Luxury Research

Research in luxury brand management topics has grown significantly since the launch of the Professorship in 2013. Current AUS faculty undertaking research on luxury-related topics include Professor George Christodoulides, Professor Nick Ashill, Professor Sajid Khan, Professor Prakash Chathoth, Dr. Rania Semaan, Professor Valerie Lindsay, Dr. Jeff Baker and Dr. Jean Boisvert. Their research interests focus on luxury consumption and consumer behavior, the adoption of digital technologies, brand charisma, brand extensions and luxury value perceptions.

Professor George Christodoulides conducts research on the brand equity of luxury brands from the point of view of different key stakeholder groups such as consumers and employees. Other relevant projects involve understanding consumers’ key drivers for posting selfies with luxury brands and seeking to conceptualize and operationalize the multi-faceted nature of consumer-brand forgiveness and to identify its antecedents/consequences.  He is further interested in the migration of the luxury brand experience from the physical to the digital world.  His work has been presented in leading international conferences and subsequently published in high impact scholarly journals.  He is currently PI on two funded projects examining new forms of shared luxury and consumer addiction toward luxury.

Drs. Prakash Chathoth and Sajid Khan are currently involved in a joint research project with Washington State University in the US that looks into memorable experiences in the context of luxury brand management. In particular, the research team is investigating internal (firm) and external (consumer) behaviors that impact the transition from actual experience to relatively stable memories creating a longer impact for luxury service brands.

Dr. Rania Semaan conducts research on luxury consumption. Her current research interests focus on exploring the drivers of conspicuous consumption for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) consumer, and the conceptualization of brand charisma. Dr. Semaan is particularly interested in exploring how social gender roles influence the drivers for luxury consumption.

Dr. Jean Boisvert conducts research on luxury brand extensions. His work has been presented at leading international conferences including the European Marketing Association Conference (EMAC) and the Luxury Brands Conference. His luxury work has appeared in leading international marketing journals including the International Marketing Review and Psychology and Marketing. A long-term study on the transfer of luxury brand DNA began in Spring 2016. The goal of the project is to identify the main factors contributing to the transfer of the luxury brand DNA desired by the Brand Custodian (Head Office) to the luxury consumers. This research specifically aims at observing and describing the extent to which retail frontline employees (including managers) convey the brand DNA to consumers.

Dr. Jeff Baker conducts research on the digital and e-commerce platforms used by luxury brands. His most recent publication on the topic, “The Internet Dilemma: An Exploratory Study of Luxury Firms’ Usage of Internet-Based Technologies” recently appeared in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. The paper examines differences in website characteristics and functionality across different luxury sectors. His current projects examine the use of electronic media in the luxury travel sector.