Background/problem: Many business and industries have been hardly influenced of the occurrence of this financial crisis which is expected to be the worst financial crisis since 1929. Historically the luxury business has always been immune to uncertainties and crisis. It is of great interest to see how the luxury business reacts in the financial crisis from a marketing strategy perspective. Purpose: To explain the impact of the financial crisis on the luxury business by using and identifying the nature of luxury and the suitable marketing strategies. Methodology: A deductive philosophical approach and a positivistic and interpretative research approach are applied in this thesis.Findings: The luxury business has not been influenced by the financial crisis based on the interviews. The main reasons behind it are interpreted as the nature of luxury itself and its unique customers. Conclusion: Based on our study and the involved companies, it is assumed that the luxury business is invulnerable to the financial crisis.

Nowadays, the luxury market is experiencing an intensive competition trend. Business is hard to survive from distinguish itself from other brands. Creating superior customer experience seems to be one of the vital objectives to remain competitive advantage in current retailing environments. This study was designed to investigate differences between levels of loyalty, perceived brand experience and retail experience, among shoppers from a luxury brand. Data for this study were collected from a convenience sample of 200 participants who were selected with personally experienced of a luxury brand. Descriptive statistics were compiled on data for all respondents. Data were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to further assess the reliability of the scale. In addition, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to observe the relationships among the constructs and to test the remaining hypotheses. Results of the study demonstrated differences among brand and retail experience that suggested as drivers to afford experience to customer that successfully effectively affacting customer¡¦s emotion positively towards a significant luxury brand. Furthermore, the degree of expectation fulfillments generates satisfaction which, in turn intensifies intentions toward repatronage decision in the future. Therefore, both brand experience and retail experience embrace valuable feedback and feedforward to brand development strategies and assist in achieving a mutually beneficial commitment for the brand to gain the edge.

This thesis is basic overview of luxury sector in the international environment. The paper deals with the development of international luxury markets and examines the impact of global economy on the overall performance of the luxury sector. It also explores the issue of democratization of luxury and degradation of luxury brands affected by the wave of globalization and the expansion of luxury brands on emerging markets.

Purchasing counterfeited luxury products and downloading pirated items have becomemore common nowadays. Fashion and IT industries are affected negatively by consumers’supportive attitude towards piracy and counterfeits. Many luxury branded companies havetheir exclusive brand names stolen by counterfeits producers. Likewise producers ofcomputer software, music, and movies are affected by individuals who download/streamtheir items for free. Consumers’ attitudes towards counterfeiting and piracy are importantto examine as to understand their acceptance and rejection towards counterfeits and piracy.The purpose of this thesis is to examine consumers’ attitudes towards counterfeits andpiracy. What is accepted and rejected by consumers? To answer the research questions, aqualitative method is used. The data is collected through semi-structured interviews with12 consumers of both/either counterfeits and piracy. The study is performed in Skåne(Scania), Sweden, mainly in Malmö, Perstorp and Kristianstad.We implemented the Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Moral Reasoning, ConsumerTheory and different attitudes for analysing the empirical presentation. The result of thestudy showed that the interviewees had a more accepting attitude towards piracy while themajority of them had a rejecting attitude towards counterfeits. Due to the fact thatcomputer and IT have become a part of the everyday life for many individuals. However,the interviewees who buy counterfeits consume the items while they are on vacationabroad since the supply of counterfeits in the Swedish market is not very big. When itcame to piracy and counterfeited products, the age of the interviewees did matter to someextent. Also, price was one important element why consumers are interested in counterfeitsor download piracy.This study contributes to fill the gap in the lack of studies of consumers’ attitudes towardsboth piracy and counterfeits. The conclusions can be used as a guideline and tool forcompanies to be aware of consumers’ attitudes towards illicit products. Keywords: Counterfeit products, Piracy, Consumer attitude, Physical products, Digitalproducts, Luxury brands, Genuine luxury brand, Illicit forged products

This master's thesis deals with luxury brand marketing communication within social networks. The subject reacts to the dynamic growth regarding the importance of social networks that bring many changes and opportunities to marketing communication conductive to the customer. Its purpose is to use theoretical knowledge about luxury brand marketing within social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Youtube; presented in its first part, for the analysis and evaluation of the current activities on social media of the luxury Czech glass company LASVIT. Based on the findings from the analysis, the final part of this thesis presents my recommendations and concrete proposals concerning the expansion of current marketing communication activities of LASVIT within it's domain of social platforms.

The main aim of this diploma thesis is to suggest improvements of the marketing and business strategy of Kiehl's, a luxury skincare brand within the L'Oréal portfolio, in order to strengthen the brand's position on the Czech market. The theoretical part defines what luxury is and what the specific features of luxury brands are. Following is the overview of the luxury and cosmetics markets, describing the current situation and the trends. The next part depicts the business model of Kiehl's, the marketing strategy and the marketing tools that were used for the launch of the brand. Based on the findings in this thesis, a series of recommendations is suggested to build the brand's awareness, recruit new customers to the brand and increase sales.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-06-17T20:56:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Leonardo Aureliano Da Silva.pdf: 854106 bytes, checksum: 03610004e3624d1929247cd77398a3b7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-17T20:56:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leonardo Aureliano Da Silva.pdf: 854106 bytes, checksum: 03610004e3624d1929247cd77398a3b7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-11 / Studies with different perspectives have investigated the role of the brand in consumer behavior. Although there is an interface in the investigated constructs, still lacks depth in how the consumer attach to a brand to improve their emotional well-being in stressful social contexts. To better understand this issue a bibliographic research was performed and subsequently went on empirical research, which was conducted experiments with different brands and stress levels. The data obtained by sample of 365 individuals were compiled and analyzed by analysis of variance procedure. Analysis of the results of the experiments showed the following findings: a) in low stress scenario a luxury brand and a non-luxury brand had the same effect on the consumer´s emotional well-being and the level of attachment to the brand; in high-stress scenario the luxury brand compared to non-luxury brand influenced more positively consumer´s emotional well-being and the level of attachment to the brand. / Estudos com diferentes perspectivas têm investigado o papel da marca no comportamento do consumidor. Embora exista uma interface nos constructos investigados, ainda carece de aprofundamento de que maneira o consumidor se apega a uma marca para melhorar seu bem-estar emocional em contextos sociais estressantes. Para melhor compreender esse assunto foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica e posteriormente uma pesquisa empírica, na qual foram realizados quatro experimentos, com diferentes marcas e níveis de estresse. Os dados obtidos por meio da amostra de 365 indivíduos foram compilados e analisados pelo procedimento de análise de variância. As análises dos resultados dos experimentos apresentaram os seguintes resultados: a) em cenário de estresse baixo tanto uma marca de luxo, como não luxo apresentaram o mesmo efeito sobre o bem-estar emocional do consumidor e o nível de apego à marca; b) em cenário de estresse alto, a marca de luxo influenciou mais positivamente o bem-estar emocional do consumidor e o nível de apego à marca.

In today's society, the consumption of luxury goods online has increased rapidly over the last decade, and most luxury brands are established online. One of the main challenges is to offer a truly luxurious experience that every customer wants to have fulfilled, not only in a physical store but also online. Luxury brands need to know how to create the luxurious environment consumers expect while operating in the luxury online atmosphere. The challenge also involves exploring what elements the luxury atmosphere consists of. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate which elements of luxury fashion e-commerce could provide a sense of luxemosphere. The data analyzed to find the necessary characteristics of the luxemosphere for luxury fashion e-commerce was retrieved by literature review, interviews, and were further explored by prototyping. Primarily the findings suggest that there should be significant differences between conventional and luxury fashion e-commerce. Mainly the study supports that layout, image, and chat are important elements of high relevance for the luxurious atmosphere. In addition, the findings bring forth the advantages that follow the use of an extravagant homepage. Furthermore, the study presents a summary of the core results as preliminary guidelines for achieving luxemosphere. The findings provide researchers, designers, and brand managers guidance for designing luxury fashion e-commerce. Further research is essential on different aspects and for a more conclusive development of the preliminary guidelines of luxemosphere for luxury fashion e-commerce. / I dagens samhälle har konsumtionen av lyxvaror online ökat snabbt under det senaste decenniet och de flesta lyxvarumärken är etablerade online. En huvudutmaning är att kunna erbjuda en lyxig upplevelse som varje kund vill ha uppfylld, inte bara i en fysisk butik utan även online. Lyxvarumärken måste ha kunskap om hur man etablerar den lyxiga miljön som konsumenterna förväntar sig när de verkar i den lyxiga online atmosfären. Utmaningen innebär dessutom behovet av att utforska vilka element lyxatmosfären består av. Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse om vilka element inom lyxmode e-handel som skapar en känsla av ”luxemosphere”. Data som analyserades för att hitta de nödvändiga egenskaperna hos ”luxemosphere” för lyxig mode e-handel hämtades genom litteraturstudie, intervjuer och utforskades ytterligare genom prototypframställning. I första hand tyder resultaten på att det borde finnas betydande skillnader mellan konventionell och lyxig mode-e-handel. Studien stödjer främst att layout, bild och chatt är viktiga delar av hög relevans för den lyxiga atmosfären. Dessutom lyfter resultaten fram de fördelar som följer med användningen av en extravagant startsida. Vidare presenterar studien en utvald sammanfattning av kärnresultaten som preliminära riktlinjer för att uppnå ”luxemosphere”. Resultaten ger forskare, designers och varumärkesansvariga vägledning för att designa lyxig mode e-handel. Ytterligare forskning är väsentlig inom olika aspekter och för en mer övertygande utveckling av de preliminära riktlinjerna för ”luxemosphere” för lyxig e-handel.

Un grand nombre d'études abordant le thème de la contrefaçon traite le comportement de consommation de l'article contrefait. Mais peu de recherches s'intéressent au consommateur de la marque de luxe lorsque celle-ci fait l'objet de contrefaçon. Ce travail doctoral vise à contribuer à ce niveau en étudiant les principaux aspects du comportement d'achat de la marque de luxe légitime. Cette recherche passe par l'identification et la mesure de l'insensibilité à la contrefaçon, nouveau concept développé au cours de ce travail, puis par l'étude de l'expérience de la marque et des variables relationnelles à la marque. L'intérêt de cette étude s'inscrit dans la contribution aux recherches sur la contrefaçon et plus précisément dans l'étude du comportement de consommation des articles originaux de la marque de luxe. D'un autre côté, le rapprochement avec l'expérience de marque ou encore avec la relation à la marque n'a pas pu être faite jusqu'à présent dans des recherches traitant de la contrefaçon, d'où l'intérêt de se pencher sur ces deux aspects importants de la marque de luxe. En termes méthodologiques, nous proposons tout d'abord une mesure de la réaction du consommateur de la marque de luxe légitime, à savoir l'échelle de l'insensibilité à la contrefaçon. Ensuite, nous mettons en place une modélisation sur PLS qui englobe les différents concepts étudiés. La capacité du modèle à refléter des relations complexes représente un apport méthodologique important. Au niveau managérial, il s'agit de contrer la contrefaçon en valorisant la marque de luxe. L'apport principal de cette recherche réside donc dans le management de la marque de luxe en elle-même. Nous suggérons aux gestionnaires de la marque de luxe de mieux choisir leurs actions marketing dans un contexte de contrefaçon. Favoriser l'immersion dans l'univers de la marque, impliquer le consommateur et renforcer sa relation avec la marque, ou encore cibler plus particulièrement les prescripteurs et les leaders d'opinion, seraient des moyens efficaces pour renforcer la fidélité du consommateur à sa marque de luxe et ce, malgré la présence de contrefaçon. / A large number of studies on counterfeiting explore consumers behavior in the consumption of counterfeit articles. But few of them consider luxury brand consumers and counterfeiting. Our doctoral study attempts to contribute to this field by studying principal aspects of luxury brand buying behavior. Our research aims to identify and measure insensitivity to counterfeiting which is a new concept developed in this study. Brand experience and relationship brand variables will also be considered. Our study contributes to counterfeiting's researches, and more precisely to researches on consumption of legitimate products. On the other side, the connection with brand experience or the relationships with the luxury brand have not been undertaken in counterfeiting researches which leads us to considerate these two important aspects of the luxury brand. Concerning the methodological facet, we first propose the measure of consumer's reaction toward counterfeiting, namely insensitivity to counterfeiting. Then, we perform a PLS model that includes all concepts studied and specifies complex links between concepts. In a managerial way, we propose to counter counterfeiting by focusing on the luxury brand itself. We suggest for luxury brand managers to choose the appropriate marketing tool. Immersion in brand universe, consumer implication or focusing on opinion leaders, are good ways to enhance consumer's loyalty, despite the presence of counterfeiting.

This thesis explores the role of curation in the design and development of brand experience in the luxury retail environment. Three research objectives seek firstly, to gain an understanding of the meaning of curation in luxury retailing and identify the role, purpose and value to luxury retailers; secondly, to explore the different ways in which curation manifests itself in the luxury retail environment by examining sole brand and multi brand luxury retailers, and lastly, to identify how curation is brought to life through the curatorial roles within luxury retailers. In light of increasing global competitive pressures and fast-paced technology advances associated with mobile devices, the rise of omnichannel retailing has led luxury brands to be ubiquitous, with the resulting challenge for luxury retailers to develop seamless and experiential omnichannel brand experiences in order to continue to differentiate and grow. However, there is a paucity of literature regarding the design and development of luxury brand experiences, suggesting a gap in the literature. In addition, ‘curation’, a term traditionally associated with museology, is being increasingly used in the business environment in terms of creating differentiated experiences or collection of products both online and in-store. Little attention has been paid to curation in the literature, with the result of limited understanding of the role of curation in the design and development of brand experience, suggesting a second gap to be addressed in the research. The research was an investigative, qualitative and thematic analysis-based study. The data collection focused on face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 17 senior professionals from the luxury retail and cultural environments in the UK. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) Six Stages of Thematic Analysis and NVivo software were utilised to analyse the data, resulting in 9 key themes. My original contribution to the literature is this research is one of the first empirical studies to explore the role of curation in the design and development of brand experience in the luxury retail environment, resulting in three key contributions. Firstly, the role of curation is an influential one in the design and development of brand experience in the luxury retail environment and is manifested in four forms of curation across sole brand and multi brand luxury retailers. Secondly, curation in luxury retail has evolved from the traditional art-historian discipline of curation and is emerging as a new discipline and modus operandi in its own right, creating strategic, organisational, financial and experiential value. Thirdly, a strategic curation management toolkit consisting of three strategic frameworks was developed that contributes to both the brand literature and management practice. The toolkit provides managers with a common vernacular to develop their curatorial capabilities and identify strategic opportunities where they can harness curation as a strategy to design and develop omnichannel luxury brand experiences as a route to competitive advantage and build a platform for future growth.