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In economics, a luxury good is a good for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises, contrast to a "necessity good" for which demand increases less than proportionally as income rises. Luxury goods are said to have high income elasticity of demand: as people become more wealthy, they will buy more and more of the luxury good. This also means, however, that should there be a decline in income its demand will drop. It must be noted, though, that income elasticity of demand is not constant with respect to income, and may change sign at different levels of income. That is to say, a luxury good may become a normal good or even an inferior good at different income levels, e.g. a wealthy person stops buying increasing numbers of luxury cars for his automobile collection to start collecting airplanes (at such an income level, the luxury car would become an inferior good).
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Certain manufactured products attain the status of "luxury goods" due to their design, quality, durability or performance that are remarkably superior to the comparable substitutes. Thus, virtually every category of goods available on the market today includes a subset of similar products whose "luxury" is marked by better-quality components and materials, solid construction, stylish appearance, increased durability, better performance, advanced features and so on. As such, these luxury goods retain or improve the basic functionality for which all items of a given category are originally designed.
There are also goods that are perceived as luxurious by the public simply because they play a role of status symbols as such goods tend to signify the purchasing power of those who acquire them. These items, while not being any better (in quality, performance, or appearance) than their less expensive substitutes, are purchased with the sole purpose of displaying wealth or income of their owners. These kinds of goods are the objects of a socio-economic phenomenon called conspicuous consumption and commonly include luxury cars, expensive watches and jewelry, designer clothing, yachts, and large residences such as McMansions, urban mansions and country houses.
Some luxury products have been claimed to be examples of Veblen goods, with a positive price elasticity of demand: for example, making a perfume more expensive can increase its perceived value as a luxury good to such an extent that sales can go up, rather than down.
Although the technical term luxury good is independent of the goods\' quality, they are generally considered to be goods at the highest end of the market in terms of quality and price. Classic luxury goods include haute couture clothing, accessories, and luggage. Many markets have a luxury segment including, for instance, cars, wine, and even chocolate.
Luxuries may be services. The hiring of full-time or live-in domestic servants is a luxury reflecting disparities of income. Some financial services, especially in some brokerage houses, can be considered luxury services by default because persons in lower-income brackets generally do not use them.
Another market characteristic of luxury goods is their very high sensitivity to economic upturns and downturns, high profit margins as well as prices, and very tightly controlled brands. Other guidelines may apply to certain luxury markets such as the luxury vehicle market.
For example, following a nearly crippling attempt to widely licence their brand in the 1970s and 1980s, the Gucci brand is now largely sold in directly-owned stores. The Burberry brand is generally considered to have diluted its brand image in the UK in the early 2000s by over-licensing its brand, thus reducing its cachet as a brand whose products were consumed only by the elite.
LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) is the largest luxury good producer in the world with over fifty brands, including Louis Vuitton, the brand with the world\'s first designer label. The LVMH group made a profit of €2bn on sales of €12bn in 2003. Other market leaders include PPR (after it purchased the Gucci Group) and Richemont.
There is an important balance of emotional and rational communications when a luxury brand connects to its customers through a variety of brand advertising. Historically, luxury brands, especially fashion brands, use heavy visual aids to help foster a sense of emotional connection - a state of being or sense of being. The status of owning luxury brands is important for the affluent or high net worth consumer, as they feel it expresses their class or self-expression. Advertising also ensures that other people who cannot afford the luxury item are nonetheless aware of its expense, which is essential to conferring the status that the consumption of luxury promises. In other cases, luxury brands can connect to the consumer on a very rational level focusing on purpose or function, such as owning a plane or a private jet, or a fractional owner.
| Types of goods
public good - private good - common good - common-pool resource - club good - anti-rival goods (non-)durable good - intermediate good (producer good) - final good - capital good
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