key criterion for a brand to be judged prestigious
 

is an inherent, unique know-how, which may concern either a specific attribute or the overall quality and performance of the produce. In the case of a wristwatch brand for instance, this outstanding accomplishment may be the size of the object, as illustrated by this excerpt from an interview: "It's the miniaturisation, man is able to make such things as immense dams and at the same time tiny ones. There are watches small as a green pea. But it holds well and it works. What really amazes me is the human limit, what people are capable of …"
 

In service categories, people accord prestige to brands in a similar way. For instance, in the case of an educational institution, the perceived exceptional accomplishment is most often the quality of teaching and research of faculty members, as illustrated by this excerpt from an interview: "[It's] the sheer number of leading or highly qualified people in their field who teach there … the great authors work in the prestigious universities."
 

Luxury. Whereas the prestige perceptions stem from a unique accomplishment inherent to the brand, luxury is of a different nature in our informants' eyes.
 

It concerns self-indulgence, be it private or public.
 

Luxury is linked to subjective perceptions of comfort, beauty and a sumptuous lifestyle in objective reality. One of our informants, who has recently purchased a house in the residential area of a large city, explains explicitly that luxury means comfort for him: "I have the garden, the house, all this is beautiful. A house in Florida too … For me, I assimilate it [luxury] to comfort."
 

In another informants' words, "luxury means everything that is more than what one needs". Brands that fulfil these requirements are naturally characterised by a high price tag.
 

These findings are in line with Berry's theory of luxury, which defines the concept in opposition to necessity (Berry 1994). The results also corroborate previous research results obtained by the authors with a different set of interviews (Dubois, Laurent and Czellar 2001).
 

The product and service categories associated with luxury are more restricted than those evoked for prestige. These categories are all related to comfort, beauty and refinement. The most frequently cited by the informants are the catering industry (five-star hotels, gourmet restaurants), cosmetics and garments (e. g. Chanel, YSL) and jewellery (e. g. Cartier, Bulgari). Indeed, these categories have traditionally been considered belonging to the luxury sectors (Berry 1994).#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Thus, according to our informants, luxury and prestige are distinct aspects of brands.

A brand is judged prestigious only of unique accomplishment is perceived in it. Luxury does not necessarily require such a criterion since it refers to the Hedonic benefits of the brands related to a self-indulging refined lifestyle, which need not be exceptional. Also, prestige is always a positive evaluative judgement whereas luxury can be negative if it is too ostentatious. One of our informants argues that "prestige must be merited, luxury – not necessarily".

 

Interpretation of symbolic reality: Luxury as a prestige symbol

However, the perception of a real, unique achievement is not the only antecedent of brand prestige. As pointed out by Shenkar and Yuchtman-Yaar (1997), an important source of prestige judgements is prestige by association.

 

In a symbolic interactionist perspective, this means that consumers may interpret symbols associated with a brand, which represent a socially shared meaning. In the critical incidents of our interviews, a series of prestige symbols were alluded to by the informants such as a name, a high price, events and characters associated with a brand.
 

Luxury also emerged as a type of prestige symbolism.

Informants perceived the high luxury level of certain brands as prestigesymbols. Such is the case of an Aston Martin sports car, which an informant considered prestigious because of the unique driving performance offered by the car. This prestige appraisal is further reinforced by perceptions of high luxury stemming from comfort and beauty.
 

Note also that prestige is long and difficult to acquire (MB watches & jewellery).

However, it is easy to lose if symbols such as luxury are not sustained by perceptions of objective reality linked to real achievement. If unique know-how is lacking, one negative experience is enough to disqualify the brand from the domain of prestige. A story from an interview can illustrate this point. An informant had had a big esteem for a downtown restaurant because people around him were talking about it but once he had been there, he realised that it was not up to the high expectations. The venue remained still a luxurious one but had completely lost its prestige: "For me this is a luxury restaurant that's not at all prestigious. For the good reason that when I went there I found it really bad. I found that it was very expensive, service was disastrous, and then the menu, well it was medium, in any case it wasn't worth the price… Everything is made to be comfortable, yes, it's more in the appearances. The prestige, it's really in the art of cooking, and there you'll find none of it." In this example, the venue itself is perceived as luxurious because of the settings but it cannot be qualified prestigious because the cuisine itself cannot provide a proof of an outstanding accomplishment. a brand can be prestigious without being luxurious. Luxury in fact is not a necessary prestige symbol. This is the case of technological or sports brands where the perceived unique human accomplishment stems from engineering success or physical performance. To illustrate, consider this citation from the verbatim: "I would associate prestige to sport. And when you asked me what prestige was, in my mind it was, surprisingly it was Nike … For me, prestige connotes with performance … Luxury is more of a story about beauty and prestige is not exactly like that … because for me, athletics is not beautiful."#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

To sum up, our interpretative analysis shows that brand prestige is a positive evaluative judgement that consumers form toward brands. It can be influenced by unique accomplishment inherent to the brand or by prestige symbols associated with the brand. Luxury, on the other hand, is linked to perceptions of comfort, beauty and a sumptuous lifestyle. At a symbolic level, consumers can interpret luxury as the prestige symbol of the brand. Nevertheless, prestige judgements cannot be sustained by the sole reliance on symbolic reality, without the perception of any objective achievement inherent to the brand.
 

Dubois and Duguesne (1993), in the context of strategic planning, comment “a proper evaluation of competitive position is a condition of survival, but how can one assess luxury products when the definition of what is or is not a luxury brand in a given product category is by no means always obvious”. It is evident from the literature review that considerable confusion still exists in terms of definition, and there is a scarcity of empirical work in this area.
 

KASTANAKIS

OLD VS NEW LUXURY da mettere in qualche maniera prima di diversification

However, while “new luxury” may be more of a re-naming of traditional upper-range - but still massive market - products, researchers should not play down the possibility that we are in front of fundamental changes in the way luxury is seen and understood by the meta-millennium consumer. This is an issue that has to be investigated in depth and during time before one attempts to give a definite answer; and is pertinent both with regards to the creation of new luxury brands and the extension of new lines of already established ones.
 

LUXURY BRAND PERCEPTION à WHY DO CONSUMERS BUY LUXURY?

Co-creating value for luxury brands

Caroline Tynan, Sally McKechnie, Celine Chhuon

Nottingham University Business School, UK

Please cite this article as: Tynan C, et al, Co-creating value for luxury brands, J Bus Res (2009), doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.10.012

By examining the ‘status consumption’.
 

According to them, the former relates to the desires of consumers to gain prestige by purchasing status-laden products and brands of public or private display, whereas the latter refers to the visual public display or overt usage of products. As a result of Belk's (1988) work on the extended self, which highlights the importance of possessions in contemporary consumption and consumers' feelings about them as a key contributor and reflection of their identities, luxury goods researchers (such as Vigneron and Johnson (1999)) recognise that consumers can derive subjective intangible benefits from these goods beyond their functional utility, while additional motivations to purchase them include their higher levels of quality (Garfein, 1989) and authenticity (Beverland, 2006).#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Finally, noting that Smith and Colgate (2007) indicate how they classify Holbrook's (1999) customer value types in the framework, and consulting the original self-oriented: excellence (quality), which is a utilitarian value, and aesthetics (beauty), a sensory value, which Smith and Colgate (2007) classify as functional/instrumental value and experiential/hedonic value respectively.
 

The remaining two types are other-oriented: status (impression management) which is a desired value; and esteem (possessions) which concerns possession value. Therefore the authors classify the self-oriented types as self-directed types of symbolic/ expressive value and the remaining other-oriented ones as outer directed types of symbolic/expressive value. Expanding the typology to encompass luxury grounded theoretical sources of value requires the addition of a number of new sources of value including craftsmanship (Kapferer, 1997) as a utilitarian value. The symbolic/expressive category is expanded by incorporating bandwagon, snob and Veblen effects (Leibenstein, 1950), the notion of signs (Kapferer, 1997; Levy, 1957), status or esteem (O'Cass and McEwen, 2004), prestige (Dubois and Czellar 2002), social identity (Vickers and Renand, 2003), uniqueness mentioned by Kapferer (1997) and first explored by Ruvio (2008), and authenticity (Beverland, 2006) in the outer-directed category. Symbolic/expressive additions in the self-directed category include self-gift giving behaviors (Tsai 2005;Mick and DeMoss, 1990), nostalgia (Holbrook and Schindler, 2003) plus internally focused aspects of uniqueness (Ruvio 2008; Kapferer, 1997) and authenticity (Beverland, 2006). According to Schmitt (2003) and others (Poulsson and Kale, 2004; Prahalad, 2004; Carù and Cova, 2003; Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Carbone and Haeckel, 1994; Holbrook and Hirschman 1982) consuming the experience adds value in the experiential/hedonic category. In addition to incorporating new sources of value for luxury goods to the framework, the authors incorporate one new type of value which Smith and Colgate (2007) did not consider, which is value offered by the relationship with the brand (Fournier, 1998), the brand community (Veloutsou andMoutinho, 2009; Kozinets, 2002; Cova and Cova, 2001; Muñiz and O' Guinn, 2000) and/or the service provider (Grönroos, 2006), which is particularly important for high value luxury goods where personal service and high expectations are the norm. Finally, the cost/sacrifice category is expanded to encompass exclusivity and rarity (Catry, 2003). Table 1 shows reclassifications and extensions of Smith and Colgate's (2007) original types of value and additions to the theoretical sources in order to provide a framework for understanding types of value for luxury brands.
 

Ex. Gucci conspicuousness

Luxury brand perception Status and Conspicuousness – Are They Related? Implications for Luxury Brands Yann Truonga, Geoff Simmonsb*, Rodd McCollc and Philip J. Kitchend, Reference, Open University Research School, France; University of Ulster; École Supérieure de Commerce de Rennes, France; Hull University Business School, UK, (Received 9 November 2006; final version received 8 April 2008)#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Status and conspicuousness (MB?) Status and conspicuousness are two of the most important dimensions of brand luxury (Vigneron & Johnson, 1999, 2004).
 

Status-laden brands are those that contain high perceived quality, luxury and class (Shermach, 1997). Status-laden brands may be purchased for internal reasons (self-reward) or external reasons (signal wealth), and they may or may not be displayed publicly (O’Cass & Frost, 2004).
 

Conspicuous brands are those that are purchased for purely external reasons, that is for systematic public display in order to signal wealth (Amaldoss & Jain, 2005). The difference between status and conspicuousness, evident in the most recent consumer behaviour literature within this context, has been argued by some researchers (e.g. O’Cass & Frost, 2004). However, it seems that the most recent literature in luxury branding within this context has so far considered status and conspicuousness as a single one-dimensional construct (e.g. Vigneron & Johnson, 2004).
 

In the world of luxury brands, it may appear intuitive to think that some brands are more conspicuous than others because they hold more materialistic values or are more fashionable. Historically, synonyms of wealth and affluence (agiatezza) in luxury brands have always been Rolex for watches, Mercedes for cars, or Louis Vuitton for leather products. Consumers could buy a similar brand with the same or even higher status and price, but this similar brand would certainly not have the same communicative power for conveying status. Consequently, it would appear inaccurateto assume that a brand’s prestige can be measured by mixing perceived status and perceived conspicuousness, as the latter appear to be two different constructs, constituting two different dimensions of prestige. However, this is what the branding literature is supporting in its contentions.
 

Status vs Conspicuousness Questions

1) To what extent can this brand indicate a person’s social status?

1) To what extent is this brand a symbol of prestige?

2) To what extent is this brand a symbol of achievement?

2) To what extent does this brand attract attention?

3) To what extent is this brand a symbol of wealth?

3) Can a person use this brand to impress other people?
 

Perceptual maps (map with status and conspicuousness dimensions)

Perceptual maps were produced by calculating average factor scores for each brand. These factor scores were then used as coordinates for each brand. The maps were two-dimensional with Status and Conspicuousness being the two dimensions. Positions on the maps indicate the perceived status and conspicuousness of the brands (see Figures 1, 2, and 3). In Figure 1, although Fiat and the other lower-market brands have approximately the same level of status, respondents seem to perceive Fiat as being much more inconspicuous. Figure 2 highlights the difference between status and conspicuousness even more clearly. Even though Levi’s is perceived as a low-status brand, it is virtually as conspicuous as Polo Ralph Lauren. From Figure 3 it can be noticed that the relationship between status and conspicuousness is a more linear one, with the exception of Gucci scoring much lower than Breitling on status but being higher in conspicuousness. All these visual examples seem to point toward a noticeable difference between perceived status and perceived conspicuousness, especially in relation to certain brands.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Conspicuous Consumption: A Preliminary Report of Scale Development and Validation

Etta Y. I. Chen, National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Nai-Chi Yeh, National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Chih Ping Wang, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
 

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

Since conspicuous consumption was proposed by Thorstein Veblen in 1899, it has been extensively discussed in the field of economics. As the Veblen effect indicates, the demand for consumer goods is increased when its price is higher than that of others (Leibenstein 1950). In Veblen’s time, what motivated conspicuous consumption was the desire to gain prestige from others via accumulation of wealth or luxury goods. However, conspicuous consumption behavior today has become more sophisticated and subtle (Trigg 2001).
 

four key dimensions underlying conspicuous consumption, which are conspicuity for aspirant group, conspicuity for uniqueness, conspicuity for conformity, and conspicuity for status.
 

Luxury brand marketing — The experience is everything!

Original Article

Received (in revised form): 3 rd September 2008

Glyn Atwal worked for Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam and Publicis, and is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Rennes School ofBusiness, France.

Alistair Williams is Professor of Marketing at Johnson & Wales University, USA, and has published widely in the fi eld of leisure and hospitality.
 

ABSTRACT

Consumption of luxury

A review of the literature reveals conceptual frameworks of luxury consumption. Vigneron and Johnson 6 differentiate between non-personal- and personal-oriented perceptions. Non-personal-oriented perceptions refer to perceived conspicuousness, uniqueness and quality. It is generally acknowledged that western consumption of luxury in the 1980s and 1990s was motivated primarily by status-seeking and appearance. Indeed, acquisitive (avido) luxury has been attributed to contemporary luxury consumption in emerging markets such as Russia and China. According to Dubois and Duquesne, 7 ‘ Motivated by a desire to impress others, with the ability to pay particularly high prices, this form of consumption is primarily concerned with the ostentatious display of wealth ’ . This was typified by the emergence of the so-called ‘ yuppie ’ lifestyle segment in British society. Although the demise (morte) of the yuppie culture has been widely acknowledged, commentators have pointed to lifestyle trends that suggest that social status is still an evident motivation of contemporary western luxury consumption. A Jaguar enthusiast describes his driving experience as follows: ‘ I love the way that I catch people admiring the XJ-S as I blast past them and the way that people often give me right of way in traffic and then watch the car as it goes by ’ . 8 As Vigneron and Johnson 6 argue, ‘ The consumption of luxury brands may be important to individuals in search of social representation and position. This means that social status associated with a brand is an important factor in conspicuous consumption ’ . The reality is, however, much more complex than such a scenario suggests.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Contemporary consumers use consumption to make statements about themselves, to create identities and to develop a sense of belonging. According to Dubois and Duquesne, 7 luxury goods are acquired for what they symbolise, which is argued to be consistent with personal oriented perceptions – the hedonic consumption and extended self-personality models. Atwal and Williams 9 argue that this reflects a mindset change on how luxury is valued from a transactional relationship to a holistic experience. As Unity Marketing 10 report, ‘ The baby boom generation luxury consumer has a passion for self-indulgence while maintaining an icon-clastic world view, which is transforming the luxury market from its ‘ old ’ conspicuous consumption model to a totally new, individualistic type of luxury consumer one driven by new needs and desires for experiences ’ . This is consistent with Dumoulin: 11 ‘ The expression of ‘ today ’ s luxury ’ is about a celebration of personal creativity, expressiveness, intelligence, fluidity, and above all, meaning ’.
 

Marketers learn luxury isn't simply for the very wealthy
 

Section: Special Report: Luxury

two main routes: Traditional luxury marketers are expanding their brands to more affordable merchandise, while at the same time the middle class is increasingly willing to, at least occasionally, buy expensive luxury goods. The latter trend is at the center of the recent book "Trading Up: The New American Luxury," co-authored by Boston Consulting Group Senior VP Michael J. Silverstein and Neil Fiske, CEO of Bath & Body Works. "New luxury is not about aristocrats," Mr. Silverstein tells Advertising Age. "It's about average Joes on the street who want to buy premium-price products that have real technical, functional and emotional benefits."
 

TRADING UP

In the "Trading Up" phenomenon, consumers shop at low-cost mass-merchandisers for some products to free up funds for luxury purchases in other categories. It expands the luxury playing field to include 47 million households earning $50,000 or more, not to mention those in lower income brackets who also trade up, albeit more selectively. This trend is also borne out in a Bear, Stearns & Co. report titled "The Ultra-Affluent Consumer," which notes that consumers would rather buy two suits costing $2,000 each than four suits at $1,000 each.
 

Luxury has evolved into a $400 billion market that's expected to reach $1 trillion by the end of the decade, according to Boston Consulting Group.
 

But this dynamic market, where increasingly people can more than aspire to luxury goods, sparks concerns as well as opportunities for marketers. When AgencySacks, New York, surveyed 16 luxury marketers for this Special Report (see charts at right), 94% said the movement to extend luxury brands to a wide array of products is diluting the value of the word "luxury". Others believe they can sell at a variety of price points while preserving a brand's luxury cachet. Anne Valentzas, management director for the Diamond Trading Co. account at WPP Group's J. Walter Thompson USA, New York, says that in a woman's lifetime, whether she's affluent or otherwise, she'll have the taste for "snacks," such as an $800 design of the popular "right-hand ring," and for "meals," such as the $2,500 version of the same ring. "The total U.S. market in diamond jewelry retail value is $29.1 billion," says Richard Lennox, director in charge of the Diamond Trading Co. account at JWT. "Those purchases are coming from both high-income and low-income households."#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

A product that serves as both a bite-size snack or a meat-and-potatoes meal, depending on the occasion, not only reaches a wider array of consumers, but gives people of all income levels the opportunity to "constantly touch the brand," says Mr. Lennox. "We're looking for the lifetime valueof our consumer," he says. "It's much harder to get a new customer than to continue a dialogue with a customer we already have". To that end, the Diamond Trading Co. and JWT nurture what the agency calls "zealotry"-a kind of intensified version of connoisseurship-through a steady stream of product and concept innovations, maintaining a consistent level of quality at all price points. "If a consumer can buy a product only every five or six years," says Mr. Lennox, "that creates a very different relationship. We provide access to our product at a variety of levels without diluting its equity."
 

18th Annual IMP Conference, September 5-7, 2002, Groupe ESC Dijon Bourgogne, Dijon, France: Cross-cultural exploration of Global Brands and the Internet F.H.Rolf Seringhaus, School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave. West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5
 

Nueno and Quelch (1998) provide an interesting approach to defining luxury brands: '…those whose ratio of functional utility to price is low while the ratio of intangible and situational utility to price is high.' Moreover, luxury brands, beyond being premium-priced, ephemeral status symbols, or a smart investment, share a host of characteristics, which attempt to be all-encompassing and descriptive. In some measure, it is possible to translate intangible dimensions of luxury brands into attributes but there is a danger in over-specifying what a luxury brand is and the approach taken is the opposite of that used by Roux and Floch (1996).
 

Dubois and Laurent (1993) investigated the relationship of socio-demographic characteristics and luxury brand awareness and purchase in five European countries.
 

FACTORS IMPACTING PURCHASE OF LUXURY Income, education and occupation were most strongly and consistently associated with luxury brand purchase across the five countries. Age, gender, marital status, and location of residence (urban, rural etc.) showed no or only a weak relationship.
 

Dubois, B., Laurent, G. and Czellar, S. (2001) “Consumer Rapport to Luxury: Analyzing Complex and Ambivalent Attitudes”, working paper, No. 736, HEC School of Management, Paris.
 

BRAND EXTENSION

Dove vs. Dior: Extending the Brand Extension Decision-Making Process from Mass to Luxury, Blunden, Angela,

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5526/is_200401/ai_n21363075/?tag=content;col1

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5526/is_200401/ai_n21363075/?tag=content;col1

#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

THIS ARTICLE IS IMPORTANT ALSO FOR BRAND EXTENSION IN LUXURY
 

According to Vickers and Renand (2003), the symbolic dimension is what enables luxury brands to maintain their status and continue to command a premium price, whereas luxury goods which become too dependent on technological development risk loosing such status, becoming 'too functional'. This is likely to have an impact on brand extension strategies. For instance, consumers may evaluate the fit between the luxury parent brand and its extension on an abstract and symbolic level, with a focus on non-product related associations, whereas they might evaluate fmcg brands on a concrete, product-related level (see Czellar, 2003). As a consequence, the marketing strategy of luxury brands and of their extensions should focus on the symbolic, rather than functional, component. In contrast, continuous technological development and R&D are often essential to sustain the added value of fmcg brands (e.g. de Chernatony and McDonald, 2003).
 

Therefore, the key identifiers of luxury brands adopted in this study are high quality, expensive and non-essential products and services that appear to be rare, exclusive, prestigious, and authentic and offer high levels of symbolic and emotional/hedonic values through customer experiences. In short, evidence of luxury brand definitions from each of the four brand perspectives (i.e. symbolic, functional, psychological, and experiential), which Buchanan-Oliver et al. (2008) identify, exists.
 

KASTANAKIS

IMPLICATION ON BRAND EXTENSION

Yeoman and McMahon (2005), for example, believe that luxury is “incredibly fluid, and changes dramatically across time and culture”. They argue that nowadays luxury, due to increased affluence, is a blurred genre that is no longer the preserve of the elite; and, as more demand increases the luxury domain, consumers attach less importance to the old values of tradition and nobility. As consumers are enjoying more material comfort compared to previous generations, the result is a cultural shift[33] towards experiences and personal fulfillment; such a shift may have serious implications within the luxury domain. This is also consistent with the view that, increasingly, luxury consumption is seen through the frameworks of hedonic consumption and emotional gratification (Dubois, Laurent and Czellar, 2001; Vigneron and Johnson, 1999 & 2004).
 

On this “old vs. new” debate, however, the traditional view is still very strong: Dall’Olmo Riley notices (2004) for example that, “although launching brand extensions has proven to be a potentially successful and profitable growth strategy in the luxury sector, such defining factors as high awareness, exclusivity and desirability can be lost as the brand and its luxury appeal becomes diluted”. The same argument can be adjusted for the case of totally new luxury brands that may lean dangerously on the experiential or marketing-buzz side without paying attention to more traditional luxury values. Similarly, from the mouth of an expert manager, Bernald Arnault, head of LVMH: “Some brands (…) have slid off the map of prestigious goods to become a sort of mass market of luxury items” (The Economist, 2003).#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

If this view is correct, true luxury brands that want to retain their luxury status in the minds of consumers may need to retreat from leveraging their prestigious names to launch low-margin “second-tier” lines since uniqueness and exclusivity are qualities that wealthy individuals rate highly when weighing a purchase decision. Pursuing a move down-market might mean that they risk losing their luxury standing among their best customers - wealthy consumers.
 

DIVERSIFICATION

Les marques de luxe face à l'engouement du grand public

Wesford Ecole supérieure de Commerce

WESFORD

Grenoble

Aurélie ATI KENT

MASTER COMMUNICATION

MÉMOIRE (infatuazione)

6, boulevard Gambetta - 38000 Grenoble

Juillet 2004

DIVERSIFICATION (OBJECTIVES & RISKS)
 

Pour parvenir à cet élargissement, les maisons de luxe ont suivi deux directions :

- La diversification. Cette méthode consiste pour une marque à devenir multi-segment en accordant des licences, parfois à tout va. Ex : Gucci, maroquinier au départ. Depuis 1995, la marque avait multiplié les licences. On trouvait des briquets Gucci ainsi que des produits bas de gamme, distribués partout.
 

- La déclinaison. Cela consiste à créer des produits ou des enseignes d'entrée de gamme. Ex : Christian Lacroix, propose une ligne Bazar avec des articles à moins de 150 euros. Ex : Louis Vuitton, propose des cartouches d'encre, très cheap.
 

Certains suivent même les deux pistes. Ex : Giorgio Armani : sa griffe haut de gamme a donné naissance à des sous-marques moins chères (d'Emporio Armani à Armani Jeans).
 

Coco Chanel. Alors comment concevoir que des produits exclusifs puissent aujourd'hui s'adresser au plus grand nombre sans devenir vulgaires? Il est de la plus grande vulgarité de faire rimer luxe avec argent. «Aujourd'hui le luxe n'est plus destiné à une élite mais à la part élitaire qui existe en chacun de nous», déclare Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes. Mais ces stratégies d'ouverture ne deviennent-elles pas risquées à la longue? Cette clientèle beaucoup plus vaste représente un défi majeur. L'industrie doit désormais grandir sans grossir, satisfaire cette demande en conservant une âme d'artisan, aller vers les volumes tout en préservant l'excellence.
 

Consumers experience and perception of luxury is in an entirely different dimension. Their definition of luxury focuses on personal relevance. Combining product features and benefits with consumer-centric luxury values is the new archetype for luxury brands. For many, the indulgence of luxury offers a more private pleasure than conspicuous consumption.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#
 

Alongside this boom in the new luxury market there is a renewed interest from both academics and practitioners in luxury consumption research. This renewed interest may be observed by the growing number of recent publications addressing various aspects of luxury consumption including: conspicuous consumption in a contemporary context (e.g. Mason, 2001; Shipman, 2004; Trigg, 2001); ‘trading up’ for new luxury goods (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003, 2005); luxury brands’ construct and measurement issues (e.g. Dubois & Paternault, 1995; Luxury Institute, 2005; Vigneron & Johnson, 1999, 2004); mass marketing of luxury goods (e.g. Nueno & Quelch, 1998; Vickers & Renand, 2003); and status consumption (e.g. Eastman, Fredenberger, Campbell, & Calver, 1997; Eastman, Goldsmith, & Flynn, 1999; O’Cass & Frost, 2004). Since the publication of the seminal The theory of the leisure class, where Veblen (1899) laid down the foundations of Luxury Brands

ALREADY IN THE TEXT (Allérès)

Nueno and Quelch (1998)[34] further define luxury brands as “those whose ratio of functional utility to price is low while the ratio of intangible and situational utility to price is high”. Whilst competitive value remains important, price is not the prime issue for consumers attracted by status symbols. This is a key difference between the mass consumer group who purchase a fmcg, and the minority population who purchase luxury goods. While consumers of a fmcg may be influenced by the brand and its associations, they will usually give priority to functionality and price. Conversely, purchasers of luxury goods are influenced primarily by brand and status, while functionality is assumed.
 

Nueno, J. L. and Quelch, J. A. (1998) “The mass marketing of luxury”, Business Horizons, Vol. 41 Issue 6, p. 61

http://dictionary.babylon.com/luxury

http://dictionary.babylon.com/luxury

[3] Paul Iribe, Défense du luxe, 1932.

[4] Caractérisation des éléments spécifiques de la marque de luxe dans l’esprit du consommateur. Une étude des images mentales associées à un visuel publicitaire. Oliver Lallement, doctorant IAE Montpellier 20, Rue d’Elbée

[5] Strategies and Structure of the Luxury Clothing and Accessories Sector. A Critical Analysis based on Porter's Five Forces Model Diplomarbeit: Diplomarbeit von Mirela Orlovic ; Abgabe November 2002; 97 Seiten, 1,2 MB ; Note 1,0; Sprache Englisch Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf Deutschland

http://www.diplom.de/Diplomarbeit-6967/Strategies_and_Structure_of_the_Luxury_Clothing_and_Accessories_Sector.html

[6] As well as the French “luxe” and the Italian “lusso”.

Les marques de luxe face à l'engouement du grand public, Wesford Ecole supérieure de Commerce, 6, boulevard Gambetta - 38000 Grenoble Juillet 2004, Première partie, L’industrie du luxe#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

[8] Title: Luxury Redefined. Authors: Kletter, Melanie Source: WWD: Women's Wear Daily; 11/25/2003, Vol. 186 Issue 109, p13-13, 1/4p Document Type: Article Database: Business Source Complete, Defining luxury goods or brands is difficult

[9] Meyers, T. (2004), "Marketers learn luxury isn't simply for the very wealthy", Advertising Age, Vol. 75 No.37, pp.S2-S3

[10] Yeoman, I. And McMahon-Beattie, U. (2005) “Luxury markets and premium pricing”, Journal of Revenue & Pricing Management, vol. 4, (4), p. 319-328

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=42099082&site=bsi-live

[12] Title: Luxury Redefined. Authors: Kletter, Melanie, Source: WWD: Women's Wear Daily; 11/25/2003, Vol. 186 Issue 109, p13-13, 1/4p, Article, Business Source Complete

http://www.learning-theories.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs.html

www.themarketingreview.com, Jonathan S. Vickers1 and Franck Renand, Northampton Business School and Ecole Superieure de Commerce De Poitiers

[15] Tynan C, et al, Co-creating value for luxury brands, J Bus Res (2009), doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.10.012, Nottingham University Business School, UK, Caroline Tynan, Sally McKechnie, Celine Chhuon

[16] Vickers, J.S. and Renand, F. (2003) “The Marketing of Luxury Goods: An exploratory study – three conceptual dimensions”, The Marketing Review, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 459-478.

http://books.google.it/books?id=laXKF9igGxEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class&source=bl&ots=9JQEUq1vAe&sig=5cF1iI5tkiAEhO_7Br6eN-flrxg&hl=it&ei=vxZrS4HUMM_D4gamnP2SBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false

[18] Jevons Colin. Towards an integrated definition of brand. Birmingham Business School: Paper presented at Thought Leaders International Conference on BrandManagement; 2007.

[19] Buchanan-Oliver Margo, Brodie Roderick J, Huang Diana. Refining the dimensions of the brand in the service economy. Paper presented at Thought Leaders International Conference on Brand Management. Birmingham Business School; 2008.

[20] Kapferer, J.-N. (2006) “The Two Business Cultures of Luxury Brands“, chapter in “Brand Culture”, eds. Schroeder, J. E. and Salzer-Mörling, M., Routledge: Oxon

[21] Allérès, D. (1990), Luxe ... Stratégies Marketing, Paris: Economica

www.themarketingreview.com, Jonathan S. Vickers1 and Franck Renand, Northampton Business School and Ecole Superieure de Commerce De Poitiers

Vickers Jonathan S, Renand Franck. The marketing of luxury goods: an exploratory study — three conceptual dimensions. Market Rev 2003;3(4):459–78 4.

[23] Nueno, J. L. and Quelch, J. A. (1998) “The mass marketing of luxury”, Business Horizons, Vol. 41 Issue 6, p. 61

[24] Kapferer, J.-N. (2006) “The Two Business Cultures of Luxury Brands“, chapter in “Brand Culture”, eds. Schroeder, J. E. and Salzer-Mörling, M., Routledge: Oxon#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

[25] Authenticity becomes more and more important (Beverland, 2005) - whether in luxuries or not: marketers are increasingly turning to brand histories or historical associations as sources of market value (Penaloza, 2000) or as “cultural marker of legitimacy and authenticity” (Brown, Kozinets and Sherry, 2003). Authenticity is considered by many as a core component of successful brands because it forms part of a unique brand identity (Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 2001; Keller, 1993) and consumers also seek out for authentic brands (Fine, 2003; Holt, 1997; Thompson and Tambyah, 1999). As Brown et al. state, “the search for authenticity is one of the cornerstones of contemporary marketing…”.

[26] On this specific issue of pricing, Allsopp (2005) believes that, in the UK, “the search for low prices is endemic” and this impacts on luxuries. According to him “luxury in the low price society” faces difficult problems in view of the fact that “today’s consumers do not just want low prices, they expect them”.

[27] It is, in essence, the same issue with “new vs. old” luxury.

[28] The “greater democratization process” in the US, as argued by Rémaury, is taken for granted here.

[29] In a historical perspective.

[30] Even though, as Kapferer notes (2006) European brands might be found within the “American model” too.

[31] The only point of agreement on this issue is that luxury products represent high-involvement products in contrast to most regular brands (for more, see later on on this issue); but this of course doesn’t answer the problem in question.

[32] Luxury brand perception Status and Conspicuousness – Are They Related? Implications for Luxury Brands Yann Truonga, Geoff Simmonsb*, Rodd McCollc and Philip J. Kitchend, Reference, Open University Research School, France; University of Ulster; École Supérieure de Commerce de Rennes, France; Hull University Business School, UK, (Received 9 November 2006; final version received 8 April 2008)

[33] On this issue, see more below in the reference of the work of P. Bourdieu and his theory of cultural capital (1984, 1990).

Blunden, Angela,

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