Authenticity has been a popular trend for the past twenty years, and it continues to grow even larger encompassing new areas every year. Nowadays, almost any sphere in the economy has a niche which is devoted strictly to authentic products, which often imply being organic, chemical-free, and manufactured in accordance with ethical principles. This trend was initially started by so-called hipsters who often sold items which they believed to be unique in some way, such as customized jeans or retro sunglasses (Greif, 2010). Over time, this tendency was identified by market analysts and started being utilized by corporations, for example, Henkel, a German conglomerate, recently launched a brand called Authentic Beauty Concept (Sandler, 2020). The fact that such large companies seek to exploit this idea shows that the authenticity concept is extremely powerful in society. Yet, at its core, authenticity is about people’s desire to discover and consume unique experiences which form their true “selves.” The examples of the popularity of luxury clothing brands such as Gucci and platforms such as Airbnb demonstrate that authenticity plays a major role in the modern economy by adding value to products and services.
Before exploring the impact of the concept of authenticity on the economy, it is worth establishing the origin of this trend and the reasons why it emerged in the first place. As it was mentioned before, it was originally promoted by hipster culture, which valued the notions of community, artisanship, and creativity as a response to the corporate world and excessive commercialism (Peter York’s Hipster Handbook, 2016). Hipsters, as a group, rejected what the established culture in society offered them and invented their own philosophy, which was based on the idea of authenticity and originality. An argument can be made that the hipster movement was largely influenced by the narcissism of its members, who were overly focused on expressing their unique selves in an attempt to garner attention. Researchers Twenge and Campbell (2009) described this increasing tendency of the younger generations to pursue self-admiration and called it a narcissism epidemic. In their view, seeking authenticity is part of people’s narcissistic inclinations, which ultimately lead to complete disregard for the interests of others and excessive self-promotion.
Nevertheless, this position is hardly consistent with reality, where the authenticity trend has brought attention to the issue of ethics in consumption. Nowadays, more people become concerned about the whole process of manufacturing their favorite products and seek to buy only those ones which were made by companies who recognize their social responsibilities. For instance, Toms launched a campaign of donating one pair of shoes for one bought by their clients (Peters, 2019). Such examples show that consumers today when buying products, do not simply pursue narcissistic ideas but also take into consideration the problems of others and especially those in need. The shift in the behavior of consumers towards giving priority to products which possess qualities beyond their basic functions was explained by Beckert (2011), who introduced the notions of positional and imaginative values. Traditionally, goods were bought because of their performance and the difference they make in a physical world, but the growing wealth of the people in the west gave rise to social and imaginative aspects of products.
Today, individuals who, after satisfying all of their basic needs, still have a large sum of disposable income tend to buy products which have symbolic meanings apart from their main function. Goods with the positional value receive their meaning from society, in other words, the owners of such products become instantly categorized by the members of the public and placed in a certain group. For example, an expensive watch will convey a message that its owner is a wealthy individual who has enough money to buy it. On the other hand, the imaginative value of a good constitutes a meaning ascribed to it by the owner, their personal idea which they attach to a particular object (Beckert, 2011). The imaginative value can be attributed to three dimensions, including time, allowing the owner to envisions themselves in the circumstances of the past or the future. Nowadays, these symbolic meanings represent a central source of value in the modern economy and manifest a direct response to consumer demand, which is no longer based on the physical performance of products.
The factor of authenticity is one of the major elements which helps companies sell products which contain positional and imaginative values. As it was mentioned before, people in the west tend to buy goods and services which provide them with more than just a basic function; they must contain additional values. Authenticity serves as a considerable force behind consumption because it gives people a sense of genuineness. They wish to buy products which convey a story and a certain set of beliefs which reflect their own principles and morals. Modern consumers are preoccupied with discovering their true selves, and buying new products helps them form and shape their unique identities. Thus, authentic goods and services become a source of genuine and original experiences which ultimately contribute to building a person’s individuality. The symbolic meanings which are contained in products help consumers maintain their lifestyle and certain philosophical views. Therefore, the authenticity of goods and services constitutes a necessary element for modern people because it grants them unique experiences that correspond to their personal beliefs.
The modern fashion industry is one of the most challenging environments since it has strong competition among companies often offering similar products but at different prices. Consumers are interested not only in the physical performance of clothes but in their symbolic value, messages, and stories they convey and present them with. Moreover, companies such as Zara and H&M manufacture products which designs are largely based on the recently released by luxury brands, and quite often, these clothes are made of the same fabrics. Despite this fact, expensive clothing items from classic high-fashion brands are still in demand and sold in large quantities. One of the examples of companies producing luxury clothes and accessories is Gucci, which, according to Forbes, annually sells more than ten billion dollars worth of its goods (Gucci, 2020). It is obvious that many of the brand clients buy its products not because of how durable they are but because they have a symbolic value. Moreover, the idea of authenticity is the factor which allows Gucci to add this symbolic value to their products and increase their prices as a result.
As it was mentioned earlier, there are brands which manufacture clothes which are based on the designs of products of luxury brands. Yet, these clothing items do not bear any symbolic value because they are not authentic or, in other words, fake. Gucci products, on the other hand, provide their owners with a certain social status and allow them to be categorized by people around them into a group of wealthy individuals. This shows that clothes made by this Italian fashion house have a positional value which is determined by the members of society. The factor of authenticity plays a major here since a person wearing a fake Gucci item would not receive the same status as the one who has an original one. Additionally, there is a possibility of an imaginative value to be associated with Gucci clothes since they possess transcendental power. Owning a Gucci dress, which was once worn by a celebrity, can create in its owner a sense of being close to this person.
Another industry which is based on pursuing authenticity and consuming symbolic rather than physical values is tourism. According to Bloomberg, in recent years, the number of people who travel to different places in the world has been growing exponentially (Smith, 2019). This shows that tourism can be considered as one of the drivers of the modern economy and generates billions of dollars of revenue for companies in the industry. Individuals traveling to distant countries quite often seek authentic experiences in various cultures which are different from their own. This helps them find new meanings and enrich their own personalities by being present in new circumstances. Tourism also bears a positional value since people who travel are recognized by society as generally affluent and knowledgeable about other countries and their customs. Yet, the standard approach to traveling, which involves checking into a hotel and visiting all the notable places in the vicinity, has been replaced by practices which provide more authentic experiences to visitors.
Airbnb is one of the companies which presents a solution for tourists who desire more authenticity during their trips and provides them with an imaginative value. The service gives its clients an opportunity to rent out a house or an apartment in a large number of countries in the world. Tourists choose Airbnb accommodations over traditional hotels because they grant them a sense of being a citizen of the country and allow them to experience an authentic lifestyle. This constitutes the imaginative value, namely its space dimension, provided by Airbnb, which lets clients envision themselves as locals and spend several days fully-immersed in a different culture. One study discovered that Airbnb hosts also play an important role in creating a sense of perceived authenticity, especially if they provide excellent quality of services (Lalicic and Weismayer, 2017). Thus, Airbnb constitutes an alternative to the usual hospitality industry options and delivers to its users an opportunity to become part of a different culture and have unique, authentic experiences.
Consumers’ desire for authenticity contributes to the modern economy’s growth, and the success of brands such as Gucci and services such as Airbnb shows that companies need to add symbolic values to their products. Authenticity constitutes people’s search for their true selves, and in modern circumstances consuming products helps them form and enrich their unique identities. As a result of this change in the consumers’ behavior, goods and services have acquired symbolic values which go beyond their primary functions, in other words, physical values. Gucci and the luxury fashion segment, in general, are the examples of the people’s need for positional performance of the objects they buy. Wearing a Gucci item allows a person to be recognized by other members of society as wealthy and possessing a high status in a social hierarchy. While staying at Airbnb accommodations provides individuals with an imaginative value which allows them to envisions themselves as having a locals’ lifestyle in a foreign country.
Reference List
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Lalicic, L. and Weismayer, C. (2017) ‘The role of authenticity in Airbnb experiences,’ in Schegg, R. and Stangl, B. (eds) Information and communication technologies in tourism 2017. London: Springer International Publisher, pp. 781–794.
Peter York’s Hipster Handbook (2016) Directed by Graham Strong [Film]. London, UK: BBC.
Peters, A. (2019) ‘Toms made buy-one, give-one famous. Now it’s updating the model’, Fast Company. Web.
Sandler, E. (2020) ‘Henkel braves rocky U.S. market with new hair-care launch’, Glossy. Web.
Smith, N. (2019) ‘Tourism is eating the world’, Bloomberg. Web.
Twenge, J. M. and Campbell, W. K. (2010) The narcissism epidemic: Living in the age of entitlement. New York: Free Press.