Luxury Consumer Behaviour -A Comparative Case Study of Emerging Luxury Markets in China and Finland

The study on luxury consumers is always connected to their drives behind consumption. Why people buy luxury products is an interesting question. This thesis investigates influencing forces behind luxury consumer behavior, in a comparative case study on Chinese and Finnish consumers. Luxury consumption is not a new phenomenon, but in some countries, like China and Finland, the luxury market is still growing since many brands are newly entering these markets. At the same time, new generations have become luxury consumers so these markets are quickly changing.Researches have been made on luxury consumer behaviour in China and Finland. However, there is a lack of updated information available about this subject, especially about Finnish luxury consumers. Furthermore, the driving forces behind the luxury consumption are not the same in different countries. In a competitive industry like luxury fashion, the marketing tactics have to be adapted to specific market conditions in order to succeed. The purpose of this thesis is to gain updated information about Chinese and Finnish luxury consumers and investigate forces behind their luxury consumption. The study focuses on three important influencing forces including culture, motivation and brand equity of Chinese and Finnish luxury consumers.The investigation shows that Chinese luxury consumers, in terms of culture, are more collective and have higher power distance than Finnish consumers; other's influence and emotion have greater impact on Chinese luxury consumers than that on Finnish consumers; in comparison with Chinese consumers, Finnish consumers are more easily motivated to buy luxuries for special time such as holidays or for giving gifts; Chinese luxury consumers are shown to have lower brand loyalty, awareness and association than Finnish consumers.Program: Master in Fashion Management with specialisation in Fashion Marketing and Retailin