Consumer Preference for Status Symbolism of Clothing: The Case of the Czech Republic

During the past three decades, consumer demand for luxury goods has been growing on a global scale. The luxury and status market base has expanded beyond the traditional affluent consumer segment to include an increasingly heterogeneous group of consumers. Despite the substantial size, greater reach, and significant growth of the luxury goods market, status consumption has been treated as an atypical and peripheral subject in consumer research. The authors develop a conceptual model of psychological determinants of status seeking through consumption. The model considers the effects of three general traits (namely, status concern (SC), public self‐consciousness (PSC), and self‐esteem (SE)) and one consumption‐related consumer trait (namely, susceptibility to normative social influence (SNSI)) on preference for status meaning, which in turn influences consumer interest in the product. The conceptual model is tested with data from a survey of 1000+ respondents drawn from the Czech Republic, a country where the recent market liberalization has unleashed an inflow of luxury goods from marketers from the West. Face‐to‐face home‐based structured interviews were conducted by an international market research agency. The hypothesized causal relationships are all supported. The effects of SC, PSC, and SE on SNSI and preference for status meaning (PSM) are significant and in the expected direction. Additionally, SNSI is found to exert a significant positive influence on PSM, and these two constructs, in turn, have significant positive effects on consumer interest in clothing. The conceptual model and empirical evidence enhance the existing knowledge of the antecedents and outcomes of status consumption. The study advances a better understanding of the psychology of consumer adoption of status consumption; equally important, it also highlights the value of extending consumer theories from established to emerging market economies and back again from still‐evolving to long‐standing marketplaces.     

Cost consequence analysis of use of a balloon expandable vascular access system and standard vascular sheath for transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Abstract

Background: Vascular complications are an important complication of transcatheter aortic valve implantation and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality as well as cost. The Solopath device is an expandable vascular access system that has previously been shown to be associated with lower rates of vascular complications. This study sought to evaluate the impact of the use of this system on vascular complications and costs in a decision model analysis.

Methods: A cost-consequence analysis was undertaken utilizing event rate data from the PARTNER trials and a published retrospective analysis of the Solopath device. The decision model estimated costs and benefits in a hypothetical cohort of patients with aortic stenosis undergoing TAVI using either a standard sheath or Solopath. The modeled analysis compared the occurrence of vascular complications and mortality at 30 days and 1 year using TreeAge Pro.

Results: The decision model demonstrated that use of the Solopath sheath resulted in 36 fewer major vascular complications, three fewer deaths at 30 days, and five fewer deaths at 1 year, resulting in a discounted cost savings of $846 CDN. Results were sensitive to decreasing rates of vascular complications with newer generation devices, however maintained modest cost-savings.

Conclusions: Reduction in vascular complications is an important part of improving care for TAVI patients. The Solopath vascular access device offers an alternative to standard sheaths with a potential reduction in complications and cost-savings.     

Gender effects on consumers’ symbolic and hedonic preferences and actual clothing consumption in the Czech Republic

During the last decade or so consumer products have become more divided by gender than ever before. These changes in marketing practices are likely to introduce, alter or increase any existing gender differences regarding consumers’ product preferences and actual consumption. This is a very timely study examining how gender relates to consumers’ interest in clothing artefacts and their preferences for the self‐ and social‐symbolic and hedonic meanings of clothing. The influence of gender on actual purchase behaviour towards clothing is also explored. The proposed hypotheses are tested on a large‐scale sample of some 1,000+ respondents drawn in the Czech Republic. Using analysis of variance tests, gender differences were found with regard to all but one consumer behaviour phenomenon. No gender effect was found only regarding consumer preference for clothing affiliation symbolism. The study contributes to the theoretical development and empirical evidence in the field of gendered symbolic and hedonic consumption of clothing artefacts. Its findings also suggest possible actions by fashion marketers, as well as some interesting venues for future research.