Powerful or powerless? How the online vs. offline context impacts individuals' perceived social power from luxury consumption

Abstract

This study investigates how different levels of luxury brands influence individuals' perceived social power and how the online vs. offline nature of the shopping context may moderate these effects. Therefore, by performing an experimental study with a within-subjects design, this research revealed that the shopping context online vs. offline has a different impact on the consumers’ purchase intention, which ultimately depends on the brand type chosen. Furthermore, it was found that consumers believe their perceived social power increases when shopping in-store for top-level luxury products. However, no significant changes in guilt were raised when purchasing online or offline for all three brand-level types, as well as for their self-esteem. Still, consumers' purchase intentions were proven higher when purchasing a top-level luxury product in-store than online. This paper advances the understanding of consumer behavior when purchasing luxury items and how their emotions and the purchase context play a big part in the decision-making process since human behavior is getting much more complex over time, making it much more difficult to comprehend consumers' main motivations to shop and their thought process during it. Moreover, this paper also has a crucial role in further advancing the knowledge regarding the future of online shopping and how consumers are adapting to the digital transformation. The interpretation of the results, conclusions, and limitations was explored throughout this research paper.

Date of Award	25 Jan 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	João Niza Braga (Supervisor)