British cultural icons, such as David Beckham and the royal family, help UK luxury brands outperform their European and transatlantic rivals in emerging markets such as China and India.

A survey of Chinese consumers reveals that Britishness is a key attraction when purchasing British luxury brands. The royal family and Beckham came top of the list when the same consumers were asked what they most associated with Britishness. TV programmes and movies like Downton Abbey, the Harry Potter films, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, and BBC News also placed highly.

The importance of Britishness in the luxury brand market is also visible in the kind of brands that are popular with overseas buyers; heritage luxury brands, such as Johnnie Walker, Aston Martin, and Rolls Royce, are all popular with Chinese consumers. Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles, saw sales in China up 39% in January 2014 while sales of Burberry in China grow 20% year-on-year.

Professor Wang, director of Marketing, Innovation & the Chinese & Emerging Economies (MICEE), says, “Luxury goods are defined as those satisfying hedonic rather than functional needs and our research has found this is an area Britain enjoys a distinct advantage in. A very important factor that makes Britain standout is that it incorporates tradition and innovation seamlessly.”

She continues, “Put differently, Britain’s advantage lies in the so-called soft power, which is defined as the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion and cultural heritage is a key part of that. The extent of its impact is hard to measure and even harder to replicate. As China promotes its own soft power, it has increasingly turned to Britain for inspiration.”