Hemanth YAdjunct Faculty-Army Institute of Fashion and Design

Ex-faculty, NIFTand Research scholar

Status of Luxury Branding in Indian Context

Original Research Note / Case Study

Written By Hemanth Y

IUP Journal of Brand Management ,December 2013 ,10(4),ISSN-0972-9097,pg.66-70

Objectives of the Presentation

To understand the basic concepts and strategies in luxury brands

To know the current status of Luxury branding in India

“Luxury is a necessity that begins where necessity ends.” Coco Chanel

Uu

U

It is associated with strong involvement of human element and value recognition from others.;

L

The word luxury originates from the Latin term “luxus” signifying “soft or extravagant living, indulgence,

opulence “2

X

It can also refer to lifestyle

U

Luxury is consumer and situation specific..

R

It is about Affluence

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It is an aspect which is enjoyable

Luxury

• The word luxury originates from the Latin term “luxus” signifying “soft or extravagant living, indulgence, opulence “

• It is associated with strong involvement of human element and value recognition from others.

• It can also refer to lifestyle; the underlying construct’s definition is consumer and situation specific.

According to Collins English Dictionary the term Luxury is defined as “Indulgence in rich and sumptuous living and indulgence rather than a necessity”

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines luxury as the enjoyment of special and expensive things, particularly food and drink, clothes and surroundings, as a pleasure or an advantage that you do not often have and as a thing that is expensive and enjoyable but not essential.

luxury can be called as “It is more than necessity”. It is associated with affluence and superiority

Luxury and Fashion

• The term luxury came into being by the role played by Fashion which has always had an impact in the history of the great civilizations. In Egyptian cultures, Greek and Roman Empires fashion was a key social element that reflected the society through apparel, accessories and cosmetics. The value provided by luxury is beyond the core function and it incorporates culture and philosophy as it creates desires rather than meeting customer’s need.

Fashion can also be called as high end product called “haute couture” which is derived from French word.

This product is non-wearable and it is demonstrated in all the fashion shows for promoting the fashion labels of designers

• Bearden and Etzel (1982, P.184) defines luxury is more than necessity and have a degree of exclusivity.

Research Point of View:

• The Study had discussed about various distinctions between necessity and luxury

Inaccessible Luxury(L1)

Intermediate Luxury(L2)

Accessible Luxury(L3)

Figure depicting a Hierarchy of Luxury Goods Products (Alleres 1990)

Classification of Luxury Goods

• Alleres(1990) indicates that the luxury goods can be interpreted in socio-economic class and 3 levels of luxury goods exists based on the degree of accessibility.

• According to this hierarchy it can be understood as the inaccessible luxury level is related to an elite socio-economic class, and is identified with absolute product distinctiveness

It is associated with products that are extremely high-priced, which offer the owner exceptional social prestige.

The middle level called as the intermediate luxury level describes a category of luxury products that is attainable by the ‘professional’ socio-economic class.

Bottom level is the accessible luxury level which describes luxury products that are attainable by the middle

Luxury brands and branding

• When we hear the term ‘luxury product’ the first thing comes to mind is expensive. The following literature gives brief idea about luxury brands and the various dimensions of luxury brands.

• Luxury products are often purchased simply because they cost more, without providing any additional direct utility over their cheaper counterparts (Dubois & Duquesne, 1993)

• In the study it is also understood that Americans are increasingly trading up to luxury brands (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003) ,

regardless of their economic status, because these products provide an opportunity for the middle class to attain the perception of prosperity (Schwartz, 2002)

• It is evident that the consumption of such products displays individuals’ wealth, differentiating them from others (Liebenstein, 1950).

• In American context, luxury brands are quite common and even middle class don’t hesitate to buy luxury brands

• In India the luxury brands are eyeing few metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore etc.,

Conclusion

• Elite class people are emotionally attached to the product though it is highly priced

• Luxury brands are associated with the set of philosophy and culture which is an intrinsic nature of luxury products

• No short term growth in luxury segment

• A T Kearney report says that there is 21% expected growth by the end of year 2015

• Projected figure is 14.72$ Billion

• India is still an investment market

White Papers: • Bearden, W. O., & Etzel, M. J. (1982). Reference Group Influence on Product and

Brand Purchase Decisions. Journal Of Consumer Research, 9(2), pg.183-194. • Alleres, D. (1990), “Luxe - Strategies Marketing”, Economica, 1• Liebenstein, H. (1950). Bandwagon, Snob and Veblen effects in the theory of

consumers’demand. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 64, pg.183–207.• Mandel, N., Petrova, P. K., & Cialdini, R. B. (2006). Images of Success and the

Preference for Luxury Brands. Journal Of Consumer Psychology (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates), 16(1), 57-69.

Websites:• http://luxurysociety.com/articles/2010/05/defining-luxury-the-conundrum-of-pe

rspectives• http://www.magicalmumbai.com/3071/luxury-brands-in-mumbai/

References:

THANK ME.