The role of intangible attributes of luxury brands for signalling status: A systematic literature review
Year: 2022
Type: review
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: Previously, signalling status had been primarily studied from the conspicuousness of luxury brands, including high prices and prominent designs. However, less attention has been directed toward other elements of brands that could be strategically managed in order to enable consumers signalling status. This study synthesizes the literature using a framework based on four intangible attributes of luxury brands: user profile, purchase usage, personality and values and heritage. The topics studied under each of the four intangible attributes were analysed using a systematic approach. Based on the interconnectedness of the topics studied, this review proposes that the intangible attributes used as a framework may have a synergistic interaction, in contrast with the current perspective that considers them as independently and equally relevant for consumers signalling status. It also reports the psychological function of these intangible attributes and supports the notion that consumers use luxury brands either to routinely affirm their status within a group or to enhance that status. This review contributes to the literature on luxury and signalling by considering luxury consumption as a social process. A functional perspective on the intangible attributes of luxury brands provides the basis for some insightful directions to advance this field of research.
DOI: 10.1111/ijcs.12852
Authors: Humberto Fuentes, Jorge Vera‐Martinez, Diana Kolbe
Institution: Tecnológico de Monterrey
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,000
OpenAlex ID: W4285587830