Conceptualizing Unconventional Luxury

How is luxury conceived in a modern and changing world? While luxury is a well-researched area in the domain of consumer goods, research on more consumer-focused forms of luxury is still nascent. Yet today luxury experiences drive the development of luxury markets and inconspicuous, private consumption of luxury is rising. In order to address these developments, this special issue moves beyond conventional understandings of luxury as involving conspicuous status consumption of tangible goods, and focuses instead on how consumers may experience, give, produce, or share luxury, and what luxuriousness implies. The various articles in the special issue addresses topics such as intangible services, hedonic escapes, and everyday pleasures. They also include alternative understandings of exclusivity, and of common goods that have become scarce over time. Together, the articles in the special issue combine to present a broader understanding both of what luxury can be and of what luxury might do for consumers. While previous conventional luxury understanding focus on exclusive status consumption, the different articles in this special issue instead introduce consumer perceptions of luxury for which conventional luxury attributes look markedly or even entirely different.