An Empirical Study to Examine Consumer Behavior towards Luxury Brands in Pakistan

• Published in: Global management journal for academic & corporate studies 2016-01, Vol.6 (1), p.79
• Main Authors: Salman, Faryal, Warraich, Usman Ali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Affluence; Brands; Conspicuous consumption; Consumer behavior; Consumerism; Consumers; Consumption; Developing countries; Disposable income; Globalization; Industrialized nations; LDCs; Luxuries; Marketing; Materialism; Middle class; Purchase intention; Studies; Theory
• ISSN: 2219-6145; 2305-0756

Globalization and the resultant growth of consumerism in Pakistan, have consumers turn towards foreign and branded goods. As the consumers in developed countries choose their modes of conspicuous consumption, so do the elite in developing countries who mimic them and the middle classes aspire to do the same. Current study seeks to expand an understanding of consumer behavior towards branded goods through; a) need for uniqueness; b)materialism; c) avoidance of similarity and d) utility/ functionality. Further the study investigated the consumer behavior of individual product categories with need for uniqueness, materialism, avoidance similarity and functional attributes etc. The research methodology for the study is based on exploratory research techniques. Constructs were espoused from previous studies however adaptation was made to suit the researcher's needs. The theoretical framework for the study is based on the relationship between consumer behavior (dependent variable) and four independent concepts that are; a) need for uniqueness; b) avoidance of similarity (Tian, Bearden and Hunter, 2001); c)material values (Richins and Dowson,1992) and d) quality factors (Strizhakova, Coulter and Price 2008). The product categories selected for the study are; a) shoes/footwear; b)clothes; c)handbags; d)watches; e) handbags/wallets and f) accessories. The investigating instrument consisted of close ended questions consisting items for all the variables adopted for the study and the demographic profile of the respondents. Cross sectional data for the study has been collected through a self- administrated questionnaire through convenience sampling from a sample size of 600 students studying in different business schools in Karachi, Pakistan. The representative samples consisted of students from under graduate and graduate classes only. The study postulates significant relationship between consumer behavior and the predictors. Utility/functionality was the most significant variable followed by need for uniqueness, materialism and avoidance of similarity. In clothes category we found significant relationship with need for uniqueness and avoidance of similarity. In shoes category utility/functionality and avoidance of similarity, in watches utility/functionality, materialism, in sunglasses need for uniqueness, avoidance of similarity and materialism, in handbags materialism, avoidance of similarity, accessories utility/functionality and materialism were found to be sign