Can "Whatsapp" be the new luxury "app"? (c2018)

Abstract

Although Internet growth and social media expansion have a significant impact on the luxury fashion industry, studies tackling the latter subjects are still limited in number and scope. As the luxury market reached saturation due to its gradual expansion and rapid customer growth, luxury brands felt compelled to embrace various social media platforms. Whereas some brands use the Internet cautiously and exclusively for branding purposes, others update their online strategies continuously to reserve a place at the vanguard of social media usage for communication, retailing, advertising and customization purposes. Recently, luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Hugo Boss, and Porsche Design, among others started adopting the usage of “WhatsApp” as a communication platform with their loyal consumers. This movement came complementary to the increase in the number of active WhatsApp users especially in the MENA region. The main aim of this study was to explore luxury brands’ loyal consumers’ attitudes toward WhatsApp usage as a communication mean in the luxury industry. The findings of the study indicate that, regardless of the informality of the WhatsApp service, luxury consumers are willing to adopt it under strict conditions. Indeed, WhatsApp gave customers in the MENA region the ability to fulfill some of their shopping needs by receiving personalized responses whilst removing time and geographical constraints from the equation.