The Role of Luxury in Rituals and Its Transformative Potential for Consumer Well-Being

Introduction

Humans have been performing rituals forever; rituals date back 70,000 years to Stone Age humans in Botswana, who are believed to have made sacrificial offerings to a stone python (Bone 2016). Accordingly, rituals have been part of marketing and consumer behavior conversations for nearly four decades (Rook 1985). In marketing, researchers have examined holiday rituals (Wallendorf and Arnould 1991), marketplace rituals (Otnes, Ilhan, and Kulkarni 2012), identity negotiation and construction through rituals (Bonsu and Belk 2003; Bonsu and DeBerry-Spence 2008), gift-giving rituals (Bradford and Sherry 2013; Fischer and Arnold 1990), physical transformation through rituals (Baker, Baker, and Gentry 2015; Nations, Baker, and Krszjzaniek 2017), rituals and advertising (Otnes and Scott 1996), and emancipatory dynamics in rituals (Kozinets 2002). However, while extant work acknowledges the existence of luxury, high-end, or expensive goods and services in ritual production, no study to our knowledge has directly addressed the role of luxury consumption in rituals (for exceptions, see Cowan and Spielmann 2017 and Otnes and Pleck 2003) or the potential for transformative luxury in rituals to affect consumer well-being.

Luxury inevitably arises as scholars discuss the rituals they examine, but they have yet to explore why ritual objects (Rook 1985) are so often expensive, exclusive, and high-quality. While consumer culture theory research has considered the sanctity of ritual experiences and objects (Belk, Wallendorf, and Sherry 1989), it has largely overlooked the connection among luxury products, ritual consumption, and transformative well-being outcomes. The current work aims to address this gap and to offer paths for future research, to particularly bring macromarketing and transformative consumer research (TCR) scholars into the fold. By combining these literature streams, we move the conversation on luxury consumption from a micro focus to a macromarketing foundation with transformative implications.

Today, the mention of luxury immediately triggers thoughts of designer handbags, chef-curated dining experiences, futuristic cars, spa retreats, five-star hotels, yachts, and other lavish consumption objects and high-end services. Shifting this to a context of rituals might bring to mind high-end weddings with plated dinners, wardrobe changes, and overflowing floral bouquets. What happens, however, when consumers begin incorporating elements of luxury into more mundane and personal, but highly visible, ritual consumption practices? In what ways do these new and adapted practices transform individual lives and the culture of consumption? Moreover, how do these practices affect consumer well-being at the individual and societal levels? Undoubtedly, many macromarketers might cringe as they consider the resource-intensive nature of many consumer ritual experiences, questioning the impact of such luxury experiences on environmental and social well-being (Schaefer and Crane 2005; Sirgy 2021). Yet, to charge luxury consumption as the cause of environmental or social problems decontextualizes consumer ritual practices that have developed over time and are manifestations of social interdependencies (Dolan 2002).

This commentary aims to contribute to the conversation about what it means to implement luxury into ritual practices, the role of external forces, and the potential for transformative outcomes. Considering rituals from a transformative luxury research (TLR) perspective is important, given that luxury is pervasive in ritual performance and that luxury consumption can have both positive (e.g., self-confidence, heightened importance) and negative (e.g., materialism, financial strain, environmental degradation) effects. Thus, luxury consumption in rituals has a high potential to affect consumer well-being, and macromarketers are interested in well-being and the role of possessions and consumption in consumers’ lives (e.g., Sirgy 2021).

In the next section, we lay the foundation for reflecting on rituals and well-being in the transformative luxury space. We then provide accounts of how novel ritual practices have arisen in recent years, how more traditional rituals have been elevated with luxury elements, how luxury can be harnessed for meaning-making, and how major environmental shocks may disrupt rituals. Next, we consider major influences on luxurious ritual consumption and production. After discussing paradoxes in transformative luxury in rituals, we offer a call to action for macromarketing and TCR scholars to engage in TLR through a ritual lens.

Conceptual Background

Creating Novel Rituals, Rites, and Milestones

In recent years, consumers have begun re-envisioning ritual practices that suit their needs, often looking to the ideas of others for inspiration. Consumers replace outdated, more mundane, or less visible practices with luxury-infused ones that have meaning and value, often challenging cultural norms and sometimes even taboos. As novel practices grow, they become infused with luxury elements and competition, as consumers make efforts to have the biggest, best, or most unique version. In 2008, a popular blogger decided to celebrate finding out the gender of her long-awaited first child with a party and a pink-filled cake (Tate 2019). This party, and its inclusion in her blog, was the catalyst for the creation of a new ritual practice, which has since become a source of creativity and competition, as new parents work to design the most luxurious, outrageous, elaborate, or unexpected gender-reveal parties possible. Examples of this practice include the use of fireworks, voice recordings, balloons, confetti, color-filled cakes and cookies, paint, colorful powders, smoke, holiday decorations, pinatas, automobiles, and more (C 2022). In 2020, a Syrian influencer couple spent the equivalent of $100,000 to host an extravagant party and have the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (the world's tallest building) lit in blue and pink for their gender reveal before ultimately switching the entire facade to blue (Chakrabarti 2020). Celebrities have even jumped on board, with many trying new, creative versions to break with the status quo, such as gender-reveal skydives, Power Ranger fights, paint parties, and pies in the face (Sorren 2021).

Another ritual that has come about in the last two decades is divorce parties. Throughout modern history, divorce has been labeled as a cultural taboo or negative outcome. As this perception has begun changing in American culture, consumers have turned the event on its head, harnessing the milestone as a new rite of passage or a step toward newfound happiness, identity, and freedom. In 2003, Gallagher (2017), author and expert on divorce parties, threw her friend the first version of the divorce ritual to cheer her up, with a “hot” theme that included a bonfire, spicy food, and a salsa dance teacher. Gallagher went on to write her book on divorce parties, noting that all other major life transitions (e.g., birth, marriage, death) have a ceremony or ritual to mark them. In the more than 200 parties Gallagher has professionally planned, costs have been between $5,000 and $25,000 for the celebration, with one group renting a luxury boat to host 60 attendees for a trip to Mexico. Borrowing adapted ritual elements from bachelor(ette) parties, divorce parties employ symbolic elements such as cakes, broken rings, sashes, signage, and the like. Still hinting at the “sinful” nature of divorce, Las Vegas is considered the divorce party capital, offering the opportunity to celebrate the milestone with friends by gambling, imbibing, and marking the start of a new life chapter. Ritual symbolism (Rook 1985) is adapted through the destruction or desecration of traditionally sacred objects, such as the wedding dress, marriage certificate, photographs, or rings. This ritual can mark the end of an era, refocus the event on new beginnings rather than on endings, help divorcees feel less alone and stigmatized, show support for divorcees, and incorporate positivity into a negative event (Gallagher 2017; WP Diamonds 2022). Divorce parties also seem to be in greater demand when the divorce is unexpected or shocking or when the person had little say in or control of the matter (Gallagher 2017), signaling their importance in processing emotion and regaining agency.

Elevating Established Rituals, Rites, and Milestones

Consumers are also revamping and elevating established ritual practices. Similar to developing brand new rites, shifting or adapting existing rituals allows consumers to express themselves, reflect current culture, ensure meaning-making, and rid their experiences of components that no longer provide value. This also means incorporating luxury. Some of the most popular trends for current weddings include full-weekend experiences for guests, unique or specialty vendors (e.g., celebrity impersonators, live painters, food trucks, other performers such as stilt walkers or fire handlers), champagne towers, floral motifs, and balloon arches (Lord 2022; Wax 2022). Not only do these consumption choices ooze elegance and symbolize the significance of the transition, but they also closely reflect values and trends in popular culture.

While weddings are expected to be lavish and laden with luxury, similar elements have also begun emerging in other established rituals, such as the milestone first birthday party for toddlers. Typing “first birthday party” into an online search engine brings up exceptionally themed decorations, overwhelming balloon and streamer displays, oversized decor, hand-crafted designer birthday cakes, classy or vintage high chairs, and carefully curated details fit for a professional photographer. The intensity and magnitude are breathtaking. According to informal surveys, parents spend an average of $293–$478 on their children's birthday parties (Campbell 2017; The Wake Up 2021), while industry experts sum the expenses for cake, entertainment, and decor to $500–$1,000 (Rigby 2016). Many parents feel pressured to “keep up with the Joneses,” as these parties continue to elevate in grandeur year after year. Others feel pressured to celebrate each milestone, as time, childhood, and life itself are fleeting.

As unspoken pressure or drive to celebrate each milestone increases, “graduation” and “first-day” milestone markers have proliferated. Social media news feeds in August each year showcase students holding signs or chalkboards on their first day back to school, from preschoolers to college kids, and everything in between. In May or June, these feeds are filled with graduation photos of children of every age. This ritual, which has adapted components of the traditional high school graduation ceremony, has grown in popularity and proportion in recent years. Some observers view it as an important marker to celebrate accomplishments and help students transition to the next phase of school (Chappell 2014); others view it as a way to outdo others, as an exploitation of parental emotion, and a luxury in and of itself (Bartley 2015); and still others view it as simply “big business,” with a host of companies trying to capitalize on the trend by developing ritual objects (Rook 1985) that support the practice (Villamagna 2022). A critique of this adapted ritual is that it diminishes significance of “real” milestones, such as the high school graduation, meaning that this ritual will need to be even more elevated, outrageous, or luxurious to feel special or make it meaningful. In this case, the luxury of an additional ritual or adding luxury components may actually erode the sanctity and meaning of another ritual. In this case, honoring non-achievements (e.g., finishing pre-school, which is not required or cannot be failed) or focusing on the external value of students’ worth could also undermine well-being.

Harnessing Luxury for Meaning-Making in Rituals

A wealth of other novel and adapted rituals and rites of passage have emerged as cultural needs have evolved. As these rituals become popular, they are frequently elevated to luxurious productions, meant to symbolize transition, demonstrate uniqueness or status, fulfill sensemaking and meaning-making, and signal the importance of the transition in life. On the surface, these ritual practices may appear over the top, particularly those that incorporate luxury consumption or rely heavily on public displays via social media. However, these rituals may be crucial for the processing of human emotion and in helping move people through these immense life transitions. When people are faced with major life events, they may separate from life as they know it; enter an ambiguous, disorienting phase of liminality; and, ultimately, reintegrate into a new (post-rite) normal (Turner 1969; Van Gennep 1909/1960). Novel rituals may range from small, intimate home gatherings to lavish, exaggerated events fit for royalty; marking transition is essential for people from all walks of life. However, the incorporation of luxury components signals, to both the transitioned and the ritual audience (Rook 1985), that the event truly matters—that it is substantial and worthy of opulence, grandeur, and magnificence. This idea of feeling worthy of regality or pomp and circumstance may help bolster the transition process, allowing participants to feel a regained sense of agency, particularly as society continuously reminds them that life is fleeting and major life transitions bring them one step closer to that final, uncontrollable, and permanent rite.

Ritual Disruption

Holidays, rites of passage, and even everyday rituals were upended during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Large family gatherings for Christmas, door-to-door trick-or-treating for Halloween, and even the exchange of Valentine's Day cards at school all came to a screeching halt. Baby showers, retirement parties, high school proms, and funerals did not exist, or if they did, they were unrecognizable. Everyday-life types of rituals, such as grocery shopping or undergoing an annual physical became hard to navigate. Overnight, rituals that were previously taken for granted transitioned to indulgent and out of reach. Hosting or participating in any of these events was a luxury, and major adaptations emerged. Many traditional rituals were replaced with drive-through or tech-mediated versions (Kerner 2021), such as neighborhood drive-by graduations and yard signs, Zoom birthday parties and family gatherings, live-streamed funeral services, meal and grocery delivery, and virtual doctor appointments.

While ample literature has examined how luxuries become commonplace (e.g., Hurt 2007), transitioning from exclusive and high-quality to accessible and mass-produced, the disruption of human rituals during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how this transition can move in the other direction. When typical rituals became impractical, humans responded with resilience, creativity, and improvisation (Kerner 2021). Much like buying a knockoff designer bag or renting a luxury vehicle, when rituals became out-of-reach luxuries, consumers cobbled the next best thing together.

Influences on Luxurious Ritual Consumption and Production

The cases we examine herein evidence consumers’ creation and adaptation of more luxurious ritual practices, their ability to harness luxury to make meaning and regain agency, and their resilience and creativity in assembling out-of-reach luxury. However, we also consider the catalysts for and influences on these behaviors.

Paradoxes in Transformative Luxury in Ritual

Macromarketers largely agree “that markets, marketing, and market systems should improve life-quality and well-being” (Shultz and Wilkie 2021) and that the TCR movement works to solve real problems and enhance consumer welfare (Mick 2006). On the surface, luxury consumption and these perspectives may appear at odds. Scholars are actively working to reduce materialism in society (Burroughs et al. 2013). In the context of luxury consumption, an increasing body of research suggests that materialism and well-being are negatively related (e.g., Kim and Jang 2017; Ryan and Martela 2016). However, by moving into the ritual space, luxury consumption also has the capacity to improve consumer well-being and facilitate the meaning and transformative power of ritual performances.

Examination of the role of luxury in rituals, and its transformative potential, reveals that incorporating luxury goods and services into some of the most important life events has both benefits and detriments. On the positive side, luxury is a catalyst for making milestones feel paramount, which is important for processing life events. Consumers need to feel that an event matters—whether the loss of a parent, the birth of a child, or the transition from school to career—and that it is appropriately marked in a significant way. Luxury consumption may make for more consequential, joyful, and purposeful transitions between life stages. Potential outcomes for consumers include a sense of comfort, a social support system, and a process for making sense of what a new, post-rite normal might mean. As consumers move through liminal phases (Turner 1969; Van Gennep 1909/1960) or even simply feel time and the years passing with each holiday, the ability to consume and display luxury goods and services may facilitate processing. While luxury often comes with negative associations related to materialism, overspending, and showboating, consumption of luxury often fulfills a primal need to feel important (Flett 2018). In addition, the new ways that rituals are emerging and being adapted have the potential to challenge cultural taboos and overturn long-standing cultural norms from more positive perspectives. For example, a once common practice was to throw “over-the-hill” parties for people at age 40; yet as medicine has improved, life expectancies have lengthened, with society shifting its outlook to adopt the new phrase “60 is the new 40” (Beech 2015; The Guardian 2022).

Luxury consumption still has its pitfalls, and in the context of ritual performances, there is also the potential for reducing consumer well-being. This seems particularly evident with ritual luxury consumed for competitive or conspicuous purposes. Given that luxury in rituals still often comes with a grand price tag, the pressures or expectations that come along with high-end, “perfect” ritual performances can result in stress and overspending (Heckman 2015). However, the idea of not meeting expectations or not “going all out” can also result in negative outcomes, including sentiments of failure, disappointment, or fear of missing out. Even when celebrations go as planned and desired, some of the positive outcomes and social gratification are fleeting, as both the event itself and the social presentation of it are short-term. Also of concern is the impact of luxury consumption on environmental well-being (Pai, Laverie, and Hass 2022), as consumers purchase single-use products for ritual events and companies work to design a plethora of consumption objects that consumers can choose to facilitate the ritual performance, which often occurs only over the course of one day.

Directions for Future Research

This commentary provides a starting point for countless related questions that emerged and provide fodder for future research explorations. As consumers engage in new or adapted rituals, what impact does this have on the meaning, significance, or sanctity of established rituals? Are consumers trying to replicate the positive outcomes of more traditional rituals by seeking out new (and potentially less significant) events to celebrate? Is there such a thing as too much celebration, and in what ways might it affect well-being? How do ritual disruptions affect consumers, how do they respond to them, and what are their long-term implications?

The connections between social media and rituals are also in need of closer examination. As social media influences what and how consumers celebrate, what drives consumers to participate in rituals they would not have otherwise considered? How does such participation influence behavior and decision-making, knowing that it will be visually consumed by social others? How does ritual-related content presented, curated, and narrated by others influence consumers’ actions, mental health, and overall well-being? What are the potential unintended consequences of well-intended cultural narratives surrounding rituals, rites of passage, and the fleeting nature of life?

Finally, the role of luxury in rituals, how luxury is being redefined in rituals, and the transformative potential of luxury in rituals are all in need of further investigation. Consumers appear to employ luxury in rituals to make meaning and elevate significance, but there is an element of social competition as well. Research can help tease out the benefits and detriments of incorporating luxury into rituals. Prior research has shown luxury ties to materialism (Belk 1985) and associations with the profane; yet luxury plays a central role in a society's most sacred of rites and rituals, by elevating their significance and meaning. Which elements are pure, core elements of sensemaking and ritual performance, and which are competitive, market-mediated, and meaningless? How do these affect consumer well-being, particularly in terms of social implications, status signaling, mental health, and emotional processing? In more practical terms, how are luxury rituals affecting financial well-being (as consumers attempt to stay relevant and perform rituals on par with those on social media) and environmental well-being (as companies design a wider array of ritual-facilitating products and consumers purchase single-use products for ritual events)?

Concluding Remarks

This commentary examines cultural rituals, transformative luxury, and various factors that influence consumer decision-making in this space. We concur with Cristini, Kauppinen-Räisänen, and Woodside (2022), who also argue in this issue that researchers need to move their understanding of luxury beyond a micro, individualist focus to a more cultural and macromarketing foundation; yet, herein, we show that linking individual choices and practices to macro-level cultural influences and disruptions is important. We argue that research needs to understand transformative luxury in rituals and its impact on well-being at both the individual level of satisfaction and the macro level of societal welfare (e.g., see Sirgy 2021).

Not only are rituals and rites of passage pervasive in the lives of consumers and foundational to societies, but they also have tremendous potential for enriching well-being, as they help individuals process, make sense of, and find meaning in major life events and connect social groups at all levels of culture in profound ways. Luxury has seemingly always been a part of rituals throughout history (e.g., the use of distinctive ceramic vessels in historic Aztec feasts; Smith, Wharton, and Olson 2003). Still unclear, however, are the role of luxury in rituals, the effects on consumer well-being and sustainability, and the potentially transformative ramifications. This commentary addresses how consumers are harnessing luxury as they create and adapt ritual practices, as well as the role of culture, social media, and marketing in this process. Ultimately, there are countless avenues for scholarly pursuits at the complex intersection of luxury, ritual, and well-being. The field is just beginning to scratch the surface, as the TLR movement grows.