Asymmetry in Multi-Cultural Luxury Communication: A Comparative Analysis on Luxury Brand Communication in India and China

Abstract

A luxury brand strongly differentiates itself from the universeof classic consumption goods, resulting in a differentway of communication than just “making sales”. A basic ideastarts from making people dream and aspire. In luxury one appliesthe communication strategy in order to create a dreamand to recharge a brand’s value , not just in order to sell(Kapferer and Bastien , 2009). Through previous researches inthe past, scholars have identified a number of concepts whichinfluence consumer’s purchase intention, perceived values andattitudes towards luxury brands.Those findings contribute to understandingin general about individuals’ motives and patternof luxury consumption. Whereas, most of the studies wereconducted in developed nations regardless of emerging marketslike China. (Wiedmann et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2010,2011). The luxury and fashion brands are focusing on thepenetration in the emerging markets and are creating a largeconsumer base with dependence on communication strategy butin the long term this has a negative affect since it should becritical for them to understand what consumer values triggerthe purchase of their brands and why?Theoretical backdrop in the past has neither been much establishedbetween the asymmetry of brand communication inthe developed and developing countries nor between the cognitiveresponses of consumers and the brand identity. As such,developing a deeper understanding about the influence of implementedstrategies upon brand identities in consumer buyingpatterns is relevant key in determining how such practices canconfer and be followed in developed and developingeconomies. Giving a competitive advantage on all adoptingfirms or the ones that intend to embed and capitalize on theirbusiness practices. This research is focused on the asymmetry in multiculturalluxury communication but it is centralized around the comparativeanalysis of luxury communication between India andChina with a minor focus on France. France for long has beenconsidered the origin of luxury and fashion industry and it sets as a suitable example for this research. France is a significantmarket for luxury brands and is prevalent since years due tothe heritage and exclusive artisan values imparted in the brandimage targeted at the consumers who are more like connoisseursand are aware of the product they are consideringluxury. Ethical and moral considerations impact the purchase ofluxury products. Communication can be portraying bling blingin some cultures and in some it could be under the jurisdictionof censorship. Sometimes, it’s a trend which is followedby the “peer feedback” or the “word of mouth”. Butsometimes there are the direct communicative tools used bythe brands through magazines, billboard, internet and socialmedia that have a strong impact on the mindset. The objectivesof this research were achieved through adoption oftwo perspectives simultaneously – of the communication strategiesadopted by the luxury brands and of the customer. Countries are compared by various dimensional scales andculture can be quantified but also it could be correlated withdifferent aspects of consumption. This research has tried to answerthe questions like -how do luxury brands influence theluxury consumers based on multicultural paradigms? What arethe major consumer motivations in India, China and Francefor buying a luxury product? Which brands are perceived asluxury, where and why? What are the converging and divergingfactors that determine the modes of communication implemented?The multifaceted dimensions and concepts involvedin cross-cultural communication like cognitive response theory,mimetic desire, celebrity influences on potential consumers ofthe luxury and fashion brands are well studied in this researchthrough the survey and the in depth interview. The questionnaire was designed considering the participant’sresponses with their motivational factors, places of purchasing,impact of celebrity endorsements, attractiveness and expertiseon the brand communications adopted in their country. Due tothe lack of extensive secondary data present on the communicationstrategies for China the focused group interviews and apersonal interview are considered as the major approaches forcollecting the data. It provided the benchmark to allow forvarious forms of imperfect markets in simulation to explain theprobable outcomes of the luxury brand communication inChina. The literature review comprises of the elements, conceptsand theories related to the consumer behavior, the modes ofcommunications adopted and how they impact the countries. The secondary data and the relation with Hofstede’s five dimensionalcultural differences has been related to the findingsand observations made with the Primary data for China, Indiaand France. This method is based on the originality and isdirect. We have drawn and inference through this study thatthe luxury brands can be more proactive and more culturalconscious when entering huge multicultural economy like Indiaand China which must not be hindered with the traditionalcommunication process of portraying the brand identity to theconnoisseur category and thus prevent value shifts amongst thebrand positioning.With the lesser dependency on making abrand fall prey to a trend it should strategically be identifiedas market driving than the market driven force. This new stepcould serve as the launch pad in increasing the brand valuecatering to the aspirational and admirational consumers. Confirming the interest of the potential consumers to consolidateand support a brand's positioning as luxury. Furthermore, diverging the impact from "conspicuous consumption"to "brand loyalty". The structure of this paper constitutes the introduction of theconcepts involved in the study, research methodology, discussionand conclusion with the merger of solutions for managerialimplications.