Consumption patterns in urban sophisticate branding. A qualitative perspective on its psychological foundations

The emergence of the urban sophisticate consumer has led to changing consumption patterns in the global retail landscape. While there has been a surge in academic literature examining various aspects of urban sophistication, empirical studies examining the attributes of the urban sophisticated consumer in the context of fashion apparel, fashion accessories, and grooming products still need to be included. This study investigates the concept of 'urban sophisticate' consumers in the context of marketing, branding, and retailing for the first time. It has proposed a conceptual framework for retailing to urban sophisticates through a qualitative inductive method based on the empirical analysis of the open essay-based responses collected from working men in the UK. The factors making this consumer segment lucrative for retailers include high spending power, focus on appearance, desire for quality, and the availability of unique products as per their preferences. Urban sophisticate consumers prefer modern, high-end fashion items and have shown displeasure towards unsustainable fast fashion. The study's findings will benefit grooming product companies, fashion apparel and accessories marketers, and retailers by providing insights into the behaviour of urban sophisticate consumers. Furthermore, this study could be a turning point to elicit marketers' experimentation in designing new products and expanding their product base to include additional product offerings that could interest urban sophisticates.