UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies Business School
FINNS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LUXURY TOURISM IN FINLAND
Master’s Thesis Tourism Marketing and Management
Suvi Piispanen May 2021
Abstract
UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies
Department
Business School
Author
Suvi Piispanen
Supervisor
Jarno Suni & Raija Komppula
Title
Finns’ perceptions of luxury tourism in Finland
Main subject
Tourism Marketing and Management
Level
Master’s Thesis
Date
6.5.2021
Number of pages
46+21
Abstract
The aim of this study is to find out the main features of Finnish luxury tourism in the opinion of Finns themselves. The topic is approached from the perspective of new luxury in attempting to discover to what extent Finns' opinions on luxury tourism in Finland are in line with the new luxury phenomenon. In addition, the study examines whether demographic factors such as age, gender, or income level have an impact on perceptions.
Traditionally, luxury is defined being expensive premium products that only few can afford, but luxury consumption has shifted from the product-based view to the consumption of experiential products and services (Granot et al. 2014). Another striking feature of new luxury is that luxury has become more accessible by means of cost cutting as a strategy for luxury companies (Kumar 2020).
This study was carried out with a quantitative approach. The data was collected with an online questionnaire and 199 valid responds were gathered. To find out the key characteristics of Finnish luxury tourism, principal component analysis (PCA) was used. With K-means cluster analysis similarities among the opinions of the respondents were detected. ANOVA was used to compare if gender, age or income level would affect the opinions.
The findings of this study indicate that the most valued characteristics are connected to wellbeing, joy and the feeling of being special. Also, attending and consuming Finnish luxury tourism is perceived comfortable and easy. Authenticity and meaningfulness which arise from natural parts of Finnish culture are important, too. Characteristics connected to price and availability have the most controversial opinions and the least valued features of Finnish luxury tourism are about status, sign value and conspicuous consumption. Further, this study categorizes Finns into three like-minded groups of people based on how they relate to Finnish luxury tourism and what aspects they value in it: (1) Traditional mindset, (2) New mindset and (3) Adjusted mindset. However, no significant differences occur between genders, age groups and income levels.
Key words luxury tourism, new luxury, Finnish luxury, tourist experience, experiential luxury
Tiivistelmä
ITÄ-SUOMEN YLIOPISTO
Tiedekunta
Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja kauppatieteiden tiedekunta
Yksikkö
Kauppatieteiden laitos
Tekijä
Suvi Piispanen
Ohjaaja
Jarno Suni & Raija Komppula
Työn nimi
Suomalaisten käsitykset luksusmatkailusta Suomessa
Pääaine
Matkailun Markkinointi ja johtaminen
Työn laji
Pro gradu -tutkielma
Aika
6.5.2021
Sivuja
46+21
Tiivistelmä
Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää suomalaisen luksusmatkailun pääpiirteet suomalaisten mielestä. Aihetta lähestytään uuden luksuksen näkökulmasta pyrkimyksenä huomioida, missä määrin suomalaisten mielipiteet luksusmatkailusta Suomessa sopivat uuden luksuksen käsitteeseen ja ilmiöön. Lisäksi tutkimus selvittää, onko iällä, sukupuolella tai tulotasolla vaikutusta näkemyksiin.
Perinteisesti luksus yhdistetään kalliisiin premium-tuotteisiin, joihin on vara vain harvoilla.
Luksuskulutuksessa on kuitenkin siirrytty tavarakeskeisyydestä elämyksellisten tuotteiden ja palveluiden kulutukseen (Granot et al. 2014). Uuden luksuksen silmiinpistävä piirre on myös se, että luksuksesta on tullut yleisempää luksustuotteiden edullisempien versioiden markkinoille tulon myötä (Kumar 2020).
Tutkimus tehtiin kvantitatiivisena. Aineisto kerättiin online-kyselylomakkeella ja saatuja 199 vastausta käytettiin analysoinnin pohjana. Suomalaisen luksusturismin pääpiirteiden selvittämiseen käytettiin pääkomponenttianalyysiä (PCA). Klusterianalyysillä ryhmiteltiin mahdollisimman samankaltaiset vastaajat samaan ryhmään. ANOVAa käytettiin selvittämään, vaikuttaako sukupuoli, ikä tai tulotaso mielipiteisiin.
Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että suomalaisen luksuksen ominaisimmat piirteet liittyvät hyvinvointiin sekä ilon ja erityisyyden tunteeseen. Suomalainen luksusmatkailu koetaan mukavana ja helppona kuluttaa. Aitous ja merkityksellisyys, jotka ovat läsnä suomalaisessa kulttuurissa luonnollisina osina, ovat myös tärkeitä. Hintaan ja saatavuuteen liittyen mielipiteet olivat selkeimmin eriäviä. Suomalaisen luksusmatkailun vähiten kuvaavat piirteet liittyvät luksukseen statussymbolina tai kerskakuluttamisena. Lisäksi tämä tutkimus luokittelee suomalaiset kolmeen ryhmään sen perusteella, miten he suhtautuvat suomalaiseen luksukseen ja mitä he arvostavat siinä: (1) ”Perinteisesti ajattelevat”, (2) ”Uudella tavalla ajattelevat” sekä (3)
”Mukautetusti ajattelevat”. Sukupuolten, ikäryhmien ja tulotasojen välillä ei kuitenkaan ole merkittäviä eroja.
Avainsanat luksusmatkailu, uusi luksus, suomalainen luksus, matkailukokemus, elämyksellinen luksus
CONTENT
1. Introduction ...1
1.1 Background ...1
1.2 Research questions ...2
2. Theoretical framework ...3
2.1 Luxury ...3
2.1.1 Changes in the concept of luxury ...4
2.1.2 What is new luxury? ...5
2.1.3 Traditional luxury ...6
2.2 Experience ...7
2.2.1 Tourist experience ...7
2.2.3 Experiential luxury and luxury tourism ...8
2.2.5 Finnish luxury tourism ...9
2.3 Previous research on luxury perceptions ...11
2.4 Previous research on new luxury ...14
2.5 Theory conclusion ...15
3. Methodology ...16
3.1 Research method and data collection ...16
3.2 Questionnaire design ...17
3.3 Data analysis ...19
4. RESULTS ...19
4.1 Background information of the respondents ...19
4.2 Principal component analysis ...21
4.3 Cluster analysis ...27
4.4 Influence of respondents’ demographic background ...30
5. Conclusions ...34
5.1 Discussion ...34
5.2 Theoretical contribution ...39
5.3 Managerial implications ...40
5.4 Evaluation of the study and future research ...41
6. References ...43
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Overview of the respondents’ background information. ...21
Table 2. List of reverse scored and removed variables. ...22
Table 3. Principal components by PCA. ...23
Table 4 Principal components with the original variables and the reverse scored variables. ..25
Table 5. Cluster analysis showing the mean and significance numbers of each principal component. ...27
Table 6. Comparison of the background information of each cluster. ...31
Table 7. Differences between groups by gender, age and income level by ANOVA. ...33
Table 8. Comparison of agreement between clusters. ...39
LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Terms referred to the sift from old luxury to new luxury (derived from Kumar et al. 2020). ...4
Figure 2. Theoretical background of the study. ...11
Figure 3. Framework of the study. ...16
APPENDIX Appendix A: Literature review on new luxury in general. ...47
Appendix B: The final 57 items chosen from literature and placed in 11 categories. ...52
Appendix C: Copy of the questionnaire. ...56
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Today, the middle-market consumers are sharp-sighted with high aspirations and significant buying power. They are also more sophisticated, better educated, more traveled and more adventurous than ever before. Factors such as demographic and cultural shifts and increased wealth have affected this transformation and has caused a trading up phenomenon and the rise of so-called New Luxury. (Silverstein & Fiske 2003.) Luxury is becoming more affordable and common in emerging markets. Contemporary consumers, though, are not defined only by their income levels, but rather by their personalities, values, interests and lifestyles. (Kauppinen- Räisänen et al. 2019.) Luxury industry experts say luxury consumers today are a much more diverse group with wide-ranging tastes and a unique set of values than the luxury shoppers before with fairly clear-cut profile (Halzack 2015). Based on existing studies, internal motivations such as a search for self-enrichment, self-fulfilment and aspiration, and having time for oneself and to relax are gaining a greater role in luxury consumption, especially in the last few years (Correia et al. 2020a). Today, consumers seek for luxury products, services and experiences to establish and create their identity (Kumar et al. 2020), rather than for signalling something to others (Correia et al. 2020a).
Earlier luxury research has mainly focused on high-quality products sold at a high price for exclusive consumers in a few select locations. Lately, the concept of luxury has been shifting from having-to-being and from owning-to-experiencing and the research field has started to be interested also on what luxury does for the consumer rather than what luxury is. (Thomsen et al.
2020.) Traditionally, luxury is generally understood mainly through tangible products such as Louis Vuitton handbags and connected to consumptionism and materialism (Yeoman &
McMahon-Beattie 2011). Correia et al. (2020a) stated in their studythat the role of social and cultural contexts in influencing a consumer’s attitude towards luxury is critical. Also, studies show that in countries that are very democratic, the perception of luxury is distant. Finland is an equal country, where it is not common to show off their wealth and typically, the Finns have not experienced luxury as part of their life. Luxury in its materialistic meaning has seemed useless and pointless in Finnish society and culture. (Adamsson et al. 2019.)
1.2 Research questions
The research question of the study is:
- What are the main characteristics Finns perceive as luxury in Finnish luxury tourism?
The sub-questions of the study are:
- To what extend Finnish follow the New Luxury phenomenon with their perceptions of what is luxury?
- To what extend demographic factors influence on their perceptions of luxury?
This study adds to the existing knowledge of new luxury and the aim of this study is especially to add knowledge on Finnish luxury tourism. More concretely, to provide better understanding of the factors that contribute to reach “luxurious feeling” for domestic destinations. New luxury is quite a new term, still, the conceptualizing of the term is widely recognized. However, as far as the author knows, only one study is done in the Finnish tourism context on new luxury (Iloranta 2019). The growth of the luxury market is seen to be based in particular on international tourism (Adamsson et al. 2019), but this paper is keen on finding out whether the Finns themselves consider Finnish luxury tourism products as potential luxury holidays for themselves. The COVID-19 time, at the latest, has forced the tourism industry to globally re-evaluate the over- tourism, over-consumption and excessive greed that defined much tourism before (Correia et al.
2020b). Still, world-class services are being developed and many are already existing, too. Thus, domestic tourism being one alternative to recover more rapidly and adapt more quickly, this study aims at determining the main factors Finns conceive as luxury when traveling in their home country.
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Luxury
Luxury is a complex and wide phenomenon that has no beginning or end and is constantly changing (Yeoman & McMahon-Beattie 2018). Tynan, McKechnie and Chhuon (2010) declare that luxury and non-luxury goods are the two extremes of a continuum, and where the ordinary ends and luxury starts is judged by each individual consumer. Kapferer and Bastien (2009) claimed that the word luxury has become commonplace and progressively emptied of meaning:
“Everyone understands it, but nobody can agree on exactly what it means”. All these statements describe the complexity and broadness of the concept of luxury and the subjectivity of it.
The increase in the consumption of luxury goods and services is been witnessed all over the world. It is argued that recent growth story of luxury started from 1980s, but historically, the luxury trade is considered as one of the oldest businesses, and the term luxury can be tracked down back to the times of ancient Greeks and Romans. (Kumar et al. 2020.) Today, what luxury is, is still very debated among academics; definitions occur as many as researchers and each researcher has tried to propose his/her scale of luxury measurement (Kapferer & Valette-Florence 2016). However, research today agree, that a shift from traditional luxury to so-called new luxury, exists. This shift brings into question yet more definitions of luxury and still, it does not claim that the traditional, old luxury, would no longer exist at all. This is illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Terms referred to the sift from old luxury to new luxury (derived from Kumar et al.
2020).
2.1.1 Changes in the concept of luxury
Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie (2011) defined reasons affecting the shift in the meaning of luxury. Firstly, as people are nowadays enjoying much more material comfort in comparison to previous generations and as old values of tradition and nobility have become less important, luxury is increasingly about experience and authenticity. Secondly, the so-called feminization of luxury, where luxury has moved on from its male trophies and status symbols towards aspiration and indulgence, and the increased focus on personal transformation through, for example, wellbeing and travel, luxury is increasingly about consumers wanting to improve their lives. In addition, they note that luxury is becoming more closely aligned with deeper issues such as eco- awareness, intelligence, healthy and ethical lifestyles. Consuming luxury in a more socially aware manner is a trend that is growing in importance and these, still emerging, twenty-first century values are becoming also more commercially significant.
As the changes in society and the rapid development of technology have profoundly changed contemporary consumption styles in general (Thomsen et al. 2020; Kapferer 2015), for these changes and with increased affluence, also luxury goods and services are available to buy for more people (Yeoman & McMahon-Beattie 2011). At the same time, the essence of luxury has transformed (Yeoman & McMahon-Beattie 2018). Luxury is no longer about ownership only and quantities, but about quality and experiences, about demonstration of one’s culture, lifestyle and taste, for example (Kapferer 2015). Although, Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie (2011) also remind that the more traditional luxury of materialistic consumption and elitism still prevails especially in emerging economies such as of China.
2.1.2 What is new luxury?
Based on literature, Kumar et al. (2020) and Kauppinen-Räisänen et al. (2019) suggest that traditionally and from the product perspective, the basic principle of luxury is thought to be rarity.
Limited availability of the product or service, exclusivity, high price, authenticity, uniqueness – also associated with luxury - all supports the idea of rarity (Kapferer & Valette-Florence 2016;
Granot et al. 2014). However, the increase in purchasing power across the world and more and more people buying luxury goods and services, has led to a paradox - luxury products and services have become less rare. This trading up phenomenon has caused the shift of luxury from
‘rarity’ to ‘mass market adoption’, and today, instead of the affluent few, these brands are marketed to the mass market focusing on middle class. (Kumar et al. 2020.)
This phenomenon has caused the rise of the new definitions such as ‘Masstige’ illustrated in Figure 1. ‘Masstige’, for example, stands for Mass Prestige and means luxury or premium goods/
services, but priced somewhere between the middle class and the superpremium (Silverstein &
Fiske 2003). Kumar et al. (2020) explain that masstige brands result from when a price of a luxury brand is reduced to the extent that it becomes affordable for masses, but without compromising quality too much. Kapferer and Valette-Florence (2016) also acknowledges, that especially in terms of growth, the luxury brands need to move away from just being rare (limitation of production, highly selective distribution and selection of customers) and “switch instead to an “abundant rarity”, where feelings of privilege are attached to the brand itself, seducing through its experiential facets, pricing, prestige and the world it symbolizes.”
A modern consumer of masstige brand looks for ways to picture a desirable ideal-self by using a brand and hence, masstige brands have become important means of self-expression and offer relevant alternatives to traditional luxury items (Kumar et al. 2020). By consuming luxury, modern consumers want to make statements about themselves, create identities and develop their sense of belonging (Atwal & Williams 2009). Especially if they are the younger generation, consumers seek to express who they are rather than what they have (Beauloye 2020). To sum up, Chandon et al. (2016) states, that new luxury is not only for the elite, but available for everyone as a tool of self-expression.
The shift from traditional luxury to masstige is also referred to as a shift from old luxury to new luxury (Granot et al. 2014) and resulted from the comprehensive familiarization of the literature, also in this study, new luxury is considered as an umbrella concept under which lies concepts such as ‘masstige’, ‘accessible luxury’ and ‘democratisation’ of luxury as illustrated in already mentioned Figure 1. So, when the phrase ‘new luxury’ is used in this research, it refers to all sub- concepts of new luxury mentioned in Figure 1.
2.1.3 Traditional luxury
As opposite to new luxury, old luxury - luxury that we are more commonly used to - is exclusively produced products and services accessible only for the few wealthiest and often associated with products like designer clothes or sports cars. Accordingly, the old version of luxury is strongly linked with materialism and consumptionism. (Yeoman & McMahon-Beattie 2011.) Largely, visible and status-oriented elements are connected to the traditional way of defining luxury, where luxury is perceived as something extra from necessity, something which goes beyond what one necessarily needs (Cristini et al. 2017; Thomsen et al. 2020). Previously, luxury meant conspicuousness, something that one can express his/ her status or power and for long, luxury was only for the rich and sophisticated (Cristini et al. 2017; Kumar et al. 2020).
Kauppinen-Räisänen et al. (2019), propose that traditionally, the product-based view has regarded luxury as an inherent characteristic of the product: outstanding quality and a more appealing appearance than non-luxury offerings.
2.2 Experience
Experiences are highly subjective, intangible and impermanent in nature and they endure primarily in one’s memory. A person’s experiences live on “in here,” in their memories and narratives, in contrast to material consumption which remain “out there”, separate from the self.
That is why it is argued that people derive greater satisfaction from experiential purchases, as experiences come to constitute a greater part of the self than do material possessions. Thus, experiential purchases are made with the intention of gaining some experience, and usual purchases include for example vacations, meals at restaurants and music and theatre performances - common products and services in the field of tourism, as well. (Carter et al. 2012.)
2.2.1 Tourist experience
In her literature review, Volo (2009) shows, that the complexity of the tourist experience is highlighted in many studies and that it involves difficulties in defining it, identifying and measuring the components, and defining how it changes according to the characteristics of the individual tourists. However, Volo (2009) gave several examples on how ‘tourist experience’ has been defined over the past decades. To name a few of them, the tourist experience has been defined as: (a) the culmination of a given experience formed by tourists when they are visiting and spending time in a given tourists location; (b) a complex combination of factors that shape the tourist’s feeling and attitude towards his or her visit; (c) what the tourist is seeking; (d) an example of hedonic consumption; (e) an opportunity for differentiation from everyday life; (f) an organic whole in which peak (art, culture and heritage) and supporting experiences (accommodations, transportations, shopping, entertainment and food establishments) complement each other.
Volo herself, (2009) conceptualizes tourist experience as follows: “Tourism is essentially a marketplace of experience and tourists provide the ‘mental places’ where the tourist experience happens.” Tourist experience is, then, something that happens in the mindset of a tourist, something very subjective. The definition also suggests, that tourists are not just buyers of products and services, but individual people desiring personal experiences while consuming tourism. (Volo 2009.) In addition, for example past experience, image and knowledge of place,
persons with whom that place is shared and individual personalities, are also shaping the tourist experience (Ryan 2015).
Ryan (2015) also listed several concepts from the prevailing literature of the nature of tourist experience. Yet, he ponders, that the list of concepts appears so broad that one realizes that any attempt to present definitive explanations of the 'tourist experience' are fraught with difficulties.
On the other hand, it seems very simple: people wish to relax, learn and see new places or places made familiar to them by television and Internet. (Ryan 2015.) Ryan (2015) adds that each layer of tourists’ past experiences shapes their future wants and expectations, and in consequence, tourists may wish for either nostalgia or novelty. Volo (2009), too, suggests a simplified definition of a tourist experience as any occurrence that happens to a person outside the “usual environment” and the “committed time”. In any case, to study the tourist experience, researchers actually need to study individual stories that are not definitive assessments of truth, but rather evaluations of others' experiences (Ryan 2015).
2.2.3 Experiential luxury and luxury tourism
As luxury today is not simply about ownership of things, but strongly linked to intangibles, it has led to the rise of luxury experiences – a change from pure materialism to experiences and aspirations. Tourism is strongly included in experiential luxuries as travelling itself is seen as a luxury product. (Iloranta 2019.) The base of the luxury market is in luxury travel (Iloranta 2019) and according to Dykins (2016), luxury travel industry is growing faster than travel industry overall. Many of the experiential luxuries are common in tourism experiences: private yachts, personal concierges, first-class flights. Although luxury still is about materialism in many cases, within travel sector, luxury is increasingly about focus on experience. Dimensions of luxury in tourism which are beyond materialism include for example the experience of time, space, authenticity, community, individuality and well-being. (Iloranta, 2019.)
The middle-class tourists from the emerging markets still want materialism, the classical way of luxury while on a holiday. However, goods alone no longer satisfy the way they once did, particularly not sophisticated consumers in more mature markets such as Europe and North America. Hence, the mature markets desire rather experiences and enrichment than material things. (Dykins 2016.) Modern consumers have various needs and meanings to consume luxury.
The focus might be in happiness and pleasure, in hedonic experiences, but also include eudaimonic features such as persons’ meaning and self-realization and personal growth and development. Through experiential luxury such as travelling, people can satisfy their desire to search for these needs. Experiential luxury services give an opportunity to live out different selves and learn new things and so, the growth of experiential luxury services such as luxury travel is also continuing. (Iloranta 2019.)
Already in 2005, Bakker (2005) stated that “Over the last 15 years, the luxury travel product has changed from the traditional luxury product such as five-star resorts and hotels, to a wide variety of exclusive and unique experiences”. According to Bakker (2005), luxury travel products can be roughly divided into the following nine categories: (1) luxury resorts/ hotels; (2) private villas;
(3) luxury cruises; (4) private islands; (5) yacht rentals; (6) adventure travel; (7) luxury special- interest travel; (8) private jet holidays and (9) tailor-made tours. However, today, luxury travel means not only exclusive resorts and cruises where guests are pampered. People are increasingly willing to pay more for a travel experience that is tailored specifically to their needs. The most important aspect for many people is that they are able to relax, whilst daily hassles are taken care of by others. (Bakker 2005.)
After all, what makes the experience luxurious, lies not in the product features, but in the mindset of the traveller: what might be very luxurious experience for one person might be typical travel for another. That is, different travellers interpret the same travel experience in different ways, depending on their view of the situation. (Bakker 2005.) Certain experience is always lived by certain individual with his/ her current state of mind and mood. The outcome then depends on how that individual reacts to the staged service. (Mossberg 2007.)
2.2.5 Finnish luxury tourism
Thomsen et al. (2020) discuss how conceptualizations of luxury differ in traditional vs.
unconventional perspectives on luxury. They propose that traditional conceptualizations of luxury have focused more on luxury in terms of being product-focused, accessible to few and marketing-led, while research on unconventional conceptualizations of luxury focuses more on luxury in terms of being experiential, accessible to many and consumer defined. Wallpach et al.
(2020) also studied the unconventional perspective on the experiential essence of luxury. They revealed that luxury can emerge from surprisingly small and mundane moments of for example being free to walk the dog, going to the hairdresser in times of stress, or even in enjoying the minimalism of reduced consumption (Wallpach et al. 2020).
In her study, Iloranta (2019) enriches the understanding of luxury in unconventional context and especially in tourism context in Finland which is not known to be a typical luxury destination.
Iloranta (2019) argues, that contemporary luxury tourism experience can be based on different things than the material features traditionally attached to luxury, and that Finnish luxury, particularly, is a new form of luxury with unique and untraditional luxury experiences. Finnish luxury experience might seem simple from the perspective of traditional luxury, as the core lies in the nature, purity and encounters with people (Iloranta 2019).
As Finnish luxury has features of new luxury, therefore in this study, Finnish luxury is also considered as one of the sub concepts of new luxury. In new Finnish luxury, things are done innovatively or at least exceptionally, and one of the key factors is to dare and to be creative.
Services and products interest and stand out in favor because they are produced in remarkably different way and for example hospitality is extended to all thinking. Finnish luxury is open- minded, interesting and bold. It is aesthetic, ethical, ecological, sustainable, and nourishing. In addition, Finnish luxury emphasizes authenticity, clarity and natural and cultural values.
(Adamsson 2018.) Iloranta (2019) concludes that luxury experience in Finnish context arises from aspects that are natural but valuable part of Finnish culture: nature, purity and people and encounters – “something that no longer exists elsewhere”.
Consequently, attempts have been made to precisely define the characteristics of luxury, but on the other hand, it is correct to claim that almost anything can be perceived as luxurious if a certain person attaches a luxurious meaning to it (Bauer et al. 2011). That is, as luxury is very subjective, luxury for some can include simply the feeling of experiencing time and space for example (Yeoman & McMahon-Beattie 2018). And further, today, the most obvious necessities, even clean water, air and food might be luxury for some people as these basic resources are unfortunately decreasing or rarer (Thomsen et al. 2020). In this study, the concepts are defined and connected as described in the previous chapters and as illustrated in the Figure 2 below.
Figure 2. Theoretical background of the study.
2.3 Previous research on luxury perceptions
Existing research relating to luxury relies heavily on a goods-centric view even though the consumption of services is faster-growing in general and also among luxury services (Wirtz et al. 2020). For that same reason, the existing luxury scales are also heavily developed from the goods-centric viewpoint aiming at defining the characteristics of the products that differentiate them from non-luxury products (Kapferer & Valette-Florence 2016). To define luxury perceptions, the proposition by Dubois, Laurent and Czellar (2001) of six main facets of luxury, is considered as the most accurate global one (De Barnier & Valette-Florence 2013). Dubois’ et al. (2001) study consists of two parts where the Study 1 relies on the content analysis of in-depth interviews. The results of the Study 1 identify the many facets of consumer attitudes towards luxury and the major themes that consumers associate with luxury goods, services or places. The six main facets they propose are formulated based on the qualitative Study 1 and are: 1. Excellent quality, 2. Very high price, 3. Scarcity and Uniqueness, 4. Aesthetics and Poly-sensuality, 5.
Ancestral heritage and personal history and 6. Superfluousness. Dubois et al. (2001) clarify that
the six main facets of their Study 1 describe the perceived characteristics of luxury goods and services, but they also add four other facets which describe each consumer’s personal relations to luxury. The added set of facets are: 1. Mental reservations, especially regarding excessive conspicuousness, 2. Personal distance and uneasiness, 3. Involvement rooted in deep interest and pleasure and 4. Powerful sign value. (Dubois et al. 2001.)
The main objective of the Study 2 was then to evaluate the diversity of luxury perceptions in a quantitative way. Altogether, they collected data with a questionnaire that included 34 items from all six facets in twenty countries having the final sample of 1848 respondents. As a result, after statistical analysis based on 33 items due to comprehension problems and one item therefore set aside, they identify three attitude types of consumers’ relationships with luxury which are
‘Elitism’, ‘Democratization’ and ‘Distance’. (Dubois et al. 2001.) The main findings of the article by Dubois et al. (2001) indicate that there are perceptions of luxury that (1) all three attitude types of customers mostly agree with each other on. They all agree that luxury goods are perceived as being of better quality and pleasant, reveal who we are, and are bought for pleasure and offered as gifts. Also, on average, they all disagree with the last two items: luxury items need not be useless, and they can be advertised.
Then, there are perceptions that (2) set "Elitism" and "Democratization" clearly contrasted. The
“Elitism” type thinks that few people own luxury products and few people also should access them. They have an opinion, that luxury is reserved for "refined" people, education is needed to fully appreciate luxury goods and that luxury implies "good taste" and allows its users to differentiate themselves from others. They also reckon luxury is inevitably very expensive, luxury items cannot be mass-produced, and should not be available in supermarkets. In contrast, the attitude of "Democratization" type is that many people own luxury products, and it should be like that. They consider luxury is not reserved to "refined" people only, and no special education is needed to fully appreciate luxury goods. Also, for "Democratization" type, luxury is not synonymous with "good taste”, not seen as an instrument of differentiation from others and not necessarily very expensive. In their opinion, luxury items can be mass-produced, and should be available in supermarkets. (Dubois et al. 2001.)
Lastly, there are perceptions that (3) distinguishes customers with the “Distance” type of attitude, as they feel they are far off from the world of luxury although they have no markedly negative attitude towards luxury, either. The “Distance” type feels they are not that much personally attracted to luxury (even though they see luxury as pleasant and of better quality). On average, they like luxury less, they dream less about it, they do not think it makes life beautiful, they are less interested, and less likely to talk for hours about it. More likely, the “Distance” type sees luxury as useless and too expensive. They are more likely not to buy luxury goods, but rather think that a "fine replica" is as good as the original thing. They would not feel at ease in a luxury shop, they would feel disguised if they used luxury goods, and they feel they don't know much about luxury. (Dubois et al 2001.)
Differences and similarities in luxury perceptions cross culturally were studied by De Barnier and Valette-Florence in 2013. In their research, they wanted to find out the main luxury perceptions of consumers from Romantic, Germanic and East Slavonic cultures and to verify, to what extent the six luxury dimensions by Dubois, Laurent and Czellar (2001) have evolved over ten years. The three selected countries were France, Russia and the United Kingdom. The research was conducted by qualitative methods using unstructured, narrative interviewing. The researchers interviewed altogether 45 people: 10 active users of luxury brands of different gender, age and occupation from each country, and additional 5 people per each country who are not active users of luxury goods but have bought at least one luxury product during the past year.
These additional 15 were interviewed to avoid narrow sampling by including respondents “who are not central to the phenomenon but are neighbours to it”. (De Barnier & Valette-Florence 2013.) The findings of the study confirm the relevance of luxury dimensions of Aesthetics, Premium Quality, Personal History and Expensiveness as pointed out by Dubois, Laurent and Czellar (2001). However, De Barnier and Valette-Florence (2013) also revealed a new trend in luxury consumption with the emergence of Self pleasure dimension, and the relative lack of importance of Uniqueness and Superfluousness dimensions.
The aim of the work by Kapferer and Valette-Florence (2016) was to identify what factors structure the luxury brand experience of some selected successful brands such as Louis Vuitton and Rolex. According to the researchers, their study focuses on “concrete elements of experience and avoids evaluative abstract words such as: magic, unique, rare, distinctive, elitist, gratifying,
pleasant, outstanding, attractive”. For that, unlike other studies about luxury brands, Kapferer and Valette-Florence (2016) position the questions at the consumers’ experiential level (what luxury consumers see, hear, feel and experience at contact points with the luxury brands’
marketing and communication mix). All in all, 1286 persons answered the online questionnaire which included 42 items. The items of the questionnaire were selected from a series of in-depth interviews analysed and categorized carefully. Items included classical elements of luxury from pricing, quality and exceptional beauty to other symbolic elements such as what clientele is associated to the brand and does it create value by making the brand aspirational. As a result, they identify eight operational levers which must be implemented by the luxury brands if they wish to be considered as luxury by consumers. These eight levers are: (1) Product superiority, (2) Selective distribution, (3) Not for everybody, (4) Actual still unique, (5) Elitist, (6) Glamour, (7) Gives class and status and (8) Fashionable. The researchers also conclude that “It is time to acknowledge that luxury is made by brands and that luxury brands are not simply brands which sell luxurious products, they also sell the dream attached to their own name and the world they symbolize.” (Kapferer & Valette-Florence 2016.)
2.4 Previous research on new luxury
Very little tourism related new luxury research is done, but new luxury and all its sub concepts are widely accepted among researchers. Therefore, literature review on new luxury in general was done. New luxury characteristics were systematically researched from the literature using the most used terms in the context of new luxury. As a result, an extensive list of characteristics of new luxury was completed and an overall picture of the phenomenon shaped (Appendix A).
Altogether 21 articles written between years 2005 and 2020 were reviewed. The three most used concepts in the articles were ‘Masstige’, ‘New luxury’ and ‘Finnish luxury’. Either masstige or new luxury was mentioned in all the articles except for example in Thomsen et al. (2020) whose article was particularly about conceptualizing ‘unconventional luxury’. The reason why Finnish luxury gained high frequency was the article by Iloranta (2019) about a limited topic of Finnish luxury tourism.
The central observation of the literature review was that new luxury is mainly explained to be more affordable version of luxury. In the literature, whether discussing about ‘bandwagon
luxury’, ‘populence’ or any other new luxury related concept, lower price and wider target audience is mentioned. Many of the concepts, as ‘accessible luxury’ or ‘masstige’, do refer to accessibility and mass consumption by their name alone, surely. According to literature review, the most striking feature of new luxury is the fact that luxury has become more common by means of cost cutting and downward extension as a strategy for companies (Kumar et al. 2020).
Another aspect derived from the literature review is that new luxury is more often explained to be something intangible compared to how luxury traditionally is comprehended. In new luxury literature, it is very often acknowledged that luxury is no longer restricted to products but also includes experiences (Granot et al. 2014). Also, the subjectivity of luxury is emphasised by the authors. New luxury is heavily associated to “the self” and what ever a person considers luxury, can be defined as luxury. New luxury is therefore described often as a personal experience connected to physical and mental wellbeing, meaningfulness and human involvement (Ganot et al. 2014; Bakker 2005).
2.5 Theory conclusion
This study concentrates specifically on the recent phenomenon of democratization of luxury and masstige, referring to more affordable and widely available luxury or new luxury. Also, as this study deals particularly with Finnish luxury, which is considered unconventional by its nature (Iloranta 2019), a deeper examination specifically in unconventional luxury is done. In addition, this study is about luxury in tourism and as tourism is heavily about experiences, this study concentrates on experiential luxuries rather than on the product or brand-focused luxury.
Changes in the concept of luxury are evident, however, only little research has been done about new luxury in the field of tourism and barely any focusing on luxury on tourism in Finland, yet less new luxury or Finnish luxury. The framework of this study is constructed by the author’s familiarization to existing literature of luxury, luxury experiences, experiential luxuries and luxury tourism. As the study aims to identify the perceptions Finns themselves have on Finnish luxury tourism, viewpoints from both traditional luxury and new luxury are taken into notice to ensure a sufficient number of factors and broad enough perspective.
To identify the Finns perceptions, this study utilises the characteristics of luxury defined by previously mentioned studies. Finally, this study will categorize if Finnish consumers are one cohesive group based on their opinions on Finnish luxury tourism or are there differences occurring (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Framework of the study.
3. METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research method and data collection
The main objective of the study is to assess the diversity of luxury perceptions of Finns in tourism in Finland in quantitative way. Quantitative research methods were used to collect and analyse the data. As only little is known of the topic of luxury tourism in Finland, this study is an exploratory study. Exploratory study is particularly useful if the aim is to gain better understanding of the existing problem. (Kumar 2011; Saunders et al. 2007.) According to Saunders et al. (2007) questionnaires with several open-ended questions are not suitable for
exploratory research. Yet, as the aim was to gather rather a large sample size to gain a numerical data and to explain a particular phenomenon, questionnaire was chosen as the data collection method (Kumar 2011).
Thus, an online questionnaire with only close-ended questions was implemented to gain data.
The questionnaire was designed with Webropol. Before wider distribution, the questionnaire was tested with four respondents. The testing phase proved useful and needed modifications were done. The data collection was carried out during two weeks in February 2021. Respondents were invited to fill in the finalized questionnaire in six Facebook groups concerning Finnish domestic travelling, one group of Finnish people living abroad and two groups of general conversation around Central Finland. The author also shared the questionnaire link in her personal Facebook feed and the post was shared by few people including the thesis instructors. In LinkedIn, the questionnaire link was shared by one of the instructors. The response rate was 26% - the questionnaire was opened 763 times and in total, 202 responds were gathered.
3.2 Questionnaire design
According to the literature review, various meanings of luxury exist, and the most common attributes of luxury are used in a goods context. Also, no official or widely accepted definition on luxury tourism exists (Bakker 2005). Therefore, as luxury tourism is a sub-concept of luxury in general, the items of the questionnaire have been chosen from mainly the goods context of the luxury research, too. This study focuses on finding out the perceptions Finns have on Finnish luxury tourism. A combination of multiple items from few earlier relevant studies were included.
These studies of Dubois et al (2001), De Barnier and Valette-Florence (2013) and Kapfefer and Valette-Florence (2016) were presented in the previous chapter more precisely. The questionnaire items were categorised by the six main facets describing the perceived characteristics of luxury goods and services determined by Dubois et al. (2001) with the seventh facet added by De Barnier and Valette-Florence (2013). Also, four facets which describe each consumer’s personal relations to luxury (Dubois et al. 2001) were added giving a total of 11 categories. The most appropriate items from all of these three studies were selected and placed in one of the 11 categories the researcher estimated was the most suitable (Appendix B).
The selected items by Dubois et al (2001), De Barnier and Valette-Florence (2013) and Kapfefer and Valette-Florence (2016) mainly represent perceptions on traditional luxury. In order to find out to what extend Finnish consumers follow the new luxury phenomenon with their perceptions of what luxury in Finnish tourism to them represents, items from new luxury studies were also included. In the previous literature, there is a lack of tourism related new luxury research.
Therefore, an extensive literature review on new luxury in general was done. New luxury characteristics, terminology and definitions were systematically searched out from the most relevant sources and listed as presented earlier in the Appendix A. Again, the most appropriate items were selected and placed in one of the 11 categories (Appendix B).
With the help of the instructors, all selected items were slightly modified to better fit the tourism context and translated into Finnish. Finally, the questionnaire included 57 items measuring the perceptions of Finnish luxury tourism in 11 different categories. A five point Likert scale was used in all 57 items. Likert scale is used to allow the respondents to evaluate their level of agreement or disagreement for a series of statements (Metsämuuronen 2003). The names of the categories and the type on which the item was set (new/ traditional luxury) were not visible in the final questionnaire as those were not essential information for the respondents. In addition, the questionnaire had nine questions regarding the sociodemographic and travel related characteristics of the respondents.
A covering note was attached in the beginning of the questionnaire. Rather than clarifying the meaning of the concept of luxury in this context, the purpose of the covering note was to ask the respondents to memorise an experience which felt luxury particularly to her/ him while travelling in Finland. Question related all the statements was: How strongly you agree/ disagree on the following statements being suitable for Finnish luxury tourism? As the main objective of the study was to gain information on individual opinions and perceptions, it was emphasised that while answering, at each of the item in the questionnaire, the respondents should answer based on what is, in particular, their own perception of luxury in domestic travel. A full copy of the questionnaire is seen in the Appendix C.
3.3 Data analysis
The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program.
Frequency analysis was conducted to get a complete understanding of the whole data set. The main analysing methods were principal component analysis (PCA) and K-means cluster analysis.
Principal component analysis was used to find out, out of all the 57 items, the key characteristics of Finnish luxury tourism. Principal component analysis is used when the aim is to reduce the large number of factors of a data set into a few key components. To group as similar respondents as possible into their own individual groups, K-means cluster analysis was proceeded and to indicate differences according to demographic information between the determined clusters, a cross tabulation analysis was carried out. (Hair et al. 2014). Finally, ANOVA was implemented to compare if different gender, age groups or income level would affect the opinions Finns have on Finnish luxury tourism. These analysis methods were decided appropriate to best describe the data, explore the examined phenomenon and answer the set research questions.
4. RESULTS
4.1 Background information of the respondents
The data was prepared by deleting one of the respondents due to unreliable situation of being the youngest of the respondents, 11 years old, yet stating the yearly income at 100 000 – 149 000 €.
Nationality was asked because the intention of this study is to find out precisely Finnish people’s perceptions on luxury tourism in Finland. Therefore, two of the respondents stating their nationality as “other” was eliminated. This led to the total number of N=199 respondents.
By executing a frequency analysis, respondents background information was examined (Table 1). Majority of the respondents were female (89.4%), only 20 (10.1%) were men and one who defined the gender as other (0.5%). Age of the respondents was asked by requiring a year of birth and age groups were formulated afterwards. The largest age group is 45-54 years old (30.7%), the second largest 34-44 (25.6%) meaning that people aged between 34 to 54 count over a half of the respondents. It should also be noted that respondents aged under 34 (17.1%) count less than respondents over 55 (26.6%). Therefore, most of the respondents are women in their middle
age or late adulthood. The distribution of gross income in this study corresponds the situation of Finland in general only moderately (SVT 2018). The largest income group with 40.5 % in Finland in general is 19 999 € or under annual income (SVT 2018), but in this study their share is only 11.6 %. In turn, the biggest income group in this study is 20 000–39 999 € (42.2 %). Also, in this study, people with remarkably high income are overrepresented with 7 % reporting their annual gross income 100 000 € or over. The same group in Finland in general is 2 % of people (SVT 2018).
77.9 % of the respondents currently live in Finland. Although markedly majority’s current country of residence is Finland, the rather large share of respondents living abroad is explained by the fact that the questionnaire was distributed in a Facebook group of Finnish people living abroad for the purpose of obtaining information to be compared. Most common number of trips done, domestic and international, is one to two a year. Respondents were asked to estimate their travel frequency in so-called normal times, before the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, domestic travelling takes place slightly more often than international. More or less two thirds of the respondents declare earlier experience on luxury tourism both in Finland and abroad.
Table 1. Overview of the respondents’ background information.
Background Information of the Respondents (N=199)
Sociodemographic Characteristics N % Travel Related Characteristics N %
Gender Travel Frequency (Domestic)
Female 178 89.4 None 10 5.0
Male 20 10.1 1 - 2 times a year 87 43.7
Other 1 0.5 3 - 5 times a year 74 37.2
6 - 9 times a year 13 6.5
Age 10 or more 15 7.5
24 and younger 3 1.5
25-34 31 15.6 Travel Frequency (International)
35-44 51 25.6 None 20 10.1
45-54 61 30.7 1 - 2 times a year 102 51.3
55-64 37 18.6 3 - 5 times a year 58 29.1
65 and older 16 8.0 6 - 9 times a year 11 5.5
10 or more 8 4.0
Annual Income
19 999 € or under 23 11.6 Been on a Luxury Vacation (In Finland)
20 000 - 39 999 € 84 42.2 Yes 128 64.3
40 000 - 59 999 € 51 25.6 No 71 35.7
60 000 - 79 999 € 19 9.5
80 000 - 99 999 € 8 4.0 Been on a Luxury Vacation (Abroad)
100 000 € or over 14 7.0 Yes 136 68.3
No 63 31.7
Current Country of Residence
Finland 155 77.9
Elsewhere 44 22.1
4.2 Principal component analysis
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test (KMO) and Bartlett’s test of Sphericity indicates how well the data is suitable for Factor Analysis such as PCA. In this study, the KMO value for the data set is 0.754 and the Bartlett’s test value is p<0.001, both indicating that the PCA is suitable to implement (Metsämuuronen 2003). Also, the communalities of variables were observed and found to be fairly reliable since all the values are above .50 (Hair et al. 2014).
Factors whose eigenvalues were less than 1 were eliminated by applying the latent root criterion technique (Hair et al. 2014) and thus resulting 17 principal components. However, before the final components were formulated, some variables were recoded, and some were removed (Table 2) altogether. PCA showed several negative factor loadings, therefore, their data values were
reversed to positive. The purpose of reverse scoring is to ensure that all items are consistent with each other in terms of agreement or disagreement (Hair et al. 2014). Generally, factor loadings .50 or greater are considered significant. Significancy is however depended on the sample size and there is a guideline, which determines the factor loading .40 being statistically significant for sample size of 200. (Hair et al. 2014.) That’s why, as the sample size of this study is 199, variables loading below .40 were removed. Also, some variables having cross-loadings were removed as recommended in the literature (Hair et al. 2014).
Table 2. List of reverse scored and removed variables.
Reversed and Removed Variables
Reversed
5. Finnish luxury tourism commands a premium price compared with conventional tourism in Finland but still is priced well below superpremium international tourism.
6. Finnish luxury tourism in more affordable and widely available than luxury tourism in general.
7. Finnish luxury tourism is no longer exclusive to affluent consumers.
15. Finnish luxury tourism is more reachable than luxury tourism in general.
16. Finnish luxury tourism is now more democratized being reachable to a large number of consumers, regardless of their actual income.
20. Material features serve as a base for Finnish luxury tourism.
47. I would not feel at ease in a Finnish luxury tourism destination.
48. When in a Finnish luxury tourism destination, I feel a bit like I’m disguising myself.
51. I’m not interested in Finnish luxury tourism.
Removed
1. Finnish luxury tourism is not purchased by customers from all walks.
9. In Finnish luxury tourism, it is important to communicate the prestige by look and feel.
14. Truly Finnish luxury tourism cannot be mass produced.
22. A feeling of safety is basic feature of the Finnish luxury tourism.
23. Sustainability in all its' forms is a basic feature of Finnish luxury tourism.
37. Finnish luxury tourism makes life more interesting spiritually and intellectually.
44. People who buy Finnish luxury tourism seek to imitate the rich.
46. Finnish luxury tourism is old fashioned.
50. All things considered, I rather like Finnish luxury tourism.
54. Those who buy Finnish luxury tourism are refined people.
After the process of recoding and removing variables, the PCA formulated 14 principal components that accounted for 64.9 % of the total variance. Two of the components had loadings from only one variable and were therefore deleted, resulting 12 components (Hair et al. 2014).
Still, it is recommended to measure the degree of consistency. Cronbach’s alpha focuses to
measure the degree of internal consistency, in other words, how well the individual items measure the same thing (Hair et al. 2014; Metsämuuronen 2003). Generally agreed limit for Cronbach’s alpha is .70, but in this study, due exploratory in nature, it was decreased to .60 (Hair et al. 2014). Five components with Cronbach’s alpha below .60 were deleted. Thus, the PCA finally formulated 7 principal components (Table 3) that accounted for 45.9 % of the total variance. Usually, a principal component solution accounts 60 % or higher of the total variance, but no absolute limit has been set and even less can be sufficient (Hair et al. 2014). The seven principal components were named after the original 11 facets with slight modifications to describe as well as possible the content of the variables loaded into each component (Metsämuuronen 2003).
Table 3. Principal components by PCA.
Principal Component Analysis
Principal Component Eigenvalues % of Variance Cronbach's Alpha
1 Authenticity and Meaningfulness 7.4 15.8 0.79
2 Price 3.9 8.3 0.82
3 Personal Relation 3.1 6.7 0.82
4 Status and Sign Value 2.3 5.0 0.70
5 Conspicuousness and Superfluousness 1.9 4.0 0.73
6 Self Pleasure 1.5 3.2 0.68
7 Affordability and Availability 1.4 3.0 0.61
Total % of variance explained 45.9
In Table 4 these seven main factors are presented, and relevant numbers reported with the original variables included in each component. As mentioned earlier, due to ensuring that a high value indicates the same thing in every item, some of the variables were recoded. By reverse scoring, the numerical scale runs in the opposite direction. Therefore, the Likert scale value 5 “strongly agree” becomes 1 when recoded, 4 “agree” becomes 2 and so on. The variables were also verbally worded in the opposite direction. (Metäsmuuronen 2003.) These reverse scored items are presented in italics in Table 4.
In the first factor, authenticity and meaningfulness (1), elements connected to authentic Finnish culture and nature are being emphasized. Respondent giving high value for this factor finds meaningfulness as the ultimate goal of Finnish luxury tourism. He/ she also thinks, that the meaningfulness stems from elements, which emphasize the unique but natural strengths of
Finland as a destination and elements, that can be found in unexpected situations in private, brief moments. Second factor, price (2) includes elements connected to the high price of luxury tourism. Two of the variables were reversed resulting a situation, where putting high value for the variables in the second factor, means that the respondent thinks Finnish luxury tourism is very expensive and exclusive only for affluent consumers. The third factor, personal relation (3), indicates if the respondent feels apart from the world of luxury. It indicates whether the respondent thinks Finnish luxury tourism being something “out of his/ her lifestyle” or Finnish luxury tourism destination being something where he/ she would be “ill at ease”. Hence, high scores within the third factor speaks for a comfortable personal relation between the respondent and luxury tourism in Finland and that the respondent is keen on Finnish luxury tourism, too.
The fourth factor is status and sign value (4). Basically, this factor deals with perceptions which picture the thought, that by consuming luxury tourism, a person wants to convey a refined message about themselves. The higher the respondent’s value in this factor, the stronger the thought that people who buy Finnish luxury tourism are trying to achieve high social status.
Somewhat closely related to the previous factor, conspicuousness and superfluousness (5) means that Finnish luxury tourism implies some kind of perceived superfluousness or uselessness. In fact, the term conspicuous consumption is suitable, as high values in factor five tells that the respondent thinks consumers of Finnish luxury tourism are often trying to impress others and trying to be highly visible. Sixth factor, self pleasure (6), in turn, concentrates more on how Finnish luxury tourism refines the internal world of the respondent. It is associated with well- being, joy and harmony and the higher the score in this factor, the more the respondent thinks that Finnish luxury tourism is about him/ her personally feeling good. A respondent who values high the last factor, affordability and availability (7), thinks that Finnish luxury tourism is not affordable and by reach of many, but actually scarce and rare inste
Table 4. Principal components with the original variables and the reverse scored variables.
Principal Components with Items
1 Component: Authenticity and Meaningfulness 7.4 15.8 3.7 0.79
The core of Finnish luxury tourism comes from nature, purity and people and encounters. 0.71 4.2 New
Luxury in Finnish tourism arises from those aspects that are a natural but valuable part of Finnish culture. 0.66 3.7 New
A Finnish luxury experience might be simple, but at the same time, it is meaningful, authentic and unique. 0.66 3.9 New
Meaningfulness is the ultimate goal of Finnish luxury tourism. 0.61 3.3 New
Luxury in Finnish tourism is accessible to many as long as they are mindful of it, as it can be found in the most unexpected contexts. 0.60 3.4 New Luxury in Finnish tourism may be presented as being only restricted by the perceptual abilities of the consumer. 0.56 3.2 New
Material features do not serve as a base for Finnish luxury tourism. 0.50 3.6 Both
Finnish luxury tourism focuses on fleeting private meanings attached to an ephemeral experience of luxury in however brief moments. 0.47 3.7 New Luxury in Finnish tourism comes from the destination's own strengths, making it unique, authentic and valuable. 0.46 4.2 New
2 Component: Price 3.9 8.3 3.5 0.82
Most of Finnish luxury tourism is not at all affordable in price. 0.82 4.0 Trad.
Finnish luxury tourism is very expensive. 0.81 3.7 Trad.
Finnish luxury tourism is not democratized. 0.69 3.6 New
Finnish luxury tourism is still exclusive to affluent consumers. 0.66 2.7 New
Finnish luxury tourism is too expensive for what it is. 0.48 3.3 Trad.
3 Component: Personal Relation 3.1 6.7 4.0 0.82
I would feel at ease in a Finnish luxury tourism destination. 0.83 4.2 Trad.
When in a Finnish luxury tourism destination, I feel like myself. 0.83 4.2 Trad.
Finnish luxury tourism is good taste. 0.72 3.5 Both
I am interested in Finnish luxury tourism. 0.59 4.0 Both
4 Component: Status and Sign Value 2.3 5.0 2.9 0.70
People who buy Finnish luxury tourism try to differentiate themselves from others. 0.76 2.7 Trad.
Loadings Eigenvalue % of Variance Cronbach's Alpha
Mean Trad./ New luxury
