Prestige-Seeking Consumer Behavior on Luxury Fashion Branded Accessories - Essay Example

The paper "Prestige-Seeking Consumer Behavior on Luxury Fashion Branded Accessories" is a good example of an essay on marketing. In Thailand, it is very common to see people wear luxury branded fashion accessories depending on the fashion trends and their social statuses. More young people are increasingly dreaming of owning luxury items at least once in their lifetime. They have been caught up in fashion trends involving luxury brands, acquiring fashion advice and information from the media and both local and international celebrities who act as fashion role models for most young people in Thailand.

This group of young people is highly motivated by luxury fashion accessories because of the social status accorded to individuals wearing these luxury items (Fionda and Moore, 2008). Luxury fashion accessories are also highly coveted throughout the middle-class Thai who also want to attain higher status by sporting the expensive accessories and also being seen as being aware of the latest fashion trends. For over a decade now, luxury brand marketing has been one of the biggest industries in Thailand and indeed all over the world.

This has been so despite the high costs of accessing these fashion brands and the fact that fashion trends are always changing very fast and it will require one to have huge sums of money for them to be up to date with the latest brands and trends. This has led to business scholars to investigate the motivations that drive people towards these highly expensive luxury brands. Some of the most coveted fashion brands include Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Tiffany, Armani, Burberry, Fendi, and Cartier, which are also globally recognized fashion brands.

Most of the existing literature on purchase behavior of consumers in relation to luxury brands is mostly based on the Western markets. Recent studies have however shown that the Asian market is very different from the Western consumers. This is because they are perceived to be more materialistic and are likely to spend more on luxury items as compared to those in the West (Dubois, Czellar and Laurent, 2005). There is, therefore, higher demand for luxury items in the Eastern countries, including Thailand than in Europe and America.

The other difference between these two markets is that in the West, consumers are attracted to luxury items because of the personal fulfillment they are likely to get from them, whereas in Thailand and the of Asia, individuals are mostly motivated to buy luxury items because of how they will be perceived in the society. Thai people’s buying behavior is based on how society expects people to buy and how other people in society think of you when you own luxury brands. Thai consumers are also influenced to buy luxury brands because of the perceived durability of these items as compared to other cheaper alternatives.

The value attached to the brands is more likely to attract consumers despite the costs of the items. The other key elements that influence the purchase behavior of most consumers are the quality and reputation that these brands have been able to develop over time. Lastly, the marketing strategies used by these brands also play a big role in influencing the purchase behavior of most Thai consumers. This includes using highly regarded celebrities to endorse and promote the latest brands and trends in the fashion industry.

Fans of these celebrities would be attracted to the brands because they would want to look like their most respected and adored celebrities (Degen, 2009).