Luxury Brand Value Response Based on Secondary Market Signals_Vol. 3 No. 3 (JBM 2026)_Journal of Business and Marketing (ISSN: 3005-5717)

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Luxury Brand Value Response Based on Secondary Market Signals

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jbm.202609303

Author(s)

Siyi Zeng

Affiliation(s)

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Abstract

Traditional luxury pricing theory, centered on the Veblen effect, views price as a unidirectional declaration of brand value, with the second-hand market understood merely as a passive outcome of this declarative process. However, with the continuous expansion of the second-hand luxury market and the increasing trend of luxury financialization, signals from the secondary market have begun to inform primary market pricing decisions-a phenomenon that existing theories struggle to explain. This paper constructs a two-dimensional analytical framework of "value anchoring and brand tier," selecting three representative brands-Hermès, Gucci, and Coach-as case studies. Combining brand panel data from 2019 to 2025, it examines the influence mechanism of second-hand market value retention rates on brand value change and its heterogeneous performance across different brand tiers. The research yields three main findings: First, second-hand market value retention rates have a significant predictive effect on brand value change, with industry reports indicating that 47% of consumers have incorporated resale value into their purchasing decisions. Second, brand tier moderates the aforementioned mechanism: the top-tier brand Hermès, with a 138% value retention rate, maintains pricing insensitivity; the high-end brand Gucci exhibits bidirectional pressure characterized by a "cold primary market, hot secondary market" dynamic; and the accessible luxury brand Coach responds to 20%-50% fluctuations in value retention rates with flexible discounting. Third, brand barriers-specifically the degree of scarcity, narrative depth, and customer loyalty-are core mediating variables explaining these differences. Based on these findings, this paper proposes the concept of a "pricing power threshold," extending luxury brand value research from a static, unidirectional value declaration model to a dynamic, bidirectional value dialogue model, offering a new theoretical perspective for understanding the interaction mechanism between brand tiers and secondary market signals.

Keywords

Luxury Brand Value; Second-Hand Market; Value Retention Rate; Brand Tier; Brand Value Response

References

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