Luxury goods are a social signal, as psychologists and economists¹ will attest². They broadcast a message about status and taste, in part through their high-end materials, craftsmanship³, and of course price tags.

正如心理学家和经济学家所言，奢侈品是一种社会信号。它们发出了关于地位和品味的信息，在某种程度上通过高端材质、做工当然还有价签来体现。

But what exactly motivates someone to line up for a $500 pair of sneakers, or a $400 hoodie? These items carry the weighty cost of luxury goods, and may be made at top-level factories with high-quality materials. But when people have traditionally imagined luxury, sneakers and hoodies were not what came to mind.

不过到底是什么促使某些人排队购买500美元一双的运动鞋或者400美元一件的卫衣呢？这些物品承载着奢侈品的巨大成本，而且可能是在顶级工厂用高质量面料做出的。但是，当人们想象奢侈品时，通常脑海中浮现的并不是运动鞋和卫衣。

Highsnobiety is a digital publisher, creative agency, and soon an e-commerce company whose young, fashion-centric audience—mostly men—includes a lot of people who will shell out hundreds for sneakers, hoodies, and t-shirts. Its main areas of coverage⁴ tend to be subjects like streetwear, music, and designer fashion. To get a sharper picture of its audience and what motivates it to buy, it surveyed about 5,000 of its 16- to 34-year-old readers and followers⁵ around the world, and nearly 2,400 other consumers in that age group in key markets.

Highsnobiety是一家数字出版公司、创意机构，不久将成为一家电子商务公司。该公司年轻、以时尚为中心的受众——主要是男性——包括许多愿意花数百美元去购买运动鞋、卫衣和t恤衫的人。它的主要报道领域往往是街头服饰、音乐和设计师时装。为了更清楚地了解它的受众，以及他们购买奢侈品的动机，该公司调查了全球大约5000名16岁至34岁的读者及关注者，以及一些关键市场中处于该年龄段的近2400名其他消费者。

More than a third of the Highsnobiety users surveyed, it noted⁶ in a new white paper, said they had purchased clothing, footwear, or an accessory costing over $500 in the past 12 months. But the price wasn’t the point: The “vast majority of them see these purchases as a way to convey a value system they share with like-minded consumers,” the authors note. The key takeaway was that these young shoppers, whatever their spending levels, aren’t just buying products, they’re “buying into a lifestyle or community”—one which often exists in a nexus⁷ of brands and people talking to each other through social platforms such as Instagram and events including product drops and festivals.

在一份新的白皮书中，该公司表示，在接受Highsnobiety调查的用户中，超过三分之一的人在最近一年里用500美元以上的价格购买过服装、鞋类或配饰。不过作者写道，价格不是重点：“绝大多数人认为这些购买行为是向志同道合的消费者表明自身价值体系的一种方式。”最重要的一点是，不管处于何种消费水平，这些年轻的购物者不只是在购买商品，他们也是在“通过购买行为进入一种生活方式或群体”——它通常存在于品牌和人们通过Instagram等社交平台进行交流，以及包括产品发布会和节日在内的活动之间。

The meaning behind a product has always been an important facet⁸ of fashion and luxury. “The context is so important, and, let’s face it, when you’re selling luxury, you’re not selling a product,” Ian Rogers, chief digital officer of LVMH told Wired UK recently. “No one is buying a Dior handbag for EUR3,000 because of its incredible utility. You’re buying it because the culture of Dior has meaning.”

商品背后的意义一直是时尚品牌和奢侈品的一个重要层面。路易威登集团首席数字官伊恩·罗杰斯最近在接受《连线》英国采访时表示：“情境太重要了，这么说吧，卖奢侈品不是在卖产品。没有人是因为出色的实用价值而花3000欧元买一个迪奥包。买它是因为迪奥品牌文化的意义。”

But what’s shifting is that conveying one’s values and insider knowledge is becoming as common and important—or more—for younger shoppers as showing off qualities like status. The result is that they’re putting more emphasis on brands that align⁹ with their worldview, or on products that suggest a sense of belonging to a community—usually because they’re so exclusive you have to be part of the community and willing to pay to get your hands on them.

不过，与过去不尽相同的一点是，对于年轻消费者来说，传达自己的价值观和内行知识正变得与展示身份一样普遍和重要，甚至更为突出。结果是，他们更看重与自己的世界观一致的品牌，或体现某个群体归属感的产品——通常是因为他们如此的排外，你得成为这个群体的一份子，并且愿意花钱去融入。

That doesn’t mean brands can simply stick a high price on a logo t-shirt, put out limited numbers, and expect consumers to jump; 89% of Highsnobiety users said they can tell when the people behind a brand are part of the culture they’re representing or just co-opting it. And when young luxury shoppers do drop hundreds on a limited-edition product, they want it to take unexpected creative chances. Inspiration matters more than aspiration¹⁰.

这并不是说各大品牌可以简单地给带有自己标识的T恤衫定个高价，推出有限的数量，然后就指望消费者抢着购买；接受调查的89%的用户说，他们能够判断支持某个品牌的人是融入了该品牌的文化，还是只不过在跟风。而且，当购买奢侈品的年轻消费者不惜重金购买一款限量版商品时，他们希望它能有出人意料的创意。灵感比渴望更重要。