Digital Rivalries and Prestige Personas: Brand Identity and Oppositional Loyalty in the Luxury Fashion Industry

Abstract

The research examines how luxury fashion customers relate to their favorite brands and which other brands they dislike while studying effects from digital communities. Research has two parts. First it uses identity theory and the Consumer-Brand Identification model. Then it fills a research gap by studying how brand community participation and inter-consumer brand rivalries affect identity-based customer actions. This study explores why digital consumers now rely on brands to express their identity and separate themselves from others in luxury fashion markets. The study used PLS-SEM methods to analyze a set of numerical data. We gathered survey results using a planned online form from 200 people who regularly use digital platforms in luxury products. The study explored how different types of factors influenced each other in the research model. Unique branding features show a strong link to a strong brand association with customers (β = 0.73) while self-brand similarity and prestige failed to produce notable results. The degree to which people identify with a brand influences their oppositional loyalty (β = 0.32) and these relationships depend on both brand competition and user interaction. Through its new identity-performance model this study shows that digital luxury brands should focus on limiting access and displaying competitiveness to create loyalty with consumers. Research needs to investigate these patterns across different cultures as well as changing symbolic methods.

Keywords-

Consumer-Brand Identification, Oppositional Loyalty, Brand Uniqueness, Brand Rivalry, Luxury Fashion, Digital Branding, PLS-SEM