Reversed conspicuousness: turning conspicuousness upside-down in luxury brands' extended services

Purpose Conspicuousness is a core concept in luxury but has hitherto been studied primarily as a signal of underlying exclusivity and quality for luxury goods. This article introduces reversed conspicuousness in extended luxury services, a process through which conspicuousness can cease to signal exclusivity and quality and instead becomes a substitute for them. Design/methodology/approach We triangulate the findings of an ethnographic study combining 33 on-site observations, a netnography of 26 sites, and 11 accompanied visits and interviews with luxury consumers of luxury brands' extended services. Findings Our findings show how conspicuousness becomes the core offering in extended services whereby an ostentatious service experience is shaped by social media, but often at the expense of exclusivity and service quality. We further identify that when conspicuousness is perceived as compensatory rather than rooted in luxury, consumers view the service as inconsistent with the luxury brand. Practical implications We identify that extended services relying on reversed conspicuousness constitute a risk for luxury brands whereby such service extensions may weaken luxury consumers' perceptions of the overall luxury brand behind the extended service. Originality/value This article extends the luxury service literature by introducing the concept of reversed conspicuousness, showing how conspicuousness shifts from signaling luxury characteristics to substituting for them in luxury brands' extended services.