Abstract
This chapter explores the previously unstudied negative emotions that very wealthy customers experience when they consume luxury goods and services. An interpretative qualitative study with 29 in-depth interviews conducted in China and Brazil, shows how religion and culture impact emotions felt by very affluent consumers. Primary emotions of anger, fear, and sadness are distinguished from secondary emotions such as guilt and shame. Results show that Chinese consumers, belonging to a collectivist culture, tend to express negative emotions such as shame when buying very expensive luxury goods. They need to “gain face” to increase their prestige in the social group. On the contrary, Brazilians who belong to an individualistic culture, express more guilt and no shame. For them “having a cradle” is a source of pride.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Favelas is a shantytown or slum, especially in Brazil.
References
Abe, Jo Ann. 2004. “Shame, Guilt and Personality Judgment.” Journal of Research in Personality 38: 85–104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00055-2. Accessed on 27 April 2019.
Berry, Christopher J. 1994. The Idea of Luxury: A Conceptual and Historical Investigation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bierbrauer, Günter. 1992. “Reactions to Violation of Normative Standards: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Shame and Guilt.” International Journal of Psychology 27: 181–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207599208246874. Accessed on 28 April 2019.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. London: Routledge.
Brennan, Linda, and Wayne Binney. 2010. “Fear, Guilt, and Shame Appeals in Social Marketing.” Journal of Business Research 63: 140–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.02.006. Accessed on 28 April 2019.
Cooper, Donald R., and Pamela S. Schindler. 2010. Business Research Methods. 10th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
DaMatta, Roberto. 1984. O que faz o brasil, Brasil? Rio de Janeiro: Rocco.
DaMatta, Roberto. 1985. A Casa e a Rua. São Paulo: Brasiliense.
De Barnier, Virginie, and Pierre Valette-Florence. 2013. “Culture and Luxury: An Analysis of Luxury Perceptions Across Frontiers.” In Handbook of Luxury Marketing, edited by K.P. Wiedmann and N. Hennigs. Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00786051. Accessed on 28 April 2019.
De Barnier, Virginie, Sandrine Falcy, and Pierre Valette-Florence. 2012. “Do Consumers Perceive Three Levels of Luxury? A Comparison of Accessible, Intermediate and Inaccessible Luxury Brands.” Journal of Brand Management 19: 623–636. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00786023. Accessed on 28 April 2019.
Dubois, Bernard, and Claire Paternault. 1995. “Observations: Understanding the World of International Luxury Brands: The ‘Dream Formula’.” Journal of Advertising Research 35: 69–76.
Dubois, Bernard, Gilles Laurent, and Sandor Czellar. 2001. “Consumer Rapport to Luxury: Analyzing Complex and Ambivalent Attitudes.” Research Paper HEC Jouy-en-Josas, 736.
Freyre, Gilberto. 2006. Casa-Grande E Senzala. São Paulo: Global Editora e Distribuidora.
Galhanone, Renata F. 2009. “O Mercado do luxo: Aspectos de marketing.” In IX SEMEAD - Seminários em Administração, São Paulo.
Glenn, Edmund S. 1982. Man and Mankind: Conflict and Communication Between Cultures. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Gracino, Paulo Júnior. 2008. “Dos interesses weberianos dos sociólogos da religião: um olhar perspectivo sobre as interpretações do pentecostalismo no Brasil.” Horizonte 6: 69–92.
Greis, Peter Hays. 2004. China’s New Nationalism: Pride, Politics, and Diplomacy. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Guy, Bonnie S., and Wesley F. Patton. 1989. “The Marketing of Altruistic Causes: Understanding Why People Help.” Journal of Consumer Marketing 6: 19–30. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb024711. Accessed on 28 April 2019.
Hirschman, Elizabeth C. 1985. “Primitive Aspects of Consumption in Modern American Society.” Journal of Consumer Research 12: 142–154. https://www.jstor.org/stable/254347. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Hofstede, Geert. 1991. Cultures and Organizations: Software for the Mind. London: McGraw-Hill.
Holbrook, Morris B., and Elizabeth C. Hirschman. 1982. “The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun.” Journal of Consumer Research 9: 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1086/208906. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
IBGE. 2010. “Census 2000.” Available at www.ibge.gov.br. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Kemper, Theodore D. 1987. “How Many Emotions Are There? Wedding the Social and Autonomic Components.” American Journal of Sociology 93: 263–289. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2779585. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Kessous, Aurélie, Pierre Valette-Florence, and Virginie De Barnier. 2017. “Luxury Watch Possession and Dispossession from Father to Son: A Poisoned Gift?” Journal of Business Research 77: 212–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.12.006. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
King, Ambrose Y., and John T. Myers. 1977. “Shame as an Incomplete Conception of Chinese Culture: A Study of Face.” In Research Monograph, H.K. Social Research Institute, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Laroche, Michel, Jasmin Bergeron, and Guido Barbaro-Forleo. 2001. “Targeting Consumers Who Are Willing to Pay More for Environmentally Friendly Products.” Journal of Consumer Marketing 18: 503–521. https://scinapse.io/papers/2055949247. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Lebra, Takie Sugiyama. 1973. “The Social Mechanism of Guilt and Shame: The Japanese Case.” Anthropological Quarterly 44: 241–255. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3316971. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Legge, James. 1960. The Chinese Classics. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Lu, Pierre Xiao. 2008. Elite China, Luxury Consumer Behavior in China. Singapore: Wiley.
Montoro Rios, Francisco J., Teodoro Luque Martinez, Francisca Fuentes Moreno, and Paloma Cañadas Soriano. 2006. “Improving Attitudes Towards Brands with Environmental Associations: An Experimental Approach.” Journal of Consumer Marketing 23: 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760610641136. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Olshavsky, Richard W., and Donald H. Granbois. 1979. “Consumer Decision Making—Fact or Fiction?” Journal of Consumer Research 6: 93–100. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2488867. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Polsa, Pia. 2007. “Comparability in Cross-Cultural Qualitative Marketing Research Equivalence in Personal Interviews.” Academy of Marketing Science Review 8: 1–18.
Roux, Elyette, and Jean-Marie Floch. 1996. “Gérer l’ingérable: La contradiction interne de toute maison de luxe.” Décisions Marketing 9: 15–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40592555. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Siqueira, Deis. 2006. “Religiosidade contemporânea brasileira: estilo de vida e reflexividade.” Sociedade e Cultura 9: 13–26. https://doi.org/10.5216/sec.v9i1.209. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Silverstein, Michael J., and Neil Fiske. 2003. “Luxury for the Masses.” Harvard Business Review 81: 48–57.
Soares, Sergei Suarez Dillon. 2006. “Distribuição de renda no Brasil 1976 – 2004 com ênfase no Período Entre 2001 e 2004.” Discussion Text 1166. Brasília: IPEA—Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada. Ministério do Planejamento. http://www.ipea.gov.br/portal/images/stories/PDFs/TDs/td_1166.pdf. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Thompson, Craig J., William B. Locander, and Howard R. Pollio. 1989. “Putting Consumer Experience Back into Consumer Research: The Philosophy and Method of Existential-Phenomenology.” Journal of Consumer Research 16: 133–146. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2489313. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Triandis, Harry C., Kwok Leung, Marcelo J. Villareal, and Felicia I. Clark. 1985. “Allocentric Versus Idiocentric Tendencies: Convergent and Discrimination Validation.” Journal of Research in Personality 19: 395–415. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-6566(85)90008-X. Accessed on 29 April 2019.
Turner, Jonathan H. 2000. On the Origins of Human Emotions. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Turner, Jonathan H., and Jan E. Stets. 2005. The Sociology of Emotions. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Veblen, Thorstein. 1899. The Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Macmillan.
Vigneron, Franck, and Lester W. Johnson. 2004. “Measuring Perceptions of Brand Luxury.” Journal of Brand Management 11: 484–506. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51127-6_10. Accessed on 30 April 2019.
Wang, Jian, and Zhiying Wang. 2007. “The Political Symbolism of Business: Exploring Consumer Nationalism and Its Implications for Corporate Reputation Management in China.” Journal of Communication Management 11: 134–149. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540710747361. Accessed on 30 April 2019.
Wong, Nancy Y., and Aaron C. Ahuvia. 1998. “Personal Taste and Family Face: Luxury Consumption in Confucian and Western Societies.” Psychology & Marketing 15: 423–432. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6793(199808)15:5%3c423::AID-MAR2%3e3.0.CO;2-9. Accessed on 30 April 2019.
Wiedmann, Klaus-Peter, Nadine Hennigs, and Astrid Siebels. 2009. “Value-Based Segmentation of Luxury Consumption Behavior.” Psychology et Marketing 26: 625–651. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20292. Accessed on 30 April 2019.
Xiao, Ge, and Jai-Ok Kim. 2009. “The Investigation of Chinese Consumer Values, Consumption Values, Life Satisfaction, and Consumption Behaviors.” Psychology & Marketing 26: 610–624. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20291. Accessed on 30 April 2019.
Yang, Kuo-Shu. 1981. “Social Orientation and Individual Modernity Among Chinese Students in Taiwan.” Journal of Social Psychology 113: 159–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1981.9924368. Accessed on 30 April 2019.
Zhang, Meng Xia, and Alain Jolibert. 2003. “Les valeurs traditionnelles des acheteurs chinois: raffinement conceptuel, mesure et application.” Recherche et Applications en Marketing 18: 25–42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40589354. Accessed on 30 April 2019.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix
Appendix
See Table 4.7
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
De Barnier, V., Roux, E. (2020). The Dark Side of Luxury: When Negative Emotions Are Felt by Very Wealthy Consumers. In: Cantista, I., Sádaba, T. (eds) Understanding Luxury Fashion. Palgrave Advances in Luxury. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25654-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25654-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25653-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25654-8
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)