Consumer Perceived Associations of Masstige Brands: An Indian Perspective

Abstract

Luxury is exclusive, expensive and provides social recognition. There is an emergence of masstige brands in Indian economy and also globally. Masstige brands are expressed as new luxury different from the traditional luxury though distinction needs more clarity. The current empirical study is from masstige consumer perspective and is exploratory in nature for understanding perceptions of Indian consumers through brand associations toward masstige brands in comparison to luxury brands based on free association method. Data was collected from 54 respondents. It is identified that masstige brands can be differentiated from luxury brands along functional, financial, social as well as individual brand values. The findings may be useful for masstige brands’ marketers to develop promotional strategies.

Keywords:

• Masstige
• luxury
• brand associations
• free association method
• brand values
• India