Tüketicilerin Prestij ve Lüks Kavramları Hakkın‐ da Çelişkili Algıları

Yıl 2010, Cilt: 5 Sayı: 1, 131 - 146, 01.04.2010

Deniz Atik Bengü Sevil Oflaç

Öz

Tüketim ile bağlantılı olarak, prestij ve lüks kavramlarının açıklanmasında hem akademik yazında hem de tüketicilerin algılarında çelişkiler görülmektedir. Bazı yazarlar ve tüketiciler bu terimleri birbirlerine eş değer olarak kullanırken bazıları ise değişik anlamlar yüklemektedirler. Tüketicilerin bakış açılarından yola çıkarak, niteliksel yöntemler kullanılan bu araştırma ile amacımız, bu anlam kargaşasına bir açıklık getirmektir. Çalışmada öncelikle tüketicilerin prestij ve lüks kavramları hakkındaki farklı bakış açıları sunulmuştur. Prestijin maddesel boyutla‐ rının yanı sıra manevi boyutları da olabileceği, lüks kavramının ise daha çok maddesel olduğu gözlenmiştir. Sonuçlarda, prestijin bu maddesel, manevi ve sosyal boyutları açıklanmıştır. Araş‐ tırma tüketici davranışları teorilerine ve madde‐ cilik konusundaki tartışmalara katkıda bulun‐ maktadır

Anahtar Kelimeler

Prestij, lüks, niteliksel.

Consumers’ Paradoxical Interpretations of Prestige and Luxury

Öz

In relation to consumption, we observe puzzle‐ ment in the ways the terms prestige and luxury are interpreted both in scholarly discussions and in consumers’ minds. Some use these terms interchangeably while others assign different meanings. Through our study, with a qualitative inquiry, we hope to shed light to this perplexity from consumers’ perspectives. We first offer a framework about the confusion in consumers’ minds related to their understanding of the notions of prestige and luxury, which can have different connotations. In addition to its material aspects, prestige may also be associated with moral values while luxury is often materialistic. Accordingly, the analysis shows these intangible, material, and interpersonal aspects of prestige. With the study, we hope to contribute to con‐ sumer behavior theories, at the same time highlighting both the limits and the success of materialism.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Prestige, luxury, qualitative.

Kaynakça

• Belk, R. W. (1985), “Materialism: Traits Aspects of Living in a Material World”, Journal of Consumer Research, 12 (December), 265‐80.
• Belk, R. W. (2001), “Materialism and You”, Journal of Research for Consumers, issue 1.
• Bourdieu, P. ([1979] 1984), Distinction, trans. Richard Nice, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Boven, L. V. (2005), “Experientialism, Materialism, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, Review of General Psychology, 9, 2, 132–42.
• Chaudhuri, H. R. & Majumdar, S. (2006), “Of diamonds and desires: understanding conspicuous consumption from a contemporary marketing perspective”, Academy of Marketing Science Review, 11, 2‐16.
• Coleman, J. S. (1990), Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
• Davis, K. & Moore, W. (1945), “Some Principles of Stratification”, Am. Sociol. Rev., 10, 242‐49.
• Dubois, B. & Paternault, C. (1995), “Observations: Understanding The World of International Luxury Brands: The Dream Formula”, Journal of Advertising Research, July/ August, 69‐76.
• Ewen, S. (1988), …Images Without Bottom…. In Juliet B. Schor and Douglas B. Holt (eds) The Consumer Society Reader, 47‐54. New York: The New Press.
• Fan, J. X. & Burton, J.R. (2002), “Students' Perception of Status‐Conveying Goods”, Financial Counseling and Planning, 13, 1, 35‐47.
• Fırat, A. F. (1994), Gender and Consumption: Transcending the Feminine? In Janeen Arnold Costa (eds) Gender Issues and Consumer Behavior, 205‐226. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
• Fırat, A. F. (1999), “The Construction of Identity, Gender, and Consumption”. Paper presented at The Transnational Politics of Gender and Consumption Conference, Berkeley, CA, October.
• Ger, G. & Belk, R.W. (1999), “Accounting for Materialism in Four Cultures”, Journal of Material Culture, 4, 2, 183‐204.
• Homans, G. C. (1961), Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• Kapferer, J‐N. (1998), “Why Are We Seduced By Luxury Brands?”, The Journal of Brand Management, 6, 1, 44‐9.
• Leibenstein, H. (1950), “Bandwagon, Snob and Veblen Effects in the Theory of Consumer Demand”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 64, 2, 183‐207.
• Mason, R. (2002), Conspicuous Consumption in Economic Theory and Thought. In Edward Fullbrook (eds) Intersubjectivity in Economics Agents and Structures, Routledge Press, 85‐102.
• McCracken, G. (1988), Culture and Consumption: New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities, Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
• Phau, I. & Prendergast, G. (2000), “Consuming Luxury Brands: The Relevance of The Rarity Principle”, Brand Management, 8, 2, 122‐38.
• Shils, E. A. (1975), Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Shoham, A. & Brencic, M. M. (2003), “Compulsive Buying Behavior”, The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 20, 2/3, 127‐138.
• Silverman, D. (2005), Doing Qualitative Research, 2nd ed. London: Sage.
• Thompson, C. J. & Haytko, D.L. (1997), “Speaking of Fashion: Consumers’ Uses of Fashion Discourses and Appropriation of Countervailing Cultural Meanings”, Journal of Consumer Research, 24, 15‐42.
• Veblen, T. (1899), The Theory of the Leisure Class, New York: Macmillan.
• Vigneron, F. & Johnson, L.W. (1999), “A Review and A Conceptual Framework of Prestige‐Seeking Consumer Behavior”, Academy of Marketing Science Review, 1, 1‐12.
• Vigneron, F. & Johnson, L.W. (2004), “Measuring Perceptions of Brand Luxury”, Journal of Brand Management, 11, 6, 484‐506.
• Weber, M. (1978), Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology, California: University of California Press.
• Wegener, B. (1992), “Concepts and Measurement of Prestige”, Annual Review Social, 18, 253‐ 80.
• Wong, Y. N. & Ahuvia, A.C. (1998), “Personal Taste and Family Face: Luxury Consumption in Confucian and Western Societies”, Psychology & Marketing, 15, 5, 423‐41
• Wong, Y.N. (1997), “Suppose you own the world and no one knows? Conspicuous consumption, materialism and self”, Advances in Consumer Research, 24, 197‐ 203.