The Elusive Search for Talent: Skill Gaps in the Canadian Luxury Hotel Sector

The luxury segment of the hospitality sector has been growing worldwide. Luxury hospitality is about providing a unique experience for guests, and this type of experience requires having employees who understand the luxury culture and are trained at the highest level. Luxury hotels compete for the best talents, but the current pool of candidates for customer-facing and managerial positions within these establishments is limited. The purpose of this study was to identify skill gaps in Canada’s luxury hotels. Primary data were collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews with twenty luxury hotel managers and analyzed with NVivo 12. Respondents agreed about the skills required for brands to succeed in the luxury market, but they lamented the lack of qualified talents and the difficulty of training and retaining qualified collaborators. The results of the study point to the need to address the luxury skill gap in the hospitality sector, particularly in Canada. Recommendations to address this problem are proposed.

The business practice of Louis François Roubiliac, 1752-62

Evidence for the organization of Roubiliac’s workshop in the last ten years of his life is provided by the ledgers of his bank account opened with Drummond’s, Charing Cross, in the year of the sculptor’s third marriage to the Deptford heiress Elizabeth Crosby in 1752. The resulting financial confidence, albeit short-lived, enabled Roubiliac’s visit to Italy with Thomas Hudson, also in 1752. The ledgers reflect the sculptor’s expanding business between 1755 and 1760 and document his assistants Christian Carlsen Seest from 1756 to 1759, Nicholas Read from 1756 to 1760 and Nathaniel Smith between 1755 and 1761. Other payees can be identified as masons assisting with installation and suppliers of marble. Payments to and from silversmiths and jewellers indicate Roubiliac’s close connection with those of French origin trading in the London luxury market, including Thomas Harrache, who served as the sculptor’s executor. Roubiliac’s ledgers also provide negative evidence - he was not always paid in full for his work, as his will drawn up six days before his death indicates: ‘all my book debts which is due to me to be equally divided into four parts’. This suggests that Roubiliac’s reputation for taking an excessively long time to complete commissions resulted in his forfeiting full payment, and explains why he died in debt. A letter from the sculptor to the agent of the 4th Earl of Gainsborough in 1751, requesting settlement of a bill for plaster busts supplied four years earlier, published for the first time, demonstrates Roubiliac’s poor grasp of the English language as well as his lack of business acumen.

How do religiosity and acculturation to the global consumer culture drive the perceived value of luxury? A study in Kuwait

Purpose This study aims to understand the impact of religiosity and acculturation to the global consumer culture (AGCC) on Muslims’ perception of luxury values. Prior results on the effect of religion/religiosity on luxury consumption and purchase intentions are inconsistent. Then, while AGCC is argued to affect consumers’ perceptions of luxury values, research in this area is scarce. Design/methodology/approach Based on an online questionnaire with 300 Kuwaiti respondents recruited from a paid consumer panel, the authors explore the relations between religiosity and AGGC on the one hand and luxury values on the other through linear regressions. Findings Religiosity enhances the perceived extended self, perfectionism, materialistic and sustainable value of luxury. AGCC enhances Muslims’ perception of all luxury values under study. Globalized Muslims mainly perceive luxury as means of self-identification. Originality/value The study is the first, to the knowledge, to investigate the impact of religiosity and AGCC on Muslims’ perception of luxury values. The authors propose an integrative set of luxury values that reflect both the social and personal value of luxury. The study focuses on Muslims in Kuwait; a potential luxury market that is under-investigated.

Underpricing Luxury: When a Lower Price Results in Higher Reputation

Determining the price point is a vexing problem for firms: price too high and there is no market, but price too low and money is left on the table. Complicating matters further, for many goods there is a secondary market where products can be resold following the initial sale by the firm. Here, the open market determines the price point that end consumers pay. Often that price is higher than the price offered by the firm for goods such as premium handbags, wine, high-end watches, and works of art, so the consumer will see the product’s quality or appeal validated by the market, which leads to a reputation gain for the firm. This phenomenon goes beyond physical products and includes a variety of services, such as live concerts, as reflected in their ticket prices in primary and secondary markets. However, the secondary market can also offer a lower price than the firm’s original offering, which hurts the firm’s reputation. Typically, the luxury market equates higher prices with higher status but neglects the impact of the secondary market. Our research considers the case where initially underpricing a good may be in a luxury firm’s long-term interest. Although underpricing has been used in initial public offering (IPO) markets to increase the firm’s reputation, it has been viewed as a problem or discouraged in other market industries. Our hypothesis is that reputation has long-term value for firms and, in industries where a visible secondary (i.e., resale) market exists for products, price increases after product release lead to gains in reputation as higher resale prices signal quality and value.

Ultra-high-net-worth individuals: self-presentation and luxury consumption on Instagram

Purpose Limited research has examined the segment of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs). This study aims to explore how this segment self-presents with regard to luxury on Instagram. Design/methodology/approach We use a qualitative research approach to content-analyze 815 publicly available photos on Instagram. The analytical approach involves multiple stages and yields three key themes. Findings Through Instagram images, UHNWIs engage in inconspicuous consumption via subtle displays of luxury possessions and more cues that indicate luxury experiences, power and social connections. The results further identify four dimensions of self-presentation in luxury consumption on social media: ostentatious, humble, revealed and hidden. Research limitations/implications The study adopts an inductive approach to identify themes related to UHNWIs’ self-presentation on Instagram. Other research could adopt a quantitative approach to identify drivers of the various themes. In addition, the unit of analysis was the photo posted by the UHNWI rather than the UHNWI himself or herself. Further research might explicitly consider the overall profile of each UHNWI and their holistic approach to posting with a view to developing a typology of UHNWIs based on the way they self-present and portray their luxury consumption. Practical implications Luxury marketers should focus on inconspicuous products and experiences that allow the UHNWIs to decelerate and spend time with their loved ones, access rare experiences and demonstrate power via their networks. Originality/value We extend prior research on self-presentation on Instagram. The authors focus on UHNWIs, a neglected yet significant segment of the luxury market.

Constructing meanings of luxury in Airbnb

Purpose Following Airbnb’s recent turn to the luxury market, this paper aims to explore how Airbnb hosts construct meanings of luxury as enacted in their hosting practices. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with 46 Airbnb hosts were undertaken using purposing sampling. Findings Study findings reveal that social and personal meanings of luxury manifest in host practice, with “home feeling” representing the epicentre of the luxury peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation experience. Research limitations/implications Although this study draws from host views, it represents a first attempt to empirically examine perceptions and applications of luxury within P2P accommodation. The study provides a conceptual framework which may serve as a point of departure for further research into which luxury service dimensions guests value. Practical implications The findings of the study carry implications to the wider hospitality context. Specifically, hospitality practitioners need to reconceptualize luxury hospitality provision to promote a “homotel” accommodation model which highlights the offering of physical and social luxury dimensions in addition to elements of personalized service and home-like hedonic benefits. Originality/value The study offers a conceptual framework of the luxury P2P accommodation servicescape, which identifies two distinct luxury offerings that may be informative to both P2P accommodation providers and hospitality practitioners.

Examining the influences of perceived exclusivity and perceived rarity on consumers' perception of luxury

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how exclusivity and rarity (natural versus virtual) influence consumers' perceptions of luxury. Further, it examines whether exclusivity and rarity can function as distinct marketing strategies in today's luxury market environment.Design/methodology/approachOnline questionnaires were administered by adapting developed scales from prior research. Research stimuli were chosen from three luxury categories including bags, wine and cruise. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regressions were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results confirmed that exclusivity, natural rarity and virtual rarity were perceived as relatively distinct constructs among our sample. Findings also highlighted that perceived natural rarity (PNR) has consistently emerged as a positive and significant contributor to consumers' perceptions of luxury across all three luxury categories. The influence of perceived exclusivity (PE) on perceptions of luxury has also shown to be significant for two product categories (luxury bag and luxury wine), whereas perceived virtual rarity (PVR) did not show any significant effects across all three categories.Practical implicationsThe results indicate that consumers perceive natural rarity, virtual rarity and exclusivity as relatively distinctive marketing strategies. This suggests that luxury businesses can adopt each strategy independently to achieve desired marketing outcomes.Originality/valueThis study offers theoretical support for the proposition that exclusivity and rarity may have different functions in luxury marketing implementations. It provides empirical evidence showing the distinctiveness of perceived exclusivity and perceived rarity, which have not be done in previous research.

Assessing levers of guilt in luxury consumption: an international perspective

Purpose For as long as luxury has existed, it has been criticized, by philosophers and moralists, who condemn self-indulgence, hedonism and vanity. Yet these concerns have not prevented the remarkable expansion of the luxury sector, evidence that most buyers revel in unashamed luxury. Modern economists point out the link between the development of the luxury market and the growth of social inequality. This study aims to assess how much guilt consumers feel during luxury purchases and identify its levers. Design/methodology/approach Based on 3,162 real luxury buyers from 6 countries, both Asian and western, emerging and mature luxury markets, a partial least squares-structural equation models (PLS-SEM) analysis assesses the level of guilt experienced during luxury purchases and identifies which drivers most impact guilt. Findings This study assesses the presence of a little guilt among a significant portion of luxury buyers across countries. Two countries present extreme scores: the USA (55.6%) and Japan (32%). Overall, the main driver of guilt is that luxury makes economic inequality highly visible; interestingly the pursuit of hedonism reduces the feelings of guilt. Research limitations/implications These findings have notable implications for luxury companies as the long-term success of this sector would be questionable if it attracts social criticism and induces distressing feelings among clients. Practical implications Luxury brands need to implement guilt reducing communication strategies. Social implications The luxury sector as a whole should redefine its purpose and mission. Originality/value This level of guilt experienced during purchases rarely has been investigated in prior luxury research. Yet luxury addresses larger targets, from the happy few to the happy many. Thanks to PLS-SEM modelization, the same hierarchy of guilt driving factors is revealed across countries.

Green Advertising for the Sustainable Luxury Market

Consumers are increasingly interested in environmental issues, which have raised their expectations of firms’ environmentally conscious efforts. The purpose of this study is to investigate how green messages in advertisements conveying a firm’s commitment to the environment can effectively influence consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions. Furthermore, this study examines the psychological mechanism underlying such an effect. The results of two studies show that firms’ eco-friendly efforts as revealed in advertisements for luxury products generated favorable attitudes in consumers and increased their behavioral intentions more than firms’ eco-friendly efforts as revealed in advertisements for mass products. This process was driven by trust in the ad message, especially for consumers of luxury brands and who are not confused by green message. This research provides empirical evidence that green ads presenting a firm’s commitment to the environment can effectively influence consumers when brands are used to promote eco-friendly products in luxury markets.

RESSO: a social media network for luxury retail

This Major Research Project investigates the role of social media to fill the gap created in online and offline dynamics of Luxury Industry over the recent years. This gap is evident in the fact that 75% research about a purchase is done online but online sales bring are only a mere 6%. Psychological study of luxury brand consumers informs the aim of luxury brands to mainly deliver status elevation, social stratification and internal satisfaction. Resso is a project inspired by the psychological objectives of luxury consumers and online consumers decision journey referred to as CDJ. Resso is an online hybrid luxury market place which is a highly interactive social media network where users shop luxury goods. They also receive luxury client services, offers, access to latest reviews and YouTube influencers linked to each product. Users make real connections with each other and an option to give and track charity on one digital platform. The paper will discuss theories of luxury brand management, present digital scenario, the design structure and affordances of the project Resso.