International Marketing ReviewLuxury brand markets as confluences of multiple cultural beliefsYuri Seo Margo Buchanan-Oliver Angela Gracia B. Cruz

Article information:To cite this document:Yuri Seo Margo Buchanan-Oliver Angela Gracia B. Cruz , (2015),"Luxury brand markets asconfluences of multiple cultural beliefs", International Marketing Review, Vol. 32 Iss 2 pp. 141 - 159Permanent link to this document:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IMR-04-2013-0081

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Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:Yuri Seo, Margo Buchanan-Oliver, (2015),"Luxury branding: the industry, trends, and futureconceptualisations", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 27 Iss 1 pp. 82-98 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/APJML-10-2014-0148Alessandro Brun, Cecilia Castelli, (2013),"The nature of luxury: a consumer perspective",International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 41 Iss 11/12 pp. 823-847 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-01-2013-0006Catherine Demangeot, Amanda J. Broderick, C. Samuel Craig, (2015),"Multicultural marketplaces:New territory for international marketing and consumer research", International Marketing Review,Vol. 32 Iss 2 pp. 118-140 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IMR-01-2015-0017

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Luxury brand marketsas confluences of multiple

cultural beliefsYuri Seo

School of Marketing and International Business,Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand, andMargo Buchanan-Oliver and Angela Gracia B. Cruz

Department of Marketing, The University of Auckland,Auckland, New Zealand

AbstractPurpose – Cross-cultural influences are important considerations in the international marketingof luxury brands. These influences have predominantly been understood through cross-nationalapproaches and the lens of glocalisation. The purpose of this paper is to study augments theseparadigms by advancing the view of luxury brand markets as confluences of multiple cultural beliefs.Design/methodology/approach – A hermeneutic analysis of 24 in-depth interviews was conductedwith luxury brand consumers in New Zealand.Findings – The findings describe two cultural beliefs that convey divergent meanings and shapeluxury brand consumption styles in a multicultural marketplace. More specifically, the authorsillustrate that consumers can be influenced by and shift between both local and foreign cultural beliefsin a single national market.Research limitations/implications – The study offers a situated account of the New Zealandluxury market. Other cultural beliefs may be in operation in different national markets.Originality/value – This paper makes three contributions to the international marketing of andcross-cultural considerations for luxury brands. First, the authors illustrate that cultural diversity mustbe considered not only at the cross-national level, but also at the intra-national level. In particular, theauthors show that the global-local dichotomy in cross-cultural luxury branding needs to be augmentedwith the local-foreign dimension. Second, this is the first study in this area to empirically demonstratethe impact of multicultural marketplaces on luxury brands, where consumers emerge as contextualcultural shifters. Third, the authors advocate a shift from the prevailing glocal approach to a newmulticultural approach in luxury branding.Keywords Brands, Luxury, Cultural beliefs, Cultural branding, Meanig construction,Multicultural marketplacesPaper type Research paper

IntroductionOver the last two decades, we have witnessed unprecedented demand for luxury brandsby international consumers in Japan, in East Asia, and now in the BRIC (i.e. Brazil, Russia,India, and China) and CIVETS countries (i.e. Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey,and South Africa) (Kapferer, 2012). Due to the accelerated flows of consumption meanings,ideologies, and people resulting from global economic forces (Appadurai, 1997), manyof these emerging marketplaces exhibit high degrees of cultural complexity, innerdifferentiation, and mutual entanglement (Craig and Douglas, 2006; Robertson, 1992;Welsh, 1999). Consequently, there is a growing need for the international marketing fieldto advance understandings of how luxury brand meanings and consumption behavioursare shaped by and within multicultural marketplaces.

International Marketing ReviewVol. 32 No. 2, 2015

pp. 141-159©Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0265-1335DOI 10.1108/IMR-04-2013-0081

Received 30 April 2013Revised 29 December 2014Accepted 30 January 2015

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:www.emeraldinsight.com/0265-1335.htm

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Informed by research on cultural branding (Bengtsson et al., 2010) and multiculturalmarketplaces (Craig and Douglas, 2006), this study examines how luxury brandconsumption can be influenced by both local and foreign cultural beliefs in a singlenational market. In particular, we uncover the interplay between two distinct culturalbeliefs in New Zealand – the Kiwi tall poppy syndrome and the face-saving orientationoriginating from East Asian immigrant cultures. The Kiwi tall poppy syndrome conveysa negative social attitude towards people (the “tall poppies”) who are conspicuouslysuccessful and whose distinction, rank, or wealth attracts envious notice or hostility(Mouly and Sankaran, 2002). Conversely, the East Asian face-saving orientation isconcerned with the social image of success that an individual projects in society (LeMonkhouse et al., 2012). Our findings demonstrate that not only do these two local andforeign cultural beliefs convey oppositional meanings about luxury brands in NewZealand, but they also prompt consumers to adopt different luxury brand consumptionstyles. Furthermore, despite being oppositional in nature, our findings suggest that thesebeliefs can jointly influence individual consumers, adding yet increased complexity tohow luxury brands are consumed in this multicultural marketplace.

Our study makes three contributions to the international marketing of andcross-cultural considerations within luxury branding. First, we illustrate that culturaldiversity in the context of international luxury branding must be considered not onlyat the cross-national level, but also at the intra-national level. In particular, we showthat the global-local dichotomy in cross-cultural luxury branding literature needs tobe augmented with the local-foreign dimension. Second, this is the first study in thisarea to empirically demonstrate the impact of multicultural marketplaces on luxurybrands, where consumers emerge as contextual cultural shifters. Third, we advocatea shift from the prevailing glocal approach to a new multicultural approach inluxury branding.

Cross-cultural studies of luxury brandsThe identification and understanding of cross-cultural luxury markets has been thesubject of several previous studies in international marketing. However, this researchhas largely focused on the comparison of luxury brand consumption across regionaland national borders (e.g. Dubois et al., 2005; Shukla and Purani, 2012). For instance,Okonkwo (2007) described six main regional markets for luxury brands – Europe,North America, Japan, China, India, and Russia – and noted that, although luxuryconsumers across the world generally exhibit similar expectations for luxury brands (e.g.high quality, prestige, and exclusivity) due to globalisation and cultural convergence,consumption styles may vary from one regional market to another, reflecting theeconomic, social, and cultural forces that influence these specific regions. In anotherstudy, Dubois et al. (2005) conducted a cross-cultural study of luxury brands across20 different countries, identifying three generic types of attitudes towards luxuryconsumption – elitist, democratic, and distant. According to Dubois et al. (2005), somecountries can display more of one attitude than another, whereas others can have amix of two or three attitudes. Finally, Shukla and Purani (2012) recently developeda conceptual model of luxury value perceptions and empirically tested the salienceof these values in two countries, offering a cross-national comparison between thecollectivist and individualistic markets. Their findings suggest that, while some valueperceptions are globally influential among all countries, consumers in collectivistand individualistic markets use dissimilar localised criteria for measuring the valueof a luxury brand.

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While these previous studies are informative, several key issues require furtherattention in the context of international luxury brand marketing and consumption inemerging multicultural marketplaces. First, previous research has largely employed across-national level of analysis, and very few studies have considered the within-country cultural heterogeneity of luxury brand markets (Wiedmann et al., 2007).Consequently, this approach has resulted in an over-emphasis on the homogeneity ofcultural influences that permeate contemporary marketplaces, reducing theoretical,and managerial attention to “the more dramatic cultural differences that make themajority of the world’s people” (Cayla and Arnould, 2008, p. 89). Some researchersrecently proposed to overcome this issue by using value perceptions about luxurybrands instead of countries as a basis for identifying international segments, andconceptualising luxury brands to be a “culture-independent” product category wherehomogeneous segments can transcend national borders (Wiedmann et al., 2007).However, in comparing brand consumption across national borders, researchers havetended to focus on some subset of the global youth segment, because “the segment isalleged to be relatively culturally homogeneous and therefore is responsive toconventional survey instruments” (Cayla and Arnould, 2008, p. 89).

Second, even when the cultural influences on luxury brands have been investigatedwithin the context of one particular market, the focus of these studies has largely beenon the transformational impact of global culture and/or local cultural influencespermeating these markets. For instance, Le Monkhouse et al. (2012) showed that localcultural values play an important role in driving consumer perceptions of luxurybrands in East Asia. On the other hand, Park et al. (2008) reported that young Koreanshave been rapidly acculturating to a global consumer culture by developing tastessimilar to those in Western countries, although they highlighted that consumerethnocentrism posits a significant local barrier to the purchase of global luxury brands.Accordingly, the theoretical discourse emerging from these studies is also reflective ofthe local-global cultural dichotomy.

This discourse is not particularly surprising given that luxury brand literature hasbeen dominated by managerialist approaches (Roper et al., 2013), where local culturalinfluences have been traditionally assumed to be the cause of global luxury brandimage inconsistencies that appear across different markets (Matthiesen and Phau,2005). However, in the context of multicultural marketplaces, in addition to consideringthe differences in global and local cultures, it is also important to consider theinfluences of other foreign cultures (Kipnis et al., 2014). Eckhardt and Mahi (2004,p. 139) noted that foreign meanings in local cultural contexts may not only becomeeither rejected or accepted, but they can also undergo an assimilation andtransformation process, where “the meaning […] does not stay the same as it is inthe culture of origin but is rather transformed into something local”. Furthermore,Kipnis et al. (2014, p. 10) recently differentiated between global cultural meanings, thatconvey universal beliefs about “an ideological connectedness with the world regardlessof residence and heritage”, and foreign cultural meanings, that convey “an identifiablecultural source(s) (a country, group of people) which is different from local culture (orideology of residence)”, calling for a more comprehensive understanding of how foreignmeanings integrate with other cultural meanings in the local market to influence brandconsumption. This suggests that, while previous research has largely focused onexploring the cross-national and global-local aspects of international luxury branding,more attention should be given to the interplay between local and foreign cultureswithin the context of multicultural luxury brand consumption.

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Conceptual backgroundCultural brandingTo address these gaps in the international marketing of and cross-cultural considerationswithin luxury branding, we draw on the cultural branding perspective as a pertinent lensfor revisiting the core assumptions about brands and branding. The brand managementliterature has suggested that the meaning ascribed to a brand should be understoodprimarily as “effects” of brand identity, representing the unique associations created bybrand managers (Keller, 2001). Within this perspective, successful brand managementbecomes “a matter of finding the brand’s true and timeless essence and carrying outbrand-building activities that will translate the identity into a corresponding (global)brand image” (Bengtsson and Ostberg, 2006, p. 85). Consequently, any other potentialsources of brand meaning that are incongruent with the established identity (e.g. localand foreign cultural influences) are perceived as being external threats to the consistencyof brand image (Matthiesen and Phau, 2005). According to Roper et al. (2013), thismanagerialist perspective has dominated the field of luxury branding for many years.

Contrary to this firm-centric view, the cultural branding perspective has posited thatthe cultural context exerts a significant influence on brand consumption (Bengtssonet al., 2010), which has important implications for the management of brand meaning.This approach posits that the meanings that consumers ascribe to brands are highlycontextual and constructed by the joint activities of marketers, consumers, and culturalinfluences (Bengtsson et al., 2010). Although marketers can endorse some potentialdesired meanings, it is consumers who ultimately determine what brands mean forthem and what roles these brands play in their lives (Batey, 2008). Moreover, differentgroups of consumers often construct dissimilar meanings, as they are influenced bymultiple frames of reference, such as their personal values and the socio-culturalcontext of consumption (Kates, 2006). In particular, Bengtsson et al. (2010, p. 523)have recognised that “brand meaning is polysemic in nature and not inherent in thebrand itself, but depends upon the larger socio-cultural context within which the brandis consumed”.

The cultural branding perspective offers several important implications forinternational brand management. First, rather than considering brand identity as aninternal construct that originates unilaterally within the organisation, it should beconsidered as “a dynamic process to which brand managers and consumers […]contribute” (da Silveira et al., 2013, p. 33). This implies that, while some core values ofthe brand identity should be preserved over time, other dimensions need to be adjustedto the environmental context (e.g. cultural influences), in order to empower bothmanagers and consumers to participate in a collaborative building process of theshared brand image. As da Silveira et al. (2013, p. 32) highlighted, “the role that brandmanagers and other social constituents (e.g. consumers) wish the brand to play in themarkets may gradually become the brand identity itself”. Accordingly, culturalinfluences do not merely posit threats for brands; they also offer opportunities to fostera more deeply embedded brand image within a marketplace.

Multicultural marketplacesMoreover, with the emergence of global consumers and multicultural influences, we canexpect that the cultural beliefs underpinning contemporary markets will become morecomplex and multifaceted (e.g. Seo and Gao, 2015). Consequently, there have been recentcalls to increase our understanding of these emerging multicultural marketplaces.In particular, Craig and Douglas (2006) called for further exploration of how cultural

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interpenetration, contamination, pluralism, and hybridisation can influence the dynamicsof cultural influences. Furthermore, Kipnis et al. (2014, p. 13) recently coined the term“multiculturation” to denote “the process of changes in the cultural identification andconsumption behaviours of individuals that happen when the individual, social groupand/or society as a whole come into continuous contact with multiple cultures”, callingfor further empirical research into how consumers negotiate brand meanings at thenexus of global, local, and foreign cultural influences in multicultural marketplaces.These calls highlight that an in-depth focus on studying a particular cultural context canoffer useful insights into how cultural beliefs evolve and influence consumers.

We draw on these emerging perspectives to inform our account of how luxury brandconsumption in a single national market is being shaped by the interplay of local andforeign cultural meanings. Given the importance of luxury brands as vehicles ofconflicting cultural ideologies (Berry, 1994) and cross-national flows (Okonkwo, 2007),we consider luxury markets to be the quintessential multicultural marketplaces.Therefore, while many previous studies on luxury brands focused on the global-localcultural dichotomy, the purpose of this study is to demonstrate how the interplaybetween divergent local and foreign cultural beliefs can shape the luxury brandmeanings and consumption styles emerging in a multicultural marketplace. In thisstudy, we broadly define cultural beliefs as social constructions that reflect ideas,values, norms, and understandings about people, practices, and society (Pepitone,1994), which can be derived from multiple forms of belonging (Calhoun, 2003). We alsodefine brand consumption styles as holistic groups of brand-related consumptionactivities arising from particular consumer understandings and experiences occurringwithin a given socio-cultural context (e.g. Hirschman, 1990), and posit that theseactivities, understandings, and experiences are influenced by the cultural beliefs salientto this context.

MethodologyThe objectives of this study called for a qualitative inquiry. Since there were noprevious empirical studies that explored luxury brands in the context of multiculturalmarketplaces, it was necessary to employ methods that were appropriate for investigatingunderdeveloped contexts. The use of qualitative methods was useful in obtaining richdescriptions and more in-depth insight of the research context (Slater and Andriopoulos,2013). Furthermore, Doz (2011, p. 584) noted that a qualitative research design isparticularly useful when researchers aim to extend existing or build new theories,because it offers “an iterative ‘constant comparison’ and recursive interplay between richdata and emerging conceptual insights that can be related to existing theories and alsoallow one to create new theoretical insights”. Given that previous literature is dominatedby the global-local cultural paradigm, a qualitative inquiry was useful in eliciting newinsights regarding the interplay of local and foreign cultural beliefs in a multiculturalluxury brand market.

Finally, our approach answers the recent calls for more qualitative studies ininternational marketing that can help to unveil important insights into the “how” andthe “why” of international marketing phenomena (Slater and Andriopoulos, 2013). Mostnotably, Poulis and Poulis (2013, p. 376) suggested that “the quantification of culturaldifferences (that has characterised the field for so many years) does not have a lot ofpotential to further enable us to understand the complexity of cultural phenomena”,advocating the use of a methodologically plural approach in investigating multiculturalmarketplaces.

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Research designThe study involved in-depth interviews with the consumers of luxury fashion brandsin New Zealand. Prior to commencing data collection, we conducted pilot interviewswith four managers of global and national luxury brands in New Zealand. Theseinterviews offered several justifications for using the New Zealand luxury brandmarket as an appropriate research site for this study. First, the managers conveyedthat a customer base for luxury brands in New Zealand is multicultural in composition.On the basis of the 2006 census, it was reported that the ethnic origin of the populationwas recorded as: 67.6 per cent European, 14.6 per cent Maori, 9.2 per cent Asian,6.9 per cent Pacific, and 12.1 per cent other, with “future projections forecast[ing] agrowth in all ethnic minorities over the next 15 years, ranging from 28 percent(Pasifika) to 120 percent (Asians)”. (Ward and Masgoret, 2008, p. 228). Second, themanagers noted that New Zealand is a lucrative and rapidly emerging market forluxury brands. These claims are supported by economic reports that highlight aparticularly fast growth in the capital income of rich households (measured by thetop quintile of income), surpassed only by Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, and thegrowing share of top 1 per cent incomes in New Zealand compared to other OECDcountries (OECD, 2011).

Participants for the study were recruited via personal and professional networks,and referrals from fashion industry contacts. Participants were selected on the basis ofconsuming luxury brands for at least five years; purchasing, on average, three to fouritems each year within the last five-year period; and perceiving themselves as beingknowledgeable about luxury brands. The study involved 21 women and three men;ages ranged from 23 to 65. Due to the product category that was chosen as the researchcontext, the sample consisted of predominantly female respondents. While this mayappear to be a source of potential bias, the themes that emerged from the three malerespondent interviews corresponded to the themes that emerged from interviews withthe female subjects. Furthermore, several studies have also reported that women tendto express personally relevant information, particularly related to interpersonal issuesand feelings, better than men, which makes them more informative research participants(e.g. Burns and Williams, 2000). Finally, recognising that the customer base for luxurybrands in New Zealand is multicultural in composition, we aimed to recruit participantswith different cultural backgrounds, provided that they had lived in New Zealand for atleast five years and considered themselves to be New Zealanders. Participant profiles aresummarised in Table I.

A semi-structured approach was used during the interviews. This was composed ofbroad guidance questions to open and facilitate discussion, including: “What do luxuryand luxury brands mean to you?”; “What can you tell me about luxury brandconsumption in New Zealand?”; “What cultural influences have you noticed in the NewZealand luxury market?”; and “What cultural norms and values are important to youwhen you think about the role of luxury brands in your life?” These questions wereaimed at deriving themes related to the consumer perceptions about luxury brandconsumption, cultural beliefs, and their personal relevance for participants. Theinterviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. Subsequent thematic analysis andcoding was facilitated using NVivo9 qualitative data software.

The interviews were analysed using a hermeneutic approach (Thompson, 1997).Hermeneutic analysis is the application of an interpretative reading to consumer-generated texts, the purpose of which is to understand consumption meanings conveyedby the texts. This approach perceives these texts as reflecting the meanings

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ascribed by a consumer to particular consumption objects and/or events, which areconstructed based on the consumer’s interpretation of their previous experiencesin relation to the consumer-relevant frames of reference (Thompson, 1997). Consequently,a hermeneutic analysis guided us in exploring emerging themes with the purpose ofgaining an emic insight into the meanings ascribed to luxury brand consumption, andhow these meanings were formed in relation to the consumer-relevant cultural beliefs.In the process of analysis, we recognised that socio-cultural differences in beliefsexisted even among consumers of the same ethnic group. Accordingly, instead ofimposing a particular set of meanings on participants based on their ethnic identities,or segmenting participants into mono-ethnic groups prior to exploring the themesemerging from interviews, the researchers first coded the themes of cultural beliefsand influences salient to each participant individually, and then compared theemerging themes across the entire sample of 24 respondents to elicit higher-orderabstractions (Spiggle, 1994).

In ensuring the trustworthiness of findings, we followed the triangulation guidelinesoutlined by Cavana et al. (2001). Specifically, triangulation was addressed by achievingreferential adequacy and researcher convergence (Cavana et al., 2001). We keptcomprehensive records concerning the research process throughout the data collectionand analysis. This was done to keep track of coding and results, and to addressreferential adequacy, which offers confidence that the data were reported accurately(Cavana et al., 2001). Researcher convergence was achieved by triangulating theinterpretation of findings between the researchers (Cavana et al., 2001). Furthermore,the four managers from the pilot study were called upon as independent industryexperts to inform and corroborate the analysis.

Participant Age Occupation Cultural background

Jean 48 Director Asian NZEmma 45 Senior manager European NZKatherine-Anne 23 Librarian Asian NZHeather 27 Office worker Asian NZSuzanne 38 Senior manager European NZCharles 30 Consultant Asian NZScott 28 Student Asian NZRachel 28 Office worker Asian NZElizabeth 30 Graduate student Asian NZDanielle 49 Manager European NZRuth 40 Senior manager European NZAlison 32 Nurse European NZSarah 31 Lawyer Asian NZCecilia 25 Fashion buyer European NZTessa 45 Business owner European NZJubilation 29 PR manager European NZMiranda 28 Bank consultant Asian NZLilandra 45 Writer European NZPage 28 Make-up Artist Asian NZLillian 65 Housewife European NZMegan 26 Housewife Asian NZLorna 27 Museum worker Asian NZLogan 32 Manager Asian NZHope 50 Senior researcher European NZ

Table I.Brief profiles of

participants

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FindingsConsistent with previous studies, some participants noted that luxury brands arereflective of global consumer culture, by conveying that “there are other like-mindedpeople in other parts of the world who appreciate these luxury brands”. However, itwas also observed that luxury brand consumption in New Zealand is shaped byinteresting dynamics at the confluence of local and foreign cultural beliefs. These arethe Kiwi tall poppy syndrome and the East Asian face-saving orientation. We foundthat these two distinct beliefs convey oppositional socio-cultural meanings aboutluxury brands, promoting dissimilar styles of luxury brand consumption. In particular,while the local tall poppy syndrome encourages consumers to be more discreet whenconsuming luxury brands, the foreign face-saving orientation promotes conspicuousconsumption. Most importantly, we found that consumers can be influenced by both ofthese cultural beliefs, conveying a complex duality and contextual cultural shiftingwithin their adopted styles of luxury brand consumption. The emergent themes fromour study are illustrated in Figure 1. We will now discuss these themes in detail, usingillustrative cases derived from the interviews.

Local tall poppy syndrome and discreet luxury consumption

Blending in […] New Zealanders wouldn’t normally wear this [points at a scarf from Hermès],this stand out too much. People look at me and go, “Oh you’re bright today.” And if you werein India or Asia, everyone’s bright, they wear colours. Whereas here, in New Zealand, there’s alot of navy blue, black, and grey […] and I think Zambesi [local brand] does what the marketexpects. It is a dark brand.

In her comments about the consumption of luxury brands, Jean expressed bemusementthat New Zealanders want to “blend in” with others. Although Jean talked about thedarker colours that are popular to wear in New Zealand, her comments point towards abroader perception: that being conspicuous – or as Jean calls it, to “stand out” – isa behaviour that is socially discouraged in New Zealand.

Cultural Beliefs

Luxury BrandConsumption Styles

Foreign Face-Saving

Orientation

Local Tall PoppySyndrome

Luxury BrandMeanings in NZ

DiscreetLuxury

Consumption

ContextualCulturalShifting

ConspicuousConsumptionFigure 1.

Luxury brand marketin New Zealand

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Similarly, Katherine-Anne concurred with Jean’s view that there is prejudice inNew Zealand towards wearing luxury brands conspicuously and what such behaviourmay convey:

We’re such a conservative culture, it’s more widely accepted to be a little bit more lax in yourappearance than it is to try too hard. I know that I’m probably the only person in this wholebuilding that puts on this much make-up and wears clothes like this to work every day.I couldn’t imagine wearing this [points at a luxury brand ad] in Auckland and not beingjudged, just wearing something so completely outrageous […] you would definitely stand out.You’d definitely stand out and it might not be in a good way because [of the] culture and theperceptions here, because, it’s the whole tall poppy thing. If you stand out, you’re going to getchopped down […].

Katherine-Anne admitted that she considers New Zealand culture to be ratherconservative, because it is more accepted in New Zealand “to be lax in your appearancethan to try too hard”. She also noted that not only is it common among someNew Zealanders to lack appreciation for luxury brands, but also wearing luxury brandsin public can provoke negative judgements from others.

The views expressed by these participants reflect the phenomenon of the tall poppysyndrome. The tall poppy syndrome is a pejorative term used in Australasia to describea negative social attitude towards displaying one’s wealth and social status (Mouly andSankaran, 2002). With reference to these cultural beliefs, the participants noted thatthere is a sense of conformity to socio-cultural norms and values that encourage NewZealanders to seek inconspicuous behaviours. As Katherine-Anne suggested, it is moreacceptable to be underdressed than overdressed in New Zealand. Jean also pointed outthat, for this reason, darker colours are more socially acceptable than brighter ones,because the latter “stand out too much”.

Furthermore, we found that these cultural beliefs of the tall poppy syndromeprompted consumers to ascribe distinctive meanings to and adhere to a discreet styleof luxury brand consumption. For instance, Jubilation suggested that she considers“true” luxury brands to be more personal, not easily identified by others, and evenunderstated. Thus, she would resist conspicuously showing these brands to others:

So maybe Zambesi is a true luxury to me, because it is not only uniqueness but it’s also, it’salso possibly something that only I know […] it’s personal. It’s kind of like maybe if you had atattoo, and you had it in a really prominent place that everyone could see […] for me, if I wasgoing to have a tattoo I would choose a place on my body that perhaps only I could see, orpeople who are very close to me could see, or that I could hide […] So I’d rather spend moneyon things that are different, that nobody would go, “Oh my God that’s a pair of Gucci heels,”because they’ve been emblazoned all over the advertising campaigns. I’d rather havesomething that I know is super luxurious to me, but is not easily identified.

Therefore, our interviews show that, by socially discouraging consumers fromconspicuously wearing luxury brands in public, the tall poppy syndrome imposesnegative social sanctions on the conspicuous consumption of luxury brands in NewZealand. Accordingly, consumers who are constrained by this characteristic of NewZealand culture may convey a more discreet, intimate, and even understated style ofluxury brand consumption, and search for particular brands that are perceived tobe congruent with this style. This also suggests that the tall poppy syndromecan become a socio-cultural barrier for consumers desiring to purchase globalluxury brands, as these brands are often associated with an affluent lifestyle andconspicuous consumption.

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Foreign face-saving orientation and conspicuous consumptionHowever, the tall poppy syndrome was not the only system of cultural beliefsinfluencing the consumption of luxury brands in New Zealand. We also found that thecultural beliefs brought to New Zealand with increasing immigration and internationaltravel (Ward and Masgoret, 2008) are important in understanding this market.Most participants (both Europeans and Asians) recognised the increasing influence ofEast Asian cultural beliefs on their perceptions of luxury brands in New Zealand,in particular the notion of “face” (mianzi in Chinese), often associated with Confucianvalues. Le Monkhouse et al. (2012, p. 652) provide the following description ofthese beliefs:

Face-saving relates to the outer public self and is particularly concerned with the social imagethat an individual projects in society. In East Asian societies, it is widely regarded as playinga pivotal role for most, as people are particularly conscious of their outer public self (i.e. theirsocial status and how they are presented to others). Overall, face-saving represents a criticalvalue of one’s social worth and reputation […].

The following excerpt from an interview with Scott also illustrates that the culturalinfluences originating from East Asia are prominent for consumer perceptions ofluxury brands in New Zealand. Scott was born in China but emigrated to New Zealandover ten years ago and considers New Zealand to be his home. During the interview,Scott conveyed that his style of luxury brand consumption is more influenced by thevalues and beliefs of his culture of origin rather than New Zealand culture:

Scott: Everyone wants to show himself to the people that they are rich [and] wealthy.Historically, Chinese people mostly like that [appreciate wealth]. So, some people they can’tafford the real luxury goods, they’ll buy the fake one. The Valentino’s logo is V [brand name].So, this brand came to the Chinese markets early, and people know that this is a luxury good,because just one T-shirt will be selling for hundreds. It would be available only in thedeveloped cities in China like Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. People will know thatthe Valentino is a luxury good.

Scott suggested that luxury brands are associated primarily with conspicuousconsumption – the consumption of goods and services for the purpose of displayingwealth or status (Veblen, 1899). For him, this inference is in turn derived from the EastAsian face-saving, which prompts individuals to be conscious of their outer public self(Le Monkhouse et al., 2012). Thus, Scott asserted that the adoption of conspicuousconsumption should not only be accepted but should even be expected. In particular, hesuggested that it is one of the characteristics of Chinese culture to have aspirationstowards conspicuously portraying a higher level of status and wealth. Consequently,under the influence of these cultural beliefs, consumers may seek brands that arehighly conspicuous and where the shopping environment and the staff convey theutmost respect in deference to their customers’ elevated social status. Furthermore,consistent with Phau and Teah (2009), Scott also noted that it is these culturalinfluences that may motivate some Chinese consumers to engage in the counterfeitconsumption of luxury brands.

Intriguingly, the influence of face-saving was observed not only among the NewZealand consumers who migrated from East Asia, but also among other participants,including those who grew up in New Zealand or came from other western countries.For instance, Suzanne, who grew up in the UK, noted a significant difference in culturalbeliefs influenced by the East Asian culture in Auckland, the largest city in New

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Zealand, compared to the tall poppy syndrome that she witnessed in Wellington, thecapital of New Zealand:

[In Wellington] They are very conservative and they don’t spend a lot of money on themselvesor how they look – on luxury goods. So when I moved to Auckland our eyes sort of openedand we thought: “We were actually living in a different sort of generation.” […] Auckland isvery multicultural, and people are quite broad minded here because they travel, they work,they earn, and they are a lot more exposed to the outside world than people in Wellington. […]I thinkWellington is more “true New Zealand”. […] think that it’s showing that the populationof Auckland is spending a lot more on luxury goods. If you were running a certain business,you got to be presentable in Auckland […] And just over the years, I think – this is sort of myperception of why we’re getting more of luxury items moving into this country – there isinfluence from a lot of people from Asian countries who’ve moved to Auckland, and that’swhy the demand is here. And you see at work, for example, let’s say Bola [a colleague], who’sfrom China, comes to work and she’s got really good bag, nice Louis Vuitton designerbag. Everyone wants it, and I want that as well, so they work hard for it, and they’ll goout and buy it.

Suzanne attributed the growing appreciation of luxury brands in Auckland to the culturalinfluences from East Asian countries, which tend to show a greater appreciation forluxury brands due to face-saving. Consequently, she suggested that the cultural influenceson luxury brand consumption are uneven in New Zealand. On the one hand, she concurredwith Jean’s and Katherine-Anne’s views that conspicuous consumption of luxury brandsis socially disapproved of and even condemned in Wellington. However, in Auckland,Suzanne agreed with Scott that not only can wearing luxury brands receive positivefeedback in a more conspicuous environment, but it could also stimulate emulatoryadoption by others entrenched in that environment. Thus, contrary to the tall poppysyndrome, East Asian face-saving beliefs offer positive social sanctions which reinforceconspicuous styles of luxury brand consumption in more Asian-influenced environments.

Contextual cultural shiftingFurthermore, we found evidence that within the cultural contexts permeated bymultiple cultural beliefs, consumers find themselves negotiating the meaning andconsumption styles of luxury brands at the confluence of these competing beliefs.In particular, consumers not only become aware of dissimilar ways in which differentcultures perceive luxury brands, but they also construct an emerging style of luxurybrand consumption that traverses these cultural influences. For instance, Elizabethsuggested that her consumption of luxury brands reflects an “in-between” positionbetween the Kiwi tall poppy syndrome and the East Asian face-saving orientation:

I definitely can see the difference between New Zealanders and Asian people. I mean, for NewZealanders, luxury brands are non-essential; they are more discreet about their consumption.To them it doesn’t make sense, so they are quite discreet, and they don’t have to have a luxuryproduct to showcase or to pretend who they are. But for Asian people, they sometimes savefor months just to get one piece. Somehow you want to use it, showcase it in front of otherpeople, it make them proud of themselves, so I do see culturally there is a difference […][Whereas] I think I’m in the middle. I’m still inspired to get luxury brands and, if it is withinmy disposable income level, then I will still purchase those, but not to the extreme that I haveto save to get say a Chanel for $5,000, because I don’t believe I’m there yet […] For me, I preferto be in the state that I don’t need to care about how much, as long as this product reallyattracts me, then I’m in the state of purchasing it freely. And to me to achieve that level ofstate you have to earn your own money.

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On the one hand, Elizabeth aspired to consume luxury brands because these brandsconvey a sense of being successful (i.e. her social worth and reputation), which isconsistent with East Asian cultural beliefs of face-saving. On the other hand, consistentwith the tall poppy syndrome, Elizabeth condemned a public display of luxury brandswith the sole purpose of conveying social status, particularly if one has not yet achievedthis status. Thus, for Elizabeth, the middle ground between the Kiwi tall poppysyndrome and East Asian face-saving can be found in purchasing luxury brands whenone is intrinsically attracted to these brands and is financially able to afford them.

While Elizabeth found a way to negotiate and traverse the two conflicting culturalbeliefs, other participants suggested that they strategically shift between these beliefsas the situation required:

In Thailand, I wouldn’t go out the house without any makeup on, just because of the culture.Over here, in New Zealand, the image that you portray is different, because if you’re all dressedup just to go to Countdown people will be staring at you, like “Are you normal?” They’ll judgeyou […] people just look at you as if you’re not normal […] you don’t fit into the culture here.If I go out with my friends and they’re just using normal stuff [not luxury brands], I don’t wantto be using fancy brand name stuff because you don’t want to be like: “Oh look at me, I’m alldrag and draped in luxurious stuff.” But in Thailand, it is different. If I go out with friends whouse all these brand names then I feel, well I probably should be using one just to fit in […].

Researcher: So, your consumption allows you to affiliate with people you are with?

Yeah, definitely, because otherwise I wouldn’t make friends then. If you’re kind of different allthe time you don’t fit in, it makes it harder. You might want to be a little bit different, but youstill want to be able to fit in with others and not make others think kind of like: “Oh, you thinkyou’re special, you think you’re better than us.”

Rachel was born in Thailand but has lived in New Zealand for over 15 years. In herinterview, similarly to Elizabeth and Suzanne, she noted that there are differences inthe cultural influences underpinning the consumption of luxury brands within thecontexts of East Asian and New Zealand cultures. In particular, Rachel concurred withScott that it is more commonly accepted and even expected within East Asian culturesto wear luxury brands when you go out in public, and she also agreed with Jeanand Katherine-Ann that, in New Zealand, conspicuous consumption of luxury brandsis often discouraged. Most importantly, Rachel suggested that her consumptionbehaviour associated with luxury brands changes depending on whether she is inThailand or in New Zealand. Rachel admitted to wearing luxury brands in Thailand,while avoiding using luxury brands conspicuously in New Zealand. This strategiccontextual “shifting” in consumption behaviour is encouraged by Rachel’s need tosocialise and to fit in to both cultures. Consequently, the consumption styles of luxurybrands adopted by Rachel are purposively matched with the dominant cultural beliefsthat influence her during each consumption event.

Similarly, Suzanne noted that she was reluctant to use luxury brands in Wellington,which she perceived to be dominated by the tall poppy syndrome. However, shewelcomed wearing luxury brands in Auckland where she observed more influencesfrom East Asia. Conversely, Emma suggested that, while she would resist wearingluxury brands at workplaces in New Zealand, in other cultural contexts, such asSingapore, she “would really love to have nice Prada handbags”:

I think people are much more discreet in New Zealand […] and even if they own the luxurybrands, they’re much more discreet about how they use them and when they use them for.

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Well actually, I don’t know whether this is relevant or not, if you are a working female […]you don’t want to show up to other people. So you’ve got to watch what it is you do, and whatyou’re wearing and what you’re conveying with people who are superior to you in theorganisational structure. But if you worked in Singapore, it’d be quite different […] So here, inNew Zealand, there’s quite a bit of thinking about who I work with and how I dress,I compromise a little. I would really love to have nice Prada handbags and everything else […]but I wouldn’t probably want to bring them to work [in New Zealand].

These excerpts suggest that contemporary consumers are increasingly aware ofmultiple cultural contexts, which can offer negative and positive social sanctionstowards luxury brands. Subsequently, rather than always adhering to consistent stylesentrenched in their national or ethnic cultures, these consumers have become morereceptive to the idea that they can strategically switch their personal behaviours inorder to accommodate conflicting cultural contexts.

Therefore, we found that, by encouraging consumers to adopt and appreciate theconspicuous aspects of luxury brands, the East Asian face-saving orientation is inoppositional conflict with the tall poppy syndrome associated with the moreestablished New Zealand culture. Consequently, these differences in the cultural beliefsof New Zealand and East Asia, which offer negative and positive social sanctions onthe consumption styles of luxury brands in this market, can become a source ofcognitive and behavioural conflicts. These conflicts are important to understandbecause they have a role to play in the meanings that consumers ascribe to luxurybrands. While some consumers (like Elizabeth) may negotiate a position of compromisebetween such conflicting cultural beliefs, as luxury consumers become increasinglysensitised to multiple cultural beliefs within multi-layered markets, other consumers(like Rachel) may even choose to strategically shift their consumption behaviours inorder to traverse divergent social norms. Thus, a consumer showing the East Asianface-saving orientation may not always choose to conspicuously wear or purchaseluxury brands. Likewise, somebody who adheres to the Kiwi tall poppy syndrome doesnot automatically disqualify from conspicuously expressing their affluence. Rather,these findings suggest an emerging style of luxury brand consumption characterisedby contextual cultural shifting.

DiscussionCosta and Bamossy (1995, p. 22) postulated that, in a multicultural marketplace,“one must be willing to assume that there is no dominant culture”. Therefore, ratherthan a system of meaning that is shared across all levels of a society, culturalinfluences are better seen as heterogeneous beliefs which shape consumers’“kaleidoscopic experiences” (Boyne, 2002, p. 125). Furthermore, the kaleidoscopicquality of these experiences in multicultural marketplaces is intensified by highlevels of intercultural exchange (Smith, 1991) and mutual entanglement (Robertson,1992; Welsh, 1999). Our study has drawn on this growing body of literature onmulticultural marketplaces to explore the meanings and consumption styles ofluxury brands that emerge at the confluence of local and foreign cultural beliefs in asingle national market. In doing so, our findings illustrate that the cross-cuttingheterogeneous cultural developments in multicultural marketplaces are of paramountimportance when investigating diversity within luxury brand markets, since the conceptof luxury has always been intertwined with prevalent cultural ideologies (Berry, 1994).Furthermore, they are particularly pertinent to multicultural nations, such as New Zealand,as well as for cosmopolitan cities that are located at the confluence of intercultural flows.

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In the remainder of this section, we will discuss some key implications of these findings forthe international marketing of luxury brands in multicultural marketplaces.

From glocal to multicultural luxury marketsWhile some cross-national luxury consumption studies have accommodated a degree ofcomplexity with the consideration of differences between global and local cultures (e.g.Park et al., 2008; Shukla and Purani, 2012), our findings show that, within multiculturalmarketplaces, the level of cultural complexity goes beyond the global-local dichotomy.Specifically, within these markets, consumers find themselves negotiating the meaningsand consumption styles of luxury brands at the confluence of multiple cultural beliefs.For international marketers operating within multicultural markets, this means thatnationality, ethnicity, and degree of glocalisation may be less useful bases forsegmentation, prompting the consideration of other ways in which to understand and usecultural influences in segmenting, targeting, and positioning luxury brands. As weshowed in our study, two distinct cultural beliefs, one local and one foreign, shapedluxury brand consumption in New Zealand. Furthermore, these cultural beliefs were notnecessarily tied to an individual consumer’s ethnicity. Given these complexities, forinternational luxury brand marketers it may be more useful to consider other bases ofsegmentation such as the influence of situational factors (Douglas and Craig, 2011) andthe relative prevalence and salience of multiple cultural beliefs.

From ethnic consumers to contextual cultural shiftersFurthermore, this is the first study to empirically demonstrate the impact of multiculturalmarketplaces on luxury brands, where consumers emerge as contextual cultural shifters.Our findings illustrate that contextual factors in a multicultural marketplace act like afilter and shape which cultural influences were appropriated by individual consumers ina given consumption situation. Thus, underlying any given luxury brand consumptionsituation is a complex interplay between multicultural influences, situational norms, andindividual factors. This prompts multiple considerations for luxury brand managers.Might it be possible to encourage consumers to adopt culturally constituted consumptionstyles which fit better with one’s brand positioning? If a luxury brand is a status symbol,might it be possible to prime both Western and Asian consumers to switch to status-conspicuous beliefs? For example, what cues and appeals might marketers present toencourage consumers to think in a more face-saving way? If a brand is understated,might it be possible to prime consumers to adhere to cultural beliefs which encouragemore discreet styles of consumption? For example, what cues and appeals mightmarketers present to encourage consumers to accommodate the tall poppy syndrome?Further research in this area would be particularly useful for international marketerswho have little room for repositioning their luxury brand image.

From global managers to cultural architectsFinally, rather than a glocal branding approach, which involves cultivating brand identitywithin the organisation and overcoming local brand image inconsistencies (Matthiesenand Phau, 2005), we posit that managers of international luxury brands need to adopt amulticultural branding approach. We envision that such an approach would involveidentifying and pursuing opportunities for the development of dynamic brand identities(da Silveira et al., 2013), where luxury brand managers can assume the role of proactivearchitects of luxury brand cultures which support diverse modes of luxury brandconsumption. This carries implications for cross-cultural luxury branding on three levels.

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At the basic level, a multicultural branding approach involves paying closer attentionto the contextual topography of a given marketplace and consumer receptivity to global,local, and foreign cultural beliefs. As our study showed, a luxury brand entering anemergent multicultural market like New Zealand will invariably face consumer resistancedue to the influence of the dominant Kiwi tall poppy syndrome. However, this is by nomeans a monolithic discourse; its influence is uneven. Because of greater diversity andintercultural exchange, consumers in cosmopolitan centres such as Auckland are morelikely to be receptive to foreign cultural influences. As such, it would be a logical point ofentry for a global luxury brand.

At a more advanced level, luxury brand managers can not only select, but alsoproactively cultivate the most conducive contexts where consumers would feel moreempowered to appropriate their desired luxury brand consumption styles within amulticultural marketplace. In doing so, marketers will be able to both target the increasingbuying power of ethnic consumers by appealing to their foreign consumption styles(Lisanti, 2010), as well as to find a better positioning to the mainstream consumers who areamenable to cultural shifting. For instance, Emma and Rachel presented an interestingdynamic between the two cultural influences: on one hand, they have a desire to consumeluxury brands in a more conspicuous way due to the influence of face-saving beliefs, buton the other hand, they feel that they must suppress this desire due to the influence of theKiwi tall poppy syndrome. To unlock this hidden market potential, luxury brandmarketers would do well to design liminal spaces and retail spectacles (Kozinets et al.,2004). In the same way that the “Coca-Cola Telenovela Club” provided a liminal space inwhich Latina mothers in the USA could explore and perform their love of telenovelas(Lisanti, 2010), luxury brand managers might design similar liminal spaces and retailspectacles where consumers like Emma and Rachel could safely circumvent the influenceof the local tall poppy syndrome. In contrast to the social sanctions on conspicuousconsumption in their everyday lives, liminal spaces can provide an immersive space whereforeign styles of brand consumption can be affirmed and cultivated.

Finally, at a broader strategic level, rather than cultivating brand identity entirelywithin the organisation and then communicating this identity to consumers, luxury brandmanagers can aim to collaborate with their diverse range of consumers in developing adynamic multicultural brand identity. This strategy would involve incorporating a widerrange of cultural meanings and developing the most appropriate brand positioning(s),thereby addressing tensions between the conflicting luxury brand consumption styleswithin a multicultural marketplace. In line with the cultural branding and dynamic brandidentity approaches, the multicultural branding approach should view brand identity asdeveloping over time through “mutually influencing inputs from several socialconstituents” (da Silveira et al., 2013, p. 31) that include both brand managersand consumers. Moreover, it should focus on more proactively and thoroughlyintertwining the ongoing social construction of brand meaning with the ongoingevolution of diverse culturally informed consumption styles of luxury branding thatemerge within a multicultural marketplace.

Furthermore, engaging with different groups of consumers to develop a multiculturalbrand identity may have broader social implications. More specifically, by encouragingluxury brands to be more proactive in addressing the dynamic cultural changes withincontemporary marketplaces, the multicultural branding approach can offer consumersan increased understanding of and the deployment of coping mechanisms for ever newmulticultural social formations. In doing so, marketers can play an important role infacilitating the co-existence of divergent consumption styles within a marketplace, and

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support different groups of consumers in their boundary crossings (Peñaloza, 1994),thereby having positive effects on social interactions and societal integration within andacross multicultural marketplaces.

Future researchIn this study, by focusing on the interplay between local and foreign cultural meanings,we explored how the complexity of a multicultural marketplace shapes divergent stylesof luxury brand consumption in a single national market. While we have purposivelyfocused on only two ethnic groups (i.e. European NZ and Asian NZ) in New Zealand,incorporating other groups could extend our understanding of how the tall poppysyndrome and the face-saving cultural beliefs are negotiated, adopted, and/orintegrated by luxury consumers within this multicultural marketplace.

Furthermore, the purpose of this situated investigation was to inform and advance theconceptualisation of and approach to international luxury markets as confluences ofmultiple cultural beliefs, rather than to generalise the experiences of consumers withinthese markets. We acknowledge that other cultural and social meanings may be inoperation in different national markets, and hence further research is required to find outwhat these meanings are and how they influence luxury brand consumers. To whatextent, for instance, does contextual cultural shifting occur in more mature luxury brandmarkets, such as Europe? Are there particular types of consumers who are more prone tocontextual cultural shifting than others? Further, how do other factors, such as one’sclass or generational membership, influence this process? While we identified multiplecultural beliefs and showed that consumers negotiate the meaning of luxury brands atthe nexus of these cultural beliefs, it was beyond the scope of this paper to create acomprehensive typology of how these negotiations are manifested in internationalmarkets through other styles of luxury brand consumption in such markets. Furtherresearch is required to explore a wider range of consumption styles in greater detail.

Finally, while our study has explored how luxury brand meanings and consumptionstyles are shaped under the influence of multiple, and at times, conflicting cultural beliefswithin a multicultural marketplace (Figure 1), it was beyond the scope of this paper toaddress how these consumption meanings and styles are reflective of and assistconsumers in forming the multiple aspects of their self-concept and identification (e.g. Seoand Gao, 2015). For instance, there is a growing body of literature on how foreign culturalmeanings shape consumers’ cultural identities in multicultural marketplaces, which hasbeen largely informed by post-assimilationist perspectives of acculturation (Peñaloza,1994; Askegaard et al., 2005). Yet, as Kipnis et al. (2014) highlighted, the considerations ofidentity negotiations among non-immigrant consumers have been limited to the local-global culture dichotomy. Therefore, we invite future empirical research to explore therole of conflicting cultural beliefs, brand meanings, and consumption styles in theformation of consumer identities through the lens of a multicultural branding approach.

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About the authorsDr Yuri Seo is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Marketing and International Business, VictoriaUniversity of Wellington. In his research, Yuri focuses on issues related to how marketing actorsacquire, utilise, cross-fertilise, and transform cultural resources for their personal and/or broadersocial needs. This includes research on cultural branding, luxury brand consumption,multiculturalism, and digital consumer culture. Dr Yuri Seo is the corresponding author and canbe contacted at: Yuri.Seo@vuw.ac.nz

Dr Margo Buchanan-Oliver is a Professor in the Department of Marketing and Co-Director ofthe Centre of Digital Enterprise (CODE) at the University of Auckland Business School.Her research concerns interdisciplinary consumption discourse and practice, particularly thatoccurring at the intersection of the digital and physical worlds.

Dr Angela Gracia B. Cruz is a Lecturer inMarketing at the University of Auckland. Her researchis focused on marketing communications and consumption at the boundary – referring to marketspaces where ambiguities, tensions, and transformations abound. This encompasses research onconsumer acculturation theory (the boundary between migrants and locals), posthumanism andtechnology consumption (the boundary between humans and machines), and food consumptionand luxury branding (the boundary between East and West).

For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htmOr contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

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