Research On Cultural Influence On Luxury Consumption Behavior

With economic globalization deepening faster, cross-border transactions are booming inevery field. Luxury, originating from Europe, a relative new and particular commodity,different from ordinary goods, has started to expand its business to the whole world. China,as a largest developing country, has attracted the attention of the world for its unstoppableincreasing luxury consumption. However, there are distinct differences between Europeanand Chinese cultures. Some multinational marketers are well attuned to the differences incultures and the influence on consumer attitudes and behavior and have captured sizablemarket share. Further development of luxuries requires greater emphasis on culturalconsideration.The thesis has reviewed and applied the most influential theories of cross-culture, consumerbehavior, luxury and relationship among them. Using Hofstede’s five Cultural DimensionsTheory, then choose France, the typical luxury origin country, and China as the researchtarget and studies their cultural traits deeply and compare the influences on the luxuryconsumption due to differentiated cultures. To elaborate cultural influence on consumerbehavior deeply and provide more practical recommendations for marketing, the thesisfocuses on the consumers’ motivation and decision making process. When analyzing theconsumers’ motivation, the thesis applies the typical motivation theory in the French luxuryconsumers and meanwhile applies the unique motivations theory for Chinese ones. In theconsumption decision pattern part, the thesis adopts the most suitable consumption modelMckinsey Consumer Decision Journey for luxury to analyze consumer decision process. Athorough analysis from initial consideration stage to post-purchase evaluation and loyaltyloop is made based on the model. Upon the comparative analysis of cultural differences onconsumer motivations and decision patterns, the author discovered the LuxuryConsumption Life Curve for France and China for different stages. As luxury’s specificcharacteristics, the luxury life curve is different from the life cycle of ordinary product.Besides, as the luxury has not been able to complete a whole cycle in both France and China,so the luxury consumption life curve requires for further research. Marketing suggestionsfrom4P aspects of price, product, place and promotion for both luxury companies andChina’s development of future luxury industry are given based on the cultural influence andmodel comparison.