To Luxe or Not to Luxe: How Salesperson Luxury Choices Impact Consumer Perceptions
Consumers have a unique lens through which they view the world based on their experiences and values. When it comes to luxury goods, perceptions are complex. Luxury goods are not just items—they represent a person’s identity and status. This is also applicable as a salesperson; you want to look your best and be presentable, but wearing or displaying luxury branded items may negatively impact your business, especially when selling non-luxury items.
Consumers are often hesitant to engage in negotiations with salespeople, and displaying luxury items may further exacerbate this problem. Consumers often attribute negative attributes, such as materialism, narcissism, and snobbery, to individuals who conspicuously display luxury possessions. These negative stereotypes may be problematic for salespeople who display luxury brands, specifically in a non-luxury retail setting. Further, salespeople often benefit (i.e. earn money) from the final negotiated price the consumer. This compounds the risk of a salesperson’s luxury brand eliciting negative reactions, as such displays may signal the salesperson’s ability to afford luxury brands at the expense of the consumer’s best interest. Consequently, this study shows that when salespeople display luxury brands in a non-luxury and negotiated retail setting, consumers have lower expectations concerning the quality of the deal they will get. Such beliefs lead consumers to the conclusion that the salespeople are materialistic with lower moral character, further exacerbating negative consumer perceptions and reluctance to engage with the salesperson.
Our Study
To test how the consumer perceives a salesperson, we conducted four studies to provide specific insights into how luxury-brand items used by salespeople influenced consumers.
Study 1: Luxury Displays and Deal Expectations
Our first study utilized a control group of sales representatives who wore non-luxury brands and a test group of sales representatives who wore luxury-branded items. This study found that consumers were less likely to expect a good deal when the sales rep was wearing luxury-brand clothing than when the rep was wearing non-luxury clothing.
Study 2: Materialism and Moral Character
Our second study asked participants to respond to a hypothetical scenario at a car dealership regarding their perception of the salesperson based on whether the salesperson had a Louis Vuitton briefcase. Consumers who encountered a salesperson with a Louis Vuitton briefcase were less inclined to expect a favorable deal in comparison to those engaging with a salesperson who did not have a luxury briefcase. Further, consumers perceived the salesperson with the Louis Vuitton briefcase as more materialistic and as having compromised moral character, which explained why the displayed luxury brand worsened consumers' deal expectations.
Study 3: Customer Orientation Cues
Our third study investigated whether customer orientation cues affected the relationship between consumers’ perceptions of salesperson moral character and materialism. The customer orientation cue was either absent (no customer orientation cue provided), self-promoting (via an image on the salesperson’s wall that the salesperson was voted the best in customer service by customers) or other promoting (via a sign posted by the dealership that the consumer’s assigned salesperson was voted the best for customer service by customers). Neither a self-promoting customer orientation cue nor an other-promoting customer orientation cue changed the relationship between materialism and moral character. In both instances, we found that the more materialistic consumers think the salesperson is, the less they think the salesperson has good moral character. However, when comparing the responses of participants who witnessed the salesperson self-promoted customer orientation to participants who were not provided any customer orientation cue, the negative effect between materialism and poor moral character was strengthened. That is, consumers reacted more negatively to seeing salespeople display customer orientation evidence relative to no such displays.
Study 4: Negative Effect of Luxury Displays
Our fourth study tasked participants to negotiate the price of a mattress. The participants were given the option of two salespeople: one with a luxury Burberry scarf and one without. Luxury-brand displays not only impacted consumers’ deal expectations but also caused consumers to be more likely to engage with and favor negotiating with salespeople who were not wearing luxury brands.
Real Estate Implications
Our findings show that salespeople’s display of luxury brands makes consumers less likely to engage with salespeople and leads them to view salespeople as more materialistic and less morally upstanding. Luxury brands like Burberry and Louis Vuitton can prevent consumers from approaching a salesperson, which can impact overall sales for a company. As salespeople, real estate agents are constantly being assessed by potential clients. The way an agent is regarded can impact negotiations and, ultimately, sales. When deciding between wearing or buying luxury or non-luxury brands, our research suggests that agents should carefully consider whether to wear or display luxury brands if not selling in a luxury setting or market to avoid potential negative perceptions by consumers and clients.
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Recommended Reading
Thomas, Veronica, Dora Bock, Stephanie Mangus, and Setare Mohammadi (2024), “Wearing Your Success on your Sleeve: How Salesperson Luxury Brand Consumption Affects Consumers’ Perceptions,” Journal of Retailing, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2024.08.001
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About the Authors
Veronica L. Thomas, PhD
Associate Professor, Old Dominion University
Dr. Veronica Thomas' (PhD – Kent State University) expertise is in the area of consumer psychology, and her research focuses on social influence in the context of consumer-brand relationships and advertising. Her research appears in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Marketing Letters, and other prestigious peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Thomas has received national media coverage for her expertise in outlets such as The Washington Post, MarketWatch, Forbes, and Cosmopolitan. She is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Advertising Research and the International Journal of Advertising and sits on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Advertising, the Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, and Psychology & Marketing.
Dora E. Bock, PhD
Bradley Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Marketing, Auburn University
Dr. Dora E. Bock’s (PhD – Louisiana State University) research focuses on customer relationships, gratitude, and decision-making. Dr. Bock’s work has appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Psychology & Marketing, and IndustrialMarketing Management, among other journals and national conference proceedings. Dr. Bock’s research and expertise have received national media coverage, including outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, NerdWallet, HR Magazine, and Retail Executive, and she has been the recipient of the Department of Marketing's Outstanding Research Award. Dr. Bock has also been recognized for her teaching and has received the prestigious Lowder Teaching Award, awarded by the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University, the Outstanding Teaching Award, awarded by the Department of Marketing at Auburn University, and the Excellence in Teaching Award, awarded by the E.J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University.
Stephanie M. Mangus, PhD
Associate Professor, Baylor University
Dr. Stephanie Mangus’ (PhD – Louisiana State University) research focuses on buyer-seller dyads in sales and the sales and service interface, including service recovery and the emotions driving salesperson and customer behaviors. Her research has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, and Psychology & Marketing. She serves on the Editorial Review Boards for the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science and the Journal of Business Research. She is the abstract editor for the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. Her work has been presented at conferences by the American Marketing Association, the Academy of Marketing Science, the Association for Consumer Research, the National Conference for Sales Management, and the Thought Leadership in the Sales Profession Conference. Dr. Mangus’ research and expertise have received international media coverage, including outlets such as The Huffington Post, the UpNext Podcast, CJAD Radio, WLNS-TV, The Art Newspaper, The Speaker, and KIJK Magazine, among others. She teaches personal selling and sales management for the Center for Professional Selling at Baylor and has received numerous teaching awards at the university and international levels.
Setare Mohammadi, PhD Candidate in Marketing
Old Dominion University
Setare Mohammadi is a PhD candidate in Marketing at Old Dominion University. Her primary research interests are brand-to-consumer communication and consumer perceptions in sales interactions.
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