The Intimate Link Between the Psyche and Luxury: Gaurav Bhatia on Psychology of Luxury Brands

Gaurav Bhatia Sotheby’s Ex-MD, decodes the psychological appeal of luxury and what drives these feelings. 

Human nature is complex, intriguing and filled with depths that hide the answers to our infinitesimal instincts and decisions. Beneath the canopy of our minds, lie the inner desires and the watchful rationality that keeps it in check. Perhaps, when it comes to luxury, this conflict between the desire and the rational reaches a bewildering zenith. 

Gaurav Bhatia Sotheby’s Ex-MD, breaks down the psychological aspect of people’s connections with luxury and the emotions which guide them. He dives into the very essence of luxury and says, “Luxury is as personal and individualistic as human identity in itself. It can be understood as a projection of a person’s conscious and subconscious field of emotions. Luxury is above all emotional.”

Gaurav Bhatia Sotheby’s adds, “Some express luxury in terms of unique design a product might have while others might feel the exclusive nature of an object from the feeling it connotes to stand for luxury. It’s simply marvelous that every person has a distinct sense of perception to what they will qualify as luxury.”

The sense of perception in question is a final outcome of a multifaceted process that goes undeterred within our psyche. As consumers, whether of luxury brands or more mass mainstream products, our desires which judge the merit of a product on its appeal and design, clash with our rational mind which privileges cost, usage and longevity as a compromise.

By force of habit, we always try to reign in our initial fancies by deeming them to be unreasonable on various factors, such as price, delicacy, and presence of common alternatives. All these actions driven by our emotions and feelings reveal what we value more whilst looking at an item.

Expanding on the psychological unraveling, the former Managing Director Sotheby’s India Gaurav Bhatia expresses, “Our act of selecting or even rejecting an item, is an extension of which of our emotional drives are being fulfilled by the particular brand or product”. He underlines that luxury products are cherished because they provide a strong emotive connection. 

Gaurav Bhatia Sotheby’s says, “Contrary to the conventional products, luxury brands offer an immersive experience that goes beyond just routine utilitarian usage.”

Unlike mass-produced goods, luxury products are associated in our minds with a feeling of security, in terms of taste and purchasing power. Such a connection triggers release of dopamine that shifts our neurological state of being into a higher position.

The essence of a brand does not remain limited to its quality or craftsmanship. Rather, it extends into the sea of narrative and how deep understanding an individual develops with it. Luxury is the elegant connection beneath the emotional and the psychological prerogatives that makes a person feel arrived. This relation is held in high esteems and reflects one’s bond with their possessions forever.