Youth Luxury
Perception.
How do young consumers decide what feels luxurious—and what happens when luxury becomes more accessible?
Published in Journal of Research High School (JRHS)
Vol. 2026 (10), pp. 765–773.
The interview participants were drawn from the survey group. A small convenience sample, explored in depth.
The research question
Price is only
part of the picture.
In The Evolving Perception of Luxury Among Korean High School Consumers, I investigated how psychological motivations and a digital social environment shape perceptions of luxury.
The research combines a survey of 28 Korean female high school students with interviews with 10 of those participants. Descriptive survey analysis and thematic interview analysis bring together the patterns in the responses and the explanations behind them.
Wanting to stand out.
Wanting to belong.
A central tension
More accessible.
Still exclusive?
Entry-level luxury products can make a brand feel more accessible. Yet several interviewees judged the conspicuous display of common items negatively. Owning an accessible luxury item and showing it off were not necessarily understood in the same way.
This tension connects the desire for uniqueness with the wish for social acceptance. It also raises a question about brand meaning: when more people can participate, what happens to the value of exclusivity?
Reading the findings
- Symbolic value
Interview responses distinguished the value of a brand name, its packaging and its image from the performance of a product.
- Discovery and evaluation
The channels through which participants discover brands and the peer contexts in which they judge ownership offer different perspectives on influence.
- Purchase motivations
The interviews contrasted satisfaction following deliberate purchases with regret connected to some impulsive or brand-name-driven purchases.
Scope of the study
A focused sample.
Questions to take further.
This was an exploratory study using convenience sampling. The participants were all female students attending Korean high schools, and the findings are not statistically representative of all Korean teenagers.
The study suggests directions for broader research, including how young consumers respond to authentic products, counterfeits and dupes.