The framework of a luxury brand

Built upon both a cognitive and an emotional response, luxury purchase decisions have been audited by Vigneron and Johnson (2004) into a conceptual model grounded on personal and non-personal perceptions. While the former describe the desired experiences (hedonism) and projections (extended self) targeted by one’s association with purchases, the latter encompass the objective features of luxury products, such as uniqueness, quality, and conspicuousness.

1. Conspicuousness

First studied by American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen through his revolutionary publication “The Theory of the Leisure Class” (1899), conspicuousness is manifested by a purchase behaviour developed under the aim of displaying one’s concrete desired social status. Established on the Gilded Age elite, Veblen’s findings were further explored by anthropologists to identify peculiarities highlighted by emerging societies.

2. Uniqueness

History confirms scarcity as the cardinal value on which the mere concept of luxury is founded. Beyond the laborious attainment of raw materials such as precious stones, pigments or gourmet ingredients, scarcity also derived from the core values of craftsmanship and arts, where works were rather produced as limited series if not as unique commissions. As infrastructure facilitates the procurement of elements on which the objective value of luxury is grounded, scarcity has been maintained through distribution policies, which guarantee an additional demarcation for products and services where pricing cease to function as a barrier. Nevertheless, procurement terms remain valid, alike the natural availability of resources such as exotic skins or the gourmet ingredients such as truffles.

3. Extended self

As luxury products can accommodate various iconographies that can be further associated with various personas, consumers use their purchase decisions for exhibiting an upgraded, if not an idealised representation of themselves. According to consumer behavior theory, the concept of self-identity is closely linked to a person’s image and the image he has of a product or service. In other words, consumers can use luxury items to integrate the symbolic meaning with their own identity or to use luxury brands to increase the development of their own identity.

4. Henonic

Hedonism describes the pursuit for pleasure either through direct consumption or through a sensory gratification which can also take the form of an aesthetic experience. In addition to their functional utility, some products and services offer emotional values ​​and intrinsic pleasure. Luxury products are likely to offer intangible and subjective benefits, but also frequently identified emotional responses such as aesthetic beauty, sensory pleasure or enthusiasm.

5. Quality

The luxury sector raises expectations related to quality as a reflection of their ethos and portfolio of innovation related to each brand’s heritage. The concept of “sine qua non” (without which it could not exist), high quality is a fundamental feature of a luxury product that makes an important reason in the consumer’s purchase decision.