Consumer-brand relationships in step-down line extensions of luxury and designer brands

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss and identify consumer-brand relationships in a luxury brand context. The focus is on consumer-brand relationship forms emerging in relation to step-down line extensions of luxury brands. The study is positioned within fashion industry. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative research approach is adopted analyzing data from 13 open consumer interviews. Photo collages of luxury brands and their step-down line extension logos were used as inspiration for informants in the interviews. Findings - Findings show that consumer-brand relationships mostly follow earlier identified consumer-brand relationships. However, five new relationship types (status, inspirational, impulse, rewarding and turncoat) are identified. All but status relationships can be generalized also to other contexts than the luxury brand context. Research limitations/implications - The study advances the understanding of luxury products and their step-down line extensions from a consumer perspective. However, due to the exploratory nature of the study the data are limited. Practical implications - This study showed that step-down line extensions are not perceived as that important that they could not be replaced with another brand in the same product category. Informants often preferred step-down line extensions to parent brands due to their more suitable design, even when the informant was hypothetically asked if the opinion would change if economic issues were not a restraint. Managers are encouraged to analyze their brands based on a brand-relationship approach. Originality/value - The study uses the concept consumer-brand relationship as a new way to understand how consumers relate to line extensions in a luxury brand context. The approach is novel.