Matching luxury brand appeals with attitude functions on social media across cultures

Abstract

This study synthesizes previous research on psychological distance, functional theories of attitudes, and cultural contexts of communication to develop a novel perspective regarding how contemporary consumers evaluate luxury advertising on social media. Three empirical studies conducted in Korea, the U.S., and Germany reveal that the consumer perceptions of psychological distance associated with luxury brands influences whether benefit-based or attribute-based appeals are most effective. Further, we reveal that this effect depends on the consumers' attitude functions toward luxury consumption, and it varies across cultural contexts. The results offer novel theoretical insights and provide managers with additional tools to increase the effectiveness of luxury brand advertising in the context of social media and across different cultural markets.