Exclusivity & Luxury's Appeal
Driving by the Marine Blvd in San Francisco on a winter evening, watching the yellow shaded living spaces through the clear glass windows of the houses made me wonder how living in such a posh location must be like. The carefully tied drapes and the parts of dark wood furniture at least the parts I could see, seemed to me as an epitome of a luxurious lifestyle. This made me wonder, why does luxury seem so appealing in the first place. And is luxury the privilege of exclusivity or price we pay for someone's time or both? Can luxury and exclusiveness be used interchangeably?
So how could something exclusive be considered luxurious?
Well there are two parts to it. Not everything exclusive is luxurious, but everything luxurious is exclusive or made to look that way.
Why do we keep getting drawn to exclusive items?
As humans we like to be perceived as different from the herd. From the shoes we wear to that neatly crafted photo of them on social media. If everyone has the same taste or similar photos put up, the crowd is less likely to appreciate your individuality. As social as we are, societal recognition is the feedback we gain for our choices. Owning something unique or being a part of a gated group gives fills that void.
Self esteem: Does the ownership of a one of kind item or experience of one raise our self esteem? Modern consumerism has become very social, we enjoy sharing our day to day experiences on the web. So if showcasing something new, different gains us that recognition we seek it. If not everyone can get their hands on something, does it make use feel good? An interesting point I read about is the case for authentic pride vs hubris pride. Where one is our genuine desire to reward ourselves on an achievement, luxury hence is a side effect. While the latter is intentional showcase of luxury. Our intention to reap the social rewards benefits of uniqueness drives a lot of our day to day decisions. Consecutively, companies then try to address our need of uniqueness by making products short in supply or marketing it so.
Confidence: Does ownership of anything unique it make us feel confident to stand in societal structure? If owning an item limited to a group can make us feel included and more confident in a group, we certainly would like to fit in. After all we are social and emotional beings, we make emotional choices and rationalize them later.
Self expression: Is it also a form of self expression? People have different tastes and choices. If pursuing them can given an impression of luxury relative to someone who lacks that kind of a taste, it will be perceived accordingly. While it could not be at all. However if enough people lacking that taste, try to adopt the same one it no longer is a taste and just becomes banal.
Certainly there are a lot of other factors being researched by psychologists and may be some may not be accurate as stated above. But it still is thought provoking
What makes products exclusive or short in supply?
Exclusivity can be created by employing clever marketing tactics or intentional targeting of a demographic. Things can be manufactured a reasonable price but targeted for a certain demographic. Take for example Apple iPhones, which certainly are a good breed of a product. However the prices are set high enough to make it something aspirational for people who cannot afford it and creates an aura of exclusivity around the overall Apple brand itself. ($550 for a pair of headphones, really?!)
Nowhere discounting the product quality but things can be made cheaper. We can certainly assert that material costs for those sapphire crystal displays and aluminium frames do come at a higher cost. This is another reason where exclusivity gets created not intentionally but as a byproduct. Use of higher quality of limited materials, raises the cost of the product itself, consequently the price and limiting the people who can afford. As expensive as materials are so is labour. Handcrafted items require a craftsman or a craftswoman to spend endless hours to create a fine product. They must be compensated for their skills, time and effort. They can only make a given quantity of products, unlike machines that can keep toiling on electricity. Hence shortage of output results in higher prices and limited customer base.
Things can be rare simply due to the lack of enough of them - diamonds. In such cases are are actually paying for the product itself? Or are we paying for the time of a person who labored days to dig raw diamonds and the person who polishes by hand and inspects it to deliver the final glittering rock. Both. So does that mean that mass produced goods cannot be considered a luxury? Certainly not. But nothings stops them being marketed as such.
Going back to the houses along the pier in San Francisco, they check a lot of boxes.
- Quality - certainly who wouldn't enjoy a house with a view overlooking the ocean.
- Shortage - well they can only fit a certain number along the pier.
- Demand - you can check the prices for those homes on the web.
Thanks Dakshil, Rohan, Sharad, Vineet for some critical feedback on the first article.