There has been a notable surge in luxury consumption across various markets. The growing demand in emerging economies has substantially contributed to the overall growth of the luxury market in recent times. Defining luxury brands poses several challenges, including their relative nature and the evolving perceptions of what constitutes “luxury” over time. Drawing from existing literature, Ko, Costello, and Taylor (2019) defined a luxury brand as a branded product or service that consumers perceive to possess high quality, provide genuine value through desired benefits, whether functional or emotional, exhibit a prestigious image within the market based on attributes such as craftsmanship or service quality, justify a premium price, and foster a profound connection or resonance with consumers.
The increasing focus of numerous luxury brands on the rapidly expanding global middle classes has led to significant changes in the luxury brand/product/service landscape (Zhang, Yao, and Yang 2024). One such change is the democratization of luxury (Shukla et al. 2022), while another wind of change is driven by digitalization. Driven by e-commerce, social media platforms, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, virtual reality, and the metaverse have profoundly reshaped both the commercial and cultural landscapes, presenting new opportunities and challenges for luxury brands (Chung et al. 2020; Jiang et al. 2023; Joy et al. 2022; Park and Kim 2024). For instance, luxury brands are increasingly leveraging AI to enrich customer experiences of their offerings. While AI can enhance the functional value of luxury brands, initial evidence suggests that its application in the design process of luxury goods could potentially dilute the perceived prestige of the brand. This stems from AI’s inability to replicate human emotions and sentiments, which are integral to the essence of luxury brands (Xu and Mehta 2022). As the transition to online platforms continues to expand, it is becoming increasingly important for luxury brands to adjust and employ sophisticated digital strategies and technologies to excel in the contemporary luxury branding environment.
In addition to democratization and digitalization of luxury, the rise of sustainability and environmental concerns are presenting a third source of change. Being heavily in the spotlight, luxury brands are promoting their sustainability efforts to bolster brand evaluations (Kong, Witmaier, and Ko 2021). Luxury is often associated with indulgence, superficiality, and ostentation, whereas sustainability is linked to altruism, moderation, and ethics (Achabou and Dekhili 2013), presenting a challenging paradox for luxury brands. Despite luxury consumer’s limited awareness of sustainability initiatives (Bray, Johns, and Kilburn 2011; Kim et al. 2024), prominent luxury fashion remains dedicated to sustainable marketing practices (Kong, Witmaier, and Ko 2021; Pang et al. 2022). Finally, as the luxury market diversifies, it is important to investigate cultural and gender-related differences in the values and preferences associated with luxury consumption (Tafani et al. 2024).
It is timely, therefore, to take a fresh look at global luxury branding. This special issue seeks to ignite scholarly research on global luxury brands and branding. It aims to be an avenue for interdisciplinary research analyzing the strategies and effects of global luxury branding. As we navigate this theme, we aspire to feature research that not only critiques current approaches but also outlines a visionary path for fostering luxury branding from a global and international marketing perspective.
Given the changes ignited by democratization, digitalization, and sustainability/environmentalism on global luxury branding, this special issue seeks papers that advance research investigating global luxury branding across various facets of international marketing. Specifically, we are inviting research on global luxury branding that provides concepts, frameworks, theories, and empirical insights helpful for firms, managers, customers, and other stakeholders. We invite submissions employing quantitative, qualitative or mixed approaches, with a particular interest in studies that incorporate multimethods and diverse data sets.
Research bearing on (but not limited to) the following questions is welcome:
- Conceptualization of luxury branding in an international marketing context
- Democratization of luxury and luxury branding
- New luxury in the digital age
- The role of sustainability/environmentalism in the context of luxury brands
- Cultural differences regarding luxury consumers and brand management
- Implications of digital change and disruption on luxury brands: how to navigate through digital disruption and transformation
- Integrating AI with advanced technologies for luxury brands
- Leveraging virtual reality and augmented reality in luxury service encounters
- Consumer psychology and behavior in the digital luxury experience
- Consumer psychology and behavior toward luxury brands in social media
- (Digital) brand management in the luxury product industry
- Consumer psychology and behavior toward luxury brands in the metaverse environment
- Digital marketing communication in luxury
Global Marketing Conference Submission and Review Process
The 2025 Global Marketing Conference (GMC) at Hong Kong will host a session on this topic. We encourage authors to submit their work to this conference, though doing so is not required in order to be published in the special issue. All conference submissions, reviews, and notifications of editorial decisions will be conducted electronically through the GMC submission page. Full paper or extended abstract submissions to the 2025 GMC at Hong Kong should follow the 2025 GMC submission guidelines. The manuscript’s title page should include the corresponding author’s name, affiliation, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. Names and contact information for other authors should be included as well. All manuscripts submitted must not have been published, accepted for publication, or be currently under consideration elsewhere. Selected papers will be invited to be submitted as full papers for the JIM special issue. Full paper submissions are encouraged, though 10-page extended abstracts can also be submitted.
Conference Submission Deadline: January 15, 2025
Special Issue Submission and Review Process
All manuscripts will be reviewed as a cohort for this special issue of the Journal of International Marketing. Manuscripts must be submitted between July 1 and August 30, 2025. All submissions will go through Journal of International Marketing’s double-anonymized review and follow JIM’s standard norms and processes. Submissions must be made via JIM’s ScholarOne site, with author guidelines available here.
For any queries, feel free to reach out to the special issue editors.
Special Issue Submission Window: July 1–August 30, 2025
Guest Editors
Eunju Ko, Yonsei University (ejko@yonsei.ac.kr)
Ian Phau, Curtin University (Ian.Phau@cbs.curtin.edu.au)
Ayşegül Özsomer, Koç University (AOZSOMER@ku.edu.tr)
References
Achabou, Mohamed A. and Sihem Dekhili (2013), “Luxury and Sustainable Development: Is There a Match?” Journal of Business Research, 66 (10), 1896–1903.
Bray, Jeffery, Nick Johns, and David Kilburn (2011), “An Exploratory Study into the Factors Impeding Ethical Consumption,” Journal of Business Ethics, 98, 597–608.
Chung, Minjee, Eunju Ko, Heerim Joung, and Sang Jin Kim (2020), “Chatbot e-Service and Customer Satisfaction Regarding Luxury Brands,” Journal of Business Research, 117, 587–595.
Jiang, Qi, Miyea Kim, Eunju Ko, and Kyung Hoon Kim (2023). “The Metaverse Experience in Luxury Brands,” Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 35 (10), 2501–20.
Joy, Annamma, Ying Zhu, Camilo Peña, and Myriam Brouard (2022), “Digital Future of Luxury Brands: Metaverse, Digital Fashion, and Non‐Fungible Tokens,” Strategic Change, 31 (3), 337–43.
Kim, Changju, Mai Kikumori, Aekyoung Kim, and Jungkeun Kim (2024). “How Do Moral Judgment and Saving Face Interact with Positive Word-of-Mouth Regarding Counterfeit Luxury Consumption? Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 15 (2), 253–69.
Ko, Eunju, John P. Costello, and Charles R. Taylor (2019), “What Is a Luxury Brand? A New Definition and Review of the Literature,” Journal of Business Research, 99, 405–13.
Kong, Hyun Min, Alexander Witmaier, and Eunju Ko (2021), “Sustainability and Social Media Communication: How Consumers Respond to Marketing Efforts of Luxury and Non-Luxury Fashion Brands,” Journal of Business Research, 131, 640–51.
Pang, Wonbae, Jisu Ko, Sang Jin Kim, and Eunju Ko (2022), “Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic upon Fashion Consumer Behavior: Focus on Mass and Luxury Products,” Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 34 (10), 2149–64.
Park, Jinsu and Naeun (Lauren) Kim (2024), “Examining Self-Congruence Between User and Avatar in Purchasing Behavior from the Metaverse to the Real World,” Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 15 (1), 23–38.
Shukla, Paurav, Veronica Rosendo-Rios, Sangeeta Trott, Jing (Daisy) Lyu, and Dina Khalifa (2022), “Managing the Challenge of Luxury Democratization: A Multicountry Analysis,” Journal of International Marketing, 30 (4), 44–59.
Tafani, Eric, Franck Vigneron, Audrey Azoulay, Sandrine Crener, and Abdul Zahid (2024), “The Influence of Culture and Gender in Luxury Brand Consumption: a Comparison Across Western and Eastern Culture Consumers,” Journal of International Marketing (published online February 14), https://doi.org/10.1177/1069031X241235629.
Xu, Lidan and Ravi Mehta (2022), “Technology Devalues Luxury? Exploring Consumer Responses to AI-Designed Luxury Products,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 50 (6), 1135–52.
Zhang, Zhe, Alex Yao, and Zhiyong Yang (2024), “Coach Versus Goldlion: The Effect of Socially Versus Personally Oriented Motives on Consumer Preference for Foreign and Domestic Masstige Brands in Emerging Markets,” Journal of International Marketing, 32 (3), 101–15.
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