The Impact of Design Characteristics on Brand Attitude and Purchase Intention - Focus on Luxury Fashion Brands -

Abstract

Most luxury fashion brands have a strong brand identity and the product design characteristics of a brand are critical factors that influence brand identity. The design of products influence brand identity and play an important role in the choice by consumers in which brand to purchase. This study investigates the impact design characteristics of luxury brands on brand attitudes as well as purchase intentions in the examination of the differences in the impact influence by product category and consumer characteristics. The product design of brands was evaluated and measured by innovative and traditional characteristics. The product categories were divided into apparel, bags, shoes, and accessories. The consumer characteristics used in this study are fashion involvement, age, income, and the amount of money used for purchasing fashion products. Sample brands, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Burberry, and Gucci, were extracted from the Intel-brand's Luxury Brand Ranking 2008 and pilot tested for appropriateness. The data collected from 120 luxury consumers and 92 samples were statistically analyzed with SPSS 15.0, reliability test, factor analysis, ANOVA, frequency test, regression, and t-test. The findings are as follow. First, luxury brands were divided into two groups by innovative design characteristics and traditional design characteristics; innovative design characteristics show a significant influence on brand attitude and purchase intention. Second, only fashion related behavior factors among consumer characteristics became moderators when design characteristics influenced brand attitude and purchase intention. Third, the differences in purchase intention affected by design characteristics were found in bags, shoes, and accessories category. It is necessary for luxury brands to focus on innovative design characteristics and to specify the different needs of consumers through fashion related behavioral factors. This research will be useful to luxury brands in designing products and planning marketing strategies by offering specific information for luxury brand consumers.