There is an abundant amount of research focusing on consumer empowerment and brand attachment individually. However, despite its significance to marketers working for luxurious fashion brands in the practical fields, there are little to no clarifications and analyses in their correlations. Therefore, the main purposes of the present study are to explore the influences of consumer empowerment on brand attachment, the intermediary effect of product involvement on consumer empowerment and brand attachment, and finally, the moderating effect of self-esteem on consumer empowerment and brand attachment.
We chose to investigate with Internet based structured questionnaires, using the convenience sampling method. With the online survey system of “Google Forms”, we distributed anonymous questionnaires to students in a college of design located in Northern Taiwan through E-mail. Among the 350 issued forms, we received 335 valid questionnaires. Our results indicate that consumer empowerment has a remarkable positive impact on brand attachment. In addition, the intermediary effect of product involvement and the moderating effect of self-esteem on consumer empowerment and brand attachment are both considerable. With these discoveries, our initial theories have all been supported. Our conclusion establishes a clear and further understanding of the relationship between consumer empowerment and brand attachment. Consequently, for those involved in marketing for indulgent fashion brands, when planning strategies and activities regarding consumer empowerment, they should simultaneously take the factors of product involvement and self-esteem into account, in favor of enhancing their effectiveness.
