PARIS – Despite
the global economic crisis, sales of luxury goods are surging worldwide. Why?
While marketing has contributed to the rise, the luxury market’s robust growth
is actually rooted in biology.
Discussions about the structure of human thought have long been dominated by
the Enlightenment view that reality is composed of four elements: space, time,
matter, and energy. But recently, a fifth element, information, has entered the
debate. And information, it turns out, is crucial to understanding the
fundamental drivers of luxury-goods consumption, and thus to predicting the
luxury market’s future.Living organisms communicate, and the information that they exchange shapes their reality. While animals use colorful displays and complicated behaviors to signal fitness and strength, humans use luxury goods to demonstrate economic health.
But, more than a symbol, buying luxury goods could indicate future success, owing to the selective advantage that showing off provides. In nature, competitors perform, and the most compelling, beautiful spectacle wins.
For most animals, males are the performers. Male birds, for example, often have brightly colored plumage or intricate appendages, such as the Australian lyrebird’s long tail.
As a result, competitive displays have been interpreted as a way to demonstrate fitness to a potential mate. A bird that survives, despite inconvenient plumage that slows it down or makes it visible to predators, must be fit, and will likely sire a healthy progeny.
Given that females bear the physical burden of offspring, an unobtrusive appearance is more advantageous – and thus more common – in nature. But humans are social creatures with no natural predators, so female competition is more widespread – and demonstrative performance and display are more likely. Indeed, while visual manifestations of wealth are prevalent for both genders, women’s appearance is frequently more vivid (and more closely scrutinized).
But effective display is costly. Developing complex, vibrant plumage demands significant energy and genetic resources. Genes are difficult to maintain, requiring subtle and energy-intensive correcting processes. Just as writing too fast can cause typographical errors that garble a text, rapid changes to the genome can undermine a species’ integrity.
Likewise, purchasing luxury goods requires substantial financial resources. This cost dictates the display’s competitive impact. In today’s information-based world, selection is effective only if a striking appearance is obtained at a very high price – and that price is known.
For example, those who use cosmetics known to be expensive often seem healthier, more vibrant, and more attractive than those who do not. This is not the result of efficiency (the most effective cosmetics frequently become pharmaceutical drugs). Rather, it signals a lifestyle that values the preservation of beauty and youth. Cosmetics, like all luxury products, gain influence not from their production, or even their purchase, but from their visibility.
Indeed, an expensive item with no label or identifying characteristics has less competitive impact than a recognized item or brand. For luxury goods to have any function, society needs information about their cost. This has been true to varying degrees throughout history – sometimes resulting in price bubbles.
False information, such as counterfeit goods, jeopardizes the competition-based selection process. Animals commonly use mimicry to capitalize on knowledge – or fear – of another’s strength. By imitating an animal with a well-known protective profile, a weaker one may enjoy selective benefits without the costs.
But mimicry’s success in nature depends on the ratio of the original to the ersatz. If there are too few of the original, the profile loses its significance, and its protective value vanishes.
Similarly, nobody would display a symbol of wealth if it were too common. Therefore, assessing whether luxury goods will maintain their impact, and thus their appeal, requires monitoring the extent of counterfeiting.
Given that luxury goods provide individuals with a competitive advantage, higher luxury-goods sales could indicate a brighter economic future for a country. In a time of crisis, countries in which luxury goods play their selective role effectively are the safest bets for productive investment.
奢侈品中的生物學
巴黎——盡管受到全球經濟危機的影響，全球奢侈品的銷售仍在激增。這究竟是什麼原因？儘管營銷活動能夠部分解釋奢侈品消費的上漲，但奢侈品市場的強勁增長究其原因實際要歸功於生物學。
對人類思想結構的探討長期以來深受啟蒙運動的影響，認為現實由空間、時間、物質和能量等四種要素組成。但不久前，信息作為第五種要素進入了討論的范疇。而且事實証明信息對於理解奢侈品消費的根本動因至關重要，因此可以預測奢侈品市場的未來。
活體生物相互交流，他們對現實的理解取決於他們所交換的信息。動物用繽紛的色彩和複雜的行為來顯示健康和力量，而人類則利用奢侈品作為經濟狀況的標誌。
但購買奢侈品絕不僅僅是一種標志，鑒於炫耀所能提供的選擇性優勢，它還可能預示著未來的成功。自然界中有競爭才有成就，最引人注目、最美麗者最終勝出。
對多數動物而言，雄性動物更需要競爭。比如雄性鳥類往往擁有色彩艷麗的羽毛或精致復雜的長尾，像澳大利亞琴鳥就拖著長長的尾巴。
結果是競爭性炫耀被視為向潛在配偶展示健康的方法。漂亮的羽毛吸引掠食者，拖慢奔跑速度，但在羽毛的拖累下仍可存活的鳥類肯定非常健康，而且繁衍出健康的後代的可能性也較大。
因為雌性承擔著繁衍後代的任務，外表不引人注目似乎是明智的選擇——因此在自然界中這種現象也是比較普遍的。但人類是沒有天敵的社會動物，因此存在著普遍的女性競爭——也更有可能出現炫耀性的行為和舉動。其實，雖然炫富在男女兩性中均頗為盛行，但女性的表現似乎更加生動（也更受人關注）。
但有效的炫耀行為代價不菲。長出精致漂亮的羽毛需要耗費可觀的能量和遺傳資源。基因很難維護，需要耗費大量的能量來進行微妙的調校過程。就像寫字過快可能導致錯字從而改變字意一樣，基因的快速變化也可能破壞物種的完整性。
同樣，購買奢侈品需要雄厚的財力支撐。付出的成本決定炫耀行為的競爭性影響力。在當今這個以信息為本的世界，隻有以極高代價取得醒目的外觀才能在選擇中產生實際作用——上述代價是人所共知的。
比方說，選用人所共知的昂貴化妝品的人往往看起來更健康、更有活力，比那些不用的人吸引力更強。這並非效果使然（最有效的化妝品往往是某種藥品）。相反，它標誌著一種重視保持美麗和青春的生活方式。像所有奢侈品一樣，化妝品的影響不是源於生產，甚至也不是源於購買，而是源於品牌知名度。
其實，沒有標誌或識別指征的昂貴物品比為人所知的品牌或物品要少有影響力。奢侈品要想發揮作用，社會必須了解它的價值。這有史以來或多或少都是真理——有時還會導致價格泡沫。
假冒商品所釋放的虛假信息損害了以競爭為本的選擇性過程。動物往往通過模仿來利用對其他同類力量的了解或恐懼。通過模仿眾所周知的具有保護性的動物，弱者可以不付出任何代價就可以享受到選擇性收益。
但自然界中模擬的成功取決於原版和替代品之間的比例。原版太過稀少的形象就會失去意義，與之相關的保護價值也會大打折扣。
同樣，沒有人會去炫耀司空見慣的財富象征。因此評估奢侈品是否會保持影響力和吸引力需要控制假冒產品的泛濫程度。
鑒於奢侈品能為個體帶來競爭性優勢，一個國家奢侈品銷售的增長可能預示著更美好的經濟未來。危機時期奢侈品有效發揮選擇作用的國家是進行生產性投資的理想對象。