Commentary

Luxury, In The Words Of Today's 3 Major Generations

Luxury, affluence, and wealth marketers define their target markets in many different ways (by income, wealth, generation, buying habits, attitudinally, etc.).

We, however, firmly believe that luxury, affluence, and wealth are best described and defined in the eyes of both the consumers who purchase upscale products and services and the marketers who promote and sell them. Addressing that, this column provides selected new insights regarding American consumers (18+ in age) among the three primary generations of adults (Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers) who are current buyers of the 15 luxury categories we measure on an ongoing basis (the number of Silent Generation luxury buyers is too small to be included here). 

Based on our work with luxury brands and the agencies and consulting firms that support them, we have come to the conclusion that many of the luxury brands and their agencies/consultants define or describe luxury differently than do the consumers they target as their prospective or current customers. Accordingly, this column reviews the three generations' views of luxury based on what consumers told us when we asked them the following question in our most recent survey: "When you read, see, or hear the word luxury, please describe briefly what you think about." 

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So what are the top 20 themes that the 3 generations of luxury buyers focus on out of the 125 discrete themes we identified in our most recent survey? The following exhibit portrays them five ways. Some of the 20 themes are obviously positive (for example, best and desirable), while some are negative (for example, non-essential and overpriced). Some (for example, costly and expensive) can be interpreted either way depending on one’s point of view.

Top 20 Luxury Descriptions Segmented by Luxury Buyers by Generation

The eight themes tinted in red (costlydesirableexpensivehigh-endname-brandpremiumquality, and special) are included among the top 20 themes that all 3 generations use to describe luxury. Of the other 12 themes (tinted in green, blue, purple, and brown), some are exclusive to specific generations. The 2 themes tinted in green (comfort and high price) do not appear (exclusively) in the top 10 themes of any of the 3 individual generations.

The 4 themes tinted in blue (bestclassymoney, and rich) appear in the top 10 only for Millennials, while the 2 themes in purple (style and unique) are only in the Gen Xers' top 10 descriptions of luxury. Finally, the 4 themes in brown (designernon-essentialoverpriced, and unaffordable) appear exclusively in the Boomers' top 10.

That said, we believe marketers of luxury goods and services would be wise to understand that all luxury consumers and prospects are decidedly not alike, and messages to attract their attention and drive sales must address those differences.

1 comment about "Luxury, In The Words Of Today's 3 Major Generations".
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  1. Ronald Kurtz from American Affluence Research Center, February 1, 2017 at 8:23 p.m.

    It appears that the themes or adjectives, such as those shown in the cloud of this article, can be too easily applied to various product categories without being very illuminating. 

    In order to be helpful to marketers, it seems research should reveal how consumers define luxury in an objective, quanitifiable way (i.e. price points) for each type of product 

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