Assessing Masstige Antecedent and Outcome: a PLS-SEM Approach

Abstract

This study aims to foster a new conceptual model of “masstige”, which challenges the traditional way of advertising the luxury fashion brands (apparels) as a prestigious one. The covid-19 pandemic has amidst the entire luxury fashion market of India into new section of mass prestige. The way “mass prestige” fashion market is developing, the marketers are more concerned for the necessity of advertisement, sense of pleasure, brand recall and stimulation. So, the process of persuading the consumer purchase intention of prestigious fashion brands through advertising is a decisive outcome for the marketer. A positivism method was accompanied based on a systematized questionnaire with 227 participants. The research model is built on a reflective-formative construct of higher order through the espousal of two-stage disjoint method. Further, hypothesis testing was done to measure whether the advertisement sub-variables act as an antecedent in creating mass prestige? Whether consumer purchase intention supports as a mass prestige outcome? Do advertisements play a crucial role in leading directly to purchase intention of mass prestige brands? This paper finds ‘Peter England’ as a mass prestige brand in the apparel sector and attains the highest mass prestige score followed by ‘Allen Solly’ and ‘Louis Philippe’. Thus, the model testing was done and supported all the tentative hypothesis. Our findings have major repercussions for both academics and professionals and trying to have a better grasp on the new theme of “mass prestige” in the “post-covid” era especially in Indian context.