"How does the location where a luxury good was manufactured influence the image of the brand?": Examining the cultural geography around production of luxury items

Keywords: cultural geography, business study, luxury good, world maps
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hugo Boss, and Chanel boast of their reputation among the elite and exclusive environment of luxury apparel. Most luxury companies use offshore outsourcing to produce their so-called luxury items. My research question is: if people actually knew where they produced the goods sold on the luxury market, would they still consider it a luxury good? A Gucci bag can be produced for $30 but sold on the market for $3,000 and still considered luxury. I created maps locating where specifically luxury handbags were produced, Thailand and China, compared to where they are considered to be manufactured and sold, France and Italy. Then I surveyed an even number of people based on age groups: Group 1 is 18-30 year olds, Group 2 is 30-50 year olds, Group 4 is 50+ year olds. The survey consists of three questions: Do you consider [insert luxury brand here] a luxury goods company? Would you consider [insert same brand] a luxury good even if was made in another country? What if it was made in a third-world country? There may be adjustments in questions to make sure I capture the full scope of how people interact subconsciously with geography.