Index of Paper Presentations for the Parallel Sessions - Academy of ...

watches to satisfy themselves and think it as ―I made it‖ (―Q&A: How Can Global Luxury Brands CaptureNewly Affluent India?‖, 2011).In China, the faster pace of economic development has led to a very high number of wealthy individualswho perceive that luxury consumption is a way to show off to others that they are successful. The Chineseconsumers give a lot of importance to luxury consumption, which is publicly noticeable by others in thesociety. This kind of consumption is motivated by desires that are determined by external opinions of thesociety rather than by internal desires (Truong, 2010). Therefore, they believe that luxury products mustbe consumed to reflect these external desires of enhanced social portrayals. This is applicable for thetraditionally rich consumers as well as the newly rich consumers. Both types of consumers are wellinformed about luxury offerings and are confident in their consumption behavior. In this way, luxurybrands should match the confidence levels of the consumers.Hence, it can be stated that Indian consumers perceive that luxury consumption may fulfill the desires forself indulgence and social display of wealth. Conversely, the Chinese consumers feel that luxuryconsumption should predominantly cater to the public representation of wealth (see Figure 9).Figure 9: Differences in Perception of Luxury in India and ChinaSelfIndiaPerception of LuxurySocial DisplayChina5. Meaning Transfer in India and ChinaOnce the Extravagperceptions of luxury have been framed, there is a transfer of meaning from the luxury productsto the consumers.anceThe meaning transfer theory was given by McCracken (1987) and posits that symbolicmeaning is transferred from goods to the end consumers. Once consumers identify the portrayed meaningsas being resonant with their cultural and societal framework, they associate the profound meanings of theproducts. Meaning transfer theory can be also applied to luxury products as there is an effective transfer ofmeaning, consumers can have symbolic associations with the luxurious products. This symbolicassociation is so high that the high price is given less weight by consumers who purchase these products(Paskeviciene, 2010).Furthermore, due to different perceptions of luxury, the process of meaning transfer may be different inIndia and China (see Figure 10). In India, the first stage of the meaning transfer process takes place whenthere is recognition of meanings represented by the society. The society represents a culture that has theelements of collectivism, individualism, traditionalism and modernism. Therefore, the meanings that areincorporated in the products should be holistic in nature as they should include all the elements. In thesecond stage, the luxury products may imbibe these elements and represent meaning to the consumers.When these meanings are effectively imbibed, they would portray that luxury consumption can provideproof of social success (collectivism), personal indulgence (individualism), royal preferences(traditionalism) and transfer of recently acquired money to attain possession of the luxury products(modernism). In the third stage, the consumers may perceive that the meanings that are represented by theluxury products are congruent to the kinds of associations valued by their society and thus embrace thesemeanings. They may recognize the symbolic connection between the luxury products and the connotationsportrayed by them. This symbolic connection communicates to the consumers that luxury consumptionwill help them to achieve recognition in society and fulfill their desires for extravagant lifestyles. It mayeven help the consumers to perceive an emotional connection with the luxury products. When this takesplace, the meaning transfer process may be successfully accomplished.