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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,897 posts)
Thu Aug 9, 2018, 01:07 PM Aug 2018

The Marketing Message That Works with Republicans but Not Democrats

RogueAltGov Retweeted:

"dominant political ideology of the target market systematically affected consumers’ desire for luxury products, with consumers of strong conservative beliefs being much more responsive to luxury when their status-maintenance ... goal had been activated"



The Marketing Message That Works with Republicans but Not Democrats
by David Dubois, Jeehye Christine Kim, and Brian Park
AUGUST 09, 2018

Luxury goods are instrumental to status signaling — our hope that people will recognize the insignia on a suitcase, or the stitching on a pair of jeans, and see us a certain way.

For the $262 billion luxury market, tapping into consumers’ fundamental need for respect or admiration from others is a very powerful tool. It’s no accident that a brand such as Audi invites you to “update your status” by buying its cars. Or that Aston Martin will bring “value to your life.” Other luxury brands encourage you to think about your status as an asset and speak to your desire to maintain your status as it is. Rolex reminds you, for instance, that class is forever.

For hundreds of years, the luxury, fashion, and high-end industries have used these techniques to attract buyers, tapping into people’s desire to be at the top of the hierarchy. Since political views are also shaped by our assumptions about hierarchies, we wondered whether these two things — political beliefs and preference for luxury goods — would go together.

To explore this, we conducted research around a simple but critical question: Does political ideology affect the preference for luxury goods, and if so, how? ... According to our findings, just published in the Journal of Marketing, political allegiances systematically predict consumers’ desire for luxury consumption, particularly for conservatives. We attribute this to conservatives’ greater desire to preserve socioeconomic order and maintain existing social hierarchies.
....

David Dubois is an assistant professor at INSEAD.

Jeehye Christine Kim is an Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Brian Park is an Assistant Professor of Managerial Sciences at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.

The slogan that works for me: "Everything's $1™ -- What will you find?"
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Achilleaze

(15,543 posts)
1. Attaining "status-maintainance goal"
Thu Aug 9, 2018, 01:13 PM
Aug 2018

republican better work on "attaining American loyalty status-maintainance" for a change.

Sheesh.

dhol82

(9,351 posts)
2. I grew up very poor.
Thu Aug 9, 2018, 01:18 PM
Aug 2018

Status items were very important to me when I was young because I did not want to be shamed by the ‘poor’ label.
As I moved into a more comfortable existence those items became less important.
Now, I am comfortable in my skin and they mean nothing to me. I laugh at the suburban women who need validation by Rolex watches and Vuitton bags.

 

braddy

(3,585 posts)
3. I grew up very poor and have never understood "status items" and don't to this day, to me each
Thu Aug 9, 2018, 01:48 PM
Aug 2018

person is their own person and I have never felt 'peer pressure', perhaps because when I was a kid school taught those lessons along with values.

TygrBright

(20,733 posts)
4. They really are pathetically insecure.
Thu Aug 9, 2018, 02:17 PM
Aug 2018

No wonder they're so vulnerable to status anxiety and fear manipulation.

Their locus of control is entirely externalized and based on appearance, consumption, etc.

diffidently,
Bright

Hamlette

(15,394 posts)
6. I think it also has to do with what your parents did, to some extent.
Thu Aug 9, 2018, 04:55 PM
Aug 2018

My parents downplayed what they had. It was considered crass to spend your money ostentatiously.
They greatly admired the Scots.

Hamlette

(15,394 posts)
7. what surprised me was they were moved by maintaining status but not by advancing status
Thu Aug 9, 2018, 05:00 PM
Aug 2018

I thought everyone wanted to move up.

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