O santo anda roto. O diabo veste Prada

The 'Luxury Prime': How Luxury Changes People
Q&A with: Roy Y.J. Chua
Published: February 1, 2010
Author: Sarah Jane Gilbert

Executive Summary:

What effect does luxury have on human cognition and decision making? According to new research, there seems to be a link between luxury and self interest, an insight that may help curb corporate excesses. Roy Y.J. Chua of Harvard Business School discusses findings from his work conducted with Xi Zou of London Business School. Key concepts include:
- People who were made to think about luxury before a decision-making task were more likely to endorse self-interested decisions that might potentially harm others.
- Although luxury does not necessarily induce people to harm others, it may cause them to be less considerate.
- Limiting corporate excesses and luxuries might be a step toward getting executives to behave more responsibly toward society.

início da entrevista:

Are people who travel in town cars and on corporate jets different—on a psychological level—from you and me? Does the availability of luxury goods "prime" individuals to be less concerned about or considerate toward others? The answer from new research seems to be yes.

HBS professor Roy Y.J. Chua and Xi Zou, an assistant professor at London Business School, suggest that luxury goods have an important effect on human behavior that is only now becoming clear—and that may have implications for addressing the continuation of objectionable choices among, for example, high-flying executives on Wall Street.

According to Chua, their research found that "people who were made to think about luxury prior to a decision-making task have a higher tendency to endorse self-interested decisions that might potentially harm others." Their findings are detailed in the HBS working paper "The Devil Wears Prada? Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making" (paper aqui).