The impact of emotional attachment on purchase intentions in the South African luxury streetwear industry

Abstract

Over the last decade, luxury streetwear consumption has increased worldwide, particularly among Millennials and Generation Z. The high-end streetwear brands have continually contributed to economic growth as it is a global multi-billion-dollar industry and South Africa is no exception to these trends. The purpose of this study is to determine what factors affect the purchase intention of these streetwear brands and develop insights that are unique to the South African landscape. Specifically, this research investigates the impact of personality factors, social media influence and brand experience on customers’ purchase intentions in the luxury streetwear fashion industry, mediated by emotional attachment.

Descriptive quantitative research was conducted on customers between the ages of 18 to 38 in Cape Town: an online questionnaire was distributed among 150 respondents. The results suggested that all the relationships among the above-mentioned variables can be said to be influential besides the relationship between social media and emotional attachment. Therefore, personality factors and brand experience increase consumer emotional attachment towards the tested brands and thus increase purchase intention.

It was found that personality factors influence emotional attachment as consumers feel a sense of status and superiority when wearing luxury streetwear brands. Furthermore, a good brand experience causes consumers to have positive emotions towards the brand. On the basis of these findings, a number of recommendations are made.