A Study On Chinese Women’s Consuming Behavior Toward Purchasing Luxury Fashion Goods

Luxury fashion is a booming industry that has expanded globally, it has seen asteady growth over the past16years (Kim et al2012) and it is commonly believed to beone of the most appealing and profitable industries in the world. Undoubtedly, luxuryfashion is a critical part of modern fashion world and luxury fashion branding is a timelyand important topic (Emond2009; Ko and Megehee2012). The study of luxuryconsumption is not a new phenomenan, but for some countries like China, luxury marketis still growing and many new brands are entering the market. Mckinsey Insights ofChina mentioned that Chinese luxury consumption is projected to grow18%annuallyfrom2010to2015, by which time accounting for over20%of the global luxurymarket.During my stay in china, I’ve noticed how obssessed Chinese people are withluxurious brands. With China’s booming economy, China in no time would become thefirst largest luxury market. The international luxury brands must be running a great profitwith China’s large population and their positive attitude towards consuming luxurygoods.The objective of this research is to examine the factors that affect Chinese womenpurchase intention towards luxury goods consumption. To examine these factors, Culturalinfluences such as Conformity Face Consumption, Uncertainty avoidance, Collectivism,Power distance and Status consumption. Personal Values such as Materialism,Conformity and Uniqueness will be used. Another obective of this dissertation is toidentify the most effective strategies for marketers to better penetrate the Chinese market.Many marketers recognise the need to understand the unique aspects of each country withwhich they hope to do business with, in order to tailor their products and marketingstrategy appropriately (Solomon,1999). Solomon has also stated the importance ofculture in understanding consumer behavior by stating:“Consumption choices simplycannot be understood without considering the cultural context in which they are made.Culture is the “lens” through which people view products.”(p.495) The methodological approach employed in this dissertation was descriptive andquantitative method.Data was gathered via a survey. Survey questionnaires wasdistributed to sample groups through an online website. A total of113respondents didsuccessfully finish the survey. The variables used in this study are cultural influence,personal values and purchase intention. Results from the study were analyzed usingSPSS.The empirical study results revealed that Personal Values, which are Materialism,Conformity and Uniqueness, have the strongest influence on Chinese female purchaseintention of luxury goods. Results also show that Cultural influences such as Powerdistance, Status consumption and Conformity face consumption have a heavy influenceas well on Chinese female purchase intention of luxury goods. However UncertaintyAvoidance and Collectivism do not have a positive influence on Chinese female purchaseintention of luxury goods.