The impact of attitude functions on luxury brand consumption: An age-based group comparison

The main purpose of this study is to understand the consumption of luxury brands in different age groups. Attitude functions (social-adjustive, value-expressive, hedonic, utilitarian) explain luxury brand consumption among three age groups. A total of 297 respondents between the age of 16 and 59 participated in a survey. Using structural equation modeling, this study shows that the hedonic and utilitarian attitude functions are relevant across all age groups, while the impact of the social functions greatly differs among the target groups. Whereas the social-adjustive function strongly enhances luxury brand purchase behavior of late adolescents (16-25 years), value-expressiveness only impacts the luxury consumption of young adults (26-39 years). The social functions do not determine the acquisition of luxury brands by middle-aged adults (40-59 years).