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Journal of Product & Brand Management Validat ing a scale t o measure consumer’ s luxury brand aspirat ion Sreejesh S. Abhigyan Sarkar Subhadip Roy Article information: To cite this document: Sreejesh S. Abhigyan Sarkar Subhadip Roy , (2016),"Validating a scale to measure consumer’s luxury brand aspiration ", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 25 Iss 5 pp. 465 - 478 Permanent link t o t his document : http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2014-0647 Downloaded on: 07 January 2017, At : 04: 05 (PT) Ref erences: t his document cont ains ref erences t o 74 ot her document s. 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Department of Marketing and Strategy, IFHE University, Hyderabad, India Abhigyan Sarkar Department of Marketing, Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, India, and Subhadip Roy Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Department of Marketing, IIM Udaipur, Udaipur, India Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this study was to conceptualize consumer’s luxury brand aspiration and develop a psychometrically reliable scale to measure the construct. This study aims to extend the existing research in luxury branding domain through validating a scale to measure consumer’s luxury brand aspiration. Design/methodology/approach – Initially, the dimensions of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration were identified through prior literature review and qualitative investigations. This was followed by a series of scale development studies suggested by Churchill (1979). Findings – The results supported that the second-order measure of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration consist of four related first-order dimensions, namely, identity signaling, social recognition, self-esteem and achievement signaling. Luxury brand aspiration was found to have direct positive influences on brand commitment and brand attachment. Brand commitment and attachment in turn significantly influence intention to pay price premium. Originality/value – Value of this research article lies in validating a scale to measure individual’s luxury brand aspiration for the first time in branding literature. Keywords Brand globalness, Intention to pay price premium, Luxury brand aspiration, Luxury brand attachment, Luxury brand commitment Paper type Research paper Introduction emerging economies is prompted by increasing aspirational orientations of the consumers, as consumers’ perceptions of luxury brand values significantly influence their buying behavior (Tynan et al., 2010; Wiedmann et al., 2007). Okonkwo (2009) states: Vigneron and Johnson (1999) define luxury brand as an extreme level of prestige brand that is conspicuously consumed with a motive to display social status. The consumers’ desire for luxury brands in emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and Russia have increased significantly over the past few decades (Shukla, 2010; Tynan et al., 2010). This is largely because consumers’ brand choice decisions in these countries are getting increasingly influenced by non-utilitarian or symbolic brand attributes such as symbolic ownership and showcasing of social distinctions (Batra et al., 2000; Akram et al., 2011). In addition, rapid economic expansion in these emerging markets is continuously fueling consumers’ craving for luxury brand consumption that is leading to substantial growth in the overall luxury consumption (Sukla and Purani, 2012). Recent reports states that about 85 per cent of the new luxury outlets opened globally are located in the emerging markets (Krauss, 2009). Such an importance assigned to luxury consumption in [. . .] in the last two decades, luxury brand management has generated much interest and discussions in both academic and business circles. Among business leaders, the debates have been related to the associated challenges and paradoxes that have emerged as a result of the evolution of luxury since it became a consolidated economic sector in the late 1990s, led by the vision of conglomerates, such as LVMH, Gucci Group and Richemont (p. 287). Thus, in spite of the growth, a big challenge for luxury brands is to enhance and maintain the aspirational quotient of a luxury brand in the minds of target customers so that the consumers remain committed and motivated to pay a price premium. Past research suggests that marketing of luxury brands requires a distinctive approach (Chadha and Husband, 2006; Thomas, 2007). This is primarily because of the showcasing of social distinctions that is a prime motive of luxury brand purchase (Douglas and Isherwood, 1979; Batra et al., 2000; Akram et al., 2011). In addition, the luxury consumption literature shows that consumers buy luxury products to reflect their self-concepts (Randhawa et al., 2015). Predicting consumers’ preferences for luxury brands is a critical task requiring a unique approach, as consumers often make purchase The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm Journal of Product & Brand Management 25/5 (2016) 465–478 © Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421] [DOI 10.1108/JPBM-06-2014-0647] Received 25 June 2014 Revised 9 January 2015 Accepted 1 December 2015 465 Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 decisions without following any rational decision-making criteria (Ardelet et al., 2015; Megehee and Spake, 2012; Woodside et al., 2012). Luxury brand consumers often are not consciously aware of the true reasons behind their brand preferences (Ardelet et al., 2015; Winkielman et al., 2005). Individual’s extrinsic aspirational level significantly influences luxury brand preference, as luxury brands are conspicuously consumed (Truong et al., 2010). However, the existing scales in consumer– brand relationship research, such as brand love and brand attachment (c.f., Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006; Batra et al., 2012; Park et al., 2010; Thomson et al., 2005) measure individual’s emotional passionate relationship with brand and not brand aspiration. Prior studies in brand love do not focus on measuring the perceived ability of a luxury brand to satisfy individual’s extrinsic aspirational goals and the characteristic motivational properties of such aspiration construct. Existing academic literature states that an understanding of a brand’s perceived aspirational value is a vital tool to manage consumer’s emotional brand attachment (Park et al., 2006). Thus, an understanding of consumer’s brand aspiration elements in the context of luxury brands would largely help the marketers to chart the ways to enhance perceived luxury brand value (Truong et al., 2010). Researchers from a diverse range of academia have noted the need for managing consumer’s emotional attachment to luxury brands by adding more aspirational value to the brand (Truong et al., 2010; Park et al., 2006). The review of extant research on luxury consumption shows that there is no existing scale measuring luxury brand aspiration or perceived ability of a luxury brand to satisfy individual’s extrinsic aspirational goals. Hence, it is highly important to develop a luxury brand aspiration scale that would capture consumer’s motivation to buy luxury brands. The present study intends to fill the mentioned research gap through the conceptualization and validation of a luxury brand aspiration scale in the context of an emerging Asian market (India). The reason why India is selected as an emerging market study context is the recent report stating that India is becoming best performing emerging market[1]. In addition, the study aims to provide insights into how consumer’s luxury brand aspirations affect subsequent brand attachment and commitment and ultimately individual’s willingness to pay a price premium to buy the brand. There are two main reasons behind choosing an emerging market as the study context. First, emerging market consumers are increasingly attaching more importance to social status signaling value of brands (Zhou et al., 2010). Second, recent branding literature indicates a substantial increase in the appetite for luxury goods in emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and Russia (Shukla, 2010; Tynan et al., 2010). The structure of the rest of the paper is as follows. We conceptualize the dimensional structure of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration based on prior literature. The relationships between luxury brand aspiration and other conceptually related but different consumer psychology constructs are outlined leading to the development of hypotheses and a conceptual model of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration. Thereafter, studies conducted to develop and validate consumer’s luxury brand aspiration measures are described, and stage-wise study results are presented. Finally, the results of the series of scale validation studies obtained thereof have formed the basis for discussion on the theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the overall research. Theoretical background of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration The first major contribution on aspiration was by Cyert and March (1963) in the realm of behavioral theory of firm. According to the behavioral theorists, aspirational decisionmaking is rational and satisfying (March and Simon, 1958). Aspiration is formed and adjusted based on past experiences (Cyert and March, 1963), and the core inputs to this rational aspiration are the future performance expectations (Ansoff, 1979). Aspirants are expected to act to enhance their chances of future success in achieving their aspirational goals (Lant, 1992). Performance induced by aspiration determines the intensity of resultant behavior (Ansoff, 1979; Cyert and March, 1963). Kasser (2002) defines aspiration as a goal-oriented motive composed of both intrinsic and extrinsic elements. Intrinsic aspiration relates to the pursuit of goals that satisfy inner psychological needs (e.g. personal growth and intimacy). Extrinsic aspirational motives focus on externally valued achievable goals that might not be intrinsically rewarding, but are sought to gain positive regards and/or rewards (e.g. money, image and fame) from the significant others. An empirical study conducted by Truong et al. (2010) shows that individual’s extrinsic/intrinsic aspirational motives may have positive/negative effects on luxury brand preference. Truong et al. (2010) state that luxury consumption is closely related to conspicuous consumption theory (CCT). CCT suggests that wealthy people tend to consume luxury goods to display or signal enhanced wealth or status to other people in the society. In such a case, intrinsic aspiration should not be a constituent dimension of luxury brand aspiration, as “intrinsic aspirations are generally pursued for autonomous reasons” (Truong et al., 2010, p. 348). In other words, intrinsic aspiration can be an important part of general aspiration construct, whereas extrinsic aspiration would largely form luxury brand aspiration. Hence, dimensions of luxury brand aspiration should largely represent the perceived ability of a luxury brand to satisfy individual’s extrinsic aspirational goals through signaling different extrinsic aspirational elements. There is only one existing scale measuring individual’s extrinsic aspirational motives validated by Kasser and Ryan (1993, 1996). The items in their scale measure the degree of individual’s extrinsic aspirational motives in terms of perceived importance of achieving wealth, image and popularity. The scale does not measure the perceived ability of a luxury brand to signal different extrinsic aspirational elements to the society, which is the core concept of luxury brand aspiration. The conceptual analysis by Vigneron and Johnson (1999) shows that luxury brands fall under the category of prestige brands, the consumption of which is influenced by perceived signaling or conspicuous value of brand. However, Vigneron and Johnson (1999) did not validate any scale measuring the perceived signaling value of a luxury brand. 466 Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 Theoretical relationships between brand aspiration and other related constructs There is no existing scale measuring the perceived ability of a luxury brand to satisfy individual’s desire to signal various extrinsic aspirational elements. This paper thus attempts to fill this gap through construction and validation of a scale to measure the perceived ability of a luxury brand to signal various extrinsic aspirational elements or the aspirational quotient of a luxury brand. It is assumed that individual’s yearning to consume a luxury brand would be high if the brand is highly aspirational or perceived to be able to strongly signal specific extrinsic aspirational elements. According to Churchill (1979), it is very important to identify theoretical relationships between any newly proposed construct and other conceptually related, but distinct concepts. In this section, we find constructs related to brand aspirations that lead to the formulation of the study hypotheses. Park et al. (2010) define brand attachment as the strength of the bond connecting the brand with the self, and this bond is exemplified by a rich and accessible memory network (or mental schema) that involves thoughts and feelings related to the brand’s relationship with the self. Park et al. (2006) state that self-connection and brand attachment are created through an internalization process, and this internalization is achieved through a symbolization of one’s ideal future self and its enrichment. A brand can enrich self-connections by symbolically representing one’s ideal future-self (Markus and Nurius, 1986). It is also stated that a brand can enrich the self by symbolically showcasing an individual’s identity (Park et al., 2010). The brands that reflect an individual’s aspirations and ideal future self will successfully create self-connection and brand attachment (Thomson et al., 2005). Thus, symbolic representation by the aspirational brands creates brand attachment (Park et al., 2006). It has been identified in the luxury branding context that this emotional value gives a complete and memorable ownership experience (Brun and Castelli, 2008). Hence, engaging with the customers at the emotional level is a critical factor for the success of luxury brands (Kapferer and Bastien, 2009). In addition, researchers find brand attachment to provide added value, as it commands a higher and sustainable relationshiprelated behaviors (So et al., 2013). Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen (2010) find brand identity as an antecedent of affective brand love. Brand identity is defined as the degree to which individual perceives that self-image is overlapping with brand image, and brand is expressing individual’s self-identity. Brand love conceptualized by Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen (2010) is conceptually similar to emotional brand attachment conceptualized by Thomson et al. (2005), as affect is the common dimension of both the constructs. According to Moussa (2015), brand love and attachment are different names of the same concept. Hence, theoretically, brand aspiration (that includes identity signaling) is expected to be an antecedent of brand attachment. Researchers find an individual’s aspiration toward an object to influence his/her motivation toward possessing the object (Kasser and Ryan, 1996; Kim et al., 2003; Sheldon et al., 2001). This in turn leads to behavioral intentions or commitment. Morgan and Hunt (1994) state that “commitment is an exchange partner believing that an ongoing relationship with another partner (here brand) is so important as to warrant maximum efforts at maintaining it” (p. 23). Thus, commitment is both attitudinal and behavioral. To support the argument, Cailleux et al. (2009) state that firms are gradually shifting their corporate branding focus from building social status to customer emotional attachment in an effort to cultivate enduring customer commitment. In Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Theoretical understanding of extrinsic aspirational elements in luxury brand consumption context Extant research finds perceived difference between mass and class to act as an antecedent of increasing demand for certain luxury products (bandwagon effect) in the context of luxury brand consumption (Kastanakis and Balabanis, 2012). The relationship between individual’s interdependent self-concept and bandwagon luxury consumption is significantly mediated by status-seeking predispositions (Kastanakis and Balabanis, 2012). If the status-seeking tendency is high, individuals would be more aspired to buy luxury brands. Consumption and display of luxury goods generate a sense of esteem of the consumer, apart from satisfying functional utility (Shukla, 2010). Thus, a person with a high self-esteem is more likely to aspire for a luxury brand and perceived ability of the luxury brand to satisfy his/her esteem needs, and this would be an important dimension of luxury brand aspiration. According to Bian and Forsythe (2012), an important component of individual’s social function attitude toward a luxury brand is the perceived degree to which the luxury brand helps to communicate individual’s self-identity to the society. Thus, self-identity signaling should be an integral component of the individual’s luxury brand aspiration. Prior literature states that the consumption of luxury brands is largely determined by social function attitudes, as individuals want to portray their social standing through luxury consumption (Wilcox et al., 2009). Thus, the extent to which a luxury brand could help a consumer gain social recognition should be a dimension of luxury brand aspiration. Past research also finds individualistic consumers to focus more on personal achievement (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2004). Besides, the relation between self-directed symbolic value and overall luxury value perceptions is stronger among individualistic consumers compared to collectivist (Shukla and Purani, 2012). Thus, perceived achievement signaling ability of a brand should be a dimension of luxury brand aspiration. Wealth, image and popularity dimensions of the existing extrinsic aspirational motivation scale (Kasser and Ryan, 1993, 1996) to a large extent represent need for self-esteem through accumulating wealth, need for projecting a favorable identity or image and need for gaining recognition, respectively. Based on the literature review, we define consumer’s luxury brand aspiration as the individual’s yearning to consume a luxury brand that has the perceived ability to signal specific extrinsic aspirational elements, namely, self-identity, achievement, self-esteem to the environment and providing social recognition. 467 Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) luxury branding context, it is inferred that when brands possess symbolic benefits reflecting customers’ actual or ideal self-concepts, customers can develop a sense of oneness with the brand, whereby they establish an emotional connection with them (Fournier, 1998; Malär et al., 2011). As customers get highly involved with the brand, they are more likely to develop emotional attachment toward it. In this manner, customers are expected to support a relationship with brands that are more affirmatively embedded in their minds (Fournier, 1998). Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen (2010) empirically show that brand identity is an antecedent of brand loyalty. It has already been explained that brand identity is the degree to which individual perceives his/her self-image to overlap with the brand image leading to the brand expressing the individual’s self-identity. Thus, luxury brand aspiration (that includes identity signaling as a dimension) is expected to be an antecedent of attitudinal and behavioral brand commitment. Therefore, it is hypothesized that: H1. Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration has a positive effect on luxury brand attachment. H2. Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration has a positive effect on luxury brand commitment. H5. A conceptual framework depicting the theoretical interrelationships between study constructs is provided in Figure 1. The framework shows the nomological network comprising all the above hypotheses formulated. Scale development process The scale development and validation process consists of several stages as suggested by Churchill (1979). According to Belk et al. (2003), consumer’s desire for an object gradually diminishes when the object is available and significantly used by the consumer. From this perspective, consumer’s luxury brand aspiration might also get satiated because of usage. Keeping this notion in mind, at every survey stage, each respondent was asked to fill the study questionnaire considering any one luxury brand in mind in any product (good and/or service) category that he/she did not consume until the survey, but strongly aspired to consume. At the beginning of all study stages, the respondents were briefly introduced to the meaning of a luxury brand in terms of the perceived ability of the brand to signal specific extrinsic aspirational elements. It has already been discussed that main purpose of luxury brand consumption is to display or signal elevated status (Truong et al., 2010). New samples were considered at different study stages to enhance the generalizability (Churchill, 1979). After completing all study stages, it was found that all the brands mentioned by the respondents were global brands as per the definition of a global brand given by Ozsomer and Altaras (2008)[2]. The study stages are described with results in the following sections. Few study stages have sub-stages within them. The existing literature on psychology states that individual’s emotional attachment predicts his/her commitment to a relationship (Drigotas and Rusbult, 1992). Thus, commitment is derived from the emotional attachment developed toward the relationship object. When a brand starts offering resources in the service of self-expansion, the consumer tends to be attached to the brand (Park et al., 2010). This brand attachment in turn helps to develop commitment toward the brand (Lacoeuilhe, 2000). The relationship between brand attachment and commitment is supported by Lacoeuilhe and Belaıd¨ (2007), who find attachment toward a brand to lead to attitudinal intention, that is, commitment. Similarly, Thomson et al. (2005) show brand attachment to be an antecedent to brand loyalty or commitment. Therefore, it is hypothesized that: H3. Stage 1: exploring the dimensions of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration: qualitative investigation Objectives Following a grounded theory approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1994), we tried to discover whether the theoretical dimensions of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration (as identified based on literature review) are also grounded in the mind of emerging Luxury brand attachment has a positive effect on luxury brand commitment. When consumers believe that a brand symbolizes an ideal future self, it leads to the development of brand attachment (Park et al., 2006). Brand attachment predicts the intention to invest additional resources in the brand such as willingness to pay a price premium (Thomson et al., 2005). Park et al. (2010) show that highly brand-attached consumers actively participate in investing their own resources in the brand. Intent to persist (commitment) and feeling of psychological attachment have positive impacts on relationship building and maintenance (Rusbult and Buunk, 1993). Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen (2010) find brand loyalty or commitment to be an antecedent of active brand engagement, where active brand engagement refers to individual’s willingness to invest additional resources, including money in brand. Thus, brand commitment is a predictor of willingness to pay a price premium. Thus, the next sets of hypotheses are framed as: H4. Luxury brand commitment has a positive effect on intention to pay a price premium. Figure 1 Nomological network for consumers’ luxury brand aspiration construct IS BC H2 H4 SR IPP H3 CLBA SE H1 H5 BA AS Notes: IS = identity signaling; SR = social recognition; SE = self-esteem; AS = achievement signaling; CLBA = consumer’s luxury brand aspiration; BC = brand commitment; BA = brand attachment; IPP = intention to pay a price premium Luxury brand attachment has a positive effect on intention to pay a price premium. 468 Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 market consumers. Strauss and Corbin (1994) suggest comparing the descriptions available in the existing literature with interview descriptions obtained to theoretically sensitize the coding process. Following Strauss and Corbin’s (1994) suggestions, open coding of interview descriptions was conducted to discover the dimensions of consumer’s luxury brand aspirations. As our objective was not to develop a grounded theory model, we restricted our qualitative analysis only to open coding. luxury brand aspirations experienced by Indian respondents were similar to the theoretical dimensions. The coding was done based on mutual discussions among all the researchers involved. Final outcome of the data coding was a list of key expressions reflecting aspiration dimensions that matched well with the theoretical properties of aspiration dimensions. To confirm the trustworthiness of the coding process, the study followed the criteria used by Flint et al. (2002) that include focusing on credibility, transferability, dependability, conformability, integrity, fit, understanding, generality and control. The analysis largely supported the theoretical conceptualization of luxury brand aspiration construct and also supported the dimensions identified through literature review. We next define the dimensions of luxury brand aspiration in detail following Rossiter’s (2002) recommendations for construct definition with supporting quotes obtained from the informants. The selected interview quotes are explained below along with relevant theoretical support. Method A series of in-depth semi-structured interviews was conducted to gather information about the dimensionalities of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration. The study participants were largely recruited through referrals (Arnold and Reynolds, 2003). In total, 55 post-graduate students from a top rated business school in India were asked whether they would be willing to participate in depth interview sessions in return for a small incentive of INR 1,000 (INR – Indian National Rupee) per person and also whether they could provide further references of brand-conscious respondents. The process generated an initial reference list of 33 willing research participants. Professional moderators were used while interviewing and they were given strict guidelines to moderate. Once the researchers felt confident that the respondents satisfied the study requirements (each respondent was required to be passionate about brands in general and aspirant of consuming any particular luxury brand that he/she did not yet consume to be selected for interview), they were formally recruited into the study after administering the screening sheet[3] containing few questions to satisfy the stated requirements. Among 33 administered participations, 15 were found to be finally suitable for interviewing. Each depth interview lasted for approximately 75 min. Interviewing was stopped after 15 participants were interviewed, that is, when the process reached theoretical saturation and no evidence of new insights was found. During data collection, the respondents were probed to speak about their aspirations toward various luxury brands they aspired to own. In the qualitative interview process, each respondent mentioned one or in some cases, more than one aspirational luxury brand. The interviewees were not restricted to only one brand. The probing questions were intended to uncover the feelings associated with aspiring luxury brands or symbolic benefits of those brands. During interview process, whenever the interviewers found informants’ descriptions about luxury brand aspiration dimensions getting supported by prior literature, the probing questions were directed accordingly to get more light on the dimensional properties. The interviews were conducted in luxury shopping malls, respondents’ residences or in university premises. Interview descriptions were audiotaped which then were transcribed and analyzed using open coding method as suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1994). The objective of open coding was to identify key expressions from the transcribed descriptions that were supporting the theoretical descriptions of brand aspiration dimensions obtained through prior literature review. According to Strauss and Corbin (1994), coding can be theoretically sensitized, in addition to being exploratory depending on research objective. Objective of this interviewing stage was to validate the extent to which Results Among the 15 participants, 7 were male. Age of the participants ranged from 21 to 27 years. The average annual family income of the participants was INR 2,639,716. The qualitative findings are presented below with supporting quotes. Identity signaling Identity signaling is defined as the extent to which an individual believes that the luxury brand for which he/she aspires would signal individual’s self-identity to the environment. In branding, this definition refers to the fact that the customers would show high aspiration to consume those luxury brands that they would prefer to be identified as users. This identification gives a sense of prestige (Vigneron and Johnson, 1999) or enhances the perceived social status of individual, as evident from the descriptions given by our informants. The following quotes emphasize the role of identity signaling in consumer’s luxury brand aspiration context: My passion is to buy branded watches. I will love to buy a Piaget watch. At present, I do not have that much money to spend. After I get a promotion in my job, I must buy it. Honestly telling that I will like to show others that I can afford to wear it. Piaget is one of those watches which show the class (Informant’s age: 28; gender: male). When I will get a better job and start getting good salary, the first thing I will do is buying a Harley bike. I aspire to be a member of Harley Owners Group. This is my dream. (Informant’s age: 31; gender: male). I am very passionate about luxury car since my school days. I dream that one day, I would be able to own a Porsche. I will be the happiest person if the day truly comes. I aspire to buy it, because the real pride lies in being different from the mass and belonging to a unique class (Informant’s age: 28; gender: female). The above descriptions show that the individual aspires to be identified as a user of such a brand that would provide him/her a special identity possibly in terms of being a member of an esteemed group of brand users. The descriptions of identity signaling are supported by the social identity theory (Tajfel, 1981). This theory states that an individual derives social part of his/her identity from the membership in a social group leading to the development of favorable in-group and discriminating out-group (Tajfel, 1981). 469 Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 Social recognition Social recognition is defined as the extent to which an individual believes that the brand which he/she aspires for would enhance and maintain his/her recognition in a social environment. Marketing literature supports the inclusion of social recognition or gaining popularity as an aspect of extrinsic aspiration (Truong et al., 2010). Individuals aspire to possess special objects purposefully for satisfying their extrinsic motives and, particularly, to gain social recognition (Kasser and Ryan, 1996). For example, One female informant (age: 45) explained: constructions of selves. Esteem need is satisfied through this self-expansion. Achievement signaling The achievement signaling dimension was also very predominant during qualitative exploration. Achievement signaling in brand aspiration domain is defined as the extent to which a consumer believes that the brand he/she aspires to own would stand out as a signal of his/her personal achievement. Aspirational object would act as a signal of personal achievement (Kim et al., 2003). Individual can aspire to consume a brand, given that the brand showcases one’s achievement and growth (Truong et al., 2010). The following quotes from our informants represent the achievement signaling aspect of aspirational brand consumption: Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) It matters a lot whether people are admiring me. When I go out, it’s very difficult to show who I am in front of people, particularly those who do not know me. When the brand is there with me, others would respect me based on the value of the brand I possess. Therefore, I aspire for those brands which would make others recognizing me. Social recognition dimension is supported by selfdetermination theory (SDT) and inference theory (Huber and McCann, 1982). The SDT is a macro-theory of human motivation concerned with the development and functioning of personality within a social context (Ryan and Deci, 2000). This theory states that human beings are active organisms possessing inherent motivation toward psychological growth and development (Sheldon, 2004). This growth and development is achieved through satisfying extrinsic aspirational goals, namely, social recognition. Similarly, the inference theory states that people generate judgements about unknown objects based on certain cues that are derived from the basic information about the objects available to them (Huber and McCann, 1982). Consumers tend to believe that few special brands that they aspire for would work as a prime cue based on which others would judge them, and, ultimately, the brand would help them to get social recognition. I aspire to get my business administration degree from Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad. I will be really proud if I am able to get into this highly reputed management institute. It will give me a strong sense of accomplishment. Now, I am preparing very hard to crack the entrance test (gender: male; age: 55). I feel that doing engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology is a real achievement in life, as there is no other engineering college in our country which is as prestigious as Indian Institute of Technology (gender: male; age: 24). The dimension of achievement signaling is supported by the self-concept theory, which focuses on the congruence between consumer’s self-concept, brand/product preference and individual choices (Helgeson and Supphellen, 2004). By extending the self-concept theory to branding, it is argued that a consumer would aspire to consume a brand more when his/her self-concept would be congruent with the aspiring brand’s perceived symbolic image such that the image congruence would signal personal achievement. In the qualitative stage, majority (15 out of 19: 77 per cent of the instances) of the brands discussed by the informants were global and high priced luxury brands. Also, 15 luxury brands were located: car (five), bike (two), electronic gadget (two), institute (two) and watch (four), and they were all global brands. The numbers in the parentheses show the number of brands mentioned in the respective product category. For example, two informants talked about their aspirational feelings towards two electronic brands, namely, Apple and Sony. Though few respondents mentioned more than one brand, everyone emphasized on one particular brand. The overall qualitative results show that consumer’s aspirational feelings for luxury brands in an emerging market tend to have positive associations with perceived brand globalness, as all the brands mentioned were global. Therefore, it is expected that global brands would most probably increase the aspiration levels and subsequent intentions to consume in emerging market consumers. Self-esteem The third brand aspiration dimension validated during open coding is self-esteem. In brand aspiration domain, self-esteem is defined as the extent to which individual believes that the aspirational brand would help to enhance his/her self-esteem or satisfy esteem need. Prior literature supports that self-esteem is a part of human ego and is largely reflected in aspirations (Pyszczynski et al., 2004; Sheldon, 2004). Self-esteem is a psychological need which plays a crucial role in creating goal pursuit and considered as an aspirational dimension (Sheldon et al., 2001). For example, one informant (gender: female; age: 32) explained about her “Beetle” car: More than anything else, I aspire to own this brand, as it would create a very positive impression of me in front of others which make me proud of myself. Another informant (gender: male; age: 42) said about his Apple iPhone: Stage 2: initial item generation and item reduction Objective of Sub-stage 2a To develop a parsimonious and representative scale of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration, we followed the scale development procedure proposed by Churchill (1979). The objective of the second stage was to generate an exhaustive item pool to tap the domains of the construct supported by theoretical conceptualizations and exploratory research. Accordingly, two focus group discussions were conducted I surely know that this brand has a positive impact on what others think of me, and it improves the way society views me. This dimension of self-esteem is consistent with selfexpansion theory (Aron et al., 2005), which states that a central human motive is the desire to rapidly expand one’s self through acquiring resources, perspectives and identities from loved others. The theory also offers the motivational view that people possess an inherent motivation for self-expansion or a desire to incorporate others (here, the brand) into their 470 Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 with 18 participants (10 and 8 in each) selected from three different luxury hotels. Belk et al. (2003) state two important propositions: 1 scarcity or unavailability of the object of desire increases the desire; and 2 desire or aspiration to consume is fueled by constructive transgression. freedom to add items to the list if they felt that the list was not exhaustive. Result of Sub-stage 2b Out of 50 participants, 27 were males. Age range of the participants was from 23 to 29 years. Average annual family income of the participants was INR 5,386,292. This exercise resulted in the generation of 10 additional items, forming a list of 55 items. The content validity exercise was then repeated for the ten additional concepts. To reduce the item pool, items with lesser than 50 per cent of the agreement to the assigned dimensional classification of aspirations were eliminated reducing the list to 34 items. Constructive transgression refers to the social phenomenon of few individuals in a society getting engaged in consuming excess (extra luxury) that elevated them above the general ordinary mass, and this transgression provides a feeling of uniqueness to those engaged in consuming excess. It was assumed that people already consuming luxury, such as staying in luxury hotels, are the appropriate transgressors who would perceive themselves unique compared to the general mass, and this feeling of uniqueness would further intensify luxury brand aspirations. Simultaneously, the scarcity factor was also assured, as each respondent was asked to respond keeping any particular luxury brand in mind that he/she aspired to consume, but did not consume yet because of any constraint. In summary, an individual who already experienced some luxury (e.g. staying in a luxury hotel) is likely to be more aspirant to experience greater luxury (transgressor criterion), and non-experience of a particular luxury brand is likely to fuel the craving for the brand (scarcity criterion). Thus, in all study stages, researchers tried to satisfy the above mentioned scarcity and transgressor criteria. Objective of Sub-stage 2c Objective of this sub-stage was to achieve further item purification. Method of Sub-stage 2c The resultant item pool was then judged by two marketing professors from an Indian university after prior briefing. Result of Sub-stage 2c Following their opinion, 3 items were further eliminated, resulting in 31 items. Objective of Sub-stage 2d Objective of this sub-stage was to achieve further item purification. Method of Sub-stage 2d Thereafter, 180 executive students studying post-graduate program in a large business school in the country were selected, and each of them was asked to think about a luxury brand which the respondent had not consumed, but aspired to consume. The tuition fee of the business school is considered among the highest five in the country, thus satisfying the transgressor criterion. Each respondent was asked to indicate the extent to which the items in the questionnaire captured his/her aspiration level on a seven-point scale (1 ⫽ “not at all” to ⫽ 7 “a very large extent”) toward a particular self-selected luxury brand. At the beginning of the questionnaire, each respondent had to mention the name of the brand selected. Method of Sub-stage 2a During focus group discussions, the participants were first introduced to the meaning of luxury brand aspirations by clarifying the definitions of luxury consumption and aspirations. Subsequently, the participants were allowed to discuss their personal experiences with respect to aspirational brands, including their typical feelings and beliefs about them. Results of Sub-stage 2a Out of 18 participants, 7 were males. Age range of 18 participants was from 22 to 31 years. Average annual family income of the participants was INR 6,286,291. A detailed text analysis of the transcripts resulted in the generation of 35 initial indicators capturing four aspiration dimensions. Thereafter, the literature review (Kasser and Ryan, 1996; Truong et al., 2010; Vigneron and Johnson, 1999) was used to add more indicators. Cumulatively, these exercises resulted in the generation of 45 initial items covering the four different brand aspiration dimensions. Result of Sub-stage 2d Age of respondents ranged from 23 to 28 years. Also, 40 per cent (72) of respondents were males. Average annual family income of the respondents was INR 2,753,974. Based on the ratings obtained, we deleted two items that achieved a mean rating below four. Objective of Sub-stage 2b The objective in this stage was to examine the content validity of the items generated in the previous stage. Objective of Sub-stage 2e Objective of this sub-stage was to achieve more item purification. Method of Sub-stage 2b To accomplish this objective, we recruited 50 post-graduate marketing students from a prestigious business school as respondents. After explaining the definition of aspirational brand to the respondents, they were asked to judge whether each item successfully captures any facet of aspiration; a dichotomous (yes or no) response was sought for each item from each respondent. Each respondent received one of the three versions of the questionnaire in which the items were presented in different orders. Respondents were also given the Method of Sub-stage 2e The 29 items retained from Sub-stage 2d were subjected to common factor analyses with oblique rotation based on the responses obtained from Sub-stage 2d. Common factor analysis was applied on the presumption that the dimensions extracted would be non-orthogonal in nature. Item-to-total correlation was computed for each item following the approach suggested by Churchill (1979). Items that did not have corrected item-to-total correlations above 0.50 were deleted as suggested by Zaichkowsky (1985). 471 Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 Results of Sub-stage 2e This process generated a final set of 14 items. Common factor analysis with oblique rotation generated a four-factor solution. Only the factors having eigenvalues of 1 or greater than 1 were considered, and 0.4 loading cut-off was decided. Tables I and II show the accepted and excluded items, respectively, and their loadings on respective factors. Five items indicating identity signaling loaded highly on the first factor. Similarly, four items reflecting social recognition, three indicators of self-esteem and two indicators of achievement signaling loaded highly on the second, third and fourth factor, respectively. All four factors cumulatively explained 71.36 per cent of common variance. All four factors had eigenvalues greater than 1. The correlations among the extracted factors (brand aspiration dimensions) were all positive and statistically significant at 5 per cent level (identity signaling and social recognition, r ⫽ 0.43; identity signaling and self-esteem, r ⫽ 0.38; identity signaling and achievement signaling, r ⫽ 0.25; social recognition and self-esteem, r ⫽ 0.33; social recognition and achievement signaling, r ⫽ 0.34; self-esteem and achievement signaling, r ⫽ 0.44). All correlation values are modest in magnitude, which imply that the dimensions are correlated but, at the same time, discriminant from each other. Objective of Sub-stage 2f Objective of this sub-stage was to confirm the higher-order structure of brand aspiration construct based on the data collected from 180 respondents. Method of Sub-stage 2f We examined the latent structure of the aspiration scale. Following its theoretical basis, the scale should exhibit the latent structure of a higher-order factor model in which the Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Table I Luxury brand aspiration measures with loadings: retained during EFA Aspiration items Identity signaling The brand makes me stand out from the crowd The brand appropriately showcases my identity Social status identification Portrayal of personality Provides royal status Imparts recognition Introduction to other Appreciation from others, Get noticed amongst the elite An elevated sense of self-respect An elevated sense of pride Brings fulfillment of goals Role model portrayal Portray what I have achieved Dimensions Social recognition Self-esteem Achievement signaling 0.870 0.698 0.575 0.508 0.504 0.876 0.688 0.660 0.576 0.800 0.618 0.596 0.798 0.501 Table II Luxury brand aspiration measures with loadings: deleted during EFAa Dimensions Aspiration items Identity signaling The brand makes me feel that I am unique The brand makes me feel that I am someone uncommon Shows my richness Makes me feel like a king People look at me Gives me a class image People admire me when I use it Others start obeying me People perceive me as great An elevated sense of self gratification An elevated sense of gravity I feel like I can do anything Gives me the feel of touching the sky Portrays how great I am Portrays that I am a hero Social recognition Self-esteem Achievement signaling 0.370 0.432 0.246 0.366 0.321 0.249 0.249 0.436 0.296 0.311 0.328 0.495 0.217 0.412 0.362 Note: a Items were deleted because of having loading lesser than 0.50 472 Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 reflective first-order correlated factors (identity signaling, social recognition, self-esteem and achievement signaling) should collectively indicate a higher-order brand aspiration factor. To examine the same, we compared the hypothesized second-order brand aspiration model reflected by four correlated first-order dimensions (Model 1) with other two competing models (Models 2 and 3). In Model 2, all 14 scale items loaded directly on a single first-order luxury brand aspiration construct. Model 3 was same as Model 1, only except for the fact that first-order dimensions were un-correlated. The study used sample covariance matrices to test three proposed models. made to be inter-correlated. The second model consisted of all 14 items indicating one first-order aspiration construct. The results supported that four-dimensional measurement model (first model) fit was reasonably well (␹2/df ⫽ 3.02; CFI ⫽ 0.95; NFI ⫽ 0.92; and RMSEA ⫽ 0.052) compared to the single factor solution (␹2/df ⫽ 4.75; CFI ⫽ 0.93; NFI ⫽ 0.91; and RMSEA ⫽ 0.071). The four-factor structure provided significantly better fit compared to the single factor model. The preliminary support for the convergent validity of brand aspiration construct was obtained by assessing the magnitudes and significance levels of the indicators or observed variables of all four aspiration dimensions in the first model. The examination revealed that all standardized indicator loadings were statistically significant (p ⬍ 0.01) and positive (ranging from 0.71 to 0.95) and exceeded the minimum cut-off level of 0.50 (Hair et al., 2006). The discriminant validity tests were performed next. Discriminant validity of the scale dimensions was examined using the procedure suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981) by comparing the average variance extracted (AVE) values with the squared correlation between all possible pairs of aspiration dimensions in the first model. All AVE values exceeded the squared correlation values between respective pairs of aspiration dimensions, supporting discriminant validity of the dimensions. Finally, we assessed the reliability of each luxury brand aspiration dimension in the first model by computing composite reliability (CR) scores based on the standardized factor loadings and error variances. CR values exceeded 0.80 for all the dimensions. Overall, the analyses established reliability or internal consistency of aspiration dimensions. Table IV presents AVEs, reliability estimates and inter-dimensional correlation values. Results of Sub-stage 2f All standardized path coefficients in all three models, including dependent and correlation paths, were positive and significant at 5 per cent level. The fit statistics of each model were subsequently examined. Results are shown in Table III. The comparative model fit indices given in Table III show that Model 1 achieved the best fit compared to Models 2 and 3. This supports the higher-order non-orthogonal structure of brand aspiration construct. Stage 3: construct validation Objective of Stage 3 Objective of this stage was to examine convergent and discriminant validity of luxury brand aspiration scale. Method of Stage 3 In Stage 3, we conducted a survey among 276 non-student respondents from three different luxury hotels in India following a convenience sampling. Luxury hotels were selected as study venue to satisfy the transgression criterion. The logic behind the same has been mentioned in a previous section. Each respondent was rewarded with an INR 500 food coupon (that could be used at the same hotel) for participating in the survey. In the questionnaire, each respondent rated 14 luxury brand aspiration measures keeping any one luxury brand in mind that he/she did not consume, but highly aspired to consume. At the end of the survey, 235 usable questionnaires were used for the analysis. Stage 4: Nomological and predictive validity testing Objective of Stage 4 The objective of this stage of the study was to test the hypotheses formulated and to examine the nomological and predictive validity of the scale. Method of Stage 4 The study participants consisted of 358 consumers from five top rated luxurious shopping malls in India. Data were collected through mall-intercept interviews. Luxury shopping centers were chosen as survey sites to satisfy transgressor criterion. The responses were collected every day during 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. over a three-week period, including two weekends (covering both the busy days and the slower ones). Each respondent responded to the questionnaire keeping one such brand in mind that he/she did not consume till that time, but highly aspired to consume. Results of Stage 3 Age range of the respondents was 27 to 54 years. In addition, 44 per cent (103) respondents were males. Average annual income of the respondents was INR 2,678,356. Each respondent reported his/her approximate net annual income. To examine the construct validity of luxury brand aspiration scale, the procedure proposed by Gerbing and Anderson (1988) was followed. First, the overall measurement model fit statistics and the standardized residuals of aspiration scale items were examined. Two models were tested. In the first model, all four aspiration dimensions along with their constituent items were Table IV AVE, reliability estimates and inter-correlations of the aspiration dimensions Table III Model fit indices for competing measurement models Competing models ␹2/df CFI NFI RMSEA 1 Model 1 2 Model 2 3 Model 3 1.39 3.62 2.47 0.98 0.91 0.95 0.96 0.89 0.94 0.06 0.11 0.08 Dimensions CR 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 0.80 0.82 0.86 0.89 0.84 0.53 0.59 0.45 0.90 0.43 0.58 0.91 0.49 0.82 Identity signaling Social recognition Self-esteem Achievement signaling Notes: All correlations are significant at 5% significance level; CR ⫽ composite reliability; diagonal elements in italic form show AVE values 473 Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 General discussion of study results Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) The study questionnaire included 14 items measuring luxury brand aspiration, marker variable items[4] and other hypothesized construct scales obtained from the existing literature. The marker variable was consumer impulse buying behavior, adapted from Weun et al. (1997). The items were measured on a four-item seven-point Likert scale (1 ⫽ “strongly disagree” to 7 ⫽ “strongly agree”; ␣ ⫽ 0.85). Brand attachment (BA) scale was adapted from Park et al. (2010). Brand commitment (BC) was adopted from Tsai (2011). Willingness to pay a price premium scale was adapted from Thomson et al. (2005). All aspiration items were included. All items were measured on a seven-point Likert type scale (1 ⫽ “strongly disagree” to 7 ⫽ “strongly agree”). The scales elicited adequate internal consistency reliability (BA ⫽ 0.82; BC ⫽ 0.88; willingness to pay a price premium ⫽ 0.81; identity signaling ⫽ 0. 82; achievement signaling ⫽ 0.85; self-esteem ⫽ 0. 83 and social recognition ⫽ 0. 87). Throughout all the survey stages, our respondents mentioned luxury brands majorly located in product categories such as car (92), motorbike (87), watch (66), hotel and restaurant (43), theme park (39), jewelry (22) and luxury real estate (17). The product categories stated were mentioned in higher frequencies, and the numbers given in the parentheses denote the frequencies with which brands located in the respective product category were mentioned. Parent companies of 73 per cent of total number of different brands mentioned in different questionnaire surveys are headquartered in developed countries such as the USA and UK. Parent companies of remaining 27 per cent of brands mentioned are headquartered in India. However, all the brands mentioned by our respondents enjoy global presence. This shows that the notion of luxury brand aspiration grounded in Indian consumers’ minds is highly related to developed country of origin of brand (Zhou et al., 2010) and globalness (Ozsomer and Altaras, 2008) of the brand. Almost all the brands mentioned were very expensive. Based on the relative differences in the market prices of luxury brands mentioned in any product category, about 11 per cent of total brands mentioned can be categorized as less luxurious or masstige brands. Market prices of these masstige brands were lesser than the average market prices of all different brands mentioned in a product category, as calculated by the researchers. According to Vigneron and Johnson (1999), prestige brands are perceived to be expensive by normal price standards. Normal price standard would vary across individuals depending on individual’s socioeconomic status. Results of Stage 4 Out of 358 respondents, 47 per cent (167) were males. Age range of the respondents was from 26 to 49 years. Average annual family income of the respondents was INR 1,519,628. Before testing the hypothesized framework, we assessed whether common method bias had influenced the relationships between the hypothesized constructs. To assess the same, comprehensive confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) marker variable technique proposed by Williams et al. (2010) was used. The results provide preliminary evidence that method bias did not significantly contaminate the relationships between the hypothesized constructs. Next, the measurement model fit was assessed. The measurement model fit indices revealed a good fit to the data (␹2/df ⫽ 3.15; CFI ⫽ 0.96; NFI ⫽ 0.93; SRMR ⫽ 0.06, RMSEA ⫽ 0.046). The next step was to test the nomological network through analyzing two competing structural models. In the first case (disaggregate, non-controlled method effect), the model was fitted to the nomological network using all the items indicating the respective constructs without controlling for method effects. In the second case (aggregate, method effect controlled), we fitted the model after controlling for the method variance. The method variance was controlled through CFA marker variable technique in which the method factor loadings to the study constructs were set free. Using LISREL 8.72, we extracted the latent factor scores (while keeping method variance under control). Using these factor scores for all the constructs, the second model was analyzed. The results of these two structural model tests suggest that the second or controlled model fits the data better compared to the non-controlled first model, as shown in Table V. Moreover, every hypothesized path was significant across both the models. Table V shows the model fit indices and standardized path coefficient values. The results show that in both the models, all hypothesized path coefficients were positive and significant at 5 per cent level, supporting all hypotheses formulated. Thus, nomological and predictive validity was established. Theoretical contributions The findings contribute to the existing body of the CCT (Truong et al., 2010). Based on the overall findings, aspirational luxury brand could be defined as a brand that is perceived to be able to signal individual’s desired self-identity, personal achievement, esteem and social recognition. Vigneron and Johnson (1999) define luxury brand as the extreme level of prestige brand. The current article extends this definition provided by Vigneron and Johnson (1999) by conceptualizing luxury brand aspiration as a perceptual construct representing the perceived ability of a luxury brand to signal certain extrinsic aspirational elements. Hence, an individual would aspire to consume a luxury brand depending on the perceived ability of the brand to signal aspirational elements. All brands mentioned by our study informants were global (Ozsomer and Altaras, 2008). This study shows that luxury and globalness (Ozsomer and Altaras, 2008) of brand are highly related in the minds of Indian luxury consumers. This finding gets support from the recent research conducted in the Indian context that there exists an increasing trend of Western acculturation (Sarkar et al., 2015). Another theoretical insight from the current study is that extrinsic aspirational elements, rather than intrinsic aspirational factors, are more relevant for luxury brand aspiration. However, this might not hold well across cultures. One probable reason behind getting empirical support for luxury brand aspiration dimensions focused on signaling extrinsic aspirational elements might be the emerging market study context. Prior study in the context of emerging market shows that emerging 474 Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 Table V Results of the nomological model testing Hypothesized paths Luxury brand Aspiration ¡ brand attachment Brand aspiration ¡ brand commitment Brand attachment ¡ brand commitment Brand attachment ¡ willingness to pay price premium Brand commitment ¡ willingness to pay price premium Structural model fit statistics Method effects not controlled Standardized path coefficients Method effects controlled Standardized path coefficients 0.38ⴱ 0.31ⴱ 0.51ⴱ 0.61ⴱ 0.67ⴱ 2 ␹ /df ⫽ 1.71; CFI ⫽ 0.97; NFI ⫽ 0.95; SRMR ⫽ 0.08; and RMSEA ⫽ 0.063 0.42ⴱ 0.57ⴱ 0.54ⴱ 0.64ⴱ 0.71ⴱ 2 ␹ /df⫽ 1.33; CFI ⫽ 0.98; NFI ⫽ 0.96; SRMR ⫽ 0.07; and RMSEA ⫽ 0.057 Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Note: ⴱ p ⬍ 0.05 market consumers significantly value social signaling aspect of brand (Zhou et al., 2010). In all phases of the current study, the origin of majority of luxury brands mentioned by the Indian respondents was developed foreign countries, as already explained. This finding is contrary to the findings obtained by Zhou and Hui (2003), who found the opposite in case of China. However, our study findings reveal Indian consumers’ increasing tendency to buy foreign country-originated luxury brands, and this gets support from Zhou et al.’s (2010) study conducted in the same Chinese market context. Zhou et al.’s (2010) study shows that perceived brand foreignness positively influences social signaling value of the brand, somewhat similar to what we found in India. Another recent study conducted in the context of emerging Indian market supports that Indian consumers are increasingly becoming the devotees of developed foreign country-originated brands, indicating their increasing acculturation to global consumer culture (Sarkar et al., 2015). The last theoretical contribution of this study is the successful validation of a comprehensive (14 items) multi-dimensional (four) scale measuring consumer’s luxury brand aspiration. The findings also showed consumer’s luxury brand aspiration to predict intention to pay a price premium through the mediation of brand attachment and brand commitment. The last theoretical contribution of this study is the successful validation of a comprehensive (14 items) multi-dimensional (four) scale measuring consumer’s luxury brand aspiration. The findings also showed consumer’s luxury brand aspiration to predict intention to pay a price premium through the mediation of brand attachment and brand commitment. that a luxury brand should possess. Practitioners can evaluate the aspirational strengths of their brand offerings with respect to the competitor offerings using the scale validated. In this study, identity signaling has emerged as the strongest constituent of the luxury brand aspiration scale. Luxury brand marketers should understand the nature of self-identities desired by the target customers that the brand should be able to provide. In some situations, managers can first create a unique brand image so that a pool of customers will be aspiring to use the brand to acquire that unique identity. In different country contexts, the relative importance of each aspiration dimension with respect to others might be different. Thus, luxury brand marketers should empirically test and compare the scores obtained on various aspiration dimensions in the context of particular market before developing aspiration-inducing marketing strategies. The results of the nomological model show that brand aspirations generate brand attachment and commitment. Both attachment and commitment are already recognized as highly desirable branding constructs and play pivotal roles in motivating the target consumers’ willingness to pay a price premium to buy the brand. The relationships between different aspiration dimensions and the outcome constructs (attachment and commitment) can be significantly different depending on cultural contexts. Luxury brand managers should understand these differences before formulating aspirational brand positioning strategies. Limitations and future research scopes The model needs to be validated in emerging market contexts other than India, such as Brazil, Russia, China or South Africa of the BRICS nations. This would lead to more generalizable results because of the fact that each emerging economy has its own idiosyncrasies. It is also important to test the roles played by various socio-psychological moderators that can moderate the influences of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration on the desirable marketing outcomes. One such moderator could be the individual’s attachment style. It might be especially important to consider individual’s attachment orientation as a factor that can moderate the influence of individual’s luxury brand aspiration on brand attachment, as prior research shows that the influences of brand personality on brand outcomes are moderated by consumer’s attachment style (Swaminathan et al., 2009). The differential influences of various luxury brand aspiration dimensions on the outcome variable (intention to pay a price premium) should also be examined both in case of global and local brands. In the current study, all the brands selected by the Managerial implications The present study has several managerial implications. Luxury brand consumers perceive that luxury brands would effectively signal self-identity and achievement, boost self-esteem and enhance social recognition. This perception would generate the willingness to pay a premium price through eliciting brand attachment and/or commitment. The willingness to pay a premium price is a highly desired luxury brand marketing outcome, as luxury brands are mostly priced at a premium. As such, the dimensional structure of the luxury brand aspiration scale validated provides valuable insights into the actionable factors on which luxury brand marketers should focus to create brand aspiration. In addition, the dimensions of the scale provide a useful checklist of the perceived symbolic aspirational attributes 475 Consumer’s luxury brand aspiration Journal of Product & Brand Management Sreejesh S., Abhigyan Sarkar and Subhadip Roy Volume 25 · Number 5 · 2016 · 465–478 informants were global or non-local brands. Hence, the validity of luxury brand aspiration scale in case of local brands needs to be tested. It is also important to examine whether aspiration dimensions relevant for foreign country-originated brands are equally relevant for locally originated brands (Zhou et al., 2010). 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Downloaded by GLA University At 04:05 07 January 2017 (PT) Notes 1 www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/03/06/indiabecomes-the-best-performing-emerging-market/ 2 Ozsomer and Altaras (2008) define global brands as those “that have widespread regional/global awareness, availability, acceptance, and demand and are often found under the same name with consistent positioning, personality, look, and feel in major markets enabled by centrally coordinated marketing strategies and programs” (p. 1). 3 To achieve brevity, the authors have not given more details about screening and selection procedure. Details are available from authors’ side on request. 4 This is mainly because of the concern that the relationships between the constructs might be contaminated by method variance, which might arise because of the use of self-reports as a measurement method. Consumer impulse buying behavior was used as the marker variable. 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(2003), “Symbolic value of the foreign products in the People’s Republic of China”, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 36-58. Zhou, L., Yang, Z. and Hui, M.K. (2010), “Non-local or local brands? A multi-level investigation into confidence in brand origin identification and its strategic implications”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 202-218. About the authors Dr Sreejesh S. is Assistant Professor of quantitative methods & marketing at School of Management Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India. His main research interests include brand management, services marketing, online marketing & advertising. His publications have appeared in: Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Internet Research, Journal of Product and Brand Management, British Food Journal, Tourism Review, Management Research Review, Young Consumers, Indian Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing etc. In addition to chapter contributions in books and case study developments, he has also authored books of international repute with Pearson India and Springer International. Sreejesh S. is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected] Dr Abhigyan Sarkar completed his PhD in branding area from ICFAI University, Dehradun, in 2012. At present, he is working as an Assistant Professor in marketing area at Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, India. His research interests include consumer-brand relationship, brand love and brand sacralization. Articles authored by him have appeared in reputed international journals such as Journal of Brand Management, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Journal of Customer Behavior, The Marketing Review, Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing and Young Consumers. He served as ad hoc reviewer for journals sucha s Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Management Research Review, Journal of Consumer Marketing, International Journal of Emerging Markets, Journal of Asia Business Studies and Journal of Customer Behavior. Dr Subhadip Roy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing, Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur, India. He has a PhD in marketing management, and his areas of teaching and research interest are brand management, strategic management, marketing communications and marketing research. He has published research papers in national and international journals of repute. For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website: www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm Or contact us for further details: [email protected] 478