Exploring the ties between luxury brand experiences, social status, luxury purchases, prosocial behaviours, and materialism: a case of millennials on social media

This research proposes that millennials' consumption of social status from luxury brands is a function of their brand experiences inside luxury brand communities (LBCs), and social status explains consumers' luxury purchase intentions and prosocial behaviours. The theoretical framework is tested with the data collected from 279 millennials in India via purposive sampling and by employing the structural equation modelling technique. Results indicate that millennials' social status is influenced by their experiences with the luxury brands inside LBCs. Social status stimulates consumers' intentions to purchase the brand and to perform prosocial behaviours. Materialism moderates the effect of social status on brand purchase intentions and prosocial behaviours. Current research contributes to the nascent theory on luxury consumption among millennials by depicting the drivers, consequences, and moderating mechanisms associated with their social status consumption inside LBCs. This study has implications for the managers focusing on millennials as the key luxury target segment.