The Artification of Luxury: How Art Can Affect Perceived …
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about the personal and interpersonal role played by luxury, whose distinctiveness
lies in its psychological value [8], can thus help to clarify.
2 Luxury Consumption: Personal Versus Interpersonal
Motives
According to Amatulli and Guido [9], luxury can be broadly categorized into externalized and internalized, on the basis of the idea that individuals purchase luxury
goods under the influence of both interpersonal and personal motives. Externalized luxury is a socially embedded construct as it refers to individuals’ tendency to
purchase luxury under the influence of others with the aim to socially position themselves. Conversely, internalized luxury is an individually embedded construct as it
refers to the purchase of luxury goods for the satisfaction of consumers’ personal
needs and tastes. In this case, consumers go “beyond externally imposed criteria” [8,
p. 125] and are driven by personal lifestyle, emotions/hedonism and culture [9], as
well as by the need to transform their identities into an ideal self and to find support
for their own individual identity [10].
Such a dichotomy grounds its root in a number of theories about drivers of luxury
consumption (see Table 1 for a summary of these theories). The oldest theory is that
built off the idea of conspicuous consumption. In 1899, Veblen introduced this label
to define individuals’ tendency to consume goods in a high visible way in order to
impress others and make them infer their wealth and power, particularly in the context
of high socioeconomic mobility. Mauss [11] resumed Veblen’s reflections to explore
their application in the gift-giving social dynamics, arguing that conspicuous and
costly generosity is the most powerful means to signal status. The author anticipated
what would have been lately conceptualized as the signaling theory, which states that
the individual’s disposal of sufficient personal resources can be inferred by his or her
engagement in generous or wasteful behaviors that, perhaps paradoxically, are too
costly to be fake [12].
Defined as “the behavioral tendency to value status and acquire and consume
products that provide status to the individual” [14, p. 34], status consumption is
strictly related to, yet still separate from, conspicuous consumption. In other words,
status consumption relies on the desire to enhance social status by owning luxury
goods (which may or may not be publicly displayed), while conspicuous consumption focuses more on the overt display of luxury and wealth. Building on extant
studies, Eastman and Eastman [19] focused on the identification of internal and external motivations for status consumption. External motivations are interpersonal and
extrinsic, focusing on the social effects that the ownership of luxury goods produces.
They include the above-mentioned need for conspicuous consumption, exclusivity
(snob luxury purchase behavior) and social identity (bandwagon luxury purchase
behavior). Conversely, internal motivations are personal and intrinsic, focusing on
the expression of inner values and tastes. They include hedonism, self-reward and
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about the personal and interpersonal role played by luxury, whose distinctiveness
lies in its psychological value [8], can thus help to clarify.
2 Luxury Consumption: Personal Versus Interpersonal
Motives
According to Amatulli and Guido [9], luxury can be broadly categorized into externalized and internalized, on the basis of the idea that individuals purchase luxury
goods under the influence of both interpersonal and personal motives. Externalized luxury is a socially embedded construct as it refers to individuals’ tendency to
purchase luxury under the influence of others with the aim to socially position themselves. Conversely, internalized luxury is an individually embedded construct as it
refers to the purchase of luxury goods for the satisfaction of consumers’ personal
needs and tastes. In this case, consumers go “beyond externally imposed criteria” [8,
p. 125] and are driven by personal lifestyle, emotions/hedonism and culture [9], as
well as by the need to transform their identities into an ideal self and to find support
for their own individual identity [10].
Such a dichotomy grounds its root in a number of theories about drivers of luxury
consumption (see Table 1 for a summary of these theories). The oldest theory is that
built off the idea of conspicuous consumption. In 1899, Veblen introduced this label
to define individuals’ tendency to consume goods in a high visible way in order to
impress others and make them infer their wealth and power, particularly in the context
of high socioeconomic mobility. Mauss [11] resumed Veblen’s reflections to explore
their application in the gift-giving social dynamics, arguing that conspicuous and
costly generosity is the most powerful means to signal status. The author anticipated
what would have been lately conceptualized as the signaling theory, which states that
the individual’s disposal of sufficient personal resources can be inferred by his or her
engagement in generous or wasteful behaviors that, perhaps paradoxically, are too
costly to be fake [12].
Defined as “the behavioral tendency to value status and acquire and consume
products that provide status to the individual” [14, p. 34], status consumption is
strictly related to, yet still separate from, conspicuous consumption. In other words,
status consumption relies on the desire to enhance social status by owning luxury
goods (which may or may not be publicly displayed), while conspicuous consumption focuses more on the overt display of luxury and wealth. Building on extant
studies, Eastman and Eastman [19] focused on the identification of internal and external motivations for status consumption. External motivations are interpersonal and
extrinsic, focusing on the social effects that the ownership of luxury goods produces.
They include the above-mentioned need for conspicuous consumption, exclusivity
(snob luxury purchase behavior) and social identity (bandwagon luxury purchase
behavior). Conversely, internal motivations are personal and intrinsic, focusing on
the expression of inner values and tastes. They include hedonism, self-reward and