Limited-edition advertising does not always work for luxury brands: The influence of consumption contexts

Tseng, Ting-hsiang; Huang, Hazel H.; Liu, Matthew Tingchi

Abstract

Limited-edition advertising on a limited quantity available to be sold (LQS, limited quantity scarcity) is used to increase product value, thereby enticing consumers. This type of limited-edition advertising has been proven to be effective for luxury brands; as a result, its adoption has increased over the years. However, are limited editions effective across all consumption situations? The current study argues that limited-edition advertising may not always work as well as previously thought and that it is only effective when (1) consumers are in emotional (versus cognitive) consumption contexts, (2) the consumption is socially visible (versus invisible), and (3) the country of origin where the luxury product was made is favourable (versus unfavourable). The results of two experiments using 807 participants confirmed the study’s hypotheses. More importantly, the findings showed that limited-edition advertising had detrimental effects in a cognitive consumption context; that is, using limited-edition advertising in a cognitive consumption context decreased consumers’ purchase intentions. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Citation

Tseng, T.-H., Huang, H. H., & Liu, M. T. (2021). Limited-edition advertising does not always work for luxury brands: The influence of consumption contexts. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 20(5), 1204-1215. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1928

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 27, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 15, 2021
• Publication Date: Sep 14, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 4, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 15, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Consumer Behaviour
• Print ISSN: 1472-0817
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1204-1215
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1928
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1253074