A Comparative Analysis of Young Chinese Female Consumers’ Luxury Brand Purchase Intentions in Virtual and Brick-and-Mortar Store Environments

The global luxury goods market anticipates a massive increase of 65% from 2010 to 2015, with most of the growth coming from emerging economies, especially in Far East Asia. China remains the essential increase generator in the region (Bombourg, 2011). With its developing economy and extensive population, the Far East Asia regions have quickly become the world’s largest brand-name luxury good market (Jiang, 2005, Wong and Ahuvia, 1998). As social-economic levels have changed over time, some wealthy market consumers continue their luxury purchases, and many middle market consumers have gradually changed their buying behaviour to have a better lifestyle and to improve the quality of life. Due to the social-economic changes and variation in consumers, the target luxury consumers have shifted from older, wealthy consumers to younger people. Belatedly, luxury brands have generated massive sale volumes from the Internet, which has underlined the influence of the social media and the convenience of the World Wide Web. In particular, fashion products (e.g., apparel, footwear, and accessories) are now essential goods for e-business growth, which represents 36% of total consumer spending (Nielsen, 2001). Furthermore, Okonkwo highlights the importance of incorporating ebusinesses into the luxury brand’s strategy, so it is important to identify the most effective platforms for the younger, upwardly mobile generation (Okonkwo, 2010). The size of the global Internet population is approaching two billion; hence, an effective online presence is a critical component that cannot be dismissed by the luxury sector. This study focuses on the luxury consumption behaviour of young Chinese female consumers as they have been targeted as the majority of luxury brand purchasers (Barletta, 2003). The study provides insights into young Chinese female consumers’ luxury purchasing intentions in virtual and brick-and-mortar store environments.