Abstract

As the new generation is becoming the primary consumer in the luxury market, the purpose of this study is to examine what factors would affect their luxury purchase intention. Specifically, status consumption and hedonistic consumption are selected to represent extrinsic and intrinsic motivation respectively. The moderating effects of cultural variables and cosmopolitan are also investigated. An online questionnaire with a worldwide sample of 222 young adults (aged from 20 to 35) was conducted. Findings show that both status consumption and hedonistic consumption have a positive relationship with young adults’ luxury purchase intention. Moreover, the effect of status consumption on luxury purchase intention is stronger in collectivistic, long-term orientated, lower uncertainty avoidance cultures and for cosmopolitan consumers, while the relationship between hedonistic consumption and luxury purchase intention is stronger in lower power distance and short- term oriented cultures.