Luxury Fashion Consumers: Comparing High and Low Guilt Groups

Abstract

<p>The rising consumer thirst for "guilt-free consumption" has drawn great attention from both academia and marketers. Although guilt is deemed a problematic emotion for brands as it negatively influences repurchase intention, few researchers have focused on this negative emotion of guilt in the luxury fashion consumption domain. We build upon the framework of Self-Determination Theory and Self-Discrepancy Theory to understand the relationships between consumer values (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic) and emotion. We employ a decision tree analysis to profile luxury fashion consumers into high guilt (HG) and low guilt (LG) groups and identify the significant values and demographics associated with each group. Findings show that all the three intrinsic values (i.e., social-, environmental-consciousness, and seeking personal style) were found significant in profiling HG and LG luxury fashion consumers, whereas only status consciousness was identified as the significant extrinsic value.</p>