Luxury brand experiences and relationship quality for Millennials: The role of self-expansion
Introduction
The luxury market is expected to remain dynamic over the next few years, with 85% of its growth fueled by Millennials, who will represent 45% of the global personal luxury goods market by 2025 (Shin, Eastman, & Mothersbaugh, 2017), with projected spending of more than $65 billion per year. Millennials represent a particular group of individuals born between 1979 and 1995, who share common values, beliefs, and experiences (Howe & Strauss, 2009). Studies have shown that Millennials are more sophisticated shoppers, more influenced by the symbolic aspects of luxury brands (Shin et al., 2017), and more motivated to consume for status than older customers (Eastman & Liu, 2012). Millennials are also eager to exercise social influence (Butcher, Phau, & Shimul, 2017), which impacts their purchase intentions toward luxury products (Soh, Rezaei, & Gu, 2017). Therefore, the luxury brand experience, which in this study refers to internal consumer responses evoked by brand–related stimuli when consumers interact with, shop for, and consume brands (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009), could be unique for Millennials. Although Millennial targets seem particularly attractive in terms of purchasing power and willingness to buy, Millennials also pose a challenge to marketers because it is difficult for brands to create strong emotional and psychological attachment with them (Adkins, 2016).
Practitioners and researchers in luxury marketing have shown significant interest in better understanding Millennials' consumption behaviors, with a focus on their use of luxury goods as a mean to differentiate themselves, be unique, and signal status (Gentina, Shrum, & Lowrey, 2016; Mundel, Huddleston, & Vodermeier, 2017). However, although it has been argued that Millennials value experiences over possessions (Oyedele & Simpson, 2018), little work has been done to investigate their responses to luxury brand experiences. Delivering a superior customer experience is no longer simply an option, but an expectation in luxury (Chandon, Laurent, & Valette-Florence, 2017), where consumption is not only about the pursuit of materialism but also the search for enrichment through indulgent, recreational, and cultural experiences. Marketers in the luxury domain respond to this desire for brand experience by allowing customers to enter the brand's universe through stories about its heritage, emotional stimulation, and sensorial discoveries. For instance, Chanel included a catalog of stories on its website as a window “Inside Chanel,” giving visitors the opportunity to learn about the history and discover the know-how of the brand.
The goal of the present study is to probe further into how consumers process luxury brand experiences. Despite the acknowledged need for deeper understanding of brand experience in the luxury domain (Seo & Buchanan-Oliver, 2017), limited research has investigated the mechanisms through which experience allows consumers to develop a deep relationship with luxury brands. Much remains unknown regarding the luxury brand experience and its relationship to the self during the life stage between adolescence and full-fledged adulthood, which is a period of self-focus and self-exploration with unique characteristics (Arnett, 2007). Throughout their teenage years, Millennials developed an independent self-view and, as they reach adulthood, they become open to new experiences (Ryff, 1989) and search for opportunities to advance their knowledge, experience new emotions, and express all facets of their personality (Mattingly & Lewandowski, 2014). Opportunities for self-expansion can be more particularly attractive for Millennials also due to a generation effect, as constant connection with and stimulation from tremendous amount of information may fuel a stronger desire among Millennials to invest in the experience associated with the brands they own (Mundel et al., 2017).
This research builds on the tenets of self-expansion theory to investigate how luxury experiences allow Millennials to enhance their sense of self. Multi-dimensional luxury experiences create opportunities to learn, acquire skills, and engage in rich emotional or sensorial discoveries, which in turn give rise to an enriched self-concept. To our knowledge, the unique opportunity for self-growth offered by luxury brand experiences has never been examined in past research. We thus contribute to the literature by adding a new driver to the consumption of luxury beyond hedonic or social motivations. Moreover, we complement past research on consumer–brand relationships, particularly on consumer–brand identification, by suggesting that consumers may also identify with brands that are not perceived as being similar to the self at first but which provide an opportunity for self-expansion. We also add to the knowledge on self-expansion by uncovering one pathway explaining how a relationship with a brand may fuel a sense of self-growth. Specifically, we demonstrate that an intense brand experience provides opportunities for social, intellectual, emotional, and sensorial stimulation, which allow individuals to self-expand.
In this study, we first discuss the luxury brand experience and delineate its dimensions. Second, we elaborate on the role of the brand experience in building brand identification and relationships through a connection with the “self” as an intrinsic motivational factor. Third, we discuss the moderating role played by novelty-seeking as part of the influence of self-expansion on brand identification and on relationship quality. Fourth, the methodology and study design are described and the proposed empirical model is tested using PLS (partial least-squares) estimation methods. Finally, results of the model fit and conclusions are discussed in the context of self-expansion theory. The study ends with a presentation of theoretical contributions to current knowledge on luxury consumption, consumer–brand relationships, and self-expansion, and with insights that can help managers in the luxury industry to better target and retain Millennials by allowing them to enrich their sense of self.
Section snippets
Luxury brand experience and self-expansion
A brand experience can be defined as subjective internal consumer responses evoked by brand-related stimuli when consumers interact with, shop for, or consume brands (Brakus et al., 2009). These interactions expose customers to product attributes and brand-related stimuli, which include brand's design and identity, packaging, and marketing communications as well as the environments in which the brand is marketed or sold. This array of interactions involves multi-sensory, fantasy, and emotive
Procedure
Our study followed a mixed method approach with an initial qualitative phase to better understand luxury brand experience for Millennials, followed by a quantitative phase to test our final model and hypotheses.
Qualitative phase
As noted by Shard, Nysveen, and Pedersen (2011), developing a measurement scale for brand experience is complex because such experience is context-specific. Those authors recommend using a qualitative approach to truly understand the consumer's perspective and the richness of an
Brand experience and self-expansion for Millennials versus non-Millennials
We first provide some evidence that Millennials have a unique way of processing luxury brand experiences leading to self-expansion. For that purpose, we preliminary compare the mean differences for self-expansion as a result of brand experience as expressed in our Millennials cohort (264 individuals born between 1979 and 1995) versus a non-Millennials cohort (238 individuals born between 1965 and 1978). We examined a 2 (luxury, non-luxury) by 2 (Millennials, non-Millennials) fixed factor
Theoretical contributions
A central contribution of this study is the proposition and verification that the luxury brand experience results in self-expansion. By providing the opportunity for Millennials to broaden their sense of self, the complex and rich meaning of luxury brands translates into stronger consumer-brand identification and relationship quality. We demonstrate that self-expansion is needed to capture the essence and significance of these experiential dimensions offered by luxury brands.
This research
Limitations and future research
This study presents some limitations and areas for future research.
In this study, researchers avoided using fictitious brands as stimuli and instead required respondents to recall a real purchase and brand experience. This decision was made in order to better evaluate the impact of a lived experience on self-growth. Indeed, it is difficult to simulate repeated brand interactions over a certain period of time and to ask respondents to evaluate how a projected scenario-based experience would
Gwarlann de Kerviler is Associate Professor of Marketing and currently Head of the Marketing and Negotiation at IÉSEG School of Management. She holds a Ph.D. from Paris-Dauphine University, an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MSc from ESSEC Business School. Her researches focus on three main areas: customer relationship management (satisfaction and loyalty management); luxury marketing (brand and experience management in luxury) and social media/new technologies (blogs, online reviews
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Cited by (0)
Gwarlann de Kerviler is Associate Professor of Marketing and currently Head of the Marketing and Negotiation at IÉSEG School of Management. She holds a Ph.D. from Paris-Dauphine University, an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MSc from ESSEC Business School. Her researches focus on three main areas: customer relationship management (satisfaction and loyalty management); luxury marketing (brand and experience management in luxury) and social media/new technologies (blogs, online reviews and mobiles services management). She has published in top French and International journals such as Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Business Research, Recherche et Applications en Marketing. She teaches courses related to her research interests to Master students, MBA students and executive professionals.
Carlos M Rodriguez is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Quantitative Methods and Director of the Center for the Study of Innovation Management, CSIM in the College of Business, Delaware State University, USA. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Business to Business Marketing, Journal of International Marketing, International Marketing Review, Management Decision, Journal of Business and Leadership, and Journal of Higher Education Research & Development among others. Currently, he serves in the editorial board of several journals. His research interests are in the areas of luxury branding and experiences, product design and new product development teams, and relationship marketing. He recently published the book entitled Product Design and Innovation: Analytics for Decision Making centered in the design techniques and methodologies vital to the product design process. He is engaged in several international educational, research, and academic projects, as well, as, international professional activities.
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Both authors contributed equally to this work and are considered first authors.