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A Review and a Conceptual Framework of Prestige-Seeking Consumer Behavior

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Vigneron, Franck and Lester W. Johnson (1999), “A Review and a Conceptual Framework of Prestige-Seeking Consumer Behavior “,
Academy of Marketing Science Review, 1999 (1), 1-15.

A Review and a Conceptual Framework

of Prestige-Seeking Consumer Behavior

Franck Vigneron
Australian Graduate School of Management
The University of Sydney
Currently located at California State University Northridge
and
Lester W. Johnson
Monash Mt. Eliza Business School
Melbourne Australia

(c) Copyright Franck Vigneron and Lester W. Johnson 1999

• The authors thank the editor Morris B. Holbrook for his helpful
suggestions, as well as three anonymous AMSR reviewers for their useful
comments, on earlier versions of the manuscript.
• Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Professor
Lester W. Johnson, Monash Mt. Eliza Business School, Monash
University, PO Box 2224, Caulfield Jct., Victoria 3161, Australia.

Available @: http://www.amsreview.org
Keywords: prestige, luxury, brand, perception, conspicuousness, uniqueness,
extended-self, hedonic, self-concept, reference groups.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This paper discusses the existing consumer knowledge dealing with aspects of
prestige, and based on this literature, develops a conceptual framework useful
for the analysis of prestige-seeking consumer behavior (PSCB). The purpose of
this paper is to combine the concepts of existing research on prestige
consumers (rather limited) and studies which examined entirely different
aspects of consumer behavior, but coincidentally produce valuable information.
By examining all the sources of prestige consumption in a broad and integrated
way, we shall provide a new perspective that draws from, rather than substitutes
for, previous research.
The objectives of this literature review can be summarized as follows:
• Contribute to the emerging literature on prestige consumption in
examining and defining the key perceived values which form the concept
of prestige.
• Interpret and expand existing consumer behavior models in order to
develop a specific prestige-seeking consumer behavior framework.
• Generate a framework to help marketers build and monitor the prestige
of brands.
• Stimulate further research on prestige-seeking consumer behavior.

Defining Prestige
The distinction between prestige brands and non-prestige brands has been
operationally defined in this paper as the distinction between brands exhibiting
five perceived values, contingent on a particular socioeconomic framework.
1. The consumption of prestige brands is viewed as a signal of status and
wealth, and whose price, expensive by normal standards, enhances the value of
such a signal (perceived conspicuous value).
2. If virtually everyone owns a particular brand it is by definition not
prestigious (perceived unique value).
3. The role-playing aspects and the social value of prestige brands can be
instrumental in the decision to buy (perceived social value).
4. For a brand which satisfies an emotional desire such as a prestige brand, a
product's subjective intangible benefits such as aesthetic appeal is clearly
determining the brand selection (perceived hedonic value).
5. Prestige is derived partly from the technical superiority and the extreme care
that takes place during the production process. For instance, a Rolex Sea-
dweller works 1,220 meters underwater and is hand-crafted (perceived quality
value).
This interpretation recognizes that the definition of prestige may vary for
different people, depending on their socioeconomic background. Translated
into marketing terms, consumers develop prestige meanings for brands based
upon interactions with people (e.g., aspired and/or peer reference group), object
properties (e.g., best quality), and hedonic values (e.g., sensory beauty). Such
interactions occur at personal and societal levels. Thus, a brand's prestige is
created from a multitude of interactions between the consumer and elements
within the environment. Prestige-seeking behavior is the results of multiple
motivations, but in particular the motives of sociability and self-expression. In
sum we define five values of prestige combined with five relevant motivations,
as follows.
VALUES MOTIVATIONS
Conspicuous Veblenian
Unique Snob
Social Bandwagon
Emotional Hedonist
Quality Perfectionist

Conclusion
This review and analysis offers several potential contributions from previous
works, but particularly, extends the exploratory analysis carried out by Dubois
and Laurent (1994) on the attitudes towards the concept of luxury. We suggest
that marketers may use the theoretical framework developed to assess the level
of prestige from of their brands and then use the results to make certain
positioning decisions, such as enhancing low aspects of prestige or evaluating
the result of their latest advertising campaign aiming at improving prestige.

I - INTRODUCTION
As a result of the spectacular growth of luxury markets over the past ten years,
the marketing literature has recently seen substantial interest in the study of
prestige brands. Yet, little is known about how to best market and monitor
prestige brands. Research in the UK by the market research firm Applied
Futures anticipated important social changes as the year 2000 nears (Powderly
and MacNulty 1990). Their research identified that people's needs for
appearances and materialism were increasing. That is, they recognized an
increasing demand for conspicuous and status products. In Australia recent
market reports seem to support this prediction. The Sunday Telegraph reported
a phenomenal increase in Australia's imports of luxury goods, such as increases
in demand for mink furs (+1130.8% change from 1995/96), and diamonds
(+27.5% change from 1995/96). "Australians have embarked on a shopping
spree for imported luxury goods, with sales of diamonds, furs, caviar and
champagne jumping this year" (Rees 1997, 8). The United States' economic
recovery and the fast growing demand in Asia (before the slowdown that
started in 1997) have also contributed to boost the growth of the luxury market
in recent years (Echikson 1994).
Early research on this topic mainly started last century from work of John Rae
(1834), Thorstein Veblen (1899) and Keasbey (1903). Recently the marketing
literature has focused its study of luxury brands, specifically in terms of brand
extensions (Roux 1995), conflict management between mass-marketing and
luxury principles (Bechtold 1991; Roux 1994; Roux and Floch 1996), and
measures of attitudes toward the luxury concept (Dubois and Duquesne 1993b;
Dubois and Laurent 1994). Currently, the luxury market is taking a new
direction with unprecedented demand coming from Asian countries, and thus
research has focused on the cross-cultural comparison of attitudes toward the
luxury concept (Dubois and Laurent 1996; Dubois and Paternault 1997) and the
comparison of motivations between Asian and Western societies (Wong and
Ahuvia 1998). However, these studies have focused on only some aspects of
prestige-seeking consumer behavior. Although researchers agree that the study
of prestige goods is interesting and important, there is currently little agreement
about how best to define, and hence understand, the psychology of prestige-
related consumer behavior. "Status brand strategies are intuitively recognized
by marketing professionals and practitioners. However, there is little literature
on the topic reported in scientific journals" (Andrus, Silver, and Johnson 1986).
The reasons for the diverse definitions and measures of prestige are perhaps due
to the different applications of the term prestige.
As a general rule, prestige products have been used as an example of extreme-
end high-involvement decision making. The assumption is that prestige
products are infrequently purchased, require a higher level of interest and
knowledge, and strongly relate to the person self-concept. For instance,
Rossiter, Percy, and Donovan (1991) stated that the distinction between high
and low involvement was dichotomous rather than continuous, and presented a
second dimension operationalized as "informational-transformational". Their
framework reasonably assumes that prestige products are high-involvement
products, and that transformational brand choices (i.e., sensory gratification,
intellectual stimulation, and particularly social approval) are the primary factors
in selecting a prestige product. Although the involvement model is useful to
distinguish prestige products from normal products, it does not significantly
differentiate the level of prestige among prestige brands (Horiuchi 1984). In
this research three types of brands were categorized as prestigious; upmarket
brands, premium brands, and luxury brands, respectively in an increasing order
of prestige. Therefore, in this paper, we refer to prestige brands when
discussing the brand category whereas we used "luxury" when relating to the
extreme-end of the prestige-brand category (Figure 1). Hence, it was expected
that people would have different perceptions of the level of prestige for the
same brands, and that the overall prestige level of a brand would consider the
prestige perceptions from different people.

Figure 1: Defining Three Levels of Prestige

Rather than treating each perceived value of prestige separately, as it has been
characteristic of much of the writing in the field, we interpreted, combined, and
expanded a set of prestige values into a single framework using a wide range of
sources (Table1). For instance, we used the work from Leibenstein (1950)
which examined three consumer effects on demand. His work suggested that
the utility derived from a product may be enhanced by external effects such as
the quantity of goods consumed by other persons, or relating to the fact that the
product bears a higher rather than a lower price tag. The results from his study,
particularly emphasized the role of interpersonal effects on the consumption of
prestige brands, and derived three main effects. In addition, we extended the
prestige-seeking framework to include two personal effects (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Prestige-Seeking Consumer Behaviors

To operationalize the interpersonal and personal constructs in this framework,

we used the concept of self-consciousness to represent consumers' responses to
social influence (Brinberg and Plimpton 1986). Self-Consciousness is defined
as the consistent tendency of persons to direct attention inward or outward
(Fenigstein, Scheier and Buss 1975). This theory recognizes two types of self-
conscious people. (a) publicly self-conscious persons are particularly concerned
about how they appear to others, and (b) privately self-conscious persons are
more focused on their inner thoughts and feelings. In this case, we assume that
the consumption of prestige may vary according to this susceptibility to others.
This proposition is also consistent with previous research which demonstrated
that individuals' behavior varies across persons depending on their
susceptibility to interpersonal influence (e.g., Bearden, Netemeyer, and Teel
1989). As emphasized by Dubois and Duquesne (1993a, 115), "we believe that
an analysis of the direct relationship between consumers and brands is the key
to an improved understanding of such a market." The initial assumption is that
the private or public value of prestige goods comes from the inherent
communicative status of these items (Dawson and Cavell 1987). Much of the
existing research has emphasized the role that status plays in communicating
information about their possessors and about social relationships (Hyman 1942;
Barkow 1975; Douglas and Isherwood 1979; Dittmar 1994).

II - INTERPERSONAL EFFECTS
A - The Veblen Effect: Perceived Conspicuous Value
In the early 1980s, several researchers conducted studies based on the original
work of Bourne (1957), which focused on the influence of reference groups on
the consumption of prestige brands (Mason 1981 and 1992; Bearden and Etzel
1982). These authors found that the conspicuousness of a product was
positively related to its susceptibility to reference-group influence. For instance,
Bearden and Etzel (1982) concluded that publicly consumed luxury products
were more likely to be conspicuous products than privately consumed luxury
products.
Conspicuous consumption still plays a significant part in shaping preferences
for many products which are purchased or consumed in public contexts (Braun
and Wicklund 1989; Hong and Zinkhan 1995; Bagwell and Bernheim 1996;
Corneo and Jeanne 1997). Thorstein Veblen (1899) many years ago suggested
that conspicuous consumption was used by people to signal wealth and, by
inference power and status. Thus, the utility of prestige products may be to
display wealth and power and one could consider that highly visible prestige
brands would dominate the conspicuous segment of the consumers.
Several authors have also demonstrated that the price of products may have a
positive role in determining the perception of quality (Erickson and Johansson
1995; Lichtenstein, Bloch, and Black 1988; Tellis and Gaeth 1990). These
studies revealed that consumers often used the price cue as evidence for
judging quality when choosing between different brands. In practice, a higher
price would infer a higher level of quality. In addition, research which
suggested that consumers who perceived price as a proxy for quality, also
perceived high prices as a positive indicator suggesting a certain degree of
prestige (Lichtenstein, Ridgway, and Netemeyer 1993). Thus, consumers would
use a price cue as a surrogate indicator of prestige. This argument is further
supported by the marketing literature which recommend the use of "prestige-
pricing strategy" when appealing to status-conscious consumers (Berkowitz,
Kerin, Hartley, and Rudelius 1992, 341; Groth and McDaniel 1993). Although
the construct of conspicuousness has dominated most of the past literature on
prestige, it is important to recognize that conspicuousness only partly explains
the perceived values of prestige products, since a vast majority of these
products are also consumed in private, for example when a person consumes
fine wine at home.
Proposition 1: Veblenian consumers attach a greater importance to price as an
indicator of prestige, because their primary objective is to impress others
(Figure 2).

B - The Snob Effect: Perceived Unique Value

For this reason, the second effect described by Leibenstein (1950), namely the
snob effect, is complex because of its origin on both interpersonal and personal
effects. Clearly, it takes into consideration the personal and emotional desire
when purchasing or consuming prestige brands, but it also influences and is
influenced by other individuals' behaviors (Mason 1992).
In sum, the snob effect may occur during two circumstances: (1) when a new
prestige product is launched, the snob will adopt the product first to take
advantage of the limited number of consumers at that moment, and (2) "snob
effect is in evidence when status sensitive consumers come to reject a particular
product as and when it is seen to be consumed by the general mass of
people" (Mason 1981, 128). Pantzalis (1995) used an extension of the Bass
model to test the effect of limited supply on two populations comparable to the
snob and bandwagon consumers, as described below. His study effectively
substantiates that the diffusion of the brand in two populations is
interdependent and is influenced by the distance (e.g., social or cultural)
between the target group and the outside group.
Research reveals that a perceived limited supply of products enhances the
consumers' value and preference for a brand (Verhallen 1982; Lynn 1991;
Pantzalis 1995). "Items that are in limited supply have high value, while those
readily available are less desirable. Rare items command respect and
prestige" (Solomon 1994, 570). In addition, Verhallen and Robben (1994) state
that scarcity of products has a even greater effect on demand if people also
perceive the product as unique, popular and expensive.
These arguments are consistent with psychologists who observe situations
through which individuals express a "need for uniqueness" (Snyder and
Fromkin 1977). This need is the outcome of a social comparison process
(Festinger 1954), where an individual's desire is to be perceived as different
from other individuals. This hypothesis would support the idea that the inherent
scarcity, and exclusivity of prestige goods would satisfy a need for uniqueness.
Groth and McDaniel (1993, 11) support the assumption that exclusive or
unique perception of a brand is also related to its cost. They state that "brand
exclusivity is the positioning of a brand such that it can command a high price
relative to similar products". They suggest applying a prestige-pricing strategy
to support the marketing of luxury or high-quality products. Pantzalis (1995)
not only demonstrates that brand exclusivity is a factor positively affecting the
demand for prestige brands, but he also recognizes that a limited supply for the
high-end brand results in a transfer of status symbolism and a higher preference
for the lower-end brand extension.
Proposition 2: Snob consumers perceive price as an indicator of exclusivity,
and avoid using popular brands to experiment with inner-directed consumption
(Figure 2).

C - The Bandwagon Effect: Perceived Social Value

Leibenstein (1950) called the effect which influences the lower-end brand
extension, the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect may be conceptualized
as the antecedent of the snob effect (Rogers 1983; Miller, McIntyre and
Mantrala 1993; Berry 1994). "Even though snobs and followers buy luxury
products for apparently opposite reasons, their basic motivation is really the
same; whether through differentiation or group affiliation, they want to enhance
their self-concept" (Dubois and Duquesne 1993b).
Belk's (1988) notion of extended self may be useful to interpret the prestige
value which encourages a bandwagon effect. People's desire to possess prestige
brands may serve as a symbolic marker of group membership. We propose that
the bandwagon effect influences an individual to conform with prestige groups
and/or to be distinguished from non-prestige reference groups (French and
Raven 1959; Sirgy 1982; Midgley 1983; Solomon 1983; Mick 1986;
McCracken 1986; Belk 1988; Dittmar 1994). The contribution of reference
theory in the analysis of prestige consumer behavior appears to be the central
motivation underlining prestige consumption. Multiple reference groups refer
to the problem of being under pressures and demands of one's own membership
group, and attracted by the standard dictated by another reference group
(Hyman 1942; Holt 1995).
Research has originally demonstrated that people tended to conform with the
majority opinion of their membership groups when forming attitudes (Festinger
1954). Hence, a person may use a prestige brand during the week, to conform
with their professional position, and use a modest brand during the weekend, to
match social standards of his/her neighborhood. Thus, bandwagon consumers
may use the perceived extended-self value of prestige brands to enhance their
self-concept. Following Kelman's (1961) theory of opinion change, we propose
that the presence or absence of the referent may affect the behavior of the
prestige-seeker within a spectrum of no effect (internalization) to total effect
(compliance).
Recent research demonstrates that consumers often use television to learn about
affluent lifestyles (O'Guinn and Shrum 1997), and then try to imitate
stereotypes of affluence by consuming similar prestige products (Dittmar
1994). O'Guinn and Shrum (1997) examined the consumers' use of television to
construct social reality. Their study identified that the prevalence of products
and activities associated with an affluent lifestyle were positively related to the
level of exposure to television. In addition, Hirschman (1988) analyzed the
impact of television shows such as "Dallas" and "Dynasty" on consumers'
orientation and ideology. The results revealed that viewers used the information
on affluent lifestyle portrayed in these programs to project their own ideology
and orientation. Holt (1998) applied Bourdieu's theory (1984) relating levels of
cultural capital to consumption patterns to the contemporary US. His analysis
suggested that, in the contemporary US, mass rather than high culture
structured patterns of taste, and that consumption continued to serve as a
effective element for the reproduction of social class. Consequently, both the
consumption of "high" as opposed to "mass" culture interdependently
contribute to the construction of prestige; high cultural capital emulating mass
cultural capital, and inversely.
The literature on materialism provides a framework which helps to understand
the meaning that consumers attach to worldly possessions (Belk 1985). The
link between materialism and prestige has received recent attention (Richins
1994a and 1994b; Wong and Ahuvia 1998). The consumption of prestige
brands represents one type of materialistic consumer behavior, where the more
materialistic consumers regard prestige possessions as a cue to evaluate
personal or others' prestige. Although the materialism framework provides an
important part of the decision-making process when explaining the reason why
people purchase or consume luxury products, it gives little insights on the
specific characteristics of the prestige brand itself (e.g., uniqueness and quality
values).
Proposition 3: Relative to snob consumers, bandwagon consumers attach less
importance to price as an indicator of prestige, but will put a greater emphasis
on the effect they make on others while consuming prestige brands (Figure 2).

The consumption of prestige brands appears to have a strong social function,

and therefore, interpersonal effects may be significantly affecting the
propensity to purchase or consume (Figure 3). However, personal matters such
as aesthetic taste and sensory emotion may also independently encourage
prestige-seeking consumption.

Figure 3: Interpersonal Effects on Prestige Consumption

III - PERSONAL EFFECTS

Thus, the main contribution from our paper is to add to the traditional three-
factor structure based on interpersonal effects a two factor structure based on
personal effects (Figure 4). To be more specific, the proposed analysis is
designed to take account of consumers' motivations when dependent or
independent of the consumption of others. While both effects may influence all
consumers, we distinguish the two effects and suggest that consumers are
usually influenced by one more than the other. Other sources give evidence of
personal motivations when purchasing or consuming prestige brands, as
follows.

Figure 4: Personal Effects on Prestige Consumption

A - The Hedonic Effect: Perceived Emotional Value

Motivation research conducted by Dichter (1960) was instrumental in
advancing the view that consumer choice may be driven by noncognitive and
unconscious motives. Certain goods and services have been known to possess
emotional value in excess of their functional utility (Hirschman and Holbrook
1982; Sheth, Newman, and Gross 1991). Recent studies in luxury consumption
have identified that luxury products are likely to provide subjective intangible
benefits. For example, Dubois and Laurent (1994) recognized that the
emotional value was an essential characteristic of the perceived utility acquired
from luxury products: "... a vast majority subscribes to the hedonic motive
('One buys luxury goods primary for one's pleasure') and refutes the snobbish
argument" (Dubois and Laurent 1994, 275). Research discussing the semiotics
of luxury have repeatedly identified the emotional responses associated with the
consumption, such as sensory pleasure, aesthetic beauty, or excitement (Alleres
1990; Benarrosh-Dahan 1991; Fauchois and Krieg 1991; Roux and Floch
1996). Further, advertisers have long been promoting the emotional responses
expected from the use of luxury motor cars. For instance, BMW has used for
many years "Sheer Driving Pleasure" as its main slogan, or more recently
Mercedes has launched its new CLK coupe with the slogan: "It's for baby
boomers who want to reward themselves".
Accordingly, we refer to the hedonic effect when consumers value the
perceived utility acquired from a prestige brand to arouse feelings and affective
states. Therefore, people who relate to personal values that depend upon the
individual alone for fulfillment, such as self-respect (e.g., role-relaxed
consumers, Kahle 1995, or inner-directed consumers, Riesman, Denney and
Glazer 1950), and who are not susceptible to interpersonal influence (e.g.,
conformity to groups norms, Bearden, Netemeyer, and Teel 1989), when
purchasing and using prestige brands may represent hedonist type of
consumers.
Proposition 4: Hedonist consumers are more interested in their own thoughts
and feelings, thus they will place less emphasis on price as an indicator of
prestige (Figure 2).

B - The Perfectionism Effect: Perceived Quality Value

In addition, the studies exploring issues related to luxury consumption often
underline the specific function of quality. "Excellent quality is a sine qua non,
and it is important that the premium marketer maintains and develops
leadership in quality" (Quelch 1987, 39). Prestige brands are expected to show
evidence of greater quality, and luxury or premium brands should display even
greater levels of quality (Garfein 1989; Roux 1995). In practice, "high prices
may even make certain products or services more desirable" (Groth and
McDaniel 1993, 10) because people perceive higher prices as evidence of
greater quality (Rao and Monroe 1989). Based on these studies and on the
available literature on luxury products, it was proposed that the quality cue
might also be used by consumers to evaluate the level of prestige of brands. For
example, we assume that a low level of quality would play a negative role over
the perception of prestige. In contrast, if the buyer or the consumer perceives
the brand as having an excellent level of quality, his or her quality perception
would play a positive role over his or her perception of prestige on the same
brand.
The reassurance consumers derive from prestige brands (e.g., of tradition, of
authenticity) actually enhances the value they derive from the use of the
product. They may feel a heightened pleasure of anticipation long before they
use them. For instance consumers may purchase and wear prestigious clothes
because they are confident in the judgment of style from the designer.
Accordingly, we refer to the quality effect when consumers value the perceived
utility acquired from a prestige brand to suggest superior product characteristics
and performance. Therefore, people who relate to personal values and who
assess the value of prestige brands according to the value of reassurance
expected from prestige brands (e.g., comfort and speed for a prestige car, or
precision for a prestige watch), may represent perfectionist types of consumers.
Proposition 5: Perfectionist consumers rely on their own perception of the
product's quality, and may use the price cue as further evidence supporting the
quality issue (Figure 2).

Although we assume that the five prestige values are independent, we posit that
they relate additively and contribute incrementally to brand selection. While
consumers may choose to maximize all five prestige values, in practice it seems
reasonable to believe that consumers would trade off less salient values for
more salient ones. Therefore, we propose that the preference for each
alternative value may describe a separate prestige-seeking profile (i.e.,
Veblenian, snob, bandwagon, Hedonic, and perfectionist), but also agree that
certain consumers may belong to more than one category.

IV - DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The primary goal of this paper was to examine the issue of brand prestige. We
developed a framework, subsequently named prestige-seeking consumer
behavior (PSCB), principally based on the results of previous research (e.g.,
Mason 1992 or Dubois and Laurent 1994). The research hypothesis is that the
consumer decision-making process is explained by five main factors which
form a semantic network. This research contributes to the further development
of the social psychology of material possessions, linking together existing
theories such as models of conspicuous consumption (Bearden and Etzel 1982;
Mason 1992) or models of involvement (Horiuchi 1984; Rossiter, Percy, and
Donovan 1991). In particular, we sought to review the latent structure of, and
the interrelations among, the primary meanings of the prestige concept that,
according to the described models, should underlie the decision-making process
of prestige brands. Basically, the conceptual framework identifies five types of
prestige seekers which are influenced by five perceived prestige values and
self-consciousness. Self-consciousness appears to affect consumer decision
processes regarding brand selections. This influence varies depending upon the
person's susceptibility to interpersonal influence. But more significantly, the
prestige framework included personal effects such as hedonist and perfectionist
motives, thus supplementing the traditional three-factor structure (i.e., snob,
Veblenian, and bandwagon motives) inherited from Leibenstein (1950). In
doing so, the model established a balance between personal and interpersonal
oriented motives which tended to dominate past research on luxury
consumption.
The implications of this research are of significance for marketers and scholars
in the field of prestige brands. Specifically, it offers a potential contribution to
the measurement of prestige, and suggests an alternative approach to the issue
of positioning prestige brands recently advanced by Roux (1991). In sum, our
findings contribute to new explanations of prestige brand advantage beyond
that explained in the economics/analytical literature. Our framework assumes
the existence of latent prestige constructs influenced by personal and
interpersonal perceptions toward the brands. These findings help explain the
five key prestige values that managers must establish or monitor for creating a
lasting prestige brand. As noted, the propositions of this review could serve
various purposes, but perhaps be specifically applied to create and build brand
prestige, or address issues such as how to maintain brand prestige once it is
established.
The benefits from this framework reside in helping researchers understand how
consumers view prestige brands. The contribution is both useful from a market
segmentation point of view and from a market positioning point of view. From
a market segmentation point of view, clustering groups according to their
primary perceived values of prestige for a brand may reveal other demographic
or psychographic characteristics which may better represent these consumers.
The proposed factor structure for the concept of prestige suggested during the
literature synthesis provided a basis for developing several profiles of
consumers. These different consumer's profiles may indicate distinct market
segments to which different products appeal or advertising strategies could be
implemented.
From a market positioning point of view, if monitoring a prestige brand
indicated a declining level of prestige, researchers could identify and
concentrate on the specific prestige value which is weakening. Accordingly,
researchers may change the advertising message, stressing the perceived
values, and emphasizing benefits of the brand over competing brands. For
example, if the prestige image of a luxury car was distinctly decreasing due to a
reduction of perceived uniqueness (e.g., exclusivity), then appeals which would
emphasized the limited number of cars available or give the consumer
information about the precious components used in making the car, would be
appropriate to reinforce the overall prestige image. Similar illustrations could
be drawn from each of the other five perceived values.
The five perceived values are particularly useful for comparing several prestige
brands and thus for recognizing competitive advantages. Relative strengths and
weaknesses can be identified in the target market along either each of the
underlying values comprising the prestige concept. Future research may
examine which of the perceived values discriminate most significantly among
the three level of prestige brands (i.e., luxury, premium, and upmarket brands).
We anticipate the findings from this review will stimulate further research on
prestige-seeking consumer behavior. In particular, future research should
explore and test the conceptual framework described in Figure 2, 3 and 4. This
framework could be used to develop a scale measuring the proposed latent
structure of the prestige concept. A scale measuring prestige would provide
several benefits to the study of prestige-seeking consumer behavior. For
instance, it may;
• Establish a clear definition concerning what constitutes a prestige brand
compared to a non-prestige brand.
• Assess the multidimensional constructs of prestige (establish evidence
for both aspects of reliability and validity).
• Test convergent and discriminant validity between the newly developed
"prestige" scale and involvement scales. Although the concept of
 prestige is theoretically different than the concept of involvement, they
have certain dimensions in common such as the "symbolic" and
"hedonic" value (Laurent and Kapferer 1985).
• As a starting point, examine the consumer behavior framework using the
prestige scale to measure the level of perceived prestige within brands
and across respondents.
Hence, it would provide a useful instrument to substitute for the ad hoc and
untested scale used to test propositions that have previously been used in the
field. This common definition and measure are important as researchers have
not yet offered any acceptable and generalizable definition, which would set
forward a theoretical direction concerning the conception or the evaluation of
prestige brands. The theoretical and applied research question that could be
used in future research may be: how can a new brand in particular, or perhaps a
low-prestige established brand, build prestige?

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