Narrative and Emotional Accounts of Secondhand Luxury Purchases Along the Customer Journey

Abstract

Secondhand luxury is a growing business around the world. Recent research estimates that in the USA, brands such as Prada are transacted more on secondhand channels than through luxury retail. Academic research has focused so far on profiling consumers and understanding the meaning they attach to pre-loved fashion purchases. Yet, little is known about emotions yielded through purchasing secondhand luxury on different distribution channels (secondhand boutiques and online Web sites such as Vestiaire Collective and Vide Dressing). The purpose of this research is to explore the feelings that develop along the customer journey when purchasing secondhand luxury items. This chapter follows ten consumers who are tracking a secondhand luxury fashion item both in secondhand boutiques and online boutiques. It explores the emotions that develop along the journey, before the purchase when searching the item (anxiety, impatience, and nostalgia), during purchase choice (particularly the issue of trust), and after the purchase (disappointment, excitement, etc.). This is complemented by a text analysis of forum discussions and customer reviews on secondhand fashion purchases online. This chapter provides managerial implications to secondhand retailers (particularly the growing business of online secondhand platforms) in order to provide a better customer service and monitor customer relationship management programs.