Suffering from a case of 'luxury guilt?'
If you're fortunate enough to be able to buy something nice for yourself, despite the recession, do you do it? Bob Moon looks into something dubbed "luxury guilt."
The luxurious Neiman Marcus Jaguar. (Photo courtesey of The New York Times)
More on The Economy, Spending
TEXT OF STORY
Bob Moon: I sure didn't expect to see the spate of stories we saw this past week about, what I'll diplomatically call, "conspicuous consumption." The week began with word that Neiman Marcus had sold out of 50 limited edition Jaguars just four hours after they officially went on sale in the department store's famous annual holiday catalog.
We checked with Pam Danziger, a retail consultant with Unity Marketing. And she assured us this kind of outrageous fortune is not the norm in these recessionary times.
Pam Danziger: Affluent consumers are very aware of the cultural changes that are going on. And they're really calling upon themselves to be responsible consumers.
Then again, if they're suffering from withdrawal and need a quick fix, the new Neiman Marcus catalog is still dealing. Yeah, there's an amphibious two-seat aircraft at $250,000 a pop -- with a description that says, "You've earned something special."
But Ginger Reeder told us she was careful not to get too carried away putting together this year's Christmas Book.
Ginger Reeder: It does reflect what's going on in the world. I don't think I could have avoided paying attention to that, you know, subconsciously. But consciously, I did not see anything over the top. You know, there were no $10 million yachts being introduced that came across my desk.
We spotted another possible reason for that at the end of the week in the Wall Street Journal. Recent studies are showing shoppers -- especially rich ones -- are feeling increasingly guilty these days.
Martin Lindstrom is a branding expert and the author of a book called "Buy-ology" -- that's spelled with a B-U-Y. And he explains it's not just their own financial setbacks that are causing rich consumers to change their habits
Martin Lindstrom: They have this kind of complex dilemma. On one hand, they want to spend money. On the other hand, they don't dare to do that, because they feel guilty that they can afford it and no one else can afford it.
So just maybe when they're thumbing through this Neiman Marcus Christmas Book, and they get to page 153, they'll take a look at this $4,400 nativity set and marble-based creche and perhaps ask themselves, "What would Jesus do?"
Comments
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From Jackson, MS, MS, 10/26/2009
The Jay Strongwater Nativity on page 153 is awesome and I'm going to buy it when I get the bonus from the bank where I work!
From Alpharetta, GA, 10/26/2009
I'm afraid the concepts of "luxury guilt" and "stealth wealth" are not supported by solid research and are not nearly as prevalent as some retail and luxury consultants would like people to believe.
Our recent survey of the wealthiest 10% of US households shows a low incidence of these concepts. This is not surprising given the over 20 years of research by Thomas Stanley, the author of The Millionaire Next Door.
From Troy, MI, 10/25/2009
I have been blessed with a good paying job and I work very hard. I bought a MKX Lincoln crossover SUV. I made sure that everyone knew that I got a really good deal and that I also saved a lot of money on my trade-in. I felt a little weird about the purchase and overcompensated with explainations and justifications ("I was paying so much to repair the old car...this just made sense!") But love my new car!
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