Factors influencing lack of middle class comsumer participation in luxury purchases on black friday

Abstract

This paper determined factors that influenced lack of middle class consumer engagement in Black Friday to purchase luxury goods. Black Friday, a relatively new phenomenon in South Africa, significantly contributes to retailer profitability and economic growth and stability. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Engel, Kollat and Blackwell (EKB) model of consumer behaviour were utilised in this research to determine the information processing, decisional and external factors that negatively influenced consumers’ purchase intentions and behaviour on Black Friday. Data was collected using 14 semi-structed interviews with middle class consumers who satisfied the qualifying criteria and had not participated in Black Friday to purchase luxury goods. The study found that factors that negatively influenced the middle class consumer sample groups participation in Black Friday included a negative attitude, low social norms and low perceived behavioural control, which negatively influenced their purchase intentions and decision to engage in Black Friday to purchase luxury goods. Additionally, factors including customer experience, lack of convenience, accessibility and retailer disingenuity were identified as moderators of behaviour on Black Friday. The study contributes to the literature of consumer behaviour on Black Friday in South Africa, by identifying strategies that retailers can adopt to overcome the barriers to participation.