Luxury brands pursuing lifestyle positioning: effects on willingness to pay

Abstract

Under the lens of construal level theory (CLT), this paper offers a new perspective on lifestyle advertising practiced by luxury brands clarifying both its value and its limitations. We find that under conditions of high brand familiarity (BF) lifestyle advertising is inconsistent with high-level construals, diminishing consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the advertised brand. Using a measure of language-induced abstractness, we show that lifestyle advertising is detrimental to WTP when consumers are familiar with the brand (condition involving saliency of low-level construals), but not when they are new to the brand (n = 180). In a follow-up study, we find support for a moderated mediation model in which abstractness mediates the effect of advertising type on WTP, whereas BF moderates the mediation, depressing abstractness when familiarity is high and enhancing it when low. In conclusion, our evidence suggests to managers in the luxury industry that low construal levels are key to using price as a tactical tool in positioning their brands. We conclude with a discussion of implications of these results for luxury brands research and management.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Study 1

See Table 4.

Table 4 Persuasiveness for self and others and abstractness (1–7 Likert) of the advertising primes for Luxury Brand travel bag (N = 180)

Lifestyle advertising prime: luxury brand travel bag

Abstractness index

Adjective-to-nouns ratio about 1/3 (9 adjectives, 16 verbs, 29 nouns in the manipulated text)

The product that you see depicted is a “Luxury Brand” travel bag. This productis generally appealing to all (both male and female) and has been designed to strictly adhere to the precisestyle of the person who uses it which is inspired by traveling and which enhances the absolutemeaning and importance of the trip. In accordance with the Luxury Brand style, unmistakable and recognized throughout the world, life itself is a journey, a wonderfulprocess of self-discovery. Today, Luxury Brandis considered to be among the most exclusiveluxury brands in the world; all the productsfollow the uniquestyle of the house, a distinctivestyle that can give the productsexceptionalvalue.

Attribute-based branding prime: luxury brand travel bag

Abstractness index

Adjective-to-nouns ratio about 1/10 (3 adjectives, 13 verbs, 36 nouns in the manipulated text).

The product that you see depicted is a “Luxury Brand” travel bag. This productis generally appealing to all (both male and female) and has been designed to strictly adhere to the style of the housebased on the idea of Luxury Brand Founder, who began his career as a baggage packer for Napoleon III’s wife Eugenie de Montijo, the Empress of France. His jobwas to give a meaning to travels and trips. Today, all Luxury Brand products, from clothing to accessories (handbags, suitcases) arehandmade by artisans of the fashion house who use the finestmaterials to createproducts of exceptionalvalue.

Study 2

See Table 5.

Table 5 Persuasiveness for self and others and abstractness (1–7 Likert) of the equalized branding primes for Luxury Brand travel bag (N = 180)

Equalized lifestyle advertising prime: luxury brand travel bag

Abstractness index

Adjective-to-nouns ratio about 1/6 (4 adjectives, 16 verbs, 26 nouns in the manipulated text)

The product that you see depicted is a “Luxury Brand” travel bag. This productis generally appealing to all (both male and female) and has been designed to strictly adhere to the style of the person who uses it, which is inspired by traveling and which enhances the meaning of the trip. In accordance with the Luxury Brand style, unmistakable and recognized throughout the world, life itself is a journey. Today, Luxury Brandis considered to be among the most exclusiveluxury brands in the world; all the productsfollow the style of the house, a distinctivestyle that can give the productsexceptionalvalue.

Equalized attribute-based advertising prime: luxury brand travel bag

Abstractness index

Adjective-to-nouns ratio about 1/6 (4 adjectives, 12 verbs, 28 nouns in the manipulated text).

The product that you see depicted is a “Luxury Brand” travel bag. This productis generally appealing to all (both male and female) and has been designed to strictly adhere to the style of the housebased on the idea of ParisianLuxury Brand Founder, who began his career as a baggage packer at the court of France. His jobwas to give a specialmeaning to travels. Today, all Luxury Brand products, from clothing to accessoriesare handmade by artisans of the fashion house who use the finestmaterials to createproducts of exceptionalvalue.

Note Picture shown in Study 2 same as in Study 1.

Appendix 2

Implicit association test (IAT)

The categories proposed were the two pairs Lifestyle/Attribute and Abstract/Concrete. For each category, five elements had to be classified correctly into the category.

Categories	Elements
Abstract	General, imaginary, intangible, figurative, universal
Concrete	Specific, detailed, definite, real, local
Lifestyle	Charm, dream, self-expression, freedom, style
Attribute	Materials, finishes, craftsmanship, tradition, warranty

Figure 5 depicts the English translation of a sequence of seven trials.

Fig. 5

IAT procedure

Appendix 3

Items used to test the manipulation of lifestyle versus attribute branding.

Items associated with lifestyle branding:

• Our brand is trendy.

• With our brand, you will feel at ease with the groups you mix with.

• We help you feel immediately recognized and appreciated.

• Our lifestyle is a reflection of you.

• Without our brand, you wouldn’t be able to show the world who you really are.

Features associated with attribute branding:

• Our high-quality products are handmade and not mass-produced.

• Our products are synonymous with high quality because artisans make them.

• Our products are valuable because artisans make them.

• The intrinsic quality of our products makes them long-lasting.

• Both tradition and our past experience are our guarantee.