Disassociation from the common herd: conceptualizing (in)conspicuous consumption as luxury consumer maturity

Abstract

Within the context of luxury consumption, we propose a novel theory of luxury consumer maturity that captures how consumers’ tastes can become more discriminating over time. In particular, we consider the way luxury consumers exhibit maturity (i.e. connoisseurship) as a proxy for Bourdieusian cultural capital. Consumer maturity manifests as a preference for inconspicuous luxury goods that contain less general signaling ability than conspicuous luxury goods but stronger signals for those within the consumer’s social hierarchy. We conceptually propose the mechanisms that facilitate consumer maturity development, including knowledge, saturation, and time. By moving away from Veblenian conspicuous consumption, we seek to offer a nuanced and revisionist conceptual framework that details the process by which luxury consumers mature, resulting in a preference for inconspicuous luxury products and rejection of mass luxury brands.

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