Balenciaga sells a $2,000 purse modeled after a $1 blue Ikea shopping bag. Michelin-star restaurants are using ingredients like grocery-store potato chips. Why are high-end brands selling low-end items?
made to look like a household cleaning bottle), we decided to adopt a signaling perspective to try to make sense of this phenomenon.
As traditional luxury goods, such as the iconic Louis Vuitton monogram bags or Chanel number 5, have become more widespread and attainable than in the past, the wealthy need alternative ways to signal their prestige and power. In this context, elites can experiment with lowbrow culture and downscale tastes without fear of losing status, while middle class individuals, whose position is more tenuous, stick to clear-cut status symbols.
To test our propositions, we conducted a series of studies across various domains such as food and clothing, demonstrating that high-status individuals mix and match traditionally low-status items with other types of signals to distinguish themselves. For example, we examined the menus of more than 1,000 restaurants in New York City and found that, when offering lowbrow items , high-end restaurants tend to mix them with more highbrow ingredients .
If low-status items trickle round and become high, what implications does this have for brands? High-end brands can stay relevant by incorporating select downscale styles and trends in their collections. Indeed, several luxury brands already use this strategy. Brands such as Prada and Gucci have produced luxury versions of traditionally low-key or unremarkable items, such as pool slides and legwarmers.
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