Luxury Consumer Insights

Implications - Air travel used to be reserved exclusively for the elite, and it looks as if it may be turning that way again. With the manufacture of ultra luxury airplanes, the prices of airline tickets can now reach thousands of dollars. Customers pay for the status and exclusivity it gives them.

Implications - Just like cars reveal characteristics of their owners, cell phones are becoming indicators of their users too. From green to Buddhist phones, combining heightened technology with new designs, mobile phones are answering the consumer desire to differentiate themselves from the masses.

Implications - Swarovski crystals rose to the pinnacle of fashion accessories, but unlike most short-lived fads, the ornate Austrian embellishments are continuing to be designer favorites. They are bedecking bodies, covering contact lenses, garnishing bicycle wheel covers and even encrusting toilets.

Implications - For centuries, warfare and the militia-related was primarily targeted at men. As images of weaponry become ubiquitous in the media, and as women join the armed forces, dernier cri designers are shooting out an insurgence of military-chic creations, mostly capitalizing on form over function.

Implications - While wearing ultra luxury labels was considered a status indicator in the past, the ubiquity of high-end fashion has muted the potency of flashing brands, thus making their flaunting less desirable. Catering to more subtle prosperity fanning is the next big thing in luxury merchandise.

Implications - Gold fashion popped onto the pop culture radar for women back in 2004, but it wasn’t until 2008 that it was notably integrated into menswear. As influential designers like John Galliano for Dior highly impact mainstream trends, expect to see everything from golden shoes to bronze pants for men.

Implications - If King Midas could see the world today, he would be pleased to see that people are actually able to enjoy lives significantly tinted with gold. With an abundance of products coated in gold, painted in gold or bearing gold leafing, it seems there is little which has been left untouched.

Implications - More people are showing a desire to commune with nature and experience raw wilderness, yet are unable to detach themselves from technology and other urban luxuries. To build on last year’s Glamping feature, we add new innovations like canned fast food and outdoor excursion-ready shampoo.

Implications - Providing free samples has been standard at the grocery store for years, but marketers of all kinds of products and services have realized that this technique can be used far beyond the grocery aisles. From luxury goods to professional services, sampling can be the deal-maker in many consumer decisions.

Implications - Luxury has become a quality which can be ‘bought’ by just about anyone. As opulence has been made available to the masses by high-end designers or those knocking off their creations, truly affluent braggarts are seeking extreme wealth exhibitionism in the form of multi-million dollar purchases.