Visual Cues, Brand Essence and Purchase Intention of Virtual Luxury NFTs: A Moderated Moderated Mediation (MMD) Model

Abstract

Acknowledging the potential of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to enhance consumer-brand relationships, major luxury fashion brands continue to enter the virtual NFT market, releasing exclusive collectibles. However, this emerging market poses unique challenges for luxury fashion brands in crafting virtual NFTs that successfully convey consistent and integrated brand meanings of luxury. Given the visually oriented nature of NFTs, this study aims to empirically examine how visual design features of virtual luxury NFTs, including brand visibility and visual quality, interact with perceived prototypicality of products (fashion NFTs vs. art NFTs) in generating consumers’ perceived essence of the brand, resulting in consumers’ purchase intention. This study enriches the understanding of how visual design features impact consumer perceptions and purchase intentions toward virtual luxury NFTs, identifying brand visibility, visual quality, and prototypicality as the critical factors.