Externalised vs. internalised consumption of luxury goods: propositions and implications for luxury retail marketing

Abstract

This study conceptualises the dichotomy of luxury goods consumption (‘externalised luxury’ vs. ‘internalised luxury’) in terms of six dimensions: on the one hand ostentation, materialism and superfluousness (which refer to luxury as a social statement) and, on the other hand individual lifestyle, emotions/hedonism and culture (which refer to luxury as individual style). Through this literary framework, it presents a series of propositions that might be tested in future research, one for each dimension, about retail strategies and operations for fashion luxury brands. Implications for retail managers of luxury companies are discussed for each proposition, considering the main aspects of retailing strategies and tools (e.g. assortment, sales force, in-store experience and atmospherics) together with possible theoretical developments.