WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics
Print ISSN: 1109-9526, E-ISSN: 2224-2899
Volume 23, 2026
The Marketing of Declining Luxuries in Favor of Rising Demand for Necessities: A Contribution to Theory
Authors: ,
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Abstract: In the era of rapid digitalization and the COVID-19 pandemic consequences, consumers are becoming biased to behave and consume traditionally. Besides the rising trend of prices for necessities and uncertainty, the decline in the elasticity of demand for luxury goods is causing a major shift in consumer behavior versus their taste. Using various secondary data and figures from 2000 to 2022 for several products and services on a global scale, this paper identifies the main reasons why luxury turns into necessity and even becomes available for free compared to the necessities reemerging with high elasticity demand. The main causes of this shift are: i) global disruption of supply chain management leading to higher prices of necessities or inferior goods; and ii) a relative fall of luxury goods and services due to their greater availability and changes in the perception.
Keywords:
consumer behavior, necessities, luxury marketing, luxury brands, prices, technological innovation
Pages: 634-641
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2026.23.49