The role of status consumption and brand equity: A comparative study of the marketing of Indian luxury brands by traditional and social‐media

Abstract This research is a comparative study of the marketing of luxury brands by social media and by traditional media. It examines the influence of status consumption and brand equity and shows how they impact on the purchase intention of luxury brands. The research is based on the Indian luxury brand market, a sector that has yet to be studied in any depth. It uses a questionnaire with a convenience sampling strategy that targeted followers of prominent luxury brands in four of India's largest metropolitan cities; 453 usable responses were obtained. The research provides both a model and identifies a number of managerial and theoretical implications. The results show that status consumption and brand equity positively affect the purchase intention, with this being more significant in social media marketing activity than in traditional marketing activities. The research indicates that it would be wise to use a blend of both social and traditional media for marketing luxury brands. For social media campaigns, luxury brand managers should focus on status consumption and brand equity, which should lead to increased intention to purchase.