Touched by Greatness: Symbolic Value Creation and the Market for Vintage Guitars

Abstract

Value perception is a key notion in strategy scholars and practitioners as well, but existing research has paid less attention to how consumers socially construct market value of a product. Building on the consumer benefit experienced perspective, we examine how symbolic value—perception and consumption of highly-visible, prestigious consumers—is transmitted to general customers’ value perception and is generalized across the market. Our preliminary analyses of the vintage guitar market between 1942 and 1988 demonstrate that consumption and authenticity perception of high-status musicians made critical impacts on market valuation of the products.