ABSTRACT
The economic rationale behind this strategy is the superior profitability of luxury products (Table 9.1). Often the high margins are used to justify the acquisition of different luxury brands, or companies producing luxury products, despite the costs of sustaining different images and distribution channels. These developments, and the efforts to create new luxury experiences, show that luxury is becoming an important category in itself. Luxury is a complex and ambiguous concept. Alleres (1997) reports that Dior, Chanel and Yves Saint-Laurent are the most prestigious and well-known luxury brands, ranked according to share of awareness and share of attention by customers. Surprisingly, Benetton and Chevignon rank close to the top and Cartier, Louis Vuitton or Piaget rank much lower. This complexity and ambiguity does not only exist in the fashion and textile industry. In the car industry, for instance, different manufacturers, including BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Honda, Rolls Royce, Toyota and VW, target the market for luxury vehicles.
