The fifth case study in the Desire & Distinction series takes the lever brands control most directly — price — and argues it is not a financial decision but a product decision. Plassmann's neuroimaging shows the number on the tag changes the experience itself; Veblen and Leibenstein supply the economics of goods that grow more desirable as they grow less attainable. The essay reads the discounting decisions of 2008, the Hermès waiting list, and the diverging fortunes of Hermès and Louis Vuitton as a single lesson: lowering the price of a Veblen good does not expand access to the luxury — it destroys it. Inventory destruction, tariff pass-throughs, and the excess-stock problem at the major groups are re-read as consequences of the same mechanism. If price constructs the experience, what is a luxury brand actually selling?
Lowering the price of a Veblen good does not expand access to the luxury. It destroys the luxury.The Price Is The Product
The discount does not give more people access to the dream. It cancels the dream for everyone, including the people who paid full price.The Price Is The Product
And in luxury, the experience of the product is the product.The Price Is The Product
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