A STUDY OF THE LUXURY BRAND MARKET WITH RESPECT TO SUITS AND

WATCHES

Abstract :

The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of
civilization. Itsrole was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in
modern societies. With the clear differences between social classes in earlier civilizations, the
consumption of luxury was limited to the elite classes. It also meant the definition of luxury was
fairly clear. Whatever the poor cannot have and the elite can was identified as luxury. The
purpose of the study is to understand the growthof the luxury market in India and abroad, to
study the profile of Indian luxury customers, to study the luxury industry with respect to luxury
watches and suits and to study the purchase behaviour of luxury customers with respect to luxury
watches and suits and what motivates them to buy these products. A secondary study is done
about the luxury market globally and in India, the profile of luxury customers in India and the
luxury industry with respect to watches and apparel and accessories. Then a primarystudy has
been done by taking 50 respondents for luxury suits and for luxury watches from different areas
in Mumbai to find out about their purchase behavior.
INTRODUCTION:
The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of
civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient westernand eastern empires as it is in
modern societies. With the clear differences between social classes in earlier civilizations, the
consumption of luxury was limited to the elite classes. It also meant the definition of luxury was
fairly clear. Whatever the poor cannot have and theelite can was identified as luxury. With
increasing democratization, several new product categories were created within the luxury
market which isaptly calledaccessible luxury or mass luxury. This kind of luxury specifically
targeted the middle class (or what is sometimes termed as a spiring class).
In contemporary marketing usage, Prof. Bernard Dubois (2004) defines luxury as a specific
(i.e. higher-priced) tier of offer in almost any product or service category. However, despite the
substantial body of knowledge accumulated duringthe past decades, researchers still havent
arrived on a common definition of luxury. Many other attempts have been made todefine luxury
using the price-quality dimension stating higher priced products In any category is luxury.
Similarly, researchers have used the uniquenessaspects of luxury too. Prof. Jean-Noel Kapferer
,takes an experiential approach and defines luxury as items which provide extra pleasure by
flattering all senses at once. Several other researchers
focus on exclusivity dimension and argue that luxury evokes a sense of belonging to a certain
elite group. Several manufactured
products attain the status of "luxury goods" due to their design, quality, durability or performance
that are remarkably superior to the comparable substitutes. Thus, virtually every category of
goods available in the market today includes a subset of similar products whose "luxury" is
marked by better-quality components and materials, solid construction, stylish appearance,
increased durability, better performance, advanced features, and so on. As such, these luxury
goods may retain or improve the basic functionality for which all items of a given category are
originally designedThere are also goods that are perceived as luxurious by the public simply
because they play a role of status symbolsas such goods tend to signify the purchasing power of
those who acquire them. These items, while not necessarily being better (in quality, performance,
or appearance) than their less expensive substitutes, are purchased with the main purpose of
displayingwealthor 3incomeof their owners.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

A secondary study has been done about the luxury market globally and in India, the profile of
luxury customers in India and the luxury industry with respect to watches and apparel and
accessories. Then a primary study has been done by taking 50 respondents for luxury suits and
for luxury watches from different areas in Mumbai to find out about their purchase behaviour.

OBJECTIVES

Learn how worldwide retail trends, triggered by the increasing digitalization, oblige
premium and luxury brands to reinvent their traditional business practices

Understand the major changes in consumer expectation towards premium and luxury
brands triggered by the ever growing digitalization

Get inspired by the world of luxury in order to learn how to efficiently build a strong
brand and increase its market value

Master to face increasing challenges in the retail reality of luxury brands such as
counterfeiting and brand reputation

Learn about the best-practices in retail and sales force management in order to tranform
your employees into brand ambassadors
 Discover the golden rules in store merchandising, design and service in order to offer a
memorable offline shopping experience

Discover the major best-practices when integrating digital tools into your brand/ retail
strategy

Learn how to combine the offline and the online brand universes in order to implement a
seamless omni-channel strategy

Obtain an insight into future digital trends and the new retail reality of tomorrow
CONCLUTION
Any survey of luxury today would be incomplete without attention to huge role Asian
demand has for the luxury industry Indian luxury consumption figures and patterns seem to defy
standard ways of thinking about luxury. growing number of investigations, some scholarly, some
not, have sought to account for the phenomenon. Some approach it from the perspective of
the luxury industry, seeking to uncover the success formulae followed by the major luxury
players. The collectivism implicit in the notion of the interdependent self also manifests itself as
conformism. The strong group affiliation characteristic of Indian societies thus fuels luxury
consumption by establishing norms of expenditure and display individuals must
conform to. Indian countries vary in the degree to which the luxury markets have developed in
relative size and level of sophistication.
Though their Spread of Luxury-model deals with
luxury consumption at a national level. mindful of the existence of different luxury consumer
behaviors and segments within nations, some of which cut across national boundaries. strategies
to serve this group. The three tiers of luxury consumers are each heterogeneous in terms of
demographic and psychographic composition. Consumption, and
luxury consumption in particular, tends to be identified with leisure, personal identity and family
life, but often luxury accoutrements are bought for and consumed at work. The inquiries into the
enigma of Indian luxury consumption bring us to two closing issues. First, seen from a historical
perspective there is nothing new about the close ties between East, West and luxury.