مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

 مجله تحقیقات بازاریابی – Journal of Business Research

With its market value reaching USD 223 billion, the luxury fashion market is showing steady and sustainable growth globally (Bain & Company, 2014). This growth has resulted in fierce competition (Kim & Ko, 2012), pushing luxury firms to further increase consumer value (Vigneron & Johnson, 2004). Consequently, the management of the non-goods aspects of a business has gained significance (Wong, Lau, & Lau, 2014). Those aspects are known to enhance customers’ perceptions of a brand’s exclusivity (Wong et al., 2014), a critical aspect of luxury products from the customer’s perspective (Fionda & Moore, 2009). These ideas have grown into a holistic notion of customer retail experience (Atwal & Williams, 2009).

An important element in customers’ assessment of shopping experience is the emotions customers feel during shopping, since emotionally charged episodes tend to be memorable (Dasu & Chase, 2010). Hence, the uniqueness of luxury may be reinforced through emotions evoked throughout shopping experiences (Bruce & Kratz, 2007). However, the effect of customer emotions is yet to be empirically examined in the luxury retail context. Given the considerable impact of customer emotions on customer attitudes and behaviors (Peshkova, Urkmez, & Wagner, 2016), luxury firms may benefit from a good understanding of customer emotions throughout shopping experiences.

The study here bridges the following gaps in the body of research on this topic. First, emotion studies in the retail context have addressed customer emotions in general, but not in the luxury context in particular. Just as values pursued by luxury consumption are unique (Tynan, McKechnie, & Chhuon, 2010), customers’ emotional reactions are likely to be unique in the luxury retail context. For example, a highly pursued consumption value in the luxury market is symbolic or expressive value, which satisfies the status- or prestige-seeking needs of customers (Atwal & Williams, 2009; Latter, Phau, & Marchegiani, 2010).