Conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption of luxury goods in a digital world: implications for advertisers

Abstract

Conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption of luxury goods in a digital world: implications for advertisers this special issue focuses on the very intriguing types of luxury consumption that are shaping industry paradigms and trends, especially given the digital marketing revolution that is impacting the way luxury firms create and implement strategies to engage customers and drive sales.luxury brands communicate style, exclusivity, identity, uniqueness, superior quality, and hedonic value, all of which signal status to extended networks (Shukla and Purani 2012;Pangarkar, Patel, and Kumar 2023).While recent events, such as the CoVid-19 pandemic and the economic recession have impacted economic conditions, as per a Euromonitor international report, the luxury industry continued its impressive growth to reach USd 1.2 trillion in 2022, with a steady growth rate of around 6% (roberts 2022).according to a Kearney (2022), Chinese luxury consumers were at the forefront of this recovery, followed by US and German consumers, which led to many luxury brands such as Kering, lVMH, and Herms experiencing resurgence after a temporary setback.Most luxury brands were skeptical initially as the digital landscape started evolving and social media surge transformations were observed (Heine and Berghaus 2014).However, through being flexible and adaptive, luxury brands have employed a number of most advanced digital tools and techniques to target, attract, engage, and retain customers through digital marketing strategies and technologies such as phygital, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, influencer advertising, and non-fungible tokens (NFts).For instance, Gucci has created a virtual world on roblox, a popular game among young generation and also develop Gucci Vault which is an experimental online concept space that holds its NFts and other Web3 projects.Similarly, Balenciaga, made a pioneering move by unveiling their 2020 collection through a video game fashion show and dressed Fortnite game characters in the new Fall 2021 collection, which demonstrates their readiness to adopt themselves in the metaverse.against the backdrop of this digital marketing revolution, luxury advertisers need to create, adapt, and introduce innovative new strategies targeted at the various segments of luxury consumers.While luxury has long been associated with conspicuous consumption reflecting ostentatious behavior targeted at earning social recognition and signaling of wealth (Shukla 2012;Pangarkar, arora, and Shukla 2022), there are other types of consumers, such as inconspicuous consumption consumers (Berger and Ward 2010) and inconspicuous minimalism consumers (Pangarkar, Shukla, and taylor 2021) that are rapidly gaining attention, experiencing growth, and therefore warranting further exploration.in particular, the focus of such luxury consumers is on muted designs, subtle logos, discreet styles and fashions, and simple cuts, all of which signal distinction and differentiation to insiders or those in the know (Han, Nunes, and drze 2010; Pangarkar, Shukla, and taylor 2021).While luxury scholars have conducted research in these areas, it is important to explore, investigate, and analyze the impact of these different types of consumption on