Topic > Luxury Consumption - 2062

This is a literature review of online private shopping clubs, a subcategory of luxury consumption. In this review, I will provide a brief orientation on luxury consumption and provide more information on the latest consumption trends in online private shopping clubs. The trend will be described and analyzed in great detail. The term “luxury” is routinely used in our daily lives to refer to products, services or a certain lifestyle, often without a clear understanding of the concept of luxury as it takes many forms for different people and depends on experience and mood of the consumer (Wiedmann et al, 2009). However, according to Danziger (2005), luxury can be defined as something non-essential, but conducive to pleasure and comfort. It derives from the Latin word “luxuria”, which means “excess” or “extra of life” (Danziger 2005). With this view in mind, luxury consumption could therefore be described as the consumption of any good for which the mere use or display of a particular branded product confers esteem on its owner (Wiedmann et al 2009). According to Echikson (1994), people want quality and value, but if prices were lowered, they assume that value and quality are being lowered. It could therefore be said that the higher the price of a good, the more the good is assumed to have a high value. Private online shopping club is the latest innovation in the era of e-commerce and is particularly popular in several countries such as USA, Germany, Spain, UK, Turkey and France. It is simply the online sale of designer luxury items at discounted prices. Constantinides et al. (2010) cite Internet World Statistics which states that there are more than 1.5 billion Internet users and this has influenced globalization, trade… half of the paper… instead it may gain momentum as many consumers seek luxury goods quality products at discounted prices and consumers need to be associated with luxury and value brands. Furthermore, it is a convenient purchasing method that saves time. The recession has left a lasting impact on consumer choices and behavior towards consumption. As a result, consumers are willing to resort to any means to purchase luxury goods at discounted prices even though in some cases they do not need the goods, but the mere fact that they are inexpensive is an incentive for them to purchase the products and this promoted the trend. Venture capitalists and online retailers like Amazon are acquiring private online shopping clubs to avoid missing out on this trend (Palmer, 2010). This shows that the consumer trend of online private shopping club will grow and further expand for some time.