The buying pattern among Indian consumers has witnessed dramatic change over the past decade. Higher income has enhanced consumer buying power. As a result, consumers are readily adopting global luxury brands at a much faster pace. Indian consumers are attracted towards acquiring luxury brands and purchasing these brands has become a prestige symbol. Luxury brands are helpful in communicating one's uniqueness, fashion style and individuality in social circles. This study analyzes the impact of dimensions of consumers’ need for uniqueness and fashion consciousness on the attitude towards luxury brands. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. To test the hypotheses, correlation and regression analyses were employed. The findings suggest that the dimensions of consumers’ need for uniqueness and fashion consciousness positively influence their attitude towards luxury brands. The paper concludes with a discussion on the future directions of study.

The word ‘luxury’ is derived from the Latin word ‘luxus’ which means opulence, exuberance and sumptuousness. The concept of luxury has been present in various forms and at various levels since the beginning of civilization. Luxury is not new to India. During the 1930s, 20% of Rolls Royce’s global sales were from India.

A dazzling array of luxury brands is now wooing Indian consumers. According to India Luxury Review 2011, published by the Confederation of India Industry (CII) and A T Kearney, luxury consumption is growing at 20% per annum, and is not confined only to the big cities. The report also revealed that despite the high tariffs, the prices in India are on a par with those of Singapore, thus making domestic luxury purchases more practical. India’s luxury market was expected to reach $14.73 bn by 2015 from an estimated $8.21 bn in 2011, with about 30% of the customers coming from smaller cities. The portfolio of spending categories for the average Indian more than doubled during the period from 1991 to 2007. In 1991, the average Indian spent on eight product categories, whereas in 2007 the number of categories increased to 17, and included mobile handsets, gifts and durables, among others.

Brand Management Journal, Consumers’ Need for Uniqueness (CNFU), Counter-Conformity, Consumer Attitude, Luxury Brands, Confederation of India Industry (CII), Empirical Study.