luxury

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Luxury (from latin luxury , waste ',' debauchery ', actually, lush fertility') refers to behavior, expenses or equipment, which exceed the usual level (the usual standard of living go) or on the in a society deemed necessary or useful measure . Luxury summarizes phenomena that are considered worthwhile for a large part of the reference group . Therefore, their exchange value is often considerable, that is, the price for their acquisition is high, and therefore luxury goods can usually only be acquired on the basis of an appropriate endowment with power or wealth .

Luxurious dwelling, ...
... fine porcelain services and ...
… Expensive cars are examples of luxury
The Sunday roast : Early expression of luxury

Material luxury

Material luxury demonstrates a way of life that stands out from normal social life because of its exclusive characteristics and often represents itself as a symbol of success and status. A luxurious way of life can be seen, among other things, in exquisite food and drinks as well as in expensive clothing , jewelry , expensive cars and exclusive domiciles .

Immaterial luxury

In addition to the extrinsic striving for distinction , prestige and social belonging, luxury consumption can also have individual, primarily intrinsically motivated and thus immaterial reasons. The consumer behavior is influenced not only by cognitive but also affective and partially unconscious motives. People also buy products for their symbolic meaning, and not just for utilitarian reasons.

The pursuit of self-reward and self-realization can also be a reason for consuming luxury products. Some seek compensation for stress at work in luxury goods, for example, and want to pamper themselves with luxury. This is primarily about emotional needs , e.g. B. after enjoyment.

This means that the luxurious products / services do not have to be conspicuous and visible to others; it is more about an attitude towards life and about expressing one's own personality. The consumer buys brands that correspond to their individual values and thus become symbols of a lifestyle. In this context, luxury goods primarily fulfill an identification function , and their consumption is rather intrinsically motivated. In this way, the identity of an individual can be shaped in the long term by the possession of certain goods, because their symbolic content is transferred to the consumer, thereby influencing the expanded self-image. Here, the consumer object can not only underpin the buyer's existing characteristics, but also favor characteristics that have not yet existed in their creation. This means that this transference can result in a confirmation or increase in the self-concept or self- congruence.

A study by LiM / Keylens also shows the increasing importance of the intangible component of self-reward as a goal of consuming / possessing luxury products. The majority of those questioned stated that personal pleasure and self-reward are the most important motives for luxury consumption. Reasons such as conformity or affiliation have lost their importance.

Cultural and historical context

In ethics and religion , luxury is mostly condemned as wastefulness. The Luxuria, which is related by the word stem, is one of the seven deadly sins .

What is viewed as a luxury depends heavily on cultural and ethical standards as well as the social position of the person making the judgment and, last but not least, on economic and technical developments. At present, advertising openly and frequently emphasizes the luxury character of certain products, for example fine perfumes or expensive cars . What is luxury is therefore subject to social change .

Before the invention of printing , the purchase of a (handwritten) Bible was a luxury that only princes and wealthy citizens could afford; Such a work cost the equivalent of two half-timbered houses . Modern production processes have made Bibles and books affordable for everyone. Only for Christians who live in countries in which Bibles cannot be printed or imported - for example in Saudi Arabia - they remain a barely achievable luxury.

For example, if running water in the house was considered a luxury through antiquity , in the Middle Ages and in modern times up to the 19th century (even longer in the country), today, thanks to modern water supply, a water pipe is and is becoming standard in every apartment in industrialized countries no longer considered a luxury. For many poor people in developing countries, however, a tap in their home is still an unattainable luxury. However, a private indoor swimming pool is still referred to as a luxury in rich countries.

Access to intangible goods - for example through habitual visits to the opera - is requested or criticized as a luxury.

Therefore, the judgment of what is meant by luxury is relative - it is characterized by the power of disposal over scarce goods as well as their wasteful and excessive use and consumption. This power of disposal also gives rise to the representative character of luxury, which emphasizes social differences: it signals political, financial or cultural power , the bearers of which are relieved of the need for frugality .

Taxes and luxury laws

A multitude of laws against luxury have been passed throughout history. Most of the time, the cost of clothes, dinners and funerals should be kept in check, partly for ethical or trade-political reasons, partly to prevent impoverishment or to make it possible to separate the stands from one another.

For example, the Lex Oppia was enacted in the Roman Republic in 215 BC , which forbade the wearing of purple robes or expensive jewelry.

Further examples of such (anti) luxury laws can be found in many cultures and times. The Doge Gerolamo Priuli regulated in 1562 that the equipment of gondolas in Venice could only be black in order to prevent opulence. In general, such regulations by no means forbade luxury but rather its inappropriate display.

Economics

Werner Sombart , based on early modern globalization through long-distance trade , worked out the trade in the most lucrative luxury goods (including silk, spices, coffee, chocolate, cane sugar) as a particular initiator of commercial capitalism.

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  1. ^ O. Belz: Luxury brand strategy. In: M. Bruhn (Hrsg.): Handbuch Markenartikel. Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart 1994, pp. 646-652.
  2. ↑ I. Lasslop: identity-oriented management of luxury brands. In: H. Meffert, C. Burmann, M. Koers (Eds.): Markenmanagement. 2nd Edition. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2005, pp. 469-449.
  3. ↑ Nina Maria Preilowski: Luxury - comparative analysis of consumer behavior with goods and services using the example of luxury accessories and hotels. Publishing house Dr. Kovac, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-8300-6302-5 .
  4. ^ F. Vigneron, LW Johnson: A Review and a Conceptual Framework of Prestige-Seeking Consumer Behavior. In: Academy of Marketing Science Review. 1999, online ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.amsreview.org
  5. ^ N. Fiske, MJ Silverstein, J. Butman: Trading Up: The New American Luxury. Portfolio, New York 2003, ISBN 1-59184-013-9 .
  6. ^ O. Belz: Luxury brand strategy. In: M. Bruhn (Hrsg.): Handbuch Markenartikel. Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart 1994, pp. 646-652.
  7. ↑ L. Kisabaka: Marketing for Luxury Products. Dissertation, University of Cologne, 2001.
  8. ↑ K. Manninger, J. Meurer: From duty to freestyle. In: Markenartikel Magazin. 12/2010, pp. 100-102.
  9. ↑ luxury. In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon. 1888.
  10. ↑ Marion Giebel . 2006.?
  11. ^ M. Ascheri: Tra vanità e potere: donne, lusso e miti ( di ieri e di oggi ). In: MA Ceppari Ridolfi, P. Turrini: Il mulino della vanità . Siena 1993. p. XVIII

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Luxus  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wikiquote: Luxury  Quotes