On this site, I write quite a bit about luxury items and the luxury industry more generally. But I had moment when I asked myself, “So, what exactly makes it luxury?” Luckily much more determined people than I embarked on developing a definition. A team of researchers –Ko, Costellow, and Taylor—embarked on a journey to nail down a single definition. Afterall, it is pretty hard to do research on a thing if you have no idea what it is. In their 2019 paper, they presented their results after reviewing over 130 research papers. They came up with a list of 5 qualities.
- High Quality
- Authenticity
- Prestigious Image
- Premium Pricing
- Deep Connection/resonance with the consumer
At least according to this team of researchers, it runs deeper than high price point. There are multiple factors that make a luxury brand a luxury brand. But hey, even these items can use a deep dive. Over the next few posts, I am going to be doing just that, picking apart what these qualities mean and how we can use them to think about luxury. Feel free to join me.
Here is the source, if you would like to read it for yourself:
Ko, E., Costellow, J. P., & Taylor, C. R. (2019). What is a luxury brand? A new definition and review of the literature. Journal of Business Research, 99, 405-413.
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