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3–2. Why Do People Buy Luxury? : Understanding the Psychology Behind Luxury Consumption
Have you ever purchased a luxury brand?
If so, what motivated you to do so?
Personally, I tend to buy luxury items for special occasions. For example, I recently bought a belt for my suit before giving an important presentation.
During the COVID-19 state of emergency in Japan, luxury goods were categorized as non-essential items, and department stores were asked to suspend their sales while keeping food sections open. In that sense, it’s true — people can live perfectly well without luxury brands.
After all, if the goal is simply to carry things, a bag that costs $30 is more than enough. So why do some people buy a Louis Vuitton bag that costs $3,000?
If we assume the functional value of a bag is $30, the remaining $2,970 is often described as emotional value — value that appeals to our senses and feelings.
But from my perspective, the motivation behind luxury purchases seems more complex than that.
So why do people buy luxury in the first place?
Let’s take a look at several theories that attempt to explain it.
Conspicuous Consumption
Let’s begin with the concept of “conspicuous consumption,” first introduced by Thorstein Veblen (1899).
This idea is widely known as a key explanation for the symbolic consumption associated…
