Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 314322

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Business Research

The impact of attitude functions on luxury brand consumption: An

age-based group comparison
Michael Schade a,, Sabrina Hegner b,1, Florian Horstmann a,2, Nora Brinkmann a,3
a
b

Chair of innovative Brand Management, University of Bremen, Hochschulring 4, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Marketing Communication and Consumer Psychology, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, the Netherlands

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 1 September 2014
Received in revised form 1 December 2014
Accepted 1 January 2015
Available online 13 August 2015
Keywords:
Luxury brands
Attitude functions
Identity development process
Purchase intention
Age

a b s t r a c t
The main purpose of this study is to understand the consumption of luxury brands in different age groups.
Attitude functions (social-adjustive, value-expressive, hedonic, utilitarian) explain luxury brand consumption
among three age groups. A total of 297 respondents between the age of 16 and 59 participated in a survey.
Using structural equation modeling, this study shows that the hedonic and utilitarian attitude functions are
relevant across all age groups, while the impact of the social functions greatly differs among the target groups.
Whereas the social-adjustive function strongly enhances luxury brand purchase behavior of late adolescents
(1625 years), value-expressiveness only impacts the luxury consumption of young adults (2639 years). The
social functions do not determine the acquisition of luxury brands by middle-aged adults (4059 years).
2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Young consumers are the fastest-growing segment of luxury brand
purchases. These consumers have increased their spending on luxury
goods outpacing any other demographic group (Halpert, 2012). According to a study by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants (2012), young
consumers are developing an increasingly positive attitude toward
luxury consumption. Still, more mature consumers are currently of the
greatest economic relevance in the luxury segment. According to Bain
& Co, middle-aged luxury consumers are the highest spenders (each
consumer spends an average of 1600 a year on luxury items), while
older luxury consumers make up more than 50% of luxury sales
(Roberts, 2014). To sum up, not only the established target groups of
middle-aged and older consumers but also young consumers have become a relevant target group for luxury brand managers. Consequently,
understanding the motivations of consumers' engagement in luxury
consumption in different age groups is crucial for both management
and academic research.
According to the Identity Development Process, age is an important factor that inuences personal motivations (Diehl & Hay, 2011;
Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 421 218 66583; fax: +49 421 218 66573.
E-mail addresses: mschade@uni-bremen.de (M. Schade), s.hegner@utwente.nl
(S. Hegner), fhorstmann@uni-bremen.de (F. Horstmann), limsekr@uni-bremen.de
(N. Brinkmann).
1
Tel.: +31 53 489 2730; fax: +31 53 489 4259.
2
Tel.: +49 421 218 66580; fax: +49 421 218 66573.
3
Tel.: +49 421 218 66572; fax: +49 421 218 66573.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.08.003
0148-2963/ 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Erikson, 1963). Following this theory, the increasing sense of one's

identity from adolescence to adulthood leads to value changes during
lifetime, and consequently, to a modication of the importance of individual needs and motivations (Gutman, 1982; Sheldon & Kasser, 2001).
Hellevik (2002) states that differences in value orientation between
age groups are larger than the differences found for any other social
background variable (p. 286). Assuming that identity-based motives
are particularly moderated by age (Erikson, 1963) and additionally assuming that those identity-based motives hold a strong reference with
luxury consumption (Bian & Forsythe, 2012; Stockburger-Sauer &
Teichmann, 2013), we expect that age inuences the motivations of
luxury brand purchasing in a very meaningful way. So far, research
does not provide adequate knowledge about the inuence of age on
luxury brand consumption.
In order to investigate the motivations for luxury consumption in
different age groups, the authors apply the Functional Theories of Attitudes as a conceptual framework (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998; Grewal,
Mehta, & Kardes, 2004; Katz, 1960; Shavitt, 1990; Smith, Bruner, &
White, 1956; Snyder & DeBono, 1989). These theories suggest that individuals possess attitudes due to the psychological benets they derive
from them (Gregory, Much, & Peterson, 2002; Grewal et al., 2004) and
that attitudes can serve different functions like expressing one's self
(Katz, 1960). The functional view of attitudes suggests that in order
for attitudes to change, brands need to appeal to the functions that a
particular attitude serves for the individual. Thus, the features of the
attitude object and their relationship to need satisfaction act as the
motivational underpinnings of attitudes (Lutz, 1978). Therefore, a

M. Schade et al. / Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 314322

strong link between attitude functions and motivation exists (Sheth,

Newman, & Gross, 1991).
The Functional Theories of Attitudes are suitable for our study due
to the established fact that attitudes are an underlying variable that inuences behavior (e.g. consumer behavior) (Katz, 1960; Shavitt, 1989;
Smith et al., 1956). Prior studies have shown the relevance of attitude
functions (value-expressive, social-adjustive, hedonic, utilitarian) in
explaining consumer behavior (Grewal et al., 2004; Shavitt, 1990;
Wilcox, Kim, & Sen, 2009). In the context of luxury brand consumption,
several authors have proven the applicability of the Functional Theories of Attitudes as a conceptual framework (e.g. Bian & Forsythe,
2012; Seung-A, 2012; Wilcox et al., 2009). In order to reect the complexity of the attitude functions, we adopt the encompassing denition
of luxury brands by Hudders (2012, p. 609): Luxuries are brands with a
premium quality and/or an esthetically appealing design. In addition,
luxury brands are exclusive, which implies expensiveness and/or
rarity.
The objective of the present study is to analyze luxury brand responses (attitude functions and purchase behavior) with a special
focus on age groups. Thus, the following question arises: Which attitude
functions are particularly relevant for determining luxury brand consumption in different age groups? This research regards both similarities and differences in the inuence of attitude functions on luxury
brand responses among different age groups. Consequently, this study
will provide practical implications for the positioning of luxury brands
adapted to specic target groups in order to increase the efciency of
marketing activities.
The next section presents the Identity Development Process and
the Functional Theories of Attitudes. Connecting the two conceptual
frameworks, hypotheses are derived, followed by a presentation of the
research method and the results of the empirical study. The paper concludes with a discussion of the key ndings, management implications,
as well as limitations and directions for further research.
2. Conceptual framework
2.1. Identity development process
In order to investigate differences between age groups, most
researchers draw on life span research (e.g. Lesser & Kunkel, 1991;
Simpson & Licata, 2007; Waterman, 1982). The stage theory by
Erikson (1963), focusing on the Identity Development Process, is
one of the most accepted frameworks for life span research (Sheldon
& Kasser, 2001; Simpson & Licata, 2007; Waterman, 1982). Consequently, the present study uses this theory as conceptual foundation.
Personal identity is dened as the totality of one's self-construal
(Weinreich, 1986, p. 317). The basic assumption of identity development (Erikson, 1963; Sheldon & Kasser, 2001; Waterman, 1982) is
that the transition from adolescence to adulthood involves a progressive strengthening in the sense of identity. (Waterman, 1982, p. 342).
This increasing sense of one's identity leads to value changes during lifetime and to a modication of the relevance of human needs (Gutman,
1982; Sheldon & Kasser, 2001).
Based on the Identity Development Process (Erikson, 1963;
Sheldon & Kasser, 2001), the following periods of identity development
are present in Western societies: childhood (011 years), early and
middle adolescence (1215 years), late adolescence (1625 years),
young adulthood (2639 years), middle-aged adulthood (4059
years), and older adulthood (60 years and older). These age limits are
in line with a study by Lesser and Kunkel (1991) investigating consumer
behavior across the life span.
According to Kapes and Strickler (1975) as well as Rokeach
(1972), values and human needs tend to change considerably during
adolescence and young adulthood; however, they are generally quite
stable during middle and older adulthood due to the fact that in most
cases, the sense of identity remains stable after the age of 40 (Erikson,

315

1963; Sheldon & Kasser, 2001). Kapes and Strickler (1975) as well as
Rokeach (1972) come to the conclusion that only minor differences regarding the relevance of needs for middle-aged (4059 years) and older
adults (60 years and older) exist. As minor differences between these
two age groups might appear, the authors exclude older adults from
their sample and focus on the difference between late adolescents,
young adults, and middle-aged adults. Consequently, the present
study considers individuals with a minimum age of 16, as younger people mostly dispose a considerable low income, and therefore have limited possibilities to acquire luxury brands. Thus, this study investigates
the following life span periods: late adolescence, young adulthood,
and middle-aged adulthood. The focus is on the most relevant personal
differences among the considered three age groups.
In late adolescence (1625 years), humans search for their identity
and show mostly a weak sense of their own identity (Belk, 1988;
Erikson, 1963). Thus, individuals in their late adolescence primarily
strive for approval of their peer group. They feel pressured to conform
to the opinion and behavior of their social group in order to avoid an
outsider position (so-called peer pressure; Gil, Kwon, Good, &
Johnson, 2012; Wooten, 2006). Because of their weak sense of own
identity, late adolescents do not have the need to communicate their
own identity to others, if this identity is not in line with the peer group.
Contrary to late adolescents, young adults (2639 years) show a
stronger sense of their own identity and their behavior focuses less on
peer group acceptance (Erikson, 1963; Waterman, 1982). Due to the increased sense of identity, individuals in the young adulthood feel the
need to present their own identity to others and particularly to their reference or aspiration group (Erikson, 1963). Further, this age group
shows a relatively high willingness to take risks (Lambert-Pandraud &
Laurent, 2010; Lesser & Kunkel, 1991). Based on the Identity Development Process, young adults have especially the need to express their
own identity (Erikson, 1963). This assumption is in line with other theorists who state that young adults have a strong desire to demonstrate
personal achievement (Buhler, 1968; Kuhlen, 1964; Lesser & Kunkel,
1991). In this context, Stevenson (1977) uses the term active mastery
to describe these individuals' motivations to demonstrate their identity
and personal achievement.
Contrary, middle-aged adults (4059 years) are in most cases aware
and consolidated in their own identity (Erikson, 1963; Sheldon &
Kasser, 2001). Furthermore, Buhler (1968) argues that middle-aged
adults begin to accept their self-limitations by adopting a more passive perspective about their environment (Lesser & Kunkel, 1991).
As a consequence, these individuals are less concerned with identity
and the need to present their identity to others is less pronounced
(Erikson, 1963). Sheldon and Kasser (2001) empirically conrmed
this assumption by showing that the need for presenting the own
identity is on a lower level among middle-aged adults in comparison
to younger age groups.
Values and needs change during life span. Value orientations are
conceptions of the desirable (Kluckhorn, 1951). Parks and Guay
(2009) dene values as learned beliefs that serve as guiding principles about how individuals ought to behave (p. 676). Following
Gutman (1982), personal values determine the importance of
human needs. For example, if security is a personal value, as a consequence the need for group membership is of high importance. In
addition to values and needs, attitudes and motivations play an important role in determining consumer behavior. Attitudes and motivations distinguish from values and needs in the following way;
while attitudes and motivations specically relate to a given object,
person, behavior, or situation, values and needs are more ingrained,
more stable, and more general (England & Lee, 1974; Parks & Guay,
2009). Consequently, values and needs are inuencing object-related attitudes and motivations. In line with previous research, this
study analyzes motivations for luxury brand consumption based on
the Functional Theories of Attitudes (e.g. Bian & Forsythe, 2012;
Wilcox et al., 2009). The authors draw hypotheses based on the

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M. Schade et al. / Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 314322

changing value structures during lifetime by combining those general ndings with research on attitude functions to the specic context
of luxury consumption.
2.2. Functional theories of attitudes
The proposition in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) that attitudes guide or inuence behavior applies to luxury brand consumption
(Ajzen, 1991). Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, p. 6)) dene attitude as a
learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object. Similarly, the Functional Theories of Attitudes consider attitudes as an important variable in
order to explain consumer behavior and classies attitudes according
to the psychological functions that they serve (Grewal et al., 2004;
Katz, 1960; Shavitt, 1990; Smith et al., 1956; Wang, 2009; Wilcox
et al., 2009). While the TPB provides a framework for the relationship
between attitudes and behavior, the Functional Theories of Attitudes
enrich the model by differentiating several facets of attitudes (Wang,
2009). Therefore, our study applies the Functional Theories of Attitudes as conceptual framework in order to analyze different facets of
attitude as relevant underlying constructs that inuence consumer
behavior.
Social attitude functions (Shavitt, 1990) differ from more personally orientated functions like hedonic and utilitarian (Shavitt, 1990).
Social attitude functions are directly linked to personal identity and
play an important role in social interaction and self-expression.
Through those functions individuals express central values, establish their identity, and gain social approval (Katz, 1960; Shavitt,
1989; Smith et al., 1956). The social functions can be further distinguished in two dimensions: social-adjustive and value-expressive
(Grewal et al., 2004; Katz, 1960; Shavitt, 1989; Wilcox et al., 2009).
Literature links the social-adjustive function to the compliance
with peer pressure, while the value-expressive function is closely
related to the expression of one's own identity to a reference or aspiration group (Grewal et al., 2004; Katz, 1960; Shavitt, 1989; Wilcox
et al., 2009).
2.2.1. Social-adjustive function
The social-adjustive function is dened as a tendency to purchase
and use brands to gain approval in social situations and to maintain
relationships (Bian & Forsythe, 2012; Wilcox et al., 2009). This function is particularly relevant for consumers striving to meet the expectation of a peer group and gaining approval in social settings
(Grewal et al., 2004; Wilcox et al., 2009). According to Bearden,
Netemeyer, and Teel (1989,p. 474), the social-adjustive function is
essential for individuals with a tendency to conform to expectations
of others. Consumers with such a tendency are striving to purchase
the right brands which are accepted by their peer group. In Western societies, luxury brands are often the right brands and are
therefore used as a status symbol (Vigneron & Johnson, 2004;
Wilcox et al., 2009). Following the Identity Development Process
especially late adolescents (1625 years) experience the need to
align with their peer group (Belk, 1988; Erikson, 1963; Wooten,
2006), including purchasing the right brands their peers consume
(Gil et al., 2012). Consequently, the social-adjustive function is of
high predictive value for explaining luxury brand purchase behavior
of late adolescents. In contrast to this presumption, young adults
(2639 years) as well as middle-aged adults (4059 years) have a
stronger sense of their own identity and therefore place less emphasis on the expectations of peer groups (2011; Erikson, 1963; Sheldon
& Kasser, 2001).
H1. The relation between the social-adjustive function and luxury
brand purchase intention is stronger for late adolescents (1625
years) than a) for young adults (2639 years) and b) middle-aged
adults (4059 years).

2.2.2. Value-expressive function

A value-expressive function is dened as a tendency to purchase and
use brands to communicate one's self-identity (beliefs, attitudes,
values) to others (Bian & Forsythe, 2012; Wilcox et al., 2009). Consumers holding a value-expressive attitude toward a brand are motivated to consume it as a form of self-expression (Wilcox et al., 2009).
Hence, the value-expressive function is of high relevance for individuals
striving for communicating their self-identity to others, even if this is
not in line with the expectations of their peer group (Grewal et al.,
2004; Shavitt, 1990; Wilcox et al., 2009). Those consumers intend to
purchase brands that possess characteristics representing their identity
(Bian & Forsythe, 2012). Due to their outstanding value-expressive
function, luxury brands in particular enable consumers to communicate
specic facets of their identity (e.g. success, sophistication) to others
(Hudders, 2012; Vigneron & Johnson, 1999). According to the Identity
Development Process, young adults (2639 years) experience a strong
motivation for expressing their own identity (Erikson, 1963). Therefore,
the value-expressive function is of high importance for explaining luxury brand consumption of young adults. In contrast to this statement, late
adolescents (1625 years) show mostly a weak sense of their identity
and hence do not have the need to communicate their (widely unclear)
identity to others (Belk, 1988; Erikson, 1963). Middle-aged adults (40
59 years) begin to accept their self-limitations by adopting a more passive perspective about their environment (Lesser & Kunkel, 1991).
Therefore, the motivation for presenting their own identity is on a
lower level in comparison to young adults.
H2. The relation between the value-expressive function and luxury
brand purchase intention is stronger for young adults (2639 years)
than for a) late adolescents (1625 years) and b) middle-aged adults
(4059 years).

2.2.3. Hedonic function

Consumers purchasing brands for hedonic reasons enjoy sensory
pleasure, esthetic beauty, or excitement and consequently, arousing
feelings and affective states receiving personal rewards and fulllment
(Dubois & Laurent, 1994; Sheth et al., 1991; Voss, Spangenberg, &
Grohmann, 2003; Wiedmann, Hennigs, & Siebels, 2009). Dubois and
Laurent (1994) have shown that the hedonic function is of crucial importance for luxury brand consumption as it reects gratication and
sensory pleasure based on experience with the product. According to
the Identity Development Process, no indication exists that the need
for arousing feelings and affective states is more or less relevant for different age groups. In contrast, Dubois and Laurent (1994) point out that
a vast majority subscribes to the hedonic motive (p. 275). Therefore,
the relevance of the hedonic function should not differ among the age
groups.
H3. No signicant difference occurs between the age groups regarding
the inuence of the hedonic function on luxury brand purchase
intention.

2.2.4. Utilitarian function

Grewal et al. (2004) combine utilitarian and hedonic consequences
of consumption, while Voss et al. (2003) as well as Batra and Ahtola
(1990) call for a distinction of the utilitarian and hedonic function.
This suggestion is in line with recent luxury brand research investigating hedonic and utilitarian dimensions discretely in order to explain
luxury brand consumption (Shukla & Purani, 2012; Vigneron &
Johnson, 2004; Wiedmann et al., 2009).
The utilitarian dimension is derived from functions performed by
products (Voss et al., 2003). While the hedonic function focuses on providing an emotional experience, the utilitarian function relates to the
quality of goods and focuses on rational purposes (Batra & Ahtola,
1990; Tynan, McKechnie, & Chhuon, 2010; Voss et al., 2003). It is

M. Schade et al. / Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 314322

mirrors the demographic composition of German adult population

concerning education and income.

concerned with how a brand performs a desired product- or servicerelated function (e.g. durability) (Voss et al., 2003). In the eld of luxury
consumption, it is assumed that luxury brands offer greater quality and
performance than non-luxury brands (Wiedmann et al., 2009). Shukla
and Purani (2012) show in an empirical study that the utilitarian function strongly inuences the purchase intention of luxury brands in
Western societies. Following the Identity Development Process, no
indication exists that the utilitarian function is more or less relevant
for different age groups. Therefore, the authors propose:

3.2. Construct development and equivalence

Development of the survey instrument began with a careful review
of the extant literature to identify relevant measures for attitude functions of luxury brands. These measures divide the survey into two different sections: the rst section contains attitude functions and luxury
purchase intention, while the second section focuses on demographics.
The study consists of items relating to the social-adjustive and valueexpressive functions of attitudes from Grewal et al. (2004). To measure
the hedonic and utilitarian functions, the validated scale of Voss et al.
(2003) applies. The authors do not draw on the measurement of the
utilitarian function by Grewal et al. (2004) due to the fact that these researchers merge the utilitarian and the hedonic function. The purchase
intention was measured within a time frame of 2 months using the scale
from Bansal and Taylor (2004). The true predictive validity of intentions
might get biased over time (Kalwani & Silk, 1982). In order to limit the
consequences of such a bias, the authors decided to apply a time frame
of 2 months. A complete list of items can be found in Table 1. For the
measures, the authors implemented a ve-point Likert-type response
format, with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. To provide content validity of the survey, the authors followed the recommendation of Zaichkowsky (1985) by presenting the questionnaire to 5
researchers. Initially, the original questionnaire was in English, then
translated to German and modied as necessary to eliminate discrepancies between the two versions to verify the accuracy of the translation.
Translation back-translation method applies to ensure semantic
equivalence.

H4. No signicant difference occurs among the age groups regarding

the inuence of the utilitarian function on luxury brand purchase
intention.
Fig. 1 summarizes the conceptual model of the present study.

3. Method
3.1. Sample and procedure
To determine product categories capturing the luxury brand domain, the authors conducted exploratory interviews with marketing researchers (n = 3) and luxury brand managers (n = 5). We provided our
denition of luxury brands (Hudders, 2012) to the experts. Based on
this denition, the experts stated product categories for luxury consumption, which are frequently purchased and consumers are familiar
with and have experience in. In addition, the experts mentioned prototypical luxury brands belonging to these categories (e.g. Hermes, Chanel, Fendi as typical luxury brands in the category clothes; Patek
Philippe, Rolex, and Breitling as typical luxury brands in the category
watches; Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini as typical luxury brands in the
category cars). This list was provided to the respondents of the main
study for two reasons: (1) in order to communicate our understanding
of luxury brands to the participants and (2) to exclude participants who
have no luxury consumption experience in any of the categories.
In August and September 2013, a total of 576 respondents (main
study) participated in an online panel from a large pan-European market research agency. The sample of participants was actual luxury
brand consumers. After deleting cases with more than 10% missing
values, we had an effective sample size of 297 people. Of these,
20.3% were late adolescents (1625 years, n = 90), 35.3% were
young adults (2639 years, n = 105), and 34.4% middle-aged adults
(4059 years, n = 102) with a mean age of 34.1. The sample is well
balanced in terms of gender across the age groups and closely

Social-adjustive
function of attitudes

317

4. Analyses and ndings

Partial least square (PLS) path modeling tests the hypothesized
research model. PLS method is a non-traditional alternative to
covariance-based structural equation modeling (Lohmller, 1989;
Ringle, Wende, & Will, 2005). In PLS, structural models use an iterative
procedure which maximizes the strength of the relationship between
independent and dependent variables. Unlike covariance-based approaches, PLS works well with small samples (Chin, 1998; Wold,
1982). SmartPLS 2.0 estimates the hypothesized model (Ringle et al.,
2005). In addition, a bootstrap resampling procedure tests the model
stability (297 cases, 5000 samples).

Age

Value-expressive
function of attitudes
Luxury brand purchase
intention
Hedonic
function of attitudes

Utilitarian
function of attitudes

Fig. 1. Conceptual model.

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M. Schade et al. / Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 314322

Table 1
Reliability and convergent validity.
Variables

Item
t-statistics CR
loading

Social-adjustive function
SA1: It is important for my friends to know the
.62
11.71
luxury brands I possess.
SA2: Luxury brands are a symbol of social status. .67
12.95
SA3: Luxury brands help me in tting into
.74
15.29
important social situations.
SA4: I like to be seen with my luxury brands.
.85
34.74
SA5: The luxury brand that a person owns, tells me .31
2.97
a lot about that person.a
SA6: My luxury brand indicates to others the
.73
14.70
kind of person I am.
Value-expressive function
VE1: Luxury brands reect the kind of person I
.83
27.20
see myself to be.
VE2: Luxury brands ascertain my self-identity.
.80
23.25
VE3: Luxury brands make me feel good about
.80
28.07
myself.
VE4: Luxury brands are an instrument of my
.84
36.00
self-expression.
VE5: Luxury brands play a critical role in dening .76
17.55
my self-concept
VE6: Luxury brands help me to establish the kind .84
26.38
of person I see myself to be.
Hedonic function
Luxury brands offer the following characteristics to me
HD1: not fun / fun
.85
44.64
HD2: dull / exciting
.86
45.30
HD3: not delightful / delightful
.85
37.82
HD4: not thrilling / thrilling
.86
44.29
HD5: enjoyable / unenjoyable
.70
15.44
Utilitarian function
Luxury brands offer the following characteristics to me
UT1: effective / ineffective
.74
17.84
UT2: helpful / unhelpful
.76
18.86
UT3: functional / not functional
.66
11.09
UT4: necessary / unnecessary
.64
11.46
UT5: practical / impractical
.72
15.73
Purchase intention
How likely is it that you purchase a luxury brand within the next 2
months?
PI1: unlikely / likely
.94
66.44
PI2: no chance / certain
.93
77.82
PI3: improbable / probable
.95
109.84

AVE

.85 .53

.92 .66

.92 .68

in the measure range from .62.95, and exceed the threshold. At the
construct level, Hair et al. (2006) recommend to regard composite reliability instead of Cronbach's alpha. Additionally, average variance extracted measures the amount of variance captured by the construct in
relation to the amount of variance attributable to measurement error
(Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Together, these measures represent a good indication of the convergent validity of the constructs. The average variance extracted (AVE) is adequate for all the factors (N.50) (Fornell &
Larcker, 1981). Additionally, composite reliabilities (CR) are all higher
than .60 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988) and therefore exceed the threshold. The
measures fulll the FornellLarcker criterion as all squares of parameter
estimates between factors are less than their average variance extracted
estimates. For adequate discriminant validity, the diagonal elements in
Table 2 should be greater than the off-diagonal elements (Fornell &
Larcker, 1981). Comparing all correlation coefcients with square
roots of AVEs in Table 2, the results suggest evidence of discriminant validity. Additionally, all constructs positively relate to each other.
Bivariate correlations between each of the variables are measured
(see Table 3). The results show that all correlations are signicant
(p b .01). Bollen and Lennox (1991) recommend high or moderate correlations of effect indicators within a latent variable. In the presented
study, most of the correlations of the effect indicators within a latent
variable show a high correlation (exceeds .4). No correlation of these indicators within a latent variable is under the level of .2 (low correlation).
4.2. Structural model and multi-group analysis

.83 .50

.96 .88

CR = composite reliability; AVE = average variance extracted

a
Excluded from further analysis

4.1. Measurement model

Prior to testing the structural relationships, exploratory and conrmatory factor analyses serve to pretest the measures and ensure the robustness of the selected scale structures. Conrmatory factor analysis
establishes convergent and discriminant validity. Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics as well as reliability and validity measures of the constructs social-adjustive (SA), value-expressive (VE), hedonic (HD),
utilitarian (UT), and purchase intention (PI). During this process, the authors eliminated one item (SA5) due to very low factor loading. Hair,
Black, Babin, and Anderson (2006) propose that an item is signicant
if its factor loading is greater than .50. The factor loadings of the items

R2 estimates, standardized path coefcients (), and signicance

level (t-statistic) evaluate the structural model. R2 values measure the
structural model's predictive power, while path loadings indicate the
strength between independent and dependent variables. R2 coefcients
exceed the recommended .10 value (Falk & Miller, 1992) suggesting the
structural model exhibits adequate explanatory power. Specically, the
explained percentage of purchase intention in the late adolescent
segment is R2 = .31, in the young adults segment R2 = .26, and in the
middle-aged adults segment R2 = .19. A PLS algorithm and
bootstrapping procedure calculates path loadings and t-statistics for
the hypothesized relationships.
To compare the ndings from three distinct samples, namely, late
adolescents (1625 years), young adults (2639 years), and middleaged adults (4059 years) of the inuence of attitude functions on luxury brand purchase intention, the authors performed a multi-group
analysis (see Table 3).
In order to test the moderator hypotheses, the authors analyze
whether the observed path coefcients of each function signicantly
differ from each other among the three age groups. The authors applied
the PLS-MGA approach of Henseler (2007) to test for differences between the age groups. Table 4 provides the signicance level of the
group comparisons for each function.
The results show that the path coefcient regarding the relationship
between the social-adjustive function and purchase intention is signicantly higher (p b .01) in the late adolescent ( = .26, p b .05) compared
to the young adult sample ( = .17, p N .05) conrming H1a. While
the social-adjustive function shows the highest impact on purchase intention in the late adolescent group, a negativethough not statistically

Table 2
Discriminant validity: inter-construct correlations.
Construct

Social-adjustive

Value-expressive

Hedonic

Utilitarian

Purchase intention

Social-adjustive
Value-expressive
Hedonic
Utilitarian
Purchase intention

.73
.69
.42
.42
.31

.81
.44
.42
.34

.82
.58
.39

.71
.38

.94

All correlations are signicant at p b 0.01. Bold data indicates the square roots of AVE.

M. Schade et al. / Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 314322

319

Table 3
Correlation matrix of all variables.

PI1
PI2
PI3
VE1
VE2
VE3
VE4
VE5
VE6
UT1
UT2
UT3
UT4
UT5
HED1
HED2
HED3
HED4
HED5
SA1
SA2
SA3
SA4
SA5

PI1

PI2

PI3

VE1

VE2

VE3

VE4

VE5

VE6

UT1

UT2

UT3

UT4

UT5

HED1

.79
1

.86
.80
1

.23
.24
.25
1

.18
.18
.21
.65
1

.34
.36
.37
.52
.51
1

.28
.25
.30
.68
.63
.57

.21
.16
.21
.58
.56
.51
.55

.22
.15
.23
.70
.65
.58
.62
.61

.25
.24
.24
.17
.24
.9
.17
.19
.24

.29
.30
.33
.13
.15
.33
.24
.19
.26
.39

.19
.18
.21
.29
.19
.30
.21
.20
.31
.42
.38

.29
.24
.24
.27
.19
.34
.27
.28
.30
.27
.44
.24

.22
.26
.23
.18
.24
.28
.20
.20
.20
.56
.33
.46
.25
1

.27
.39
.30
.23
.22
.38
.23
.21
.24
.36
.43
.27
.25
.40
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

HED2
.27
.38
.29
.26
.27
.40
.23
.19
.29
.30
.37
.25
.26
.30
.67
1

HED3

HED4

.30
.36
.30
.36
.36
.53
.34
.27
.35
.40
.37
.32
.34
.41
.62
.66
1

.28
.32
.29
.28
.28
.49
.26
.20
.33
.32
.49
.30
.30
.39
.66
.71
.70
1

signicantimpact of social-adjustiveness occurs for the young

adults. No signicant difference (p N .05) on this parameter between
the late adolescents and the middle-aged adults ( = .06, p N .05) exists (Table 5). Thus, H1b cannot be conrmed. In the consumer group
of middle-aged adults, the social-adjustive function is not relevant
for the purchase intention of luxury brands. Thus, a signicant difference between the young adults and the middle-aged adults exists.
Regarding the path coefcients between the value-expressive
function and purchase intention, signicant differences between
the age segments are present. The young adults ( = .39, p b .05)
group shows signicantly stronger effects than the two other
samples. Therefore, the results conrm H2a and b. The valueexpressive function even has the highest impact of all functions on
purchase intention for the young adults. Both for late adolescents
( = .03, p N .05) and middle-aged consumers ( = .08, p N .05),
the impact of value-expressiveness on purchase intention is not
signicant.
The inuence of hedonism and utilitarianism on purchase intention
is equally strong in all three groups, conrming H3 and H4. While the
hedonic function shows a signicant impact on purchase intention for
the late adolescents ( = .21, p b .05) and the middle-aged adults
( = .21, p b .05), no signicant effect exists for the young adults
( = .13, p N .05). The utilitarian function is highly signicant for the
purchase intention in all three segments. For the middle-aged adults
( = .19, p b .05), the utilitarian function is the most relevant of all functions for their purchase intention. But also in the late adolescent ( =
.25, p b .05) and young adult ( = .24, p b .05) segment, the signicance
level is below .05 and therefore highly signicant.

HED5

SA1

SA2

SA3

SA4

SA5

.21
.26
.26
.19
.12
.33
.18
.13
.16
.30
.36
.38
.12
.36
.54
.48
.50
.48
1

.18
.10
.22
.25
.37
.33
.32
.34
.28
.07
.18
.12
.17
.11
.08
.10
.18
.09
.05
1

.13
.18
.17
.31
.28
.35
.33
.37
.31
.19
.28
.29
.22
.16
.25
.26
.29
.30
.21
.25
1

.15
.14
.21
.40
.31
.42
.33
.38
.40
.21
.26
.14
.23
.09
.21
.16
.31
.26
.21
.42
.40
1

.30
.29
.33
.50
.50
.61
.46
.48
.49
.28
.30
.27
.31
.22
.34
.38
.49
.43
.25
.40
.45
.53
1

.21
.15
.22
.52
.46
.41
.53
.46
.49
.17
.23
.26
.22
.22
.20
.18
.27
.23
.15
.33
.47
.44
.47
1

5. Discussion
According to life span research, individuals' motivations change
through their lifetime. Previous research on luxury brand consumption
neglected this phenomenon. Based on the ndings of this study, the results conrm that the relevance of attitude functions for luxury brand
purchase differs among age groups. This research is the rst study empirically proving a moderation effect of age in the context of luxury
brand consumption.
Furthermore, the aim of this study is the identication of differences
and commonalities of the relevance of attitude functions on luxury consumption in different age groups. While the utilitarian attitude function
shows a high relevance for all age groups, the hedonic function seems to
be particularly of inuence on purchase intention for late adolescents
(1625 years) and middle-aged adults (4059 years). In contrast to
this nding, social-adjustive function is only signicant for late adolescents and the value-expressive function only signicant for young
adults.
The social-adjustive function seems to be exclusively relevant for
late adolescents supporting the theoretical assumption that peer pressure is particularly shaping the behavior of this target group. Contrary,
for young adults, a negative though not statistically signicant effect of
this function on purchase intention is evident. The strong focus on identity expression of young adults indicates a need for distinction from
their peer group. For middle-aged adults, complying to peer pressure
is of no inuence on luxury consumption. No indication that socialadjustiveness has any relevance for middle-aged consumers occurs,
while it seems of great importance for late adolescents. The small

Table 4
Summary of the standardized parameter estimates, t-statistics, and p-values of the structural model for the overall sample as well as the three age groups.

Social-Adjustive Purchase Intention

Value-Expressive Purchase Intention
Hedonic Purchase Intention
Utilitarian Purchase Intention
Note: Values in parentheses are t-values and p-values.

Late adolescents

Young adults

Middle-aged adults

.26 (2.04; .04)

.03 (.39; .70)
.23 (2.38; .02)
.25 (2.54; .01)

.17 (1.50; .10)

.39 (2.71; .01)
.13 (1.53; .10)
.24 (2.46; .02)

.06 (1.15; .25)

.08 (1.12; .27)
.21 (2.91; .00)
.19 (2.70, .01)

320

M. Schade et al. / Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 314322

Table 5
Comparative results of the multi-group analysis represented by p-values.

Social-Adjustive Purchase Intention

Value-Expressive Purchase Intention
Hedonic Purchase Intention
Utilitarian Purchase Intention

Late adolescents vs. young adults

Late adolescents vs. middle-aged adults

Young adults vs. middle-aged adults

.01
.02
.22
.49

.14
.09
.41
.24

.01
.01
.20
.29

Bold data indicates p b 0.05.

sample size might have an inuence on the fact that this study shows no
signicant differences between late adolescents and middle-aged adults
concerning the inuence of social-adjustiveness. Future research needs
to explore this effect in greater detail.
The value-expressive function is only of inuence for young adults.
This nding conrms the underlying theory of the Identity Development Process showing that in a period of experiencing a stronger consciousness of one's own self-identity, individuals have especially the
need to express themselves.
Bian and Forsythe's (2012) study shows only a marginally signicant
effect for a combined social function in the late adolescent group. As the
ndings of this study demonstrate, a separation of the social-adjustive
and value-expressive function is advisable. While the social-adjustive
function inuences luxury brand purchase intention in late adolescents,
young adults reject peer pressure, and therefore the only social function
that shows signicance is value-expressiveness in this group.
The study of Dubois and Laurent (1994) claims a strong inuence of
the hedonic function on luxury consumption across target groups. The
ndings only partially support this claim as the impact does not hold
true in the young adult group. Given the fact that identity expression
dominates the luxury consumption behavior in this target group, the
hedonic function becomes less relevant.
Grewal et al. (2004) stated that the utilitarian function plays a less
prominent role for luxuries. In contrast to this, Tynan et al. (2010)
come to the conclusion that a high standard of quality is essential for
all luxury goods. Based on the results of our study the utilitarian function shows a high relevance across all three age groups. A possible explanation can be found drawing on Herzberg's (1959) motivation
hygiene theory. Adopting this theory, quality can be perceived as a
hygiene factor for luxury brands (Brun & Castelli, 2013); therefore, consumers expect an outstanding quality. In case those high expectations
stay unfullled, consumers might be dissatised and refrain from
(re)purchasing the brand. Concluding, quality seems necessary but not
sufcient. Thus, quality might not in itself drive luxury purchase behavior, brand positioning should always be complemented by social and
hedonic aspects.
To conclude, the personal attitude functions (hedonic and utilitarian) are in principle relevant across all age groups, while the impact of
the social functions greatly differ among the target groups. Whereas
the social-adjustive function strongly enhances luxury brand purchase
behavior of late adolescents, value-expressiveness only impacts the luxury consumption of young adults. Social functions do not determine the
acquisition of luxury brands for middle-aged adults. Based on the results, luxury brands are identity supporting brands for late adolescents and young adults; however, these social functions do not show
any relevance for middle-aged adults.
6. Practical implications
The ndings suggest that managers need to develop an age group
specic competitive marketing strategy concerning the positioning of
luxury brands, particularly focusing on age group specic adjustments
of the social functions.
As the results show, brand positioning should always be a specic
combination of utilitarian, social, and hedonic aspects to address the different age groups. As mentioned above, the utilitarian function (quality)

might act as a hygiene factor for luxury brands, thus in order to reach a
competitive advantage, a brand should additionally be positioned on
the hedonic and/or social functions. Especially to address late adolescents and young adults, the social function could provide a decisive
competitive advantage. To position a luxury brand particularly the social functions offer versatile options for designing brand communication
along the brand personality (e.g. elegant, sportive, or trendy).
This study provides evidence that luxury shopping motives of late
adolescents are highly inuenced by the social-adjustive function.
Luxury brand manufacturers can use this nding to leverage their
brands by popularizing their trademark through the use of testimonials,
idols, or role models to reach the opinion leaders of this target group.
Carrying the well-known Monogram canvas bags by famous celebrities
like Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, and Lady Gaga from the French manufacturer, Louis Vuitton has strengthened its positive image to attract late
adolescents all over the world.
Young adults communicate their self-identities to others by using
brands serving the value-expressive function. For luxury companies,
understanding the identity of this target group and communicating
the corresponding characteristics are essential. Concerning the socialadjustive and the value-expressive function, highlighted signatures
like logos, brand names, or predominant designs that identify luxury
brands deliver consumers' desire to satisfy these social needs.
For middle-aged adults, only hedonic and utilitarian aspects of the
brand are important for purchasing luxury goods. The desire to express
their self-identity or their expectations of how others will react to their
purchase decisions does not direct their luxury brand consumption.
Luxury brand managers face the challenge to address this target group
with a hedonic and utilitarian function which is part of the product
characteristics. Patek Philippe targets this age group by offering watches
with outstanding longevity (utilitarian) and unique design (hedonic).
Besides focusing on one age group in luxury brand positioning, managers face the opportunity to include sub-brands incorporating a specific target group in their brand portfolio. For example, the Polo Ralph
Lauren Corporation has become one of the most famous luxury brands
in the world by launching age group specic brands. By establishing
the Polo Ralph Lauren line with the polo player as explicit logo, they
were able to serve the social aspirations of their young consumers.
Introducing the purple and black label for more mature consumers in
1996 with the focus on quality and hedonic aspects, Polo Ralph Lauren
made a deliberate decision not to use a visible brand logo.
7. Limitations and further research
The goal of our study was the identication of underlying motives
for luxury brand consumption among age groups. Our ndings show
that the impact of the social functions greatly differs among the groups.
It is conceivable that age not only moderates motives for luxury
consumption but also the actual perception of what luxury constitutes.
In literature various facets of the luxury concept are discussed, e.g.
conspicuousness, uniqueness, craftsmanship, scarcity, ancestral heritage, long history (Dubois, Laurent, & Czellar, 2001; Kapferer, 1998;
Vigneron & Johnson, 1999). For instance, the perception of conspicuousness as a constituting facet of the concept of luxury might change over
the life span. As identity development research suggests, elderly individuals begin to accept their self-limitations by adopting a more

M. Schade et al. / Journal of Business Research 69 (2016) 314322

passive perspective about their environment including a strong focus

on the private (Lesser & Kunkel, 1991). Following this argument, elderly
consumers are likely to have more personal and private associations
with luxury. Therefore, conspicuousness might not be a facet that elderly consumers automatically associate with luxury. Whether age actually
inuences the perception of the luxury concept would offer an interesting research question for future studies.
Furthermore, not only does the interplay between motivations of
luxury consumption and the perception of the concept of luxury represent an appealing eld of research, but it would also be interesting to investigate the inuence of values and needs on motivations and the
perception of luxury among age groups. For instance, analyzing whether
attitude functions and the perception of luxury mediate the relationship
between values/needs and luxury purchase behavior seems to be an interesting venue.
Additionally, the vast majority of prior research on luxury brand
consumption takes a rather narrow focus regarding their age samples.
The present study broadens this perspective by including participants
from 16 to 59 years. Considering the great inuence of age on the relation between attitude functions and luxury brand purchase intention,
further research has to take age as a moderator into account. Especially
middle-aged adults represent an under-researched age group and,
therefore, might be of interest for further research. Based on theoretical
considerations, the authors assume no difference in the inuence of
attitude functions on luxury brand purchase intention between
middle-aged and older adults. Future research needs to conrm this
assumption.
Based on the results of the presented study, the relation between social functions and purchase intention is particularly moderated by age
(Erikson, 1963; Sheldon & Kasser, 2001). Our research focuses on the
luxury context only. Assuming that identity-based motives (social functions) might also hold a reference with non-luxury brand consumption,
it can be expected that age inuences the relevance of the social functions for non-luxury brand purchasing as well. In future research, investigating the inuence of age on the behavioral relevance of attitude
functions comparing luxury and non-luxury brands seems to be an interesting venue.
Furthermore, the application of a wide range of product categories
allows us to draw generalizable conclusions. However, for future
research, an investigation of the interplay between age and luxury product categories offers exceeding, more specic insights. Similarly, different luxury product categories have different purchase cycles. In our
study, purchase intention was measured within a time frame of 2
months. In future research, an adaptation of the purchase intention
time frame to the specic purchase cycle of the product would be advisable. Thereby, distinguishing buying behavior based on impulse versus
long-term planning could additionally be considered in future research.
The present study includes the assumption that the buyer and consumer of the luxury brand is one and the same person. The relevance of the
attitude functions might change if the buyer purchases luxury brands
for another person of different age (e.g. a father purchases a luxury
brand for his daughter's birthday). Comparing the relevance of attitude
functions for the two conditions (buying for yourself and buying for another person) offers a possibility for future research.
The present study demarcates the life spans according to age. To be
even more precise in differentiating life spans, researchers might consider characteristics like family status and career status. Cultural setting
is an additional factor for future research, as life span classications
might vary across different cultures. Further, the systematic exploration
of the inuence of culture on the relationship between attitude function
and luxury brand consumption is advisable.
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