Luxury Shame

New York Magazines "The Cut" tells us about an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal

The luxury market is suffering not because of soaring unemployment rates or depleted bank accounts. Rich people have money; they just feel bad spending it. Consultants at Bain & Co. just put out a paper identifying "luxury shame" as the worst roadblock to the luxury fashion industry's economic recovery. An executive at a "European luxury powerhouse" who did not want to be identified told The Wall Street Journal that guilt is the biggest problem companies like his face.

But guilt sets in quickly. "It's not very strong at the beginning but increases when you swipe your credit card through the credit-card reader," says [brand strategist Martin] Lindstrom, who conducted three years of studies in neuromarketing — hooking 2,000 people up to sensors to monitor the brain's response to ads and brands. Guilt flashes up in the prefrontal cortex — the same reaction generated in a smoker who has finished a cigarette.

The founder of the Daily Obsession, a shopping blog, said she still feels shamed for spending over $1,000 on a Tod's bag months ago.

"I try not to have those moments anymore," says the 24-year-old, who also works in marketing. "I still have [the bag], but it hides in the back of my closet."

Don't feel guilty about spending money! The only way we are going to get out of this recession is to spend our way out!