"From Prada to Nada": Conspicuous luxury consumption and brand attachment: A contrast of genuine luxury brands and second-hand luxury brands

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The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of conspicuous luxury consumption on brand attachment, considering two fields of application: secondhand luxury brands vs genuine luxury brands. It examines how motivations to consume, consumption behaviors and consumer-brand relationships change when one contrasts pre-owned luxury brands and genuine luxury brands. This research extends Kastanakis and Balabanis' conspicuous consumption model (2014). Three levels are proposed: (1) personally and socially oriented traits (Consumer Need For Uniqueness and Consumer Susceptibility to Normative Influence) as antecedents of conspicuous consumption and status seeking, (2) conspicuous consumption (bandwagon consumption and snob consumption) and status seeking as mediators; attitude toward counterfeiting as independent driver (3) brand attachment as a dependent variable. In general, results show that in both cases, snob consumption and bandwagon consumption induce brand attachment. In details, several differences are observed between consumers of secondhand luxury brands and those of genuine luxury brands. In addition, the paper highlights three moderating effects: (1) interdependent-self between status seeking and CSNI, (2) brand familiarity between CSNI and bandwagon consumption, (3) nostalgic connections between status seeking and brand attachment.