Title: Are intermediary luxury fashion brands excluding overweight and obese women in the UK, by not offering their sizes among its assortments? Authors: Elin Forslund and Maria Erlandsson Supervisor:Ulf Aagerup Level: Bachelor thesis in marketing (15 ECTS). Spring 2015. Key concepts: Fashion, Intermediary Luxury, Brand Identity, Brand Image, User Imagery and Self-image Congruence. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to review the sizes available in store by three leading intermediary luxury fashion brands offered in the UK and compare it with the actual body shapes of the female UK population. This will show whether intermediary luxury fashion brands exclude overweight and obese women, by not offering their sizes among its assortments. We want to find out whether it is possible to reveal a correlation between existing branding theories and intermediary luxury fashion assortments in the UK. Theoretical framework: Our frame of reference consists of established branding theories and previous research concerning brand identity, brand image, self-image congruence, user imagery, segmentation and luxury branding. Method: This is a cross-sectional research of the descriptive kind.  We have used a deductive research approach and a quantitative research method. Empirical findings: In this chapter we are presenting the results of our study through a table demonstrating the distribution of individuals and garments over weight classes. Also, any significant differences between supply and demand within any of the categories will be revealed through a Z-test. Conclusions: Obese women are by all means excluded by intermediary luxury fashion brands. The overweight women have significantly less jeans to choose from than what should be supported by their relative share of the female UK population. However, it turned out that they are not entirely excluded as they still have an amount of tops to choose from that closely matches their demand. Also we succeeded with identifying a causal correlation between branding theories and the result of our study. Therefore we have managed to provide further knowledge on how intermediary luxury fashion brands can become successful.

Today it seems like fast fashion brands are affecting luxury brands. Have the fast fashion brands been ignored too long and have luxury brands failed at protecting their brand values?  Luxury fashion brands make collaborations with fast fashion designers, something that would have been unthinkable a long time ago. Luxury brands have increased their number of seasons, some have diffusion lines and others sell online on their own websites. Luxury brands and fast fashion brands are sold on the same streets, worn by the same customers and can be found in the same magazines. Once fast fashion brands were irrelevant for the luxury brands and they ignored them, but time has changed. Fast fashion has affected the luxury industry in several ways. “Fast design turnover”, “Limited-edition products”, “brand communication”, “celebrity products and brand endorsement”, “prestige retail location” and“co-branding with luxury fashion designers” are just examples of tactics fast fashion brands use to imitate luxury brands (Okonkwo, 2007). But luxury brands have characteristics that fast fashion brands don’t such as high quality, exclusivity, high prices, status, and offer highlevels of symbolic and emotional values (Tynan, McKechnie, & Chhuon, 2009). Common characteristics for fast fashion brands are trendy clothing, cheap, interpreted after fashion shows and the collections are delivered quickly (Plunkett, 2010). This study is of qualitative nature and the topic is under-researched academically, which makes it more interesting to explore. However, the fast fashion and luxury fashion has been examined by an extensive literature review. The fast fashion has been dominating the fashion industry in recent years. The purpose was to find out how fast fashion brands and luxury fashion brands were connected. Seven interviews were conducted with people working in the luxury industry. Luxury and fast fashion, consumers, e-commerce, seasons and collaborations will be explored in this paper. This dissertation will mainly focus on how the fast fashion already has affected luxury brands. The conclusion was that luxury brands have been affected by fast fashion brands in numerous ways, it seems to affect bigger luxury brands more than independent designers. Clearly, the luxury industry has been affected by the fast fashion industry.

[pt] O presente estudo articula dois fenômenos da sociedade moderno-contemporânea: luxo e juventude. O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar e compreender o consumo e os significados do luxo entre universitários das camadas médias no Rio de Janeiro. A partir de uma pesquisa de caráter qualitativo, foi realizada uma análise dos discursos dos jovens e do entendimento das categorias que tornam inteligíveis os usos e significados do consumo de luxo. Esse consumo é tratado como um fenômeno cultural, coletivo e com bases comunicacionais capazes de criar muros e pontes, definir identidades e estabelecer relações sociais. Por uma perspectiva que liga Comunicação e Antropologia no estudo da sociedade do consumo, a pesquisa identifica discursos sobre o consumo de luxo; a importância dada às categorias de qualidade, durabilidade, preço e exclusividade; as diferentes posições no grupo pesquisado; a tensão entre a democratização do luxo e a exclusividade das marcas. A pesquisa evidencia as diferentes abordagens sobre o luxo nos universitários, além de entender que o que é luxo na lógica do mercado não precisa, necessariamente, ser entendido como luxo pelos jovens pesquisados. / [en] This study intends to articulate two phenomena of the contemporary-modern society: luxury and youth. The goal of this work is to identify and understand consumption and the meanings of luxury among middle-class college students from Rio de Janeiro. A qualitative research analyzed the discourses of young individuals and the understanding of the categories that make the uses and meanings of luxury consumption understandable. This consumption is treated as a cultural and collective phenomenon with communicational foundations capable of creating bridges and walls, defining identities and establishing social relationships. From a perspective that connects Communication and Anthropology in the study of the consumer society, the research identifies discourses on luxury consumption; the importance given to the categories of quality, durability, price and exclusivity; the different positions showed by the researched group; the tension between the democratization of luxury and the label s exclusivity. The research exposes the different approaches that college students show regarding luxury, as well as reveals the understanding that what luxury is in a marked-led perspective, is not to be necessarily understood as the same luxury seen by the researched young individuals.

La France est aujourd’hui le leader mondial du luxe. Elle le doit à la force de sa tradition mondialement reconnue, mais aussi la puissance de ses groupes multinationaux (LVMH, Kering, mais aussi de ses entreprises familiales telle Hermès). En revanche, la Corée constitue l’archétype du marché porteur, entre le Japon et la Chine, mais aussi voit se créer une économie nationale du luxe, à travers certaines firmes de mode, le développement l’hôtellerie haut de gamme et celui des croisières de luxe. Il existe donc de nombreuses raisons de comparer les deux pays et, à partir notamment de l’exemple français, de procéder à une étude des comportements des consommatrices et consommateurs Coréens de luxe, à travers la prise en compte des origines historiques du luxe en France et en Corée du Sud, puis d’une analyse des réalités spécifiques à la Corée. / Today France is the world leader in luxury. It owes to the strength of its world-renowned tradition, but also the power of its multinational groups (LVMH, Kering, but also his family business as Hermes). However, Korea is the archetype of the growing market between Japan and China, but also seen to be a national luxury economy through some fashion firms, the development of upscale hotels and the cruise luxury. So there are many reasons to compare the two countries, in particular from the French example, to conduct a study of the behaviours of Korean luxury consumers, through the consideration of the historical origins of luxury in France and South Korea, and an analysis of the specific realities of Korea.

This research tested a conceptual model predicting the propensity to engage in two distinct forms of conspicuous consumption (bandwagon and snob consumption) that was developed by Kastanakis and Balabanis (2014) in a collectivistic Iranian context. This study found that this conceptual model was more successful in accounting for the variance in bandwagon consumption (i.e., conformity seeking conspicuous luxury consumption) than snob consumption (i.e., uniqueness seeking conspicuous luxury consumption) in the Iranian context. In addition to status seeking, it was found that consumer susceptibility to normative influence (CSNI) and consumer need for uniqueness (CNFU) mediates the influence of self-concept on bandwagon consumption. This finding suggests that the relationship between snob consumption and CNFU may differ in the Iranian context. Results also show that the relationships between CSNI, unpopular counter choice conformity (a sub-construct of CNFU) and status seeking with bandwagon consumption were all negatively moderated by consumer knowledge for fashion luxury goods. These findings extend the original conspicuous consumption model and provide some insight for the development of marketing strategies in Iran.

Definition of theoretical framework of work in hospitality, marketing in hospitality and economics. Description of luxury segment. Development of 5* facilities during socialism and in after-revolution period. Analysis the contemporary market of the luxury hotel segment in Prague from the side of supply and demand with prediction till 2012.

The goal of this thesis is to provide the entrepreneurs who decided too enter the Czech market with luxurious goods via franchise with a new source of information, help them to find the right way in the global and Czech market with luxury and help them by running their own franchise shop. The thesis starts with the theory of franchising, continues with the analysis of Czech and global market with luxury goods and at the end it focuses on the operational manual of a brand with luxury items. The analyze of luxury markets is based on the studies of Bain & Co. company which map the luxury market since 2003 and Ipsos Tambor study which provides the information about the Czech luxury market. Franchising is definitely good form of entering new markets with luxury clothing even though there is a shift from wholesale to retail in fashion brands. Last but not least this thesis enables the reader to have a look into the eventual operational manual of a luxury brand with wide range of products.

Brand heritage and consumer perceived value are two concepts which separately have received a growing interest among academics for quite some time. However both of them combined, hence consumers’ perception of the value of brand heritage is a relatively unexplored field of research. This study therefore intends to explore how consumers perceive the value of brand heritage of luxury fashion brands. To achieve this purpose, the study will investigate consumers’ perception of the value of brand heritage of four European luxury fashion brands – Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton – which serve as illustrative/reference brands in this study. These four European luxury fashion brands are chosen as illustrative brands in this study based on the determination that heritage is a central part of their brands. Secondary data was collected through Internet based document analysis of the illustrative brands to determine whether these qualify as heritage brands. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect primary data for the purpose to explore how consumers perceive the value of brand heritage of the illustrative brands. The findings of the study reveal that consumers perceive the value of the brand heritage of the illustrative brands because it serves as a source of credibility and trust between the consumers and the brands. There is a perception that the brands have managed to maintain a certain standard regarding quality and craftsmanship, and likewise delivered according to consumers’ expectations over time. Furthermore consumers perceive the value of the brand heritage of the illustrative brands since it contributes to a sense of belongingness and social acceptance. They value the identity and meaning of the illustrative brand, hence the perception that the brands have managed to persistently deliver according to their core values and promises over time. It provides the consumers with the opportunity to connect with the brands on a personal level and to create their own individual identities and lifestyles through the brands. All this, in combination with the perception of the brands as timeless and durable, that they inhabit a sense of credibility and trust, which in the long run may generate loyalty - they value that the brands are loyal to them - conclude how consumers perceive the value of the brand heritage of the illustrative brands.

A partir de données qualitatives et quantitatives, cette thèse examine les stratégies d’anticipationet de réaction que les firmes peuvent mettre en place pour faire face à la désapprobation publiqueet à la stigmatisation. Les audiences externes se reposent sur des catégories organisationnellespour se repérer dans une industrie. Ces catégories sont des combinaisons d’élémentslinguistiques, symboliques et substantiels qui façonnent la manière avec laquelle les évaluationssociales – positives et négatives – sont relayées par les audiences. Ainsi, le fait d’être associé àcertaines catégories peut accroître ou décroître le niveau de désapprobation, et il en va de mêmepour les associations hybrides. Pour décroître leur niveau futur de désapprobation, les entreprisespeuvent manipuler stratégiquement les associations catégorielles utilisées par les audiences.Spécifiquement, dans l’industrie des armes, les catégories qui comptent se situent au niveau desEtats d’origine des firmes, de leur portefeuille client et de leur production industrielle. Parfois, lesstratégies d’anticipation ne suffisent pas, notamment lorsque la firme est touchée par un scandale– une forme particulièrement stigmatisante de désapprobation. Cette thèse démontre qu’en cas descandale, les firmes utilisent également des stratégies de réaction qui modifient aussi leursassociations catégorielles au niveau de l’industrie, avec l’objectif de desserrer les liens qui lesassocient au scandale, et qui associent le scandale à leurs partenaires au sein de l’industrie / Using qualitative and quantitative data, this dissertation investigates the anticipation and responsestrategies used by firms to deal with public disapproval and stigmatization. External audiencesrely on organizational categories to make sense of the industry landscape. Categories arecombinations of linguistic, symbolic, and substantive features that shape how social evaluations,positive or negative, are conveyed. Thus, association to certain categories can increase or decreasedisapproval levels, and so can category straddling. To decrease future disapproval levels, firmscan manage strategically the categories with which audiences associate them. Specifically, in theglobal arms industry, the categories that matter most are located at the home country, customer,and output levels. However, anticipation strategies are not always enough. Firms can be targetedby corporate scandal, a very stigmatizing form of disapproval. The dissertation demonstrates thatin such cases firms implement response strategies that also modify categorical associations at theindustry level, with the aim of loosening the ties that connect the targeted firm to the scandal,and the scandal to the rest of the firm’s partners in the industry. The dissertation contributes tostrategy and organization theory, especially to research streams on industry evolution,categorization, and stigmatization

In today's globalized world traveling has become an integral part of many people's lives. Whether traveling for pleasure, entertainment, or business, you always have to find a place to stay during your travels. There are many options - sleeping on a park bench, on a sofa at some stranger's house, in a tent, in a small hotel room or in a luxury apartment in one of the world's famous hotel chains. One such chain is Hyatt. Yet, Hyatt is one of the last worldwide hotel chains not represented in the Czech Republic. Why is this so? Is there still a potential for a new luxury hotel chain to enter this market? And if so, which entering strategy shall the chain choose? The aim of the thesis is to answer these questions.