In today’s competitive marketplace, companies need to establish a loyal customer base in order to be successful. In particular, the fashion industry relies on a loyal customer base and a good reputation to achieve sustainable financial growth. To survive the current challenges of growing competition, marketers must ensure that customers do not only develop a personal relationship with brands but also speak favourably of them. Prior research has focused on word-of-mouth as a component of brand loyalty and its antecedents. However, this topic turned out to be inadequately investigated in the specific context of luxury fashion brands.
Hence, the aim of this study is to examine how satisfaction, trust and commitment but also socio-psychological factors influence the consumer and thus have an impact on word-of-mouth. The nature of this study led to a quantitative methodological approach: an online survey investigating the sources of word-of-mouth. As a conclusion, this paper confirmed that trust and commitment were among the most important predictor variables of word-of-mouth. The main finding was, however, that socio-psychological factors such as materialism, social identity and possessiveness also increased positive word-of-mouth. However, since materialism and possessiveness are regarded as negative personality traits and cannot strengthen the effect of satisfaction, trust and commitment on word-of-mouth it is recommended that marketers concentrate on positive dimensions of word-of-mouth and brand loyalty (i.e., trust and commitment) in order to build a strong customer relationship.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES
1.2. STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. INTRODUCTION
2.2. FASHION
2.2.1. LUXURY
2.3. BRAND LOYALTY AND WORD-OF-MOUTH
2.4. ANTECEDENTS OF WORD-OF-MOUTH
2.4.1. SATISFACTION
2.4.2. TRUST
2.4.3. COMMITMENT
2.5. EXPECTED PREDICTOR VARIABLES AND MODERATING FACTORS
2.5.1 SOCIAL IDENTITY
2.5.2. MATERIALISM
2.5.3. POSSESSIVENESS
CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
3.1. CONCEPTUAL MODEL
3.1.1. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1. INTRODUCTION
4.2. DEDUCTIVE RESEARCH APPROACH
4.3. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHOD
4.4. QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD
4.5. QUESTIONNAIRE CONTENT
4.6. MEASUREMENT CONSTRUCT
4.7. DATA COLLECTION AND SAMPLING
4.8. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
CHAPTER 5: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
5.1. INTRODUCTION
5.2. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS
5.2.1. DEMOGRAPHICS
5.2.2. LUXURY BRAND CATEGORIES AND SOCIAL IDENTITY GROUPS
5.3. KEY ANALYSIS
5.3.1. RELIABILITY ANALYSIS
5.3.2. ONE SAMPLE T-TESTS
5.3.3. HYPOTHESES TESTING USING MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS
CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION
6.1. INTRODUCTION
6.2. LUXURY BRAND CATEGORY AND SOCIAL IDENTITY GROUP
6.3. SIGNIFICANT AND INSIGNIFICANT PREDICTOR VARIABLES
6.3.1. SATISFACTION, TRUST AND COMMITMENT
6.4. SIGNIFICANT EXPECTED PREDICTOR VARIABLES
6.4.1. POSSESSIVENESS, MATERIALISM, AND SOCIAL IDENTITY
6.5. INSIGNIFICANT MODERATION
CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION, MANAGERIAL RE-COMMENDATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
7.1. INTRODUCTION
7.2. CONCLUSION
7.3. MANAGERIAL RECOMMENDATION
7.4. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
Research Objectives and Core Themes
The primary aim of this dissertation is to investigate how satisfaction, trust, and commitment, as well as socio-psychological factors, influence consumer engagement in positive word-of-mouth regarding luxury fashion brands.
- Brand loyalty dimensions (satisfaction, trust, commitment) and their link to word-of-mouth.
- The influence of socio-psychological traits (materialism, possessiveness, social identity) on consumer behavior.
- The moderating role of these traits within the brand relationship framework.
- Identification of primary drivers for consumer-brand advocacy in the luxury sector.
Extract from the Book
2.2. FASHION
As one purpose of this paper is to discuss how the aforementioned predictor variables will affect the likelihood to engage in word-of-mouth about a luxury fashion brand, the term “fashion” needs be defined. Solomon (2015, 550) argued that the fashion system consists of “all the people and organizations that create symbolic meaning and transfer those meanings to cultural goods.” This implies that fashion in its broadest sense relates to the creation of change within human society. Yet, throughout this thesis, fashion will be used in the sense of apparel and related products such as handbags, shoes and accessories.
The motivation behind the research focus on fashion derived from the notion that fashion “exerts a very personal effect on individual behaviour” (Solomon, 2015, 551). This assumption is supported by Davis (1984), who argued that fashion is an important social symbol. According to Davis (1984), fashion is worn daily, publically displayed, and it is a meaningful and easily controllable status symbol. Moreover, fashion consumption is a social process, through which people establish their place within society (Solomon, 2015). Davis (1984, 326) also noted, that clothing reflects a personal choice, which in turn can be observed by others: “clothing is readily observable and believed to be a personal choice of the individual (…) causing clothes to be a form of nonverbal communication about various aspects of the individual.” McCracken (1985, 74) holds a similar view, stating that clothing help to differentiate between individuals:
“[t]hus, the clothing that distinguishes between men and women or between high and low classes also reveals something of the nature of the differences that are supposed to exist between these categories”
Clothes can therefore serve as a symbol for one’s status, interests, group membership, age, sex, and values, just to name a few.
Summary of Chapters
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: Outlines the importance of brand loyalty and word-of-mouth for luxury fashion companies and defines the research scope.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW: Reviews existing theories on luxury fashion, brand loyalty, and the potential impact of socio-psychological factors.
CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: Presents the study model and the hypothesized relationships between variables.
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Explains the quantitative approach, sampling, and survey design used to collect primary data.
CHAPTER 5: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS: Details the empirical findings through descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis.
CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION: Interprets the findings by comparing them with existing literature and explains supported/unsupported hypotheses.
CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION, MANAGERIAL RE-COMMENDATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH: Summarizes the key findings, offers practical implications for marketers, and discusses research limitations.
Keywords
Word-of-mouth, Brand Loyalty, Luxury Fashion, Satisfaction, Trust, Commitment, Materialism, Possessiveness, Social Identity, Consumer Behavior, Relationship Marketing, Quantitative Research, Brand Advocacy, Consumer Psychology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research examines the antecedents of positive word-of-mouth for luxury fashion brands, specifically exploring the impact of traditional brand loyalty variables and additional socio-psychological factors.
What are the central themes of the work?
The work centers on the relationship between consumers and luxury brands, highlighting the roles of satisfaction, trust, commitment, materialism, possessiveness, and social identity.
What is the primary objective of this dissertation?
The objective is to determine how traditional loyalty antecedents and socio-psychological factors drive consumers to speak favorably about luxury fashion brands.
What scientific methodology does the author apply?
The author uses a quantitative research approach, conducting an online questionnaire to gather primary data which is analyzed via t-tests and multiple regression analysis.
What does the main body of the paper cover?
The main body provides a literature review, a conceptual framework, a detailed research methodology, empirical data analysis and results, and a comprehensive discussion of the findings.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
Key terms include Word-of-mouth, Brand Loyalty, Luxury Fashion, Materialism, Social Identity, and Consumer Behavior.
Why are materialism and possessiveness considered as factors?
These traits are included because they are theoretically linked to luxury consumption and the need for self-expression, which may motivate consumers to talk about their acquisitions.
How does social identity influence the results?
Social identity was found to have a positive impact on word-of-mouth, as consumers use brands to signify their membership within desired social groups.
What were the major conclusions regarding satisfaction?
Surprisingly, the study found no significant direct effect of satisfaction on positive word-of-mouth, suggesting it may require the context of trust to influence behavior.
- Citar trabajo
- Isabel Angerer (Autor), 2016, Antecedents of word-of-mouth as a component of brand loyalty towards luxury fashion brands and its moderating factors, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/418362
