Between the mass and the class: Antecedents of the “bandwagon” luxury consumption behavior

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of a number of psychological factors on consumers' propensity to engage in the "bandwagon" type of luxury consumption. It develops and empirically confirms a conceptual model of bandwagon consumption of luxury products. In general, results show that a consumer's interdependent self-concept underlies bandwagon luxury consumption. This relationship is mediated by the level of a consumer's status-seeking predispositions, susceptibility to normative influence and need for uniqueness. The study concludes that these psychological constructs explain well a large part of bandwagon luxury consumption and can be used as inputs in the development of marketing strategies.