Luxo e consumo consciente: eles são realmente paradoxais? Um estudo sobre o comportamento de consumo de consumidoras de luxo brasileiras e portuguesas

• Ano de defesa: 2013
• Autor(a) principal: Bruno, Ana Carolina de Pierro
• Orientador(a): Barki, Edgard Elie Roger
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Palavras-chave em Português: Produtos de luxo; Consumidores de luxo; Consumo consciente; Sustentabilidade; Comportamento do consumidor
• Link de acesso: http://hdl.handle.net/10438/10556

Consuming luxury is usually a self-centered activity, based on hedonistic and differentiation purposes. Conscious consumption, on the other hand, is driven by social and environmental concerns about the well-being of the current society as well as of the generations to come. Considering only these two statements, one could be led to conclude that luxury and conscious consumption are thus paradoxical. However, luxury consumers’ motivations show a different portrait of this reality in which is possible to integrate luxury and conscious consumption. This exploratory research describes the purchasing behavior of Brazilian and Portuguese luxury consumers and their attitudes towards conscious consumption. A total of 11 interviews were conducted with young women from Brazil and 8 with young women from Portugal to understand their social and environmental consciousness when consuming luxury and the similarities and differences among consumers from both countries. This cross cultural analysis showed that Brazilian consumers care more about the status of consuming luxury goods, while Portuguese tend to be more discreet. Yet, although both buy luxury products in small quantities and use them for many years, which can be said to be a conscious action, when it comes to translating social and environmental beliefs into consumer choices, the Portuguese seems to do it more frequently, mainly through boycotting a product on ethical grounds. The study provides important empirical advance over previous work on conscious and luxury consumption behavior, accomplishing to connect both concepts in order to understand consumption in a period of growing awareness about sustainability issues.