The making of luxury markets :|comparison of Chinese and Turkish patterns

Abstract

During the recent decades of globalization, consumption practice of the people in developing countries has drastically changed and ostentatious products have become popular. This study explores the luxury consumption behavior and patterns of different cultures through a comparative study of the Chinese and Turkish experiences of conspicuous consumption. In order to assess these patterns, the study adopts the conceptual framework of Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class and Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of Judgement of Taste. The study argues that the recent Chinese and Turkish experiences of conspicuous consumption patterns of middle classes are in step in general with the modern industrial society’s phase of intensive consumption patterns which emerged previously in the United States and Europe that have been theorized extensively in the works of Veblen and Bourdieu. The study’s second argument, however, shows that the perception of attractiveness is different for each culture which impacts the kind of conspicuous consumption that has been experienced in China and Turkey. Furthermore, consumption habits in China and Turkey vary due to cultural influences that combine patterns of Western and traditional values, and the development level of the country. Thus, knowledge about the Chinese and Turkish experiences help contribute to our understanding of the global patterns of conspicuous consumption as a social phenomenon of economic transformation by bringing in examples from geographies outside of the urban experiences in the United States and Europe.