While global economy suffers depression, international luxury industry, which always aims at high-income customers, is hardly affected. The figure of sales of the luxury industry displayed an increase of profits and more young customers started purchasing luxury goods even when the Asian market was undergoing SARS's attack. In the 100 top global brands investigated by BusinessWeek in 2003, 8 luxury brands are included, showing astonishing brand value. Luxury good as a ¡§Universal Product¡¨ (Ohmae, 1989) earns its value from its brand image. How does a brand preserves its classic taste while follows the latest fashion trend? How do global strategies manage to organize the design and innovation of luxury goods, so that every detail is unified in a mechanical manner to please global taste and global customers? Since luxury good has unique characteristics and additional value besides the product itself, the management of luxury goods and the brand construction strategy may be very different from general consuming products. This study combines Aaker & Keller's ideas about constructing brand equity. Apart from analyzing secondary data, the study does thorough interviews with four internationally-famous luxury goods'brand managers to discuss international luxury goods'brand construction strategies in Taiwan. This study has reached several conclusions as follows: 1.International luxury goods' original country's image, their establishing time and heritage, and their brand history are helpful in constructing brand equity in Taiwan. International luxury goods' brand designer is the key source to the display and creation of unique brand position, brand personality and brand equity. 2.International luxury industry's entry model in Taiwan generally follows the route from Agency to Joint Venture and then to Wholly Owned Investment. 3.For the international luxury industry, retaining high-quality products around global market, creating classical product designs to extend the PLC, multiplying product lines under one brand name, and limiting the quantity of each design are product strategies to keep luxury goods' uniqueness and scarcity. 4.In price strategy, luxury industry maintains the high price and avoids discounts to build customer's perception of the brands' high value and high quality. 5.On the channeling strategies, in order to keep the independent brand image and identical selling quality, the international luxury industry controls the distributing lines with its direct owned or specially authorized stores. Following the global fashion trend, luxury industry opens or enlarges the flagship stores and concept stores in Taiwan. Adapting to the special consuming characteristics of Taiwan, luxury industry opens the stores in stores in department stores' luxury section. 6.AD Marketing and Event Marketing are the main promotion strategies for international luxury industry to increase brand awareness and to create unique brand association of brand and consumers. 7.International luxury industry's brand construction strategy is based on globally standardized positioning strategies, but it does few localized modifications.

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Despite of global economic depression, the luxury-goods industry has been thriving in the recent years. Luxury brands build brand images such as fashion, classy, and elegance. In this mature market, especially under the domination of 4 major luxury products groups , it is very difficult for a new luxury brand to survive as a late entry. In this paper, based on First-Mover Advantage Theories(Schnaars, 1986; Lieberman and Montgomery, 1988¡Ketc) and the New Business Model(Hamel, 2000), we develop a structural model to discuss how could a new luxury brand succeed competing with existing brands and go international. Shawnyï, a new French-Taiwanese luxury brand, is taken as our study case. Several important findings are as following: 1. No first-mover advantage is found in luxury-goods industry. What make a successful luxury brand should be business activities such as creative concept of designer and efforts on managing brands. 2. First-movers in luxury-goods industry benefit from their long-history brand images, their new designers also bring their brands new images from time to time to lead the fashion. 3. Fashion industry moves from Europe, through America, into Asia, in the meanwhile melts new concepts and creativity. 4. New luxury brands could reach global market by merging with luxury products groups.

This research is to understand the business strategy of making products luxurious. Owing to more and more serious poverty gaps in our social and economic environment, ¡§M¡¨ type society becomes an important issue for everyone. ¡§M¡¨ type society makes the rich people being richer and the poor people being poorer,. This phenomenon will affect consumer behaviors and whole market environment. According to the study of AC Nielson¡]2006¡^, more than 50% people in Taiwan tend to save more money in daily life for buying more their favorites or luxury goods instead. In this situation, companies should take special strategies to face this challenging new impact in the market. Therefore, the strategy of making products luxurious is one of best choices to try. For solving this situation, many companies have made their products luxurious successfully such as Acer (Ferrari notebook products), Toyota (Lexus automobile), and Giant (bike). These firms develop from middle market position to high market position, and make their product price more expensive, more high quality and more luxurious. Furthermore, their luxury products sold successfully in their target segments. All these cases are successful examples showing the effects of strategy of making products luxurious, accordingly this research sort out the precise strategies and methods through these successful case studies. Through using multiple cases study method, this research discusses the practicable ways to do the strategy of making products luxurious. Moreover, this research also goes through the conceptions of product positioning, the definition of luxury, product strategy, product line extended to build the conceptual model for this study. In the end, this research has integrated the some results. The key factor of the strategy of making products luxurious is offering high quality than the same type products. Next, the brand is the second important factor, a firm that make this strategy successfully must has a good brand image, not a ¡§luxury brand¡¨ image. Customers can get the good experience through products quality and performance. Therefore combining these results the research concludes that the products quality and performances are the core factors of the strategy of making products luxurious.

Many niche and luxury brands build their strategies based on the notion that “people want what they can’t have.” Companies build their brand exclusiveness on brand rejection. While rejection may heighten one’s desire, it may also decrease one’s preference and enjoyment. In this study, we focus on the effect of brand rejection by exclusive brands on consumers: do consumers want a brand more but like it less when rejected by a brand and can this counter-driving be expanded to include peer brands? In two studies, we show that the counter-driving of want and preference is present when brand rejection comes from a legitimate source and expands to include peer brands but not non-peer brands. Our research makes novel theoretical contributions and provides important managerial implications. We offer suggestions for future research that may bring great interest and knowledge expansion in the field of consumer behaviour and branding.

Some authors sustain that even though literature that regards branding of consumer goods is constantly expanding, there is not enough focus to what concerns the attitudes of consumers toward fashion luxury apparel.   The purpose of this thesis is to discover the differences in the attitudes toward luxury fashion apparel of people in Sweden and Italy.   The method chosen to achieve this goal is a deductive one. This method aims to compare a part of the existent literature about fashion with the fashion reality, in regards to luxury apparel, present in Sweden and Italy. A quantitative research has been conducted through an online survey.   This research found out that in general, the sociological models analyzed fit much better the Swedish society than the Italian one. This means that Swedes resulted much more caring in others’ judgments than Italians. This can be also proved by the fact that they resulted influenced more strongly and by more factors (friends, media, etc.) than Italians. Finally, Swedes, compared to Italians, consider fewer features as important when evaluating a fashion luxury brand and, these features, are also rated slightly different.

Many niche and luxury brands build their strategies based on the notion that “people want what they can’t have.” Companies build their brand exclusiveness on brand rejection. While rejection may heighten one’s desire, it may also decrease one’s preference and enjoyment. In this study, we focus on the effect of brand rejection by exclusive brands on consumers: do consumers want a brand more but like it less when rejected by a brand and can this counter-driving be expanded to include peer brands? In two studies, we show that the counter-driving of want and preference is present when brand rejection comes from a legitimate source and expands to include peer brands but not non-peer brands. Our research makes novel theoretical contributions and provides important managerial implications. We offer suggestions for future research that may bring great interest and knowledge expansion in the field of consumer behaviour and branding.

Thesis--Bonn. / Includes index. Bibliography: p. 444-514.

Thesis--Bonn. / Includes index. Bibliography: p. 444-514.

Desde a tenra idade, meninas aprendem o quanto é importante “estar na moda” em nossa sociedade. Cada vez mais, está em evidência a prática e a necessidade do embelezamento feminino. Mulheres ditas “comuns”, em busca de um lugar nas passarelas, frente aos novos “holofotes contemporâneos”, espetacularizam seus corpos, tentando imitar, seguir os segredos de beleza de uma diva famosa, modelo ou artista de cinema. Com o objetivo de encontrar a mais nova top model brasileira, através de um concurso de beleza, o reality show – Menina Fantástica – exibido no ano de 2012 pelo programa de televisão Fantástico – transmitido aos domingos pela TV Globo, mostrou como uma menina deve se fazer “fantástica” para realizar o seu grande sonho de tornar-se uma manequim de sucesso. Entre maquiagens e produtos de beleza, as meninas aprenderam a ser princesas e bonecas da moda. Para tornar o corpo um acessório de charme e muita graça, era mostrada uma beleza que se faz contemporânea e que pode estar ao alcance de qualquer mulher, ou seja, qualquer menina pode ter a chance de fazer-se “fantástica” e conquistar o brilho e o glamour do universo fashion. Mas para isso, ela precisava construir um estilo de viver a sua feminilidade, que deveria ser top. Essa busca pelo brilho, esse encantamento por ser uma manequim de luxo, inquietou-me. Essa cultura do “belo sexo” me fez pensar em corpos mutantes, corpos voláteis, que a qualquer preço desejam alcançar a fama e a felicidade de um corpo esbelto e perfeito. Foram esses questionamentos que me levaram a analisar as estratégias implicadas na produção dessas meninas, cujo maior sonho é ser fantástica, estampar a capa da revista Vogue e desfilar no Fashion Week. Vale tudo para ser uma top model? Como o sonho de ser uma modelo se constitui? A beleza se faz conquistada com muito trabalho e dedicação, qualquer jovem pode sonhar em ser uma Garota Verão ou uma Menina Fantástica ao cuidar da alimentação e praticar exercícios físicos. Esse jeito de ser feminina é promovido constantemente pelos cânones midiáticos contemporâneos. Uma estética de passagem para uma metamorfose, uma superprodução do feminino. O site das Meninas Fantásticas foi o material empírico de análise, visto que, ali, as candidatas a futuras manequins falam de si e narram seus sonhos, além de mostrarem sua trajetória neste concurso de beleza. Inspirada no aporte teórico dos Estudos Culturais em Educação e em suas perspectivas pós-estruturalistas, discuto essas novas feminilidades contemporâneas que recomendam esse cuidar de si, para embelezar-se e fotografar-se. Para compreender tal sonho, faço uma análise das narrativas das quatro finalistas do ano de 2012, que foram selecionadas entre tantas outras garotas para participar deste reality show. Confinadas numa mansão, as meninas eram preparadas para seguir a futura carreira de modelo/manequim. Especialistas da saúde, estilistas de moda e top models internacionais e consagradas na mídia, davam dicas às jovens meninas. Estas, por sua vez, aprenderam a modelar seus corpos, a ter equilíbrio e postura na passarela e a fazer de sua beleza uma vitrine de luxo. Camaleoas, fazem de seus corpos uma performatividade teatral, cujo corpo, visto como uma mercadoria, coloca-se em desfile, num verdadeiro show do feminino. / Since they were little girls, they have learnt how important is ‘being in fashion’ in our society. Female practice and urge to be beautiful is more and more in evidence. The so-called ‘ordinary’ women, in search of a space in the catwalk or under ‘contemporary spotlights’, spectacularise their bodies, trying to mimic or find out beauty secrets of a famous model or star. Aiming to find the Brazil’s latest top model in a beauty pageant, the reality show Menina Fantastica, presented in Fantastico on 2012 Globo Network on Sundays, showed what a girl should do to become fantastic for her big dream of becoming a luxurious model to come true. Between makeup and beauty products, girls learnt to be mode princesses. For the body to become a piece of charming and cute accoutrements, beauty is shown as modern and within the every woman’s grasp. In other words, any girl can become fantastic and win the glamour of the fashion universe. But for that, she must build her own way of living her femininity. This search for the gleam, this enchantment for being a luxurious model, has disturbed me. This culture of ‘fair sex’ makes me think about changing volatile bodies wishing fame and happiness for a thin perfect body at any cost. These issues led me to analyse strategies to shape these girls whose major dream is being fantastic, a centrefold in Vogue and model at Fashion Week. Is anything worth doing to be a top model in contemporary times? How does the dream to be a model come true? Beauty is won, and with hard work and dedication any girl may dream to be a Garota Verao or Menina Fantastica, by looking for healthy feeding and doing physical exercises. Contemporary media canons constantly promote this female way. It was an aesthetic that is on the way to metamorphosis, a female blockbuster. The empirical material for analysis was Meninas Fantásticas website, where candidates for future model careers talk about themselves, speak of their dreams and display their path in this beauty pageant. Drawn on the Cultural Studies in Education in their poststructuralist perspective, I discuss these new contemporary femininities, which recommend this self-care to embellish and to be shot. To understand this dream, I have analysed four contestants’ narratives in 2012, who were selected among so many girls to take part in this reality show. Confined in a large imposing house, girls were prepared to follow a future model career. Experts in health, wardrobe stylists and internationally famous top models gave tips for the young girls. These in turn learn to model their bodies, improve their posture and balance on the catwalk, and turn their beauty into luxurious display case. Chameleons make their bodies a drama performance, as the body is seen as a good in a pageant, a genuine female show.