Do Second-Hand Luxury Retailers Affect Luxury Brand Image? Exploring the Mediation of Construal Level Theory between Official and Unofficial Retailers

Bai, H ORCID: 0000-0001-5836-8877, Tassiello, V, Sun, Y and Shi, J Do Second-Hand Luxury Retailers Affect Luxury Brand Image? Exploring the Mediation of Construal Level Theory between Official and Unofficial Retailers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. ISSN 0969-6989 (Accepted)

Text Do Second-Hand Luxury Retailers Affect Luxury Brand Image? Exploring the Mediation of Construal Level Theory between Official and Unofficial Retailers.pdf - Accepted Version Access Restricted Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (326kB)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether purchasing a second-hand luxury product via either an official or an unofficial retailer direct affects luxury brand image. This connection may be shaped by the activation of different levels of psychological construal (high vs. low) at the consumer level that mediate the consumer-brand relationship. Two online experiments were employed to observe the cause-effect connection and to assess whether the contextual conditions (i.e., retailer types) play a pivotal role in luxury brand image, especially when second-hand purchases are gaining popularity. The findings revealed that when consumers purchased second-hand luxury items from unofficial retailers, their perception of luxury brand image fell due to activation of a lower level of construal. This suggests a psychological focus on the product’s tangible elements. The opposite occurred when consumers made second-hand luxury purchases from official retailers. Our paper extends the theoretical understanding of luxury brand image through integrating construal level theory and comparing unofficial and official retailers. Managers should develop an eco-system framework to redistribute second-hand products, carefully select where these products are sold, and adjust emphases on brand attributes to suit the retail context.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1503 Business and Management; 1505 Marketing; 1506 Tourism; Marketing; 3504 Commercial services; 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour; 3509 Transportation, logistics and supply chains
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business > HF5410 Marketing. Distribution of Products
Divisions:	Liverpool Business School
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date of acceptance:	12 September 2025
Date Deposited:	16 Sep 2025 09:55
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2025 10:00
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27161

View Item