The effects of masstige on loss of scarcity and behavioral intentions for traditional luxury consumers

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An increasing middle-class segment, eager to trade up in product qualities and consumption behavior, is causing a paradigmatic change in how traditional luxury consumers ascribe value to luxury brands. Guided by commodity theory, we develop three experiments where we show that masstige branding (vs non-masstige) leads to reduced behavioral intentions for traditional luxury consumers (Study 1) both for public (Studies 1 and 2) and for private goods (Study 3). These effects are mediated by loss of scarcity of the brand (Studies 2 and 3). Finally, we also examine a boundary condition, self-brand connection (Study 3), and show that high self-brand connection can help mitigate the negative effects of loss of scarcity on traditional consumers’ behavioral intentions. Overall, this study significantly extends research on masstige and luxury branding and offers important implications. For instance, high self-brand connection leads to a greater likelihood of purchasing masstige brands among traditional luxury consumers.