Understanding the luxury purchase intentions of young consumers: a qualitative analysis

Purpose The study intends to investigate the key purchase drivers of luxury brands in India. Given that a major segment of this target audience is the young consumers, the study focuses on determining these antecedents of luxury purchase from a young Indian consumer lens. Design/methodology/approach The study uses an interpretive research position, employing qualitative techniques in the form of in-depth interviews. In total, 62 respondents were interviewed, and later the transcribed interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Findings The study identifies the three main value dimensions that contribute to the final purchase decision: functional, social and emotional. The study also highlights the importance of Internet and web for luxury brands and how young Indian consumer consumes luxury online. Originality/value Research on luxury brands is still at a nascent stage. Though variables such as economic value, brand origin, social identity, prestige, self-congruity and so on have been examined in the context of luxury brands in prior studies. However, these studies are restricted because either they were product-specific or actual users of luxury brands were not approached as the sample. Most importantly none of these studies reflect the purchase behavior of young consumers in an emerging market, especially India. Given the growth of luxury brands in India, it would be worthwhile to investigate the factors influencing the customer purchase intention of luxury brands in emerging markets.