Values associated with luxury brand consumption and the role of gender
Résumé
We investigate the role of gender in the perceptions of and motives for luxury brand
consumption. Based on the Social Structural Theory of gender, we propose that differences in
men’s and women’s luxury values result from asymmetries in social status. We conduct three
studies with samples of frequent luxury brand buyers. Study 1 (N = 512) generates main values
associated with luxury brand consumption. Study 2 (N = 640) identifies a four-factor model of
luxury brand values, including refinement, heritage, exclusivity, and elitism, and shows that
women give more importance to refinement, while men give more importance to exclusivity and
elitism. Study 3 (N = 1,024) demonstrates that public self-consciousness has a stronger positive
influence on refinement for women rather than men. In contrast, consumer need for uniqueness
and status consumption exert respectively a stronger positive influence on exclusivity and elitism
for men rather than women. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.