consumers within the Kuwait market
It was found that consumers within the Kuwait market were more affected by informative influences associated with what others do and say than normative ones, which refer to cultural values and norms. Consumers are part of various reference groups that significantly affect customer behavior by allowing for comparison that guides their attitudes, behavior, and knowledge. Informative influences function when people affect the buying decisions of others by providing information. Thus, more customers are likely to follow and seek informational influence within the Kuwait market when purchasing luxury products. The findings from the study indicate that Kuwaiti consumers are predisposed to listening to information from others. For instance, the group of participants that entail bachelor degree holders that are majorly materialistic consumers, hedonistic and perfectionists, are highly influenced by the perceptions of others about what they purchase. Consequently, this creates the need for luxury brand managers to emphasize educating customers and stressing the availability of information on the internet through social media and different websites. Through this, the consumers can learn by observing the successful experiences of their social groups with luxury products and decide whether to purchase them.
While normative influences have a lower impact on consumer behavior than informative influence, they are linked to the need for Kuwaiti customers to show-off and feel special after buying luxury goods. Additionally, they are associated with social pressure, values, and cultural norms that make consumers desire to purchase luxury goods. Normative influences are often substantial for products that are considered to be luxuries and are strong for people that tend to pay attention to social information. From the findings, the Kuwaiti market is influenced by this factor since its consumers purchase luxury goods to identify with a group of individuals from a higher social class. For instance, most participants buy luxury products since they are associated with certain values of self-identity, uniqueness, conspicuousness, and social status. Therefore, despite formative influences being higher than normative in the Kuwaiti market, they are essential in attracting more consumers towards purchasing luxury brands.