{
  "id": 14735408,
  "title": "Benjamin G.Voyer: \"Las personas ricas son muy complejas\"",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/benjamin-g-voyer-las-personas-ricas-son-muy-complejas",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-15T16:08:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Expansion ES",
    "slug": "expansion-es",
    "url": "https://www.expansion.com/luxury-forum/2026/10/15/6ad0f6d6e5fdeae87b8b459c.html"
  },
  "original_language": "es",
  "account": "Benjamin G. Voyer, a doctor and professor of consumer behavior and social psychology at the consumer level at ESCP Business School in Paris, has pointed out that today's luxury consumer has adopted new rules in which concepts such as experiences and environmental awareness take precedence over the need to display status. Understanding the new luxury consumer is essential for companies to adapt to the very different buying habits and modes of today. To connect and reach this profile, Benjamin G. Voyer believes it is essential to research and analyze this new buyer in detail, especially how their preferences are changing in the luxury sector. This task, according to the expert and researcher, is not at all easy as rich people are very complex, and ultra-rich people are even more so. These are some of the questions the professor at ESCP Business School and also scientific director of the Cartier-ESCP-HEC Paris research chair has put on the table at the conference \"The New Luxury Consumer: From Status to Personal Fulfillment,\" held as part of the EXPANSION Luxury Forum. For Benjamin G. Voyer, luxury is still a vague matter, even for researchers. Therefore, work is continuously being done to understand what is happening with the new habits. If we consider traditional luxury consumers, motivation was traditionally focused on the dimension of the need for status and wealth. However, Voyer questioned to what extent the need for status is known today. To delve into knowledge about the luxury consumer, Voyer pointed out that there are four well-differentiated types. First, the patricians: They have a lot of money, but a low need to display status. They prefer discreet luxury and do not seek to demonstrate their wealth. An example of this category can be found in people who have inherited wealth. The second profile, explained the French researcher, are the adventurists, or new rich, who are those who have a lot of money and a high need for status. They use ostentatious brands to let everyone know they have money. The third category corresponds to the proletarians, who have little money and a low need for status, and only consume luxury occasionally, or not at all. The fourth group is the impostors. They have little money, but a high need for status. They resort to imitations of brands and products to pretend to have a social status they do not have, but they do not have the economic means to do so, defended G. Voyer. Voyer reminded that the rules about luxury consumers have changed radically, and what was traditionally understood by this profile has evolved into a model of client that no longer cares so much about others perceiving their status or wealth. Now there is much more knowledge than before, largely due to the influence of social media, especially among the youngest. The value given to experiences is another issue that has marked the evolution towards the new concept of the luxury consumer. As Voyer has presented, in social media, being in a place is now more valuable than owning something, and this represents a real change, especially for the youngest generations. Another essential point that has marked the change is the shift from external motivation to internal: Previously, luxury was bought for status (external motivation). Now, the new consumer buys because he values quality and knowledge of the product (internal motivation). With the new times, the automatic consumerism reflex has ended, meaning that with more money, more material things are no longer wanted to be bought. In the new type of affluent consumer, concepts far removed from the old needs of status, recognition, and wealth enter the scene. The place of status display has changed, and brands must adapt to the new demands. For example, health has become a new symbol of social position. In many countries, investment in preventive medicine is now valued as a new way to show economic power. Environmental consciousness and sustainability, such as the purchase of a luxury electric car, have also become another expression of the new high-income customer profile.",
  "summary": "Benjamin G. Voyer , doctor y catedrático de ciencias del comportamiento y psicología social del consumidor en ESCP Business School de París, ha apuntado que el consumidor de lujo actual ha adoptado nuevas reglas en las que prevalecen conceptos como las experiencias o la conciencia medioambiental por encima de tener que mostrar estatus. Leer",
  "key_points": [
    "New luxury consumer prioritizes experiences over status display",
    "Ultra-rich individuals are more complex than traditional luxury buyers",
    "Four distinct types of modern luxury consumers identified"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}