Local retail jewelry leaders of Saudi Arabian (S.A.) small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have struggled to survive through declining profits and increasing business foreclosures, thus threatening the sustainability of the Saudi retail sector and the Saudi economy. A globalization strategy to enhance profitability for jewelry retail SMEs in S.A. is needed, given the limited options for improving profitability. Despite this acknowledged need, leaders in S.A. have refrained from such a strategy because they lack knowledge of economic attraction features to target in the globalization process. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study using discriminant analysis was to examine specific countries' economic attraction features in the historical globalization strategy of a leading U.S. global jewelry company that could facilitate the implementation of a successful globalization strategy for a local Saudi jewelry SME retail company. The study addressed the effects of 6 independent predictor variables of 25 target countries' economic attractions on the dependent grouping variable, which distinguished among 3 order-of-entry groups according to the U.S. company's date of entry in each country between 1972 and 2009. Results indicated that except for the Hofstede index, no other variable had a significant role in the classification of the target countries. Because there was a scarcity of research on this topic, the study is beneficial for its theoretical and academic value, and may be practical for the derivative benefits of catalyzing business growth by empowering leaders of local, successful luxury brands in S.A. to implement their own globalization expansion process and increase employment in the Middle East.

This research investigated three main research questions. First, can the structure and nature of motivation for the consumption of luxury products be identified? Second, are there differences between consumers from different parts of the world in their motivation for consuming luxury products? Third, can cultural values be used to predict motivation for the consumption of luxury products? Data was obtained by way of an online survey at a New Zealand University, and via a mixed-mode survey at a public University in Thailand. A total of 307 (NZ n=130; Thai n=177) usable responses were obtained. In respect of the first research question, the model of motivation for consuming luxuries developed by Vigneron and Johnson (1999) was empirically tested. This model proposed that five forms of motivation would exist; status, uniqueness, conformity, quality, and hedonic. In the present study, a four factor model of consumer motivation was uncovered, consisting of status-seeking, pleasure-seeking, uniqueness-seeking, and value-seeking. Value-seeking emerged as the most important motivation for the consumption of luxury products. Status-seeking was the least important form of motivation. This finding suggests that the conventional emphasis in the luxury products literature, on status as a motivator of luxury consumption, may be misplaced. In respect of the second research question, differences were found to exist between New Zealanders and Thais in the importance that respondents attach to the different forms of motivation for consuming luxuries (Wilks Lambda = 0.540, F= 61.167, p = <0.001). A series of univariate ANOVAs identified that Thais possess higher levels of value-seeking motivation than New Zealanders (F = 15.152, p = 0.000), and that New Zealanders possessed significantly higher levels of pleasure-seeking than Thais (F = 87.589, p = 0.000). No significant difference was found to exist between New Zealanders and Thais in respect of status-seeking and uniqueness-seeking. In order to investigate the third and final research question, it was necessary to measure the orientation of participants in the research towards a set of cultural values. The four-quadrant individualism, collectivism and vertical, horizontal typology of cultural orientation was used as the basis of cultural values in this research (Triandis, 1995). This typology suggests that there are two forms of individualism: vertical (VI) and horizontal (HI), and two forms of collectivism: vertical (VC) and horizontal (HC). This was measured on the scale developed by Singelis, Triandis, Bhawuk and Gelfand (1995). The cultural orientation of individuals was found to be more heterogenous within countries than was anticipated. Whilst, as expected, Thais primarily orientated towards VC, there were significant numbers of individuals who orientated towards HI and HC. New Zealanders were largely split between HI and HC. Correlation analysis and a series of multiple regressions were conducted in order to investigate the relationship between cultural orientation and motivation for consuming luxuries. VI and VC were found to be related to status-seeking. VI and HC were positively related to pleasure-seeking, and VC was found to be negatively related to pleasure-seeking. HI was related to uniqueness-seeking. VC and HI were found to be related to value-seeking.

<p>This study will focus on the luxury market and how this market has been affected by the present recession. The economic downturn have had a major impact on today’s business and consumption, practically all industries have been affected. However there exist different opinions about how the luxury market have been influenced, certain experts mean that this segment is recession proof while others believe that this market will experience the worst side-effects. For that reason we find it interesting to analyze the luxury market and develop our own opinion about the impact of the recession. The paper will emphasize the luxury sectors marketing actions and the impact on businesses. We have used a qualitative approach based on eight different interviews. The respondents have been carefully chosen to fulfill our purpose. These interviews will be fully presented in the appendix and will constitute the base of the analysis. Since the paper is written with a qualitative approach, it is difficult to make any generalizations regarding luxury in recession. Nevertheless the analysis and conclusion shown in chapter five and six will both be interesting and instructive.</p>

<p>Our purpose with this research has been to obtain a deeper insight and understanding for the phenomenon and term “weekday-luxury.”</p><p>Through our research, we have found a link between value, service, brands and consumer behaviour into a relationship that we termed “weekday-luxury.” This link of values is particularly interesting to us and we are curious about the underlying motivation to “weekday-luxury” and the driving forces underlying the phenomenon. We have noticed in society that people need something extra in their daily lives and we attempt to speculate where their perceived value lies through the concept of “weekday-luxury." Our goal is to determine a deeper understanding and insight into this phenomenon and how it meets our needs through an identifiable pattern. We also analyze the nature of “weekday-luxury” and its meaning. This essay further focuses on peoples effort to “treat ourselves” from which we have chosen a market-oriented perspective, as well as a quantitative method, from which we have performed eight personal interviews and three mail interviews.</p>

The contemporary society reflects with countless of non-functional, i.e. luxurious, products which, with their redundant property, have a wasteful or negative impact on customers’ survival value and their living environment. Customers have a tendency to make biased judgments in the choice of the products they purchase, causing them to confuse many of such non-functional product features with the functional ones and constantly encourage their market production. This may reflect a variety of impacts on the market: decreasing the pace and course of development products’ actual, functional quality while increasing the pace and course of development for products’ non-functional, luxurious quality; constant increments of prices disproportionate to the product’s actual quality; discard of functional investments; utilization of wasteful resources; etc. This study will suggest a link between products’ price-quality disproportions in the development of new models and the customers’ biased emotional purchasing-decisions before buying a product. With that, it will indicate how customer’s emotions play a role in products’ future industrial quality developments and how biased emotional perceptions contribute to non-functional or luxurious quality developments. Consequently, implications are also found for the psychological and economical causalities behind our ubiquitously polluted environments.

Service quality occurs in service encounters where both customers and employees come together in an interaction. It is therefore important that the staff give their best because the interaction usually takes place in real time, which is referred to as the moment of truth. The aim of this study was to find out how luxury hotels are working to ensure good service quality, and how the staff are motivated to deliver this service. We wanted to examine this from a management perspective, and an employee perspective. Information was gathered through various interviews, where the staff at the Hotel Kämp in Helsinki and at the Sheraton Hotel Stockholm participated. Survey results show that employee motivation, training and empowerment have a significant impact to provide service in high quality. The results also show that the surveyed hotel, to certain level work in the same way, but it reveals some differences even when both hotels are part of the same concern. / Servicekvalitet uppstår i servicemöten där både kunden och anställda möts i en interaktion. Det är därför viktigt att personalen ger sitt bästa då mötet oftast sker i realtid, vilket benämns som sanningens ögonblick. Syftet med vår studie var att ta reda på hur lyxhotell arbetar för att kunna garantera en bra servicekvalitet och hur de anställda motiveras för att leverera denna service. Detta ville vi undersöka utifrån ett ledningsperspektiv samt ett personalperspektiv. Information samlades in genom olika kvalitativa intervjuer, där personalen på Hotel Kämp i Helsingfors och på Sheraton Hotel i Stockholm deltog. Undersökningens resultatet visar att personalens motivering, utbildning och empowerment har en betydande påverkan för att kunna leverera service i hög kvalité. Resultatet visar också att de undersökta hotellen till viss nivå arbetar på samma sätt, men det framkommer vissa skillnader, även då båda hotellen ingår under samma koncern.

This research includes a cross-cultural study between Scandinavia and eastern Asia that are considered to be one individualist (Scandinavia) and one collectivist (east Asia) culture. The purpose is to study the effects of conspicuous consumption regarding counterfeits and luxury products amongst two different cultures. This has not been done in previous research; however, aspects such as conspicuous consumption regarding different cultures have been examined before. In those studies it became clear that there was a noticeable difference between the cultures regarding consumption. In this study, a survey has been carried out to collect data from the two cultures. This research questions previous theories and examines a new aspect of how conspicuous consumption behavior differs between cultures – the consumption of counterfeit and luxury goods.

Introduction: Counterfeiting is considered as the crime of the 21st century. A highly affected market of counterfeits is the market of luxury branded goods. These goods are bought by consumers who want to express their social class and belonging by being admired, recognized and accepted by other people. The counterfeits of luxury brands that flourish on the market makes it possible for anyone to be a luxury brand user which is against the core of luxury brand, which strives for a low distribution to keep the demand high to be able to keep the consumer associations of luxury brands.   Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to create knowledge of how counterfeit products affect the consumer perception of luxury brands. Methodology: The research approach was a deductive, quantitative research and the data was collected through a questionnaire distributed through Facebook and the internal e-mail of the Linnaeus University. The sample frame was generation Y in Sweden. A total of 432 completed questionnaires were collected and was the foundation for the analysis and result.   Conclusion: The consumers' perception of counterfeit products have a negative effect on the consumer perception of luxury brands. Both the consumer's brand associations and how consumers perceive the quality of luxury brands are affected by counterfeit products. However, what the consequences are of this negative relationship cannot be answered by the result of this thesis.

Many luxury companies within the fashion industry today choose to extend their brands downwards in order to reach new customer segments and hence increase their profitability. A brand extension strategy that leverages the core values of the luxury brand is a new possibility for luxury brands to position themselves towards a broader customer base. Meanwhile there is a risk that the extension dilutes the image of the luxury brand and has a negative effect on the company in the long term. Thus a tradeoff exists between becoming more accessible and maintaining the exclusivity of the luxury brand. The objective of this thesis is to investigate how luxury brands that perform downward brand extensions to reach new markets can succeed with this strategy without diluting the brand image. This is achieved by studying the perceptions of the new target segment towards the extension of luxury brands. The results of the study show that the risk of brand dilution is minimized when the core values of the luxury brand are transferred to the brand extension while the extension at the same time is successfully targeted towards the specific customer segment. / Många lyxföretag inom modebranchen idag väljer att använda sig av varumärkesutvidgning nedåt för att nå ut till nya kundsegment och därigenom öka sin lönsamhet. Varumärkesutvidgningsstrategin som drar nytta av lyxvarumärkets kärnvärden är ett nytt sätt för lyxvarumärken att positionera sig gentemot en bredare kundbas. Samtidigt finns dock risken att utvidgningen kan ge upphov till urvattning av lyxvarumärkets image samt skada varumärket och därigenom påverka företaget negativt på sikt. Det finns således en balansgång mellan tillgänglighet och exklusivitet för lyxvarumärken. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur lyxvarumärken som utvidgar sig nedåt för att nå en ny marknad kan lyckas med denna strategi utan att samtidigt urvattna sitt varumärke. Detta genom att undersöka den nya målgruppens uppfattningar kring varumärkesutvidgning av lyxvarumärken. Studiens resultat visar att risken för varumärkesurvattning minimeras då lyxvarumärkets kärnvärden överförs till utvidgningen samtidigt som den nischas mot den specifika målgruppen.

This study will focus on the luxury market and how this market has been affected by the present recession. The economic downturn have had a major impact on today’s business and consumption, practically all industries have been affected. However there exist different opinions about how the luxury market have been influenced, certain experts mean that this segment is recession proof while others believe that this market will experience the worst side-effects. For that reason we find it interesting to analyze the luxury market and develop our own opinion about the impact of the recession. The paper will emphasize the luxury sectors marketing actions and the impact on businesses. We have used a qualitative approach based on eight different interviews. The respondents have been carefully chosen to fulfill our purpose. These interviews will be fully presented in the appendix and will constitute the base of the analysis. Since the paper is written with a qualitative approach, it is difficult to make any generalizations regarding luxury in recession. Nevertheless the analysis and conclusion shown in chapter five and six will both be interesting and instructive.