eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

Luxury fashion is one of the most profitable industries of the modern world. After some years of rapid growth the industry is, however, facing new challenges and estimated to become more customer-centric. Thus, this research seeks to provide a deeper understanding on the client segment of Finnish men and shed light on how they perceive luxury brands through investigating the language and discourses used in their identity work.

The literature review gives an overview of luxury fashion, brand meanings and identity work through presenting some findings of previous research and building a link between all the relevant concepts. To extend this knowledge, the study continues with a qualitative research based on eight interviews with Finnish male consumers. The interviewees represent different backgrounds and different experiences and views on luxury fashion. The interview data was transcribed and analyzed by using the method of discourse analysis.

Based on the interpretation and analysis of the data, eight thematic discourses were formed and are introduced under the findings of the research. The discussion finally combines the themes into three discursive main orientations representing the key concepts identified from the findings. The first orientation, cultural virtue of a modest, practical consumer serves as the main identity crafted through language, describing how men strive to behave and appear following a deeply rooted identity of an honest, rational male consumer. The second orientation, identity work through social integration and differentiation illustrates how in order to gain approval from other people, especially friends, Finnish male clients adjust their consumption to match the perceived attitudes of the group. Through this behavior they avoid negative comments, differentiate from undesirable reference groups and form identities in align with the desired groups. The third orientation, luxury as an indicator of social status and identity describes how the consumers shape two dimensions based on status and identity. Average, normal Finnish men seem to belong to the first, lower dimension which values modesty. The second dimension is for wealthy, famous people who live a luxurious life, which can't be reached by an average consumer.

By these findings the research contributes to the consumer culture theory by presenting a multitude of voices and subjective realities in the context of luxury fashion and Finnish male consumers, supported by the previous literature. These findings may also provide valuable insight for the Finnish luxury fashion industry in facing the tightening competition and overcoming future challenges.