Partnerships between luxury brands and mass-market retailers, termed masstige collaborations, are the last frontier of promoting brand popularity. The new products launched during these partnerships are offered at premium prices and characterized by limited duration and supply, and hence rapid stock-out. Given the importance of this practice and the predominant focus in the literature on the managerial aspects, this study aims to investigate consumer reactions to masstige collaborations, especially in the case of missed purchases because of stock-out.
This paper analyzes how consumers evaluate masstige collaborations in the fashion industry using a mixed-method research design, triangulating data from different sources, analyzing Twitter comments and press articles, and then conducting different experiments to replicate the main findings.
Results reveal that missed purchases of masstige collaboration products lead to feelings of frustration (vs regret). In addition, they show that these reactions are stronger in the case of masstige (vs non-masstige) collaborations, especially when consumers experience stock-out. Different themes emerge that trigger regret and/or frustration, suggesting some frustration recovery strategies.
This work provides a new consumer perspective on the masstige collaboration branding practice, especially after missed purchases. The study offers insights on the critical pitfalls of this practice to help managers leverage this popular form of alliance.
