Prêt-à-manger
: the danger of extending luxury fashion brands into F&B ventures

  • Sara Vieira (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

Why are luxury fashion brands expanding into dining? What do consumers really want from these brands? And what can be damaged? These are just some of the questions that this current report addresses to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the consumers’ behavior towards luxury brand extensions, including feelings, preferences, innermost thoughts, and decisions. This thesis explores the impact of luxury fashion brands extending into F&B (food and beverage) ventures, in comparison with downward fashion extensions. It further explores how different store formats (permanent location or pop-up store) may impact consumer perceptions of those extensions and their impact on the parent brand. Through two experimental studies, we find that consumers have more difficulty observing a link between the F&B experience and the parent brand, compared to a new fashion line that is more affordable yet closely aligned to the brand's core business. In addition, the present research offers managers, retailers, and researchers the benefits of extending a brand through a pop-up store format. Particularly showing that this store format can reduce the negative impact of more affordable brand extensions due to its aura of ephemerality and rarity. Our study is theoretically and practically relevant, contributing to the literature on luxury brands extending into affordable ‘luxury’, and providing marketing managers and retailers with significant inputs on the importance of maintaining the luxury essence, as well as how they can boost that essence when faced with this type of extensions.
Date of Award24 Jan 2024
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorJoão Niza Braga (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Luxury
  • F&B
  • Fashion
  • Brand extension
  • Horizontal extension
  • Vertical downward extension
  • Store format
  • Pop-up
  • Consumer acceptance
  • Perceived hedonism
  • Perceived brand value
  • Perceived exclusivity
  • Psychological distance

Designation

  • Mestrado em Gestão e Administração de Empresas

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