On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 02:25:03 +0000, Alex Rast wrote:

> at Sun, 07 Mar 2004 17:14:20 GMT in <pan.2004.03.07.17.14.19.719335
> @Socks.Invalid>, lid (Socks) wrote :

>>to take this in a slightly different direction (or maybe not), i just
>>read a very interesting book called "trading up". it is all about how
>>the concept of luxury has changed in America. a quick synopsis might be
>>that it used to be that there were low-priced goods which sold in high
>>volumes, and as prices raised volumes decreased ... until you ended at
>>true luxury goods which sold to very few rich people.
>>
>>the new thing (perhaps because we have more disposable income) is that
>>there can be inversions. things that cost more, can sell more, than the
>>lower priced options...
>
> My impression is that there's a different phenomenon going on, namely,
> repositioning. What's been going on is that the general quality, in
> virtually any market segment, is inching down over time, as
> manufacturers try to cut costs, not necessarily to gouge the customer
> but quite frequently simply to stay alive in industries filled with
> incredibly cutthroat competitors. A company will accept a slight loss in
> quality of product in exchange for a massive cost reduction, and the
> inexorable downward spiral starts to happen - now another slight
> reduction in quality is allowed on the already-modified product, and in
> a few generations the product is markedly worse that the original, even
> though the incremental changes were small and possibly went unnoticed.
> [...]

i agree that other things are going on, at the same time. having read
this book, a lot makes sense and jibes with what i see around me, but ...

as you say, companies can be temped (or even forced) to cut many corners.

i think one of the temptations that might apply here, is that once you've
established a quality/luxury brand, you might try to push it down and out
to as many people as possible. perhaps rather than customers "trading up"
the manufacturer "trades down" :-(

i hope that hasn't gone too far in the kitchenaid case. (but then ... i'm
still "trading up" to a model that can actually drive a dough hook. so
maybe it is a little of each.)

maybe a better example of "new luxury" is Viking (or Sub-Zero), which as
far as i know have not yet "traded down."