TY - JOUR
T1 - Images of success and the preference for luxury brands
AU - Mandel, Naomi
AU - Petrova, Petia K.
AU - Cialdini, Robert B.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - This research examines the impact of media depictions of success (or failure) on consumers' desire for luxury brands. In a pilot study and three additional studies, we demonstrate that reading a story about a similar/successful other, such as a business major from the same university, increases consumers' expectations about their own future wealth, which in turn increases their desire for luxury brands. However, reading about a dissimilar successful other, such as a biology major, lowers consumers' preferences for luxury brands. Furthermore, we examine the role of ease of imagining oneself in the narrative as a mediator of the relation between direction of comparison, similarity, and brand preference.
AB - This research examines the impact of media depictions of success (or failure) on consumers' desire for luxury brands. In a pilot study and three additional studies, we demonstrate that reading a story about a similar/successful other, such as a business major from the same university, increases consumers' expectations about their own future wealth, which in turn increases their desire for luxury brands. However, reading about a dissimilar successful other, such as a biology major, lowers consumers' preferences for luxury brands. Furthermore, we examine the role of ease of imagining oneself in the narrative as a mediator of the relation between direction of comparison, similarity, and brand preference.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33645071559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33645071559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1207/s15327663jcp1601_8
DO - 10.1207/s15327663jcp1601_8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33645071559
SN - 1057-7408
VL - 16
SP - 57
EP - 69
JO - Journal of Consumer Psychology
JF - Journal of Consumer Psychology
IS - 1
ER -