Luxury fashion branding

Citation

Phau, I. and Teah, M. (2013), "Luxury fashion branding", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 17 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jfmm.2013.28417daa.001

Luxury fashion branding

Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Volume 17, Issue 4.

Luxury fashion branding

We start by thanking the authors for the overwhelming response to this special issue on Luxury fashion branding. We have received in excess of 40 papers which we have sent out for review. The submissions are all of a high calibre over a spectrum of topics in relation to luxury branding, and certainly it has shown evidence that the area has struck a chord of passion with our fellow researchers. As such, after consultation with the Editor in Chief, we have now two special issues dedicated to this topic.

This issue with six papers, and the first of the two, will explore luxury fashion brand extensions, corporate branding strategy, consumer emotional attachment and loyalty and the issue of counterfeiting of luxury brands. Moving on to more emergent topics in luxury fashion branding, this issue also presents papers on the impact of religion on fashion consumption, perceptions towards intimate apparel in the luxury market, and insights into the Chinese appetite for luxury fashion brands.

The issue opens with a study on brand extensions by Hennigs, Wiedmann, Behrens, llarmann and Carduck. They examine changes in consumer perceptions to luxury brands towards upwards and downwards vertical brand extensions. This exploratory study employs the Single Target Implicit Association Test to investigate consumer reactions towards the two types of luxury brand extensions. This study identifies the need for greater use of implicit measurement methods to assess consumers’ reactions towards new brands and products.

The next paper by So, Parsons and Yap explores the effects of corporate branding strategy on consumers’ emotional attachment and brand loyalty towards luxury brands. The study, conducted in Malaysia evaluates the impact of six dimensions of corporate branding against consumer emotional attachment and brand loyalty. Some useful managerial implications are also documented especially for strategies directed towards the Asia-Pacific region.

There has been much research in recent years around luxury brands and counterfeits. As Doss and Robinson have discussed, the need to investigate young consumers’ perceptions of luxury brands and counterfeits is timely and certainly on-going as this issue never seems to go away. In fact it has evolved into two separate markets parallel to each other. Making use of the Brand Luxury Index scale, Doss and Robinson's study adds insight into the psychometric stability of the scale and offers another perspective to this area.

The next paper by O’Cass, Lee and Siahtiri investigates the role of religiosity in influencing status consumption and fashion consciousness among Generation Y Muslim consumers. Conducted in Iran, this study provides an insight into the role that religiosity plays in influencing consumer preferences and behaviour. This is a very interesting paper exploring psychographic, social-economic and cultural angles toward luxury brands.

The next paper of this issue by Hume and Mills, then explores female consumers’ perspectives of motivations towards purchasing women's undergarment fashion. This study employs multiple qualitative techniques and discusses issues relating to branding, motivations and perceived self-image. Reviewers have reflected that the subject matter of the context is best conducted through a qualitative method, and certainly the authors have arrived with some very interesting insights.

The final paper of this issue is a study by Li, Robson and Coates on the Chinese consumers’ perspectives towards luxury fashion brands. They examined the effects of multi-dimensional consumer-perceived value and affective attitudes towards luxury fashion brands. Some parallels towards cross-national perspectives have emerged with the papers by So, Parsons and Yap conducted in Malaysia and Hume and Mills in Iran. It is also evident that some distinct intricacies pertaining to country differences are quite apparent.

I hope this issue provides some interesting perspectives and unique insights to stimulate future research. I thank the reviewers and EAB for their timely reviews and contribution to the JFMM; and the authors for submitting manuscripts of exceptional calibre. We will look forward to the second special issue towards the end of the year.

Ian Phau and Min TeahGuest Editors