The Evolution of Luxury Consumption and Conceptualization: A Synthetic Review

Abstract

This study aims to comprehend the main themes of luxury publications from 1998 to March 2021 through a holistic review of luxury industry-related papers. To face a change in the post-pandemic, the development and limitations of academic research topics and methods in the luxury industry are also observed and discussed. A total of 307 academic papers with the word “luxury” in their title or keywords were collected. This research aims to draw a general picture of the luxury research stream and publications in terms of main themes, major research locations, the level of publication influence, and major affiliations. The study also summarizes research methods used in luxury publications and the network of main themes’ attributes. Bibliometric analysis and content analysis were used for the data analysis utilizing KH Coder 3.0. The results show a change in the research direction toward the luxury industry before and during COVID-19 through three main themes: marketing and management, consumer/customer psychology graphic, and product category. Although the research on the luxury industry is extensive, the systematic review of luxury publications is limited in the literature. This research addresses this gap through research themes on the luxury market. The results provide main themes and their components of research on the luxury industry, present the current trend in research methods, discuss limitations on method and topic, and suggest research agendas for the future direction of the luxury industry in the post-pandemic.

Keywords:

• luxury
• marketing
• word frequency analysis
• bibliometric analysis
• content analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jungkun Park

Jungkun Park is a Professor at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. He received his Master’s Degree in Economics in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Doctoral Degree in Retailing and Consumer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He taught at Purdue University and University of Houston for 16 years on Consumer Behavior and Research Methodology. His research appeared in many academic journals. Dr. Park’s major research area is technology and consumers in retailing and service industry covering electronic, mobile and ubiquitous commerce consumer behavior.

Notes on contributors

Hoang Tran Phuoc Mai Le

Hoang T.P.M. Le is a Lecturer and Researcher at International University – Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City (IU-VNU-HCMC) in Vietnam. She received her Master degree in Marketing at IU-VNU-HCMC and PhD’s degree in Marketing at Hanyang University, South Korea. Her research, which covers topics related to consumer behaviors, retailing, service marketing, technology acceptance, and B2B relationships, was published in academic journals. She also has 10-year experience in being teaching and research assistant at IU-VNU-HCMC and Hanyang University.

Notes on contributors

EunPyo Hong

Eunpyo Hong is a PhD candidate at Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea. He received his Masters’s degree in Marketing from the Hanyang University and is following his PhD in Marketing at Hanyang University. His research, which covers topics related to consumer behaviors and technology adoption, was published in academic journals.