“75% of people that buy a hybrid, does it for economic reasons, not environmental”. I often cite this finding of a J.P. Power and Associates survey that helps me make the point that sustainability per se’ is not sufficient to win people’s heart and influence behavior if it doesn’t respond first to very personal needs (Like saving money on gas!!).

Today I would like to focus the attention on the remaining 25%. Who are they? Why are they driving a Prius?

Amazing enough, they are not the hard core LOHAS enthusiasts, they would be driving an old Mercedes, filling their tank at the Mc Donald around the corner.

Not surprisingly, they are not some weirdos fascinated by the estethic of the Prius.

They are those CEOs and VPs that decided that in a time where everybody else is counting pennys, showing up with a Maserati or a brand new Lamborghini, just because they still could,  simply isn’t cool anymore. And probably it isn’t, parking your brand new F149 after you just signed off on a massive lay-off…after all, isn’t luxury all about image?

Celebrities spotted driving their new Mini E to the Farmers Market wearing vintage outfits.

Frugality is the new mantra, and the “in-crowd” is now showing signs of sobriety and self-imposed rigor. Luxury has become a “dirty” word with the recession, leaving the spot light to “conscious spending” or “sober living“.

And because most of the time these people are the influencers, the opinion leaders, the ones that folks emulate and look up to, their behavioral shift is helping the masses accept and normalize sustainable practices.

America is discovering that the new luxury is spending time with family and friends, collect memories that will last longer than a 401K and develop real connections.

So what is next for luxury brands?

Don’t get me wrong, people will still look for aspirational appeal in the things they buy, they are just shifting aspirations and ask for more inspiration.

People don’t want to buy just a watch, they want to buy a piece of immortality, that will stay in their families for generations to come. They don’t want to buy just a table, they want to buy the story behind it and the vision of the many dinners with family and friends around the centerpiece of the house. They want to learn about the hands that built it and feel good about the fact that their purchase will help feed those hands.

“The concept of luxury needs to go back to what it used to be about: discretion and elegance, not bling bling.   Luxury is about quality, refinement, innovation and not about price.” Karl Lagerfeld

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Tags: Barbara Manconi, Conscious Consumers, Conscious Spending, LOHAS, Luxury Brands, Mini E, New Concept of Luxury, new frontier of luxury

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Branding, Cause Marketing, Green Marketing, People, Sustainability, The Green Consumer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.