Luxury Brands: A Case Study

Indeed, Yuri and Margo (2015) have clearly elaborated how the industry underwent a dramatic transformation in terms of focus and identity, while at the same time maintaining distinctive design and superior quality for their luxury brands. A market sector that was previously associated solely with design and creativity in production evolved into an integrated brand-driven sector (Chevalier & Mazzalovo 2012, p. 147).

Into the bargain, there are a number of macro environmental trends that have influenced the luxury brand consumption. These trends includes the cultural convergence and globalization, the surfacing of new market segments, a steady increment of affluent consumers, the increasing attention luxury brands get from the media, the growing

Although luxury products were traditionally consumed by the affluent social class to portray wealth and social status, the luxury brand industry has experienced a robust expansion of its consumer base to include more modest social classes (Hudders, Pandelaere & Vyncke 2013, p. 408). This is as a result of a significant increment of disposable income among less wealth customers, as well as the emergence of luxury brands that combines reasonable prices with premium quality. This aspect is reflected by Yuri and Margo (2015), whereby they depict that new consumers of luxury brands purchase such products for varied reasons compared to those of long-established elite customers. These reasons include the desire of emulating the lifestyle of the most affluent; the superior quality of the luxury products, as well as on more hedonic grounds on the basis of self-rewards (Bauer, Wallpach & Hemetsberger 2011, p. 25). To this end, these reasons create different social segments of consumer base for luxury brands, in which their lifestyles and behaviour vary significantly. This suggests that consumer experiences, motivations, and perceptions for buying luxury brands also vary across these social segments (Hennigs 2012, p. 1029). This can be referred to as democratization of luxury. Thus, customers in dissimilar social segments search for varied things while purchasing luxury

It is, therefore, critical for the luxury brand firms in Oman market to acknowledge that consumer perceptions on luxury brands have become more diverse and complex. In the light of this, this report proposes the following strategic recommendations for the luxury brand firms in Oman market so that they can strengthen their competitive advantage in this diverse and more complex modern luxury brands