Prioritizing Geo-References: A Content Analysis of the Websites of Leading Global Luxury Fashion Brands

ABSTRACT

The current study investigates the extent to which various types of references to geographic entities are being used in communications with consumers on global websites of 15 leading luxury fashion brands. Using the Relevance-Distinctiveness-Believability framework, we posit that references to country of brand origin and to relatedness to developed Western countries are the most distinct and relevant and will be used more frequently than references to brand globalness and non-Western developed countries. We also suggest that Caucasian (i.e., “White”) models will be depicted more frequently than other ethnicities to further connect brands to Western countries. The analysis of 3,750 explicit-verbal, implicit-verbal, and non-verbal geo-references supports our predictions. These results suggest that, at least for the luxury fashion industry, the value of references to the country of brand origin and to the brand's relatedness to Western countries is substantially higher than the value of brand globalness. The article discusses the applicability of the RDB framework for prioritizing different types of geo-references and suggests venues for future research.