A cross-cultural exploratory analysis of the perception of luxury from six countries

The phenomenon of luxury has always accompanied mankind. Only recently, however, has there been a change in the perception of luxury: from an elitist concept to a consideration of luxury as a many-faceted issue. In the last few years, it has become clear that luxury consumption is open to different kinds of consumers, and that therefore it contributes to defining differentiated identities. This article analyses the perception of the concept of luxury and luxury brands among an international sample of young people. In order to test the research questions empirically, a statistically non-representative sample of 233 undergraduate management students from European, Asian and American Universities was set up. The first part of our article is devoted to presenting the concept of luxury and its evolution. The second part develops the research questions and methodology. Finally, the third part presents the main empirical results concerning the young people’s perceptions of luxury.