Article Review on Customer Consumption

List of reviewed articles

1. Brief summary of the theory & discussion of progression in the field

 The summary is based on Conspicuous Consumption and Intentions of Consumers on purchase of luxury goods. The scholar Veblen in the year 2009 based his research on the discussion of the leisure class analysis as a form of the everyday experiences and observations (Veblen, 2009). In his analysis, he examines various habits; characteristics and behavior of people in connection to the Bararian community in the issues related to leisure which are highly initiated. Yang and Farrag in the year 2017 give an examination of various factors that bring effects on conspicuous consumption. In line with Yang, he came to the conclusion that global identity has a great impact on attracting the attention of the customers in the purchase of luxury products. In addition, Farrag has come into the conclusion that involvement of the fashion, comparison of the social and brand consciousness brings much impact on the intentions of the customers to purchase luxury products (Farrag, 2017, p.393). According to Gulubeva and other scholars in the year 2018, they found that dress can be used in displaying conspicuous consumption. It can be used for the purpose of enhancing social status.

2. Discussion of common themes across all the four articles

 The common themes discussed in all four articles involves consumption pattern of the high-class rank in the society in connection to the tendency of people to purchase the luxurious goods as a show off for their financial well being. All four articles have basically reflected the fact that high ranked individuals should their high prestige through the purchase of high expensive luxury goods so show their high superiority than other people in society. The thematic concern in all the articles is the fact that buying expensive clothes and luxury goods is one of the sighs for a high level of wealth in society. The themes are centered as an indication that the choice of clothes is a better way of communicating the wealth, social standards and dominance of the people within the community. The common theme is in connection with the four articles used is that the choice of fashion within the society defines the social class and ranks of people in terms of financial stability. The attitudes towards the level of conspicuous do not depend on factors related to the test but a conspicuous test of the individuals. The theme is in line with the factors which influence the purchase of the luxurious good within the community.

3. Discussion of different themes across all the four articles

 Apart from the common themes identified in the four articles, there are cases of the different themes displayed by the individual articles. Veblen theme depicts the fact that the level of consumption of luxury is the better display for the social standing and prestige of the people within the community. The theme is that the more the people show capacity in the purchase of the luxury goods the more they are ranked as well establish. Golubeva has a different concern that garments display the status of the elite in the community. Yang has gone ahead to show the traditional perceive of values related to luxury products. This is a unique theme considering the identification of the global identity in the attraction of the customers’ attention towards purchasing power of the luxury goods. It has been found that there are no major differences between the thematic concerns of the four articles. They both have almost the same idea and reflect almost at the same point concern. Considering various themes shown by various articles, it can be identified clear that, most of the articles are connected to the fact that individuals’ perception on social values is the key attribute on basis of the consumption of luxury goods.

4. Discussion of study limitations & how these limitations differ across the various research designs (e.g. quantitative, qualitative, mixed)

 In this discuss, Golubeva states that the limitation of the study is the choice of the dress which is much dependant on the venue of the event based on the activity to be contacted (Golubeva, Koris & Kerem, 2018, p.78). The dressing is considered to be a major limitation based on the fact that during the plain atmosphere, there are inconveniences since customers may be interested with only one type of dressing against what is sold in the market. The issues of bias have been a major threat in consideration that various groups of people in social events will have the self-perception that they will be highly observed on their dressing code. The dressing issues have led to the deviation of the study to qualitative findings research. For the convenience purpose, Yang has used quantitative research but for the purpose of generalizing the results of the study, mixed method on wider coverage of the sample has been applied. Farrag has made use of the mixed research method but just having it limited to the study of the samples related to the Qatari people. This is a limitation to use this method because the results could be made more comprehensive through the inclusion of the variables. This would have influenced positively on attitudes towards consumption of the luxurious goods.

5. Discussion of future research directions proposed in the articles (commonalities & differences)

 The article by Veblen on the topic “The theory of the leisure class” discusses future research by the introduction of the concept of conspicuous consumption of luxury goods. It reflects mostly on issues related to the social goals on attracting others towards the purchase of the luxury good. In addition, the proposed concept basically influences people towards the display of their power and wealth within the society. In the article, by Golubeva, he proposes that future researches should be concentrating on the exploration of the dressing codes and the conspicuous consumption of luxury goods. Moreover, Yang gives a suggestion that there should be more researches given opportunities in the examination of the effects which are brought about by the consumers’ level of identity especially based on how they display the intention to purchase luxury goods (Yang, Ma, Arnold, & Nuttavuthisit, 2018, p.533). Lastly, Farrag point of concern is the suggestion that the development of the typology in Qatari luxury goods consumers will be effective in helping the owners of the brand to implement product marketing strategies. It will also be a significant factor in conducting any of the other future studies regarding social media and its influence conspicuous consumption of luxury goods.

References

• Farrag, D. A. 2017, ‘The Young Luxury Consumer in Qatar’, Young Consumers, Vol. 18 Iss.4 pp.393-407
• Golubeva, J. Koris, R. & Kerem, K. 2018, ‘The Dress I Wear Says More Than a Thousand Words: Conspicuous Choice of Garment Among Estonian Elite’, Journal of Management and Change, Vol.36/37 pp.78-98
• Veblen, T. 2009, The Theory of the Leisure Class, The Floating Press, Waiheke Island
• Yang, J. Ma, J. Arnold, M. & Nuttavuthisit, K. 2018, ‘Global Identity, Perception of luxury value and consumer purchase intention: a cross – cultural examinatio’, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol.35 Iss .5 pp.533-542