From Local Taste to Luxury Experience: Insights into Culinary Distinction

Abstract

Luxury has always held an element of fascination for consumers across the globe. Luxury exists in all facets of life: in cosmetics, watches, jewellery, fragrances, automobiles, fashion, and hospitality, and is established through the processes of linking of one’s self-image, their creative self-identity, and their personal tastes as consumers. Yet what conveys the image and makes it luxurious is not the product; rather, it is the brand, and the experience of it, that evokes the sensation of luxury. Consumers acknowledge brands such as TAG Heuer, Prada or BMW beyond their craftsmanship or technical superiority, and connect with them through their emotional engagement with the image, implying that the age-old definition of luxury based on functionality or craftsmanship has been taken over by a newer definition that highlights the brand’s dominance over its clients (Kapferer and Bastien 2009a). The meaning of luxury has shifted over the years from commodities (rare pearls, crystal, perfumes, and spices) in the 17th century, to craftsmanship, superior quality and customer service (Berthon et al. 2009) in the 19th century, and now to that of branding, where luxury is judged on the basis of its pleasure components (Atwal and Williams 2009).