and for companies it is the cornerstone of long-term profitability and compet-
itive leverage. Brand loyalty also leads to lower costs for companies in
acquiring and servicing customers because loyal consumers purchase more
frequently and in higher quantities and also show less sensitivity to prices.
Brand loyalty can also enable luxury brands to save the costs of attracting
new customers, which is often four to six times more than retaining an old
one.
When consumers become loyal to a brand, it is a demonstration of a high
level of trust in the promises of the brand. Brand loyalty is the height of
consumer affinity with a brand. In some cases, loyal consumers see the brand
as the only solution to their consumption problems and needs fulfilment.
Luxury fashion consumers often show an apparent high level of loyalty
and emotional attachment to luxury brands that is sometimes irrational to
outside observers. Some consumers that are truly attached to specific brands
offer their loyalty to their trusted brands to such an extent that the relation-
ship with the brand departs from functionality to symbolism. This is because
luxury brands help consumers project a self-image as a result of the ‘prestige’
and ‘high-status’ features with which the brands are associated. This implies
that luxury goods serve as a communication tool that consumers use to speak
to others and even to themselves of the type of person they are or would like
to be. This connection that the brand has forged with the psychology and
subconscious of consumers often results from brand loyalty.
Brand loyalty is attained progressively from brand positioning. As high-
lighted earlier, brand positioning occurs as a result of consumer’s awareness
of a brand and its image. When consumers have the right perception of a
brand, they position the brand in their minds and are likely to involve that
brand in their brand choices. If the brand is repeatedly favoured, its share in
the mind of the consumer will increase. This is called Brand Shareand a high
brand share ensures the continuous choice of the products of that brand. This
then leads to the manifestation of brand loyalty through repeat purchases or
the intention to purchase.
However, repeat purchases of products from the same brand do not auto-
matically have their source in brand loyalty. Several factors like product
availability and high awareness could also be contributors to repeat
purchases. This does not necessarily mean that brands with high awareness
and large sales turnover benefit from more brand loyalty than their smaller
contemporaries. Conversely, the high level of brand affinity that luxury
consumers demonstrate towards their favoured brands indicates that product
unavailability is not a deterrent to luxury consumers’ loyalty levels. For
example, Hermès customers often have a waiting period of up to eight months
to purchase a Birkin bag, in addition to the high price tag of the product.
Despite this, the waiting list of this product is always extensive and in some
cases customers could wait for up to six months to get on the waiting list! Yet
the Hermès Birkin bag has one of the highest loyalty levels in the luxury
chapter 5 119the art of creating and managing luxury fashion brands