Understanding luxury in the premium automotive industry

ABSTRACT

This paper summarises the findings of investigations to date in understanding what luxury and premiumness mean to the high-end automotive consumer. Existing writings on luxury and premiumness are considered. An exploratory study was carried out in two countries using 309 respondents and 18 prestige cars. A "stream of consciousness" approach was used to capture respondent's views on a selection of vehicles. The codified transcripts were used to identify key differences between the top and bottom rated vehicles, in terms of the nature and quantity of emotional responses elicited. This paper describes some of these key product differences that were self-reported to impact upon a luxury response. Finally, suggestions are made as to the next steps required for this research.

REFERENCES

• 1: Allsopp, J.: Premium Pricing: Understanding the Value of Premium. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management. Jul Vol 4, No 2. (2005)
• 2: Berry, C.: The Idea of Luxury. A Conceptual and Historical Investigation. Cambridge University Press, (1994)
• 3: Caronaro, S.: The Pyramid of Luxury and "Democratization" of Luxury (abstract). Designing Designers Conference (2006) http://www.blog.lago.it/deluxe/?p=28
• 4: Chartered Institute of Marketing: Knowledge Hub, Marketing Glossary. http://www.cim.co.uk/cim/ser/html/infQuiGlo.cfm?letter=M
• 5: Danziger, P.: Motivators to Buy Luxury - the Drive for Self-Actualisation. 2Q (2004) http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/luxury/luxury2Q2004.html
• 6: Eisenstein, P.: Q&A: Ford's Peter Horbury. The Car Connection, Oct 4th (2004) http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Daily_Auto_News/QA_Fords_Peter_Horbury.S173.A7618.html
• 7: Future Foundation /nVision: Our Low Price Culture. London (2003)
• 8: Gardyn, R.: Oh, the Good Life. American Demographics, 1st Nov (2002) http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2002_Nov_1/ai_93089467/print
• 9: Graham, P. and Matthews, R.: The Changing Face of Luxury. Know, Spring/Summer (2004) http://www.knowledgenetworks.com/know/2004/spring/KNOW_CHANGINGFACEOFLUXURY.pdf
• 10: Guldbransen, M.: How Companies embed Non-Quantifiable Product Qualities through their Product Development Process. PhD Thesis, Cranfield University (2006)
• 11: Imber, A.: Turn your Brand Premium. B&T. http://www.bandt.com.au/news/71/0c031d71.asp
• 12: Law, B.: Defining Craftsmanship in the Premium Automotive Industry. Unpublished MSc Thesis, Warwick University, 28th January (2005)
• 13: Leadbetter, C.: What is luxury? http://www.charlesleadbeater.net/cms/site/news/what-is-luxury.aspx
• 14: Misiura, S.: Heritage Marketing. Butterworth Heinemann, November (2005)
• 15: National Tour Association: The Psychology of Travel - What is Luxury? January (2003) http://www.ntaonline.com/staticfiles/psychtravel_luxury.pdf.
• 16: Quelch, J.: Marketing the Premium Product. Business Horizons, Vol 30, lss 3 May/June (1987) 38--45
• 17: Smith, R.: Key to Tapping into a Premium Market. Marketing, London, Apr 4 (2002) 25 http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=113759646&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=3224&RQT=309&VName=PQD
• 18: Sodhani, V.: Target your "truly consuming" homes better with Household Potential Index (HPI) from IRS. http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/media_matter/matter_130705.asp
• 19: Yap, L.: What is Luxury? Driven, October 4th (2006) http://www.drivenmag.com/599.0.html?&nid=2128

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  A. General Literature
  A.0 GENERAL

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)

Keywords:
automotive, customer, luxury, product development