Drawing on dual processing theory (Loewenstein et al. in Decision 2(2):55–۸۱, ۲۰۱۵), this paper investigates how the perceived strength of brand origin (PSBO) influences brand love and the willingness to pay more (WTPM) for luxury brands. Participants for two studies were recruited through the consumer panel of a professional survey service provider (Qualtrics). Mediation analysis based on Hayes’ (Behav Res Methods 40(3):879–۸۹۱, ۲۰۱۳) process macro showed that brand love mediates the influence of PSBO on WTPM. This mediating effect through brand love (a highly emotional route) was substantially stronger than the alternative mediating effect through the quality-related aspects of brand luxuriousness (a more cognitive route of processing). Moderation analysis further showed that status consumption has a negative (i.e., attenuating) effect on the relationship between PSBO and brand love. Specifically, the results suggest that whereas consumers low on status consumption use PSBO as an important cue for how much they love the brand, consumers high on status consumption show relatively high levels of brand love, no matter whether PSBO is low or high. The findings make an important contribution to current research on brand origin and brand love, and provide marketing practitioners with options to manage luxury products more effectively.

Introduction

Representing an industry that has grown globally from €۷۷ billion in 1995 to an estimated €۲۴۹ billion in 2016 (Bain & Company 2016), marketing practitioners and researchers have become increasingly interested in luxury goods (Chandon et al. 2016; Giovannini et al. 2015; Wiedmann and Hennigs 2013). Understanding luxury consumption is important because luxury goods seem to follow a different logic than ‘‘ordinary’’ goods and services (Fuchs et al. 2013; Shukla and Purani 2012). Consumers of luxury goods must perceive sufficient value enhancement to compensate for the typically high prices they pay (Tynan et al. 2010), which is particularly challenging for companies because the notion of luxury is actually socially constructed (Moon and Sprott 2016). Specifically, value for luxury goods is generated not only through functional benefits (e.g., premium quality), but also by means of hedonic and symbolic attributes, such as extraordinarily aesthetic components and the ability to signal success, wealth, and social achievement to others (Dubois and Duquesne 1993; Hudders and Pandelaere 2013; Lee et al. 2015). Among the factors that affect luxury consumption, country of origin (COO) has been identified as an important influencer (e.g., Aiello et al. 2009; Godey et al. 2012; Shukla 2011). Previous research argues that, due to globalization and international strategic alliances, COO should no longer be treated as a synonym for the ‘‘made in’’ or ‘‘assembled in’’ concept (Balabanis and Diamantopoulus 2008; Chao 1993). Rather, brand origin, defined as the country a brand is perceptually associated with regardless of where it is manufactured (Shukla 2011; Thakor 1996) has become more relevant for consumers (Magnusson et al. 2011; Thakor and Lavack 2003; Usunier 2011). Notwithstanding this influential shift in the extant literature, previous research presents an important limitation by treating COO as a dichotomous variable where a brand is either associated with a certain country or not (e.g., Koschate-Fischer et al. 2012; Thakor and Lavack 2003). Specifically, the current literature neglects the possibility that consumers do not only have subjective knowledge about the origin of a specific brand (e.g., Mercedes is from Germany or Gucci from Italy), but also about how German or Italian these brands are. Thus, our research introduces the concept of perceived strength of brand origin (PSBO), which we define as a consumer’s holistic perception of congruence between brand image and country image. This conceptualization provides a more nuanced view on brand origin and acknowledges that, e.g., some consumers may perceive Mercedes as very German (i.e., high on PSBO), whereas other consumers may feel that Mercedes is, for different reasons, not very German after all (i.e., low on PSBO).