Engaging with the luxury consumer in China

Abstract

The transformation of luxury goods from the privilege of the elite to an attainable 21st-century dream has seen dramatic changes in targeting strategies used by luxury goods to reach consumers and geographical markets. An ever-expanding economic and geographic market plus changing attitudes across the consumer landscape are resulting in a disintegration of boundaries, both geographical and socio-demographic. Product-range stretching and extension are adding to a general democratization of consumer attitudes to, and uses of luxury goods. The luxury sector has gradually moved from being perceived as a fairly restricted, elitist dream based on design creativity, to a massive economic sector with sharp retailing skills.