Guilt-free pleasures: how premium and luxury influence regret
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-02-2018-1764 |
| Date | 13 May 2019 |
| Published date | 13 May 2019 |
| Pages | 421-431 |
| Author | Sarah Joy Lyons,Anders Hauge Wien,Themistoklis Altintzoglou |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Guilt-free pleasures: how premium and luxury
influence regret
Sarah Joy Lyons
Kristiania University College, Westerdals Department of Performing Arts, Music and Studio, Oslo
Anders Hauge Wien
School of Business and Economics, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway, and
Themistoklis Altintzoglou
Nofima AS, Department of Marketing Research, Tromsø, Norway
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study was to investigate how a consumer’s intention to purchase a premium or luxury product influences the
anticipated regret and guilt.
Design/methodology/approach –A222 between-subjects design (label: premium versus luxury prior event: success versus failure
product type: hedonic versus utilitarian) on guilt and regret was implemented.
Findings –Following a successful event, the anticipated regret and guilt are lower for a hedonic product compared to a primarily utilitarian one. The
effect was valid when the consumers were looking to buy both luxury and premium. In a situation following a failure, the anticipated levels of regret
and guilt were lower for a product that was primarily utilitarian in nature; however, this effect only appeared when the participants were looking to
buy both luxury and not premium.
Research limitations/implications –People may feel more licensed to indulge in a hedonic premium or luxury product after a success and more
licensed to indulge in a utilitarian luxury product after a failure.
Practical implications –The results can be used to understand how to optimize a marketing message of indulgence whether or not one deserves it.
Originality/value –The study provides novel insight into how anticipated guilt and regret may be evoked by the goal of buying a premium versus
luxury product in combination with the product type and a consumer’s experience of a prior event.
Keywords Consumer behaviour, Experimental design
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
With the so-called democratization of luxury, both premium
and luxury products and brands are becoming more desired
and common than a few decades ago (Kastanakis and
Balabanis, 2012;Truong et al., 2008). Luxury brands have
changed and are no longer limited to the upper classes
(Chandon et al., 2015;Yeomanand McMahon-Beattie, 2018).
Given the changes in the luxury market in the past years,
scholars have acknowledged that it is challenging to draw the
line between ordinary, premium and luxury products (Miller
and Mills, 2012). As expressedby Tynan et al. (2010, p. 1157),
“Luxury goods exist at one end of a continuum with ordinary
goods, so where the ordinary ends and luxury starts is a matter
of degree as judged by consumers.”Where consumers draw
this line and where premium goods are placed in the equation,
is unanswered in the literature, yet relevant to better
understanding both premium and luxury consumption
(Nielsen Company,2015;de Morais Sato et al., 2016).
1.1 Defining and separating premium and luxury
The word “luxury”is derived from the Latin word luxuria,
meaning “extras of life”(Danziger, 2004). The Merriam-
Webster dictionary (2018a)defines luxury as “a condition or
situation of abundanceor great ease and comfort.”In the brand
literature, luxury has been defined as the highest level of
prestigious brands encompassing several physical and
psychological values (Vigneron and Johnson, 1999).
Traditionally, scholars included the key variables such as
quality, price, prestige, hedonism, conspicuousness,
materialism and value to determine the luxuriousness of a
product or a brand (Christodoulides et al., 2009;Nueno and
Quelch, 1998;Truong et al.,2008;Vigneron and Johnson,
1999, 2004). Less is said about premium than luxury. The
word “premium”is derived from the Latin word praemium,
meaning “reward/prize/booty/profit”(Hieke, 2010). The
Merriam-Webster dictionary (2018b)defines premium as “a
reward or recompense for a particular act”or “a sum over and
above a regular price paid chiefly as an inducement or
incentive.”The marketing literature refers to premium
products by their high quality, price and selective distribution
(Quelch, 1987). However,although the quality is important for
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
28/3 (2019) 421–431
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-02-2018-1764]
Received 22 February 2018
Revised 5 July 2018
12 October 2018
Accepted 23 December 2018
421
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