Do you purchase you-products? A quantitative study analyzing the mediating effects of self-congruence and satisfaction on the purchase intention of masstige home goods

Abstract: In contrast to earlier times, middle-class consumers are now more inclined to purchase products that offer superior quality and taste. The new middle segment is called "masstige" as it bridges the "mass" production of "prestige" items. A phenomenon within the luxury market (not to be confused with the masstige market analyzed in this paper) is the effect of sensed discomfort evoking "self-alienation" when purchasing a luxury good. Such a state may originate from the fact that a luxury product reflects a customer's ideal image of the self but not the actual self, causing incongruence and a gap between the ideal and actual identity. This paper examines how this phenomenon relates to customer behavior in the booming market for masstige products as compared to everyday products within the category of home goods. The empirics suggest that, just like in luxury consumption, masstige goods reflect the ideal identity of a customer better than the actual identity, but self-alienation is trivial. Instead, it enhances satisfaction and subsequent purchase intention.