Comparing consumers’ value perception of luxury goods: is national culture a sufficiently explanatory factor?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the grounds for commonalities and differences between customers’ value perception of luxury goods (CVPL) from different countries. An international e-questionnaire was conducted amongst 1,193 respondents. Data from 5 different countries (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Germany, Portugal and Poland) were analyzed with adopted and modified scales from Wiedmann, Henning, and Siebels [2009], Vigneron and Johnson [2004] and Holbrook and Morris [1999, 2006]. The country comparison of functional, social and hedonic value components in CVPL indicates strong cultural grounds for the existing differences, but diverges from similar studies in the field. Differences between CVPL between countries cannot be sufficiently explained by reference to the cultural traits of the specific country setting (for example, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions). CVPL is more an outcome of a subtle interplay between the economic, cultural and religious facets of the given country. Longitudinal studies of dynamic interplay between economic, social and cultural country-specific factors explain the differences and commonalities in a far more precise and detailed manner than referring only to a single category of explanatory factors. Research shows the need for “glocal” marketing strategies within the luxury goods sector when it comes to the local CVPL attributes.