Twentieth International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

The research on luxury consumption has long-established that men lavishly spend on luxury goods to attract women. Although men also use significant amount of resources to protect romantic partners and expensive gift giving is considered central to durable relationships, research focusing on men’s consumption pattern amid insecure relationships is rather scarce. Relying on fundamental motives framework, the goal of the current study is to test whether insecure relationships in a mate re-attraction and mate guard context triggers men’s spending on luxuries. The results of the mate re-attraction condition reveal that mate re-attraction motive enhances men’s preferences for relationship (quality) enhancing intangible products such as dinner at the restaurant, trip with partner, outdoor entertaining activities with the partner, partner birthday celebrations etc. as gift to their partner. While results of mate guarding condition reveals that mate guarding motive amplifies men’s desire for luxury tangible products like dress, smartphone, shoes, wrist watch, handbags etc. as gift to their female. The findings indicate that men offer luxury hospitality gifts to partners to repair and strengthen relationships that appear to be insecure and buy luxury products for partner to guard their female from mate poachers. Result suggests that men use self-promotion strategy that provides information about his commitment in the relationship to re-attract their females and adopt resource use strategy that provides information about their willingness to invest in partner to guard their female. Marketers may increase sales by associating appropriate jealousy provoking situations to marketing of luxury tangible and intangible products.