Is it love or just like? Generation Z’s brand relationship with luxury

Purpose: This study aims to focus on understanding the consumer-luxury brand relationships among Generation Z. Generation Z is an up-and-coming generational cohort that has received limited research attention in the domains of both consumer-brand relationships and luxury branding, despite its growing size and purchasing power. Therefore, this study highlights the distinctive patterns of Generation Z’s relationship with luxury by identifying their choice of a luxury brand, the nature of the brand relationships, what characterizes these relationships and the internal and external influences that shape these relationships. Design/methodology/approach: This study used brand collage construction. A total of 56 Generation Z respondents created brand collages that covered 38 different luxury brands. The data from the collages and their accompanying descriptions were evaluated using content analysis. Findings: This study identifies Generation Z’s unique yet expansive view of luxury that encompasses not only traditional luxury but also masstige and non-traditional luxury brands. Moreover, the findings generally support that Generation Z’s relationships with luxury brands are characterized by “like” rather than “love”; while Generation Z may feel a high level of loyalty toward luxury brands in terms of attitudes and behaviors, they do not necessarily have strong, passionate feelings for them. Originality/value: The findings of this study offer a comprehensive understanding of Generation Z’s brand relationship with luxury. Luxury marketers need to recognize that for Generation Z consumers, luxury is an integral part of their everyday lifestyle more than a display of success, which is clearly different from previous generations.