A luxury consumption perspective on motivations for brand value co-creation in emerging markets

Whereas research on brand value co-creation is being conducted from a number of different perspectives, the psycho-social mechanisms that motivate consumers towards brand value co-creation have room for theory development. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on brand value co-creation in luxury consumption by analysing the role of a number of psychological constructs that impact consumers’ proclivity towards brand value co-creation. The data for this study were collected through a large-scale questionnaire-based design and were evaluated using a multivariate statistical analysis technique. The results show that the need for autonomy, the need for belonging and the need for uniqueness mediate the relation between consumers’ self-concept and proclivity towards brand value co-creation. The findings indicate that luxury brand managers need to develop a critical mix of co-creational strategies in a way in which the brand harmoniously satisfies a need for relational identity co-creation while also providing varied heterogenous interactions. This research has been conducted in an emerging market of Asia, thus providing insights into what motivates co-creation in an under-researched but lucrative market segment. The Socio-Economic Class A of emergent countries has an inelastic purchasing power and disposable income to consume luxury brands. Only by understanding the underlying purchase motivations of these consumers can brand managers effectively benefit from their co-creation endeavours.