Im 21. Jahrhundert, die digitale EinzelhandelsTransparenz und die zunehmende weltweite Ungleichheit brachten eine neue Konsumkategorie: Humanistic Luxury. Diese Verbraucherkategorie von Produkten und Dienstleistungen richtet sich an gebildete Verbraucher der Mittelschicht und verspricht die Möglichkeit Status Güter zu erwerben und gleichzeitig an humanitären Bemühungen teilzunehmen. Ein Oxymoron, das wert ist, untersucht zu werden. Um Schlüsselfunktionen und Konsequenzen der Kategorie aufzuzeigen, wurde eine Methodenforschung der Grounded Theory durchgeführt. Vierzehn globale Verbraucher aus elf Ländern wurden eingehend Statusgruppe, ihre Werte und ihre Funktionen befragt zu definieren. Die Ergebnisse enthüllten drei distinkte Untergruppen innerhalb der Verbraucher, der moralische Überlegenheit anstrebt, und die Verbraucher aus Schwellenländern („Ich konsumiere ganz normal, aber jetzt unterstütze ich meine Gemeinschaft“). Diese Ergebnisse beleuchten die Folgen des humanistischen Luxus und einige der unwahrscheinlichen Quellen lokaler und globaler Ungleichheit Reproduktion im Bereich des Konsums. Diese Kategorie bietet keine Unterscheidung mehr auf der Grundlage des finanziellen, sondern des kulturellen und moralischen Kapitals. Humanistischer Luxus kann zwar dazu beitragen, die Verletzlichkeit des Handwerks zu beseitigen Die Hierarchien sind zementiert aber auch soziale, die bestätigen, wer „würdig“ ist und wer nicht, und was letztendlich die soziale Mobilität auf lokaler und globaler Ebene behindert. / The 21st century, digital (retail) transparency, and increasing worldwide inequality brought a new consumer category: Humanistic Luxury. This consumer category of products and services caters to educated, middle-class consumers, promising them a chance to acquire status goods, while, at the same time, to participate in humanitarian efforts; an oxymoron that is worthy to investigate. To expose key functions and consequences of the category, a grounded theory methodology research was conducted. Fourteen global consumers from eleven countries were deep interviewed to define the status group, its values, and its functions. The findings unveiled three district subgroups within consumers who are seeking moral superiority, that is, consumers of the Americas (“I must consume to change”), consumers of Europe (“I must change to keep consuming”), and the third group of consumers from emerging economies (“I consume as normal but now I support my community”). These findings shed light on the consequences of Humanistic Luxury, and some of the unlikely sources of local and global inequality reproduction in the sphere of consumption. This category is no longer providing a sense of distinction on the base of financial, but on cultural and moral capital. While Humanistic Luxury may help to eliminate artisan vulnerability, it also cements social hierarchies confirming who is “worthy”, and who is not, ultimately hindering social mobility on both local and global levels.

Is luxury consumption incompatible with simple living? ... or not? For most of the people the question and the answer are obvious. On the first sight, it seems that there is no compatibility at all. How can luxury that is often connected and used as a synonym for opulence, excessive useless things and so on be even placed in one sentence with such a frugal concept as simple living? The purpose of this thesis is to define the framework and the issues that arise when putting the two concepts together. The findings of the thesis can be treated in deeper research that can follow and be inspired by this thesis. In order to prove and explain the analytical part, the findings are applied on real life examples. The theoretical part defines what luxury is, what its specific attributes are and why it stands apart from the "traditional" marketing approach. What is more, the impact of internalization and globalization on the luxury products and services is particular and cannot be treated in the same manner as for the mass consumption brands. The second analytical part treats the concept of simple living, the common misunderstandings and the philosophy of the concept. The two concepts are then put together in order to search for some for the points in common and the incompatibilities. The last chapter is dedicated to a practical illustration of the theory stated. Five star spa hotel and forest retreat Chateau Mcely is used as an example of luxury meeting simple living in some areas. The hotel is briefly introduced starting with the history of the building and then the modern history of the today's hotel after it was acquired by the actual owners, Inéz and James Cusumano. The mission statement and the principal idea of the project are detailed same as is the marketing mix of Chateau Mcely. And finally, the sustainability and ways of creating it are presented in order to underline the symbiosis of luxurious hotel and simple living, at least in some domains.

The dissertation deals with rivalling discourses on dynamics of consumption in early postwar Japan, led by the theses of Bourdieu on social distinction, Lefebvre\\\'s analysis of spaces, the politics of noise and a discourse analysis after Laclau/Mouffe. While consumerism began to develop into a great energetic ideology of a middle class in Japan in the 1960s, the early postwar renegotiation of social spaces produced a form of social noise and highly moving social environment and spaces: alternative discourses and debates on what poverty, luxury or even consumerism itself were, emerged from within these spaces of noise. Between luxury and poverty, the black market was one of the central places of consumption, but also developed into the central social space which defined both poverty and luxury from within and beyond the blurred social boundaries. In the end, social discourses of distinction against poverty and black market consumers also encouraged social mobility and shaped an exotic ideal of \\\"European\\\" luxury.

The diploma thesis looks into luxury beauty industry. The aim is to define problem areas in the communication strategy of luxury cosmetics brand of specific company with a focus on sales promotion in a specific distribution channel and propose possible solutions for improvement based on the analysis. Verification of the problem and the recommendations for its improvement will take place on the basis of in-depth interview techniques, observation of merchandising in specific distribution chanel and focus group with consumers of the beauty brand.

This diploma thesis focuses on the process of designing a luxurious lifestyle within the proč ne?! magazine. The theme aims to analyze the year's activities at several levels. The first level is a quantitative content analysis, where the primary objective is to determine the ratio of advertising to editorial content. Based on these quantitative findings the magazine's content will be confronted with the ownership structure of major advertisers. The second level is represented by expert interviews carried out with the magazine editors who bring valuable additional material. The third level is a qualitative content analysis which focuses on a luxury lifestyle that is constructed through the magazine. This luxury lifestyle will be described through various selected examples of textual and pictorial character. Theoretical introduction provides a broader framework in which the concept of luxury is described. In practical part of the thesis, these findings are used to explain several luxury phenomenons. The final part offers a detailed analysis of the advertiser's structure, their products and stratification within segments of the luxury market through comprehensive visualization.

The dissertation deals with rivalling discourses on dynamics of consumption in early postwar Japan, led by the theses of Bourdieu on social distinction, Lefebvre\\\''s analysis of spaces, the politics of noise and a discourse analysis after Laclau/Mouffe. While consumerism began to develop into a great energetic ideology of a middle class in Japan in the 1960s, the early postwar renegotiation of social spaces produced a form of social noise and highly moving social environment and spaces: alternative discourses and debates on what poverty, luxury or even consumerism itself were, emerged from within these spaces of noise. Between luxury and poverty, the black market was one of the central places of consumption, but also developed into the central social space which defined both poverty and luxury from within and beyond the blurred social boundaries. In the end, social discourses of distinction against poverty and black market consumers also encouraged social mobility and shaped an exotic ideal of \\\"European\\\" luxury.