Religion and luxury brand: Friend or foe? Exploring the impact of religiousness on luxury brands possession among youth

The relationship between religiousness and materialism is complex. Whilst several studies show that religiousness opposes materialism and luxury brand consumption, realities suggest otherwise. Most religious consumers value worldly possession and this may create incongruence between their belief and behaviour. Despite the increasing number of debates on religion and materialism, there are still a very limited number of studies exploring consumption fields in relation to religion. Thus, the purpose of this study is: (1) to explore the impact of religiousness (i.e. intrinsic religiousness, extrinsic religiousness) on purchase intention of luxury brands, affective attitude, and self-presentation; and, (2) to explore the mediating effect of affective and self-presentation attitudes towards luxury brand purchase intention. This is one of the first few studies exploring the impact of religiousness on luxury brands possession in Indonesia, a country with the largest Muslim population in the world and home to a highly religious society. The study found that intrinsic religiousness was related positively to affective attitudes toward luxury brands while extrinsic religiousness was positively related to self-presentation attitudes. Affective attitude and self-presentation were positively related to consumer intention to purchase luxury brands.