The luxury consumer knowledge effect: when mature consumers prefer inconspicuous consumption

Purpose What might lead a luxury consumer to signal with an inconspicuous product? Drawing upon luxury consumer maturity theory, which proposes that mature luxury consumers exhibit a greater preference for inconspicuous luxury goods, this papers aims to consider if consumer field-specific knowledge increases the preference for inconspicuous consumption. Design/methodology/approach By measuring and manipulating consumer knowledge via correlational and experimental designs, respectively, the authors probe the association between consumer knowledge and preferences for inconspicuous luxury products. Findings This study reports converging evidence suggesting that more knowledgeable (non-)luxury consumers prefer (non-)luxury goods that send inconspicuous signals. Research limitations/implications The proposed luxury consumer knowledge effect provides insights into the rise of inconspicuous luxury consumption and offers counterintuitive managerial implications, particularly for marketing communications and advertising. Practical implications Inconspicuous luxury brands should engage in an informational sharing approach to their marketing communications, as increasing knowledge may encourage inconspicuous consumption. Originality/value While prior work on inconspicuous consumption has addressed the utility of subtle signals and presented a classification of different types of luxury consumers, for instance, the authors instead consider one potential driver of inconspicuous consumption: consumer knowledge. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is also the first to provide empirical support for luxury consumer maturity theory, in addition to examining the boundaries of this framework.