Repositioning luxury fashion brands as intentional agents: the roles of consumer envy and admiration
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management
ISSN: 1361-2026
Article publication date: 15 January 2021
Issue publication date: 6 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Building on the Brands as Intentional Agents Framework (BIAF), the aim of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of social media marketing (SMM) as a tool to communicate luxury fashion brands' good intentions toward the general public.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 488 US female consumers was used to test a conceptual model delineating the sequential linkages from luxury fashion brands' intentions to brand emotions (i.e. envy vs admiration) and to consumer–brand relationships (i.e. emotional brand attachment and brand forgiveness). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the measurement and structural models.
Findings
The results indicated that luxury fashion brands' “populist” intentions had a positive impact on consumer admiration. Both consumer envy and admiration had positive effects on emotional brand attachment and brand forgiveness. However, admiration had a stronger effect than envy on these relational consumer responses.
Originality/value
This study identified that luxury fashion brands, frequently stereotyped as exclusive, can become brands admired by mass-market consumers by expressing warmth on social media. Drawing on social psychological perspectives and the BIAF, this study adds to the literature on luxury brands' social media communication by demonstrating the effectiveness of brand warmth to induce consumers' strong relational outcomes.
Keywords
Citation
Joo, B.R. and Kim, H.-Y. (2021), "Repositioning luxury fashion brands as intentional agents: the roles of consumer envy and admiration", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 606-624. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-06-2019-0135
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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