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EMAC 2024 Annual


Should You Combine Luxury and Virtuality? A Brand Essence Perspective
(A2024-119850)

Published: May 28, 2024

AUTHORS

Lucas Nann, University of Lucerne; David Finken, ETH Zurich - Chair of Technology Marketing; Tim Doering, Maastricht University; Reto Hofstetter, University of Lucerne

ABSTRACT

Luxury brands are increasingly engaging with or in virtual environments (i.e., Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality). Typically, a brand’s identity (i.e., its essence) is transferred to its products, and consumers perceive such identity when purchasing products. This essence-transfer is particularily important for luxury brands, as they possess a distinct and unique set of characteristics. Drawing from literature on essentialism, we propose that luxury products are less able to capture a luxury brand’s essential identity. We demonstrate in four controlled expermental studies that AR product display for luxury products can have detrimental consequences for luxury brand perception. Specifically, we show that displaying a product with AR captures less of a luxury brand’s essence. That, in turn, negatively affects luxury brand perception operationalized as brand authenticity. Managers should take heart from our findings and think about interventions to prevent these adverse effects.