Managerial implications

In this regard, the study provides practical customer insights into the generation of Millennials in terms of their perception of CE with LFBs. As stated before, the respective generation is deemed to be a promising field within the industry due to its increase in expenditure and its growing share of the LFBs’ customer segment. Therefore, it is key to understand its needs and desires, in order to better understand its behaviors and to ultimately adapt brand communications accordingly. Since the find-ings are based exclusively on the perception of the Millennial generation, the following managerial implications are especially tailored to this segment.

By identifying relevant CE types and investigating how CE influences the Millennial’s SC, manage-rial implications are derived, which are to be discussed in the following sections. These implications aim to support LFB managers in properly addressing the Millennial generation by understanding its perception of CE. Consequently, the findings support LFB managers in optimizing their CE initiatives and tailoring their brand communication strategy in order to meet the needs of this promising cus-tomer segment. On top of that, it can foster the creation of a strong cuscus-tomer relationship, which is likely to result in higher customer loyalty since developing strong customer loyalty at a young age has lasting financial implications for the brand (Danziger, 2005; Grotts & Widner Johnson, 2013).

The following managerial implications refer to the first part of the research question, namely the identification of CE including actions and/ or thoughts that Millennials perceive as engagement; those are referred to as CE types. This allows conclusions to be drawn as to which areas can be improved in order to better reach the customer group and to further deepen the relationship with them.

Although it is generally supposed that Millennials are digitally far more advanced in comparison to earlier generations and that a majority of their activities take place online, the findings of this study demonstrate that CE with LFBs still plays an important role in the offline sector. This becomes evi-dent by CE types such as visiting stores, window shopping, attending events and reading fashion-related magazines and books. Compared to the digital environment, providing an offline experience

Furthermore, wearing LFBs and observing people who wear such brands appear as CE types in the offline area. However, since many Millennials do not yet have the financial means to afford LFBs, one possibility would be to expand or create the segment of new luxury products, in order to promote these kinds of CE types. Such are products “that possess higher levels of quality, taste, and aspiration than other goods in the category, but are not so expensive to be out of reach” (Silverstein & Fiske, 2008, cited in Giovannini et al. 2015, p. 36). Providing Millennials with the opportunity to purchase LFBs more often or at all, results in a higher number of Millennials wearing LFBs and thus observing people who own LFBs will increase as well, since these CE types are often linked. By doing so, it is likely that a stronger brand loyalty is built, as Millennials are able to engage with the brand on a different level and use/ see it on a daily basis, which shows potential to continue in the long run when they have higher earnings. Since these products are still designed to be significantly more expensive and of a higher quality than those actually intended for this product category, these luxury entry-level products do not contradict the image that is typical for LFBs. Many LFBs such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci have already implemented such a category in their product range, however, with the back-ground that this product category can be seen as an opportunity to attract Millennial customers, they can be adapted accordingly. Again, it is essential to find a setting that neither discourages existing customer segments nor harms the LFB’s image.

Generally speaking, the study reveals that several touchpoints both offline and online can be con-nected/ show potential to be connected to CE types: Stores (visiting stores, window shopping), events (attending events), print media (reading magazines and books), social media platforms (following LFBs and influencers, liking and commenting on social media), and the brand’s website (visiting websites). The findings thereby confirm, that Millennials use various channels to engage with brands;

those various channels happen to be used simultaneously, but also in a subsequent order. Accordingly, it is key for brand managers to link the different touchpoints in order to create a seamless transition when approaching and communicating with the customers. This allows customers to experience a unified and consistent brand image regardless of the channel they are using. In this regard, the focus should lie on providing customers with the best possible engagement experience on all channels, allowing them to switch channels and/ or use them simultaneously without noticeable differences and boundaries. Especially when researching about LFBs and their products, Millennials use a variety of channels available to them to obtain thorough information. This is often, closely related to the desire to purchase a product. Thus, it is essential to optimize the online experience, especially if there is no face-to-face customer service, making it as clear and intuitive as possible and integrating all the

information needed. Further, the findings reveal that social media influencers play an important role in creating and raising brand awareness. The participants indicate to be inspired by influencers and to become aware of new products and brands. Therefore, LFB managers are recommended to include corporations with influencers as an integral part of their marketing strategy. In this way, LFBs are enabled to balance between remaining the exclusivity of the brand and spreading the awareness of the brand beyond the initial target segment.

With regard to the second part of the research question, the analysis of how CE with LFBs influences Millennial’s SC provides insights about the perception of CE from the perspective of the respective generation. From these, some practical implications are drawn.

For one thing, it becomes evident that CE influences the Millennial’s SC by providing a mean to express themselves, by helping them to define themselves and by rewarding themselves. Furthermore, it influences in such a way that it is seen as an enrichment of personality and strengthening of self-confidence. Thus, it is shown that CE with LFBs is more than just a leisure activity and shows poten-tial to enhance self-realization. Also, especially the younger segment of Millennials is usually still in the process of finding themselves, whereby the findings indicate that CE is a way for them to approach the ideal image that they aspire. Thereby, engaging with LFBs influences the SC in the way that it brings the customers closer to certain values, or transfers the LFB’s values to the own image. To more effectively connect with the generation of Millennials, managers of LFBs should therefore develop strategies which increase brand awareness by focusing on attributes that help customers to feel con-fident about engaging with the brand. Further, LFBs should try to identify relevant and current topics, which are important for the respective generation, in order to become the brand Millennials are choos-ing to identify themselves with and to transfer the brand-image to themselves.

Many brands continue to concentrate on displaying affluence and heritage in their marketing strate-gies, however, with regard to the findings at hand, these might not be an effective way to advertise LFBs to relatively young customers. In order to find new ways to effectively target these new luxury customers, the obtained insights could be applied to support LFB managers in their efforts to develop an understanding of Millennials’ SC dimensions and what matters to them. Accordingly, LFB man-agers should consider how to best advertise their brands, what content to deliver in order to help customers enhance their SC and signal relevant values from the Millennials’ point of view.

The findings in relation to the SC dimensions social self and ideal social self reveal that CE is per-ceived as a way to differentiate oneself from others and to communicate certain characteristics to the outside world. According to this study, such characteristics display success, a professional appear-ance, and having a sense of fashion. Incorporating these relevant characteristics into the marketing strategy, in turn, might support the engagement of Millennials with those brands as the respective characteristics are in accordance with how they think they are or want to be perceived by others.

Further, engaging with LFBs enables Millennials to present themselves in the way they would like to be seen by their environment through the attempt to add aspired associations to their image, carried by the LFBs they are engaging with. Therefore, LFB managers should seek to stimulate fantasies particularly linked to how Millennials want to present themselves to the outside, highlighting the associations of LFBs, which are aspired by the respective generation. In this regard and given all these implications, the underlying challenge for LFBs remains to strike a balance between keeping the distinctive brand image they are known for and adapting to the Millennials needs.

In conclusion, the findings of the study at hand enable LFB managers to get an overview of relevant CE types from the Millennials point of view and to understand the underlying notions of how CE with LFBs influences the generations’ SC. These insights serve as a guide to add another perspective, in order to craft successful marketing strategies and operations for LFBs. These, in turn, can be used by managers in the respective industry to assess their current strategy and to identify how improve-ments can be made.