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1. Introduction
The luxury goods market has proliferated and attracted various researchers (Deloitte, 2017; Oe et al., 2015; Tak and Pareek, 2016; Wu et al., 2015). Consumerism has differentiated itself from how it has been perceived in the past as it is no longer merely concerned about the basic needs of human beings, but the creation of self-status in society (Belk, 1988; Chaudhuri and Majumdar, 2006; Hailin et al., 2016). Asian people are increasingly likely to own luxury brands to redefine their identity and social position (Chadha and Husband, 2006), due to a variety of factors, such as the economy, new trade and an increase in spending power. The outcome is that luxury goods are divided into four main categories: fashion, perfumes and cosmetics, wines and spirits and watches and jewelry (Jackson, 2004).
Southeast Asia is widely considered a dominant market for luxury products. In the 1980s, Thailand was considered a niche market for wealthy consumerism after the country emerged as an economic tiger (Chadha and Husband, 2006). This was in part due to the growing number of upper and middle classes, which contributed to the high demand for luxury goods (Wiedmann et al., 2009). Despite the economic crisis in Thailand, luxury products are still sold and featured in both Thai consumers’ and tourists’ purchasing behaviors (Vijaranakorn and Shannon, 2017).
Because there is limited research on luxury goods consumption in different corners of the globe, such as Thailand (Vijaranakorn and Shannon, 2017; Young and Combs, 2016), the main aim of this study is to fill this gap in the research. As it has been acknowledged that the Thai market is one of the “rising tigers (VTICs)” (METI, 2005) and one of the “ASEAN 4” nations, and a huge potential market for luxury products (METI, 2014), focusing on this region is an important contribution to the study of luxury consumption.
1.1 Background and research objectives
In 2012, the luxury handbag market grew after having declined in 2009. Since then, the handbag has made strong strides in becoming one of the most popular items among the various varieties of bags (Euromonitor, 2013). There are numerous drivers that contribute to the growth of the luxury handbag market, e.g. the augmentation of the middle class,...