The Functions of Luxury: A Situational Approach to Excursionism

TLDR

Luxury products are accessed by excursionists only in specific situations because each product fulfills particular functions that match the functional demands of those situations. The study argues that excursionist behavior can be understood by analyzing the functions performed by luxury products. The authors created four situational categories defined by social/individual and planned/impulse dichotomies, surveyed respondents on their use of scarves, perfumes, and diamond rings in these contexts, and applied correspondence analysis to evaluate each product’s suitability to each situation.

Abstract

A large number of persons (Excursionists) access the luxury product domain only in certain situations. In this paper, we argue that such behavior can be analyzed in terms of the functions played by the products. Each luxury product can fulfill a certain set of functions. Each situation calls for certain functions to be fulfilled. Therefore each luxury product is more appropriate in certain situations than in others. Four situations are designed on the basis of two dichotomies (social vs individual, planned vs impulse). Respondents indicate their behavior in these situations for three products (scarfs, perfumes, diamond rings). A correspondence analysis assesses the strength of the adequacy of each product to each situation.