Imbalanced Value Perception Enhances Secondhand Luxury Purchase: Evidence From Chinese Consumers

Abstract

The secondhand luxury market has experienced significant growth in the past few years. Unlike the well-known knowledge on consumers' luxury consumption, the motivations for purchasing secondhand luxury items remain underexplored. To address this gap, the present study examines how and when Chinese consumers' perceived values affect their purchase intention of secondhand luxury products. We propose that the imbalanced luxury value perception is superior to the balanced one in boosting customer purchase. This hypothesis received convergent support from two studies adopting different methodologies. Specifically, Study 1 was a lab experiment that verified that the imbalance value perception, that is, either a salient financial or symbolic value of a secondhand luxury product, can increase consumers' purchase intention. However, when the two values are highlighted, purchase intention decreases instead. Furthermore, Study 2 adopted a questionnaire survey to test the moderating effects of product risks. Specifically, when the level of product quality (fit) risk is high, a financial-focused (symbolic-focused) imbalanced value perception is most effective in improving consumers' purchase intention. This study contributes to the literature on luxury value and risk perception and benefits the marketing practice of secondhand luxury.