[Applied Marketing Science / Angewandte Marketingforschung] The Creation of the Extraordinary (Perspectives on Luxury) ||

Luxury is as old as humankind and has sparked multiple debates throughout of history. In today's consumer society, luxury brands have become aspirational symbols. Yet, to date, a comprehensive overview of the different perspectives that have shaped the discourses about luxury is missing. Hannes Gurzki provides a broad overview of luxury research, highlights and details important perspectives on luxury, and derives practical guidelines for managers based on research. Thereby the author combines insights from different disciplines, such as philosophy, sociology, psychology, anthropology, cultural studies, economics or management, to broaden and deepen our understanding of luxury and its creation principles. Contents The State of Luxury Research: A Bibliometric Citation Analysis Perspectives on Luxury: An Integrative Model Decoding Luxury Brand Communications Implications for Luxury Brand Management Target Groups Researchers and students of marketing, communications, brand and luxury management Experts of the luxury industry, creative industries, media, consumer goods, and retail The Author Dr. Hannes Gurzki is program director at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. He has been working as a strategy consultant for several years. He completed his dissertation with Univ.-Prof. Dr. David M. Woisetschläger at the Institute for Automotive Management and Industrial Production (AIP), Chair of Services Management, at the Technical University Braunschweig Foreword Preface from the author Table of Contents Lists of Figures and Tables Deutsche Zusammenfassung A Introduction A.1 Relevance of the Luxury Topic A.2 The Value of a Theory of Luxury and the Contribution of This Research A.3 Structure and Contribution of This Thesis B The State of Luxury Research: A Bibliometric Citation Analysis B 1 Introduction B.2 Literature Reviews and Bibliometric Citation Analysis B.2.1 Search Strategy B.2.2 Methods and Tools Used B.2.3 Analysis of the Sample B.3 Analysis of the Key Publications B.3.1 Analysis of the Key Publications B.3.2 Analysis of the Network-Structural Properties B.3.2.1 Landmark Publications in the Luxury Domain (high citation count) B.3.2.2 Pivotal Publications (High betweenness centrality) B.3.2.3 Trending Articles (High burst count) B.4 Co-Citation Network and Research Clusters B.4.1 Analysis within Clusters B.4.2 Analysis between Clusters and Development over Time B.5 Development of an Integrative Framework B.5.1 Conceptual Model B.5.2 Recent Developments in Luxury Research Field B.6 Discussion B.6.1 Limitations of this Study B.6.2 Practical Implications C A Brief History of Luxury and Consumption C.1 The Beginnings of Luxury: Politics and Morality C.2 Luxury and Modernity: The Rise of Commerce and Trade C.3 Luxury in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries: The Emergence of a Consumer Society C.4 Luxury in the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-first Centuries: The Age of Brands C.5 Discussion D Perspectives on Luxury: An Integrative Model D.1 Introduction D.2 Starting Point and Conceptual Frame: The Pragmatic Perspective D.3 The Material Perspective: A Rare and a Refined Quintessence D.3.1 The Object: A Quintessence D.3.2 The Creation: Qualitative Refinement D.4 The Philosophical Perspective: Desire D.4.1 The Motivation: Creating Desire and Fueling the Imagination D.5 The Cultural Perspective: The Magical and Sacred D.5.1 Luxury: Cultural Production D.5.2 The Intangible: Creating a Magical and Sacred Aura D.5.3 The Story of Luxury: Luxury Myths and Collective Desires D.5.4 The Luxury Brand: Authentic Heritage and Symbolic Rarity D.5.5 The Meaning Transfer: Elaborating and Co-Creating Luxury Rituals D.6 The Social Perspective: Exclusivity and Status D.6.1 Luxury and Status: An Aspirational Social Community D.6.2 Luxury and Exclusivity: Signaling Prestige and Power D.7 The Individual Perspective: Aspiration and Feeling Unique and Special D.7.1 Luxury and Identity: Appealing to the Ideal Self D.7.2 Luxury Consumption Needs and Values: Satisfying Higher-Level Needs D.7.3 Luxury and Emotions: Feeling Special and Experiencing Pleasure D.8 The Economic Perspective: High Price and Value D.8.1 Luxury Price Points: A High Absolute and Relative Price Point D.8.2 Elasticities of Demand for Luxury Goods: Positive Income and Price Elasticities of Demand D.8.3 Luxury Value: A Perceived High Value D.9 The Managerial Perspective: Excellence D.9.1 Organizational Culture: Striving for Brand Excellence D.9.2 Execution: Consistency and Control D.9.3 Trade-offs: Growth versus Exclusivity D.10 Integration of Perspectives: Principles of Luxury D.10.1 Discussion of the Findings and the Integration of Previous Research on Multiple Perspectives D.10.2 Development of a Conceptual Model and Implications for the Creation of Luxury D.10.3 Implications for the Creation of Luxury D.10.3.1 Implications for the Creation of Luxury Goods (Material Perspective) D.10.3.2 Implications for the Creation of Consumer Desire (Philosophical, Cultural, Social, and Individual Perspective) D.10.3.3 Implications for Pricing Luxury D.10.3.4 Managerial Requirements E The Meaning of Luxury: Decoding Luxury Brand Communications E.1 Introduction E.2 Theoretical background E.2.1 Meaning in Advertisements and the Creation of Sign Systems E.3 Method and Data Collection E.3.1 Context of Fashion E.3.2 Data collection and sampling E.3.3 Decoding Procedure and Scheme E.4 Findings E.4.1 Enrichment: Luxury Signs and Rhetoric E.4.1.1 Signification: The Sign System of Luxury. E.4.1.2 Rhetoric: The Rhetoric of Luxury. E.4.1.3 Storytelling and Mise en scène: The Templates of Luxury Advertising. E.4.2 Distancing E.4.3 Abstraction: Luxury Brand Values, Themes, and Discourses E.5 Discussion E.5.1 Research Implications E.5.2 Managerial Implications E.6 Conclusion F Discussion of Findings and Implications F.1 Discussion of Findings F.2 Implications for Luxury Brand Management: Principles for Creating the Extraordinary F.3 Development of a Research Agenda Appendix 1 Illustration of advertising sample 2 Literature Overview Bibliography