EXPRESS: Coach vs. Goldlion: The Effect of Socially- versus Personally-Oriented Motives on Consumer Preference for Foreign and Domestic Masstige Brands in Emerging Markets

The fast-growing middle-class in emerging markets is leading luxury brands to adopt an affordable luxury (aka “masstige”) approach to reach the mass market. However, academic research in this promising area is scarce. Focusing on China, the world’s largest emerging market, this research shows a novel pattern of masstige brand consumption: Instead of preferring foreign masstige brands (e.g., Coach) all the time as what can be derived from previous international marketing literature, consumers in emerging markets prefer domestic masstige brands (e.g., Goldlion) when their personally-oriented motives are made salient. In contrast, consumers prefer foreign masstige brands when their socially-oriented motives are made salient. This stems from domestic masstige brands better manifesting self-focused intangible attributes (i.e., the actual value to please oneself), whereas foreign masstige brands are superior in other-focused intangible attributes (i.e., the symbolic value to impress others). Three studies using a multi-method approach provide converging results that support this phenomenon. The findings bring significant contributions to the literature, and offer actionable implications for managers, including positioning and price promotion strategies for masstige brands in emerging markets.