Viridian – Shortlisted for the International Yacht & Aviation Awards 2023
Defining ‘Luxury’ – Decoding the consumer obsession with it
To define luxury is to understand it solely from the perspective of those who consume it. A quick online search will tell you that luxury can be defined as “a state of great comfort or elegance, especially one that involves great expense”. What is ‘need’ to one may be a luxury to another. This is on the grounds that as humans, we all have various needs, wants, realities, and consumer personalities that distinguish and shape our predictable reactions to environmental cues which require us to consume things and services. The user’s perspective greatly influences the meaning of this term. Anything that is luxurious in nature is distinguished by its excellent quality, high price, scarcity, uniqueness, and aesthetics.
Purchasing luxury is considered hugely essential and profitable for many people due to the different values that it can offer. Anything that is luxurious in nature provides. It is further classified into four values that the user receives when he or she purchases something that is luxurious: Financial Value, Functional Value, Individual Value, and Social Value. Financial value is the price value that the purchased object provides the user with while functional Value is the product’s usability, quality, and uniqueness. Individual Value represents the self-identity value, hedonic value, and materialistic value that the product provides the user. Social Value refers to the conspicuousness and prestige social circle while they purchase this product.
LUXURY IN THE MARITIME SECTOR
The Carbon footprint
Owning a Boat is what one may categorize as a luxury in the Maritime Sector. Ranging from the smallest of yachts to the most humongous mega yachts in the world, these are classified into different categories based on criterions such as size, usage, and build. While a Yacht is considered the epitome of luxury, it has various side effects that effect the environment directly.
Ecowatch, a community of experts who publish quality-based content on environmental issues, causes and solutions conducted research to analyze the carbon footprint of 20 billionaires which resulted in the conclusion that billionaires have carbon footprints that can be several thousand times higher than that of an average American. The study showed that “a superyacht with a permanent crew, helicopter pad, submarines, and pools emit about 7,020 tons of CO2 every year, according to our calculations, making it by far the worst asset to own from an environmental standpoint”.
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions. A person’s annual carbon footprint is 7 tonnes of CO2e on average. It equates to two roundtrip economy flights from London to Hong Kong. A billionaire who owns a private superyacht should be responsible for running the vessel alone and producing about 7000 metric tonnes of CO2. Your allowed carbon footprint multiplies a thousand times each time you take a yacht out for a voyage. This demonstrates that the carbon cost of living the opulent lifestyle of yacht cruising is significantly worse for the environment than we think it is.
Anything luxurious – Can it be socially responsible?
With the rising need to save the environment and increasing concerns surrounding the aspect of climate change, a luxury brand today must represent the best in society if it must be even considered closely relevant tomorrow. Luxury groups around the world are required to implement socially responsible standards and work ethics which have the potential to transform the global environment and societal standards in the future.
If you see luxury from the bull’s eye with the aim of selling a product or service to consumers, you must know that the definition of Responsible Luxury changes this picture by a huge mile, as it is more about the bigger perspective and caring for the environment – ‘conscious consumerism’. The journey from purchasing luxury to purchasing luxury in a responsible manner stems from the fact that consumers of luxury products today are no longer accepting something that is only a statement. Buyers need a better reason to buy a product apart from the idea of luxury. The pinnacle of responsible luxury is to make real the idea of a luxury that is sustainable hence closer to nature and the planet.
A 100 million Dollar Yacht – A responsible luxury miracle?!
Why bring the Maritime Sector into Responsible Luxury? Because the Earth is a water world.
71% of this planet’s surface is made up of water so there’s no better place to start than to make sustainable the luxury that cruises through the top of the water – Yachts! Now picture a $100 million yacht gliding through the water. What if it is entirely powered by solar energy? That is what responsible luxury will look like in the future.
Greening the Blue
Every solar electric Yacht built will be equivalent to planting 3,22,000 trees on planet Earth and the best way to take the first step towards a greener and better tomorrow is to transform the blue and electrify it!
