Customer Community of Louis Vuitton

From Mod Mania

Louis Vuitton

For most people, Luxury goods may be a dream, only because this, it can more arouse people’s desire to chasing.Luxury goods is defined in the international as “ a kind of consumable which is beyond the scope of people’s survival and developmental needs, also have the features of unique, rare, exotic”. Also called non-necessities.

In life, luxury brands have a very special market and social status. The bags from 10 US dollars to 10,000 pounds, as you can see, it is different between the general bags and luxury bags. You may wonder that how luxury bags acred and charming are! The World Brand Lab released the “2010 World’s top 100 luxury brands brands” Based on the three criteria: •the value of quality •culture and history •intention to buy. The Louis Vuitton is NO.9.

The Louis Vuitton Brand and the famous LV monogram are among the world's most valuable brands. According to a Millward Brown 2010 study, Louis Vuitton is the world's 29th most valuable brand, right after Wells Fargo and before Gillette . The brand itself is estimated to be worth USD 19.781 billion.

Louis Vuitton (August 4, 1821 – February 27, 1892) which is the founder of the company, was born in the department of Jura, France.Through his experience with French royalty, he developed advanced knowledge of what made a good traveling case. It was then that he began to design his own luggage, setting the foundations for LV Co.

Veblen said that looks nice but not expensive thing is not really beautiful.

All the luxury brands used the high price to highlight their position. Louis Vuitton is same, they used limited edition, hand made, star endorsements. Everything points the hypostasis of consumption: make yourself looks special. Also Louis Vuitton has a good brand’s story- their history and culture. For the LV, the “story” is the most important method to greatly enhance the fans’ loyalty.They though the mass media, location, fashion magazines and other synthetical way to build brand story. They build a comfortable and special environment to tell a story, it pass a cordial and friendly brand’s concept to consumers, this behaviors can make the relationship closer which is between consumers and LV brand.

There are six types of Louis Vuitton consumers in this community:

•Patricians: These wealthy consumers pay a premium for inconspicuously branded goods, such as some Louis Vuitton bags which do not have distinct logos, since they do not have a need for status. Rather, they use subtle signals of luxury that only other patricians would recognize and only associate with others in their elite group.

•Parvenus: This group is main consumer of Louis Vuitton bags. While also affluent, parvenus do not have the “cultural capital” to be able to distinguish the subtle details of an bag which has consummate craft within do not have external loges on it, such as Hermes bags or Bottega Veneta bags, for instance, preferring instead to rely on the more conspicuous logos of Louis Vuitton markings which are associated with luxury. They desire status and use “loud” luxury goods to distinguish themselves from the masses while associating themselves with patricians and other parvenus.They want though the luxury goods to demonstrate social status or just show people how rich i am. Logo brand is their favor. Some people said i have no idea, cause my friends all used this level of goods. In some countries, in business, whether used luxury goods can show the strength of the economic ability. Some people especially like to buy together, a herd mentality in their buying process played a decisive role.

•“Middle class”: this group who have some knowledge, taste and stable incomes, they began to focus on the exquisite quality of life.Some of them may have fixed money on the luxury consumption. But compare to the parvenus, they are sensible to choose the products. They also like the bags within clear logo, so LV is a best choose. The luxury goods can give their more confidence. Many of them have chance to go abroad.In some forums, you can easily find some people upload their “harvest” who returned from abroad, the majority of the bags are LV. Some of them sharing their shopping experience, give people suggestions. there are also the way they getting confidence.

•General worker: They do not have much money but definitely are LV loyal fans.they monthly income may be just can buy a LV coin purse. but as a staunch admirer of luxury goods, they can spend few monthly income to buy a favorite bag.In a forum, Miss Zheng, she is a LV’s fans, she monthly income is $400, she spend 3 monthly income exchange for a LV bag.

•Pinchbeck: Pinchbeck meaning ‘those who pretends to be what (s)he is not’, this group refers to non-affluent consumers who crave the status luxury goods provide. However, since they cannot afford them, they purchase counterfeit products to emulate the wealthy and to dissociate themselves from those who are not.

•Proletarians: This last group is comprised of less affluent consumers who do “not concern themselves with signaling by using status goods. They like to see the LV forum, but do not really buy something but they seek neither to associate with the upper crust or dissociate themselves from others of similarly humble means and neither favor nor spurn loud luxury”. They just stand in a spectator’s view to

Finally, I think even though the conspicuous consumption can make you looks different, but the really lethal conspicuous consumption is like hang the Monet’s paintings on the toilet’s wall or as the same with Katharine Hepburn, put the Oscar trophy on the bathroom door tip to keep the door open. We do not need in pursuit of luxury thing just be yourself.

Reference:

•[updated 14 December,2006],luxury goods consumptive psychology analyze,[online],http://www.xinli110.com/mainsite/xinlizhishi/xiaofeixinli/200612/2414.html, (Accessed 2008)

•Business Wire,[updated 15 June,2004],Luxury Brand Connects Corporate Strategy with Consumer Psychology, According to Unity Marketing; Brand Loyalty is Scorecard to Measure Success,[online],http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2004_June_15/ai_n6067956/, [accessed 2010]

•[updated 13 August, 2010],Consumer Psychology of Luxury Brands,[online],http://www.newzglobe.com/article/20100813/consumer-psychology-luxury-brands, (Accessed 2010)

•Catherine Cole Gutierrez,[updated August,2006],CONSUMER ATTRACTION TO LUXURY BRAND PRODUCTS: SOCIAL AFFILIATION IN TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY,[online]http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cba/honors/thesis/documents/Catherine_Cole_Gutierrez_Thesis.pdf

The Forum

•Louis Vuitton Facebook,[online], http://www.facebook.com/LouisVuitton?v=app_115640561823587, (Accessed 2011)

•Ohiobarbara,[updated 10 May,2010],Buying Louis Vuitton Handbag,[online],http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/buying-louis-vuitton-handbag.cfm, (Accessed 2011)

•The purseforum,[online],http://forum.purseblog.com/louis-vuitton/, (Accessed 2011)

•the bag forums,[online],http://www.thebagforum.com/louis-vuitton-bags/2761-deals-louis-vuitton-handbags-continuous-thread.html, (Accessed 2006)

•LV forums,[online],http://www.lvforums.com/, (Accessed 2011)

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