exclusivity versus community – what drives the purchase?
If you follow this blog, you know I love strong brands! I also love to analyse what drives people to buy certain brands.
In 2018, after reading Highsnobiety‘s “THE NEW LUXURY” report, I came across the underlying idea of this article for the first time. The report distinguished between “old luxury” and “new luxury” customers and named some key characteristics that define the relationship these customer archetypes have with (luxury) brands.
While “old luxury” is buying, “new luxury” is buying into, while “old luxury” is interested in ownership, “new luxury” cares about access. At the end it boils down to purchase versus participation. The luxury mindset is shifting from exclusivity to inclusivity, or, to be even more comprehensive: community.
Since then, over the past 5 years, I have thought about this construct of a new “luxury mindset”, in particular when buying something for myself. Yet, due to its very nuanced character I had difficulty to put it in written word – today I’ll try:
First, let’s look at some examples of “exclusivity”-driven brands versus “community”-driven brands.
Big luxury and exclusivity
Hermès must be the unanimous leader of exclusivity; a brand that requires you to buy products to be given the right to buy more products. Through brutal filtering practices Hermès is limiting the access to its highly desirable Kelly or Birkin bags. To the extent that recently, in the US, they were sued for exclusionary business practices. Hermès truly tops the list of brands that operate with exclusivity.
Chanel demands among the highest prices for every product category other than bags (Hermès remains unbeatable). Recently I heard that whatever you expect the price for a Chanel-piece to be, you better double it and still brace yourself for impact. Chanel’s pricing is truly ultra high-end. Additionally, it is not selling products online matching its attitude of exclusivity.
Dior is not as expensive or as difficult to access as Hermès and Chanel (still pretty expensive after all), however, few brands have such a well-executed brand strategy driving exclusivity appeal. Dior is highly aristocratic. If you want a taste of Dior’s identity, go to 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris, and have a look at this monster of a flagship store, it has a café and restaurant included and the brand-owned museum next door. Dior prides itself in its rich history and is happy to display it. This shrouds the brand in a haze of exclusivity – well, maybe I am just thinking about the 16€ I was charged for a Flat White in the flagship’s café…
Designers and their communities
After his most recent runway show Rick Owens spoke on Inclusion as his life’s mission. With this explicit realisation he puts himself at the forefront of community-brands. In another interview with I-D, he talks about providing options for those who feel like they are not represented by the classic standards of beauty. Buying into Rick Owens means becoming part of his cult: A safe haven for those who do not feel welcome in broader society.
Aimé Leon Dore is constantly developing its Brooklyn-sporty-dandy style. It proposes a mix of casual and elegance, somewhere between sports and profession. Aimé Leon Dore’s lookbook releases are always on point and showcase their continuous development. They repeatedly use the same models, thereby elevating them to key faces of the community. Their London store features a branded café too that gives you the possibility to not only visit the store to shop but also just to hang out – it is comparatively much more casual than the Dior Café and the pricing is in line with your local neighbourhood hipster spot. A real place for community.
6PM is a German streetwear brand heavily leaning into the lifestyle of its radiating founder Achraf. His and 6PM’s comment sections are constantly overflowing with community members’ comments and the dream to be acknowledged by him or his brand. Buying 6PM means becoming one of Achraf’s friends, a circle that also includes relevant German rappers (Reezy, Loredana, Pashanim, Yung Hurn), or football players (David Alaba). Like 6PM also Corteiz from London leverages this level of community commitment to its founder and other key members (Skepta, Central Cee, Slawn, Gabriel Moses, etc). With Corteiz nomination at the British Fashion Award, the brand proved that community-driven brands cannot longer be overlooked by the establishment.
So how do these differences come about? Or, what type of consumer behaviours do these brands leverage to achieve their unique positions?
Setting the stage: self-brand identities and reference groups
To begin with, we have to agree on the fact that we all leverage brands to express our personal identity. This links to the concept of self-brand identity. Self-brand identity is formed from different layers of perceptions and associations we make with a brand. Our perception of the brand’s identity and how it will change the way we are perceived is part of our decision process when we buy into it. This evaluation does not only occur in the relationship between individual and brand directly but also on a social group level. Social group level refers to the other individuals who we perceive as archetypically to wear the brand and who we therefore associate the brand with – these are reference groups. Reference groups can either be associative (in-group) or dissociative (out-group) – meaning either we want to be linked to them or we want to distinguish ourselves from them.
How does this link to the difference between exclusivity and community?
Self-brand identity and our evaluation of reference groups moves us during our brand purchases. With this understanding, we can now turn to a more formal differentiation between exclusivity and community.
Exclusivity or community needs express the motivator which rather drives our purchasing.
If it is exclusivity, we are more inclined to purchase brands to show we are different. We want to use a brand that, to us, seems like to be hard to attain ownership of and we want to dissociate from a wide variety of groups. Our focus is on the out-group.
If it is community, we aim to be associated with the way of life and values expressed by the brand, and we want to be part of the specific social group linked to it. So, we undertake a purchase to acquire a symbol which will make us part of that lifestyle and group. We are focused on the in-group.
The same result, but the motivation counts – why?
Funny enough, the outcome is the same, it doesn’t matter if you are motivated by an exclusivity or a community drive, in the end individuals get sorted into groups owning and/or representing certain (brand) symbols.
But, as so often in life, the journey counts – why?
If marketers and brand owners understand what motivates their customer group to purchase or participate in their brand, they can adjust their marketing efforts to activate their customers or users accordingly.
If your customers are more inclined to show they are different from the rest, you might want to invest in high-end appeal and spark the feeling of being difficult to attain, thereby giving customers a sense of entitlement when purchasing your products.
If your customers are, however, more interested in inclusivity, let them feel that they are part of a community. Invest your time and budget into “if-you-know-you-know” initiatives, establish your own jargon, and focus on creating an atmosphere that is exciting to be part of.
In real life, it is of course always a mix of motivations that really drive consumers’ purchases. Nevertheless, abstraction and formalization help to reflect on them and discover the tools needed to steer the wheel on branding in the right direction and how to use them.
See you soon at either the Dior or the Aimé Leon Dore café, whichever you prefer, I’m always down for a coffee.
Sources and additional resources
- All pictures taken from either Aimé Leon Dore, Achraf or Clint419 Instagram accounts and owned by person or brand
- Comprehensive article on self-brand identity: Schmitt, B. (2012). The consumer psychology of brands.
Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(1), 7–17. - Highsnobiety Insights: https://company.highsnobiety.com/insights/
- New York Times Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/style/birkin-bag-hermes-lawsuit.html
- Rick Owens Interview BOF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17tSKcetAHA
- Rick Owens Interview I-D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywoaKlTWkuM
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