Quiet Luxury: A Preliminary Findings Through a Decade of Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Luxury consumption has increasingly shifted from conspicuous display to inconspicuous signaling, in which subtly marked products communicate class position, cultural sophistication, and shared taste primarily to socially and culturally similar audiences—a phenomenon this study refers to as quiet luxury. This study adheres to PRISMA guidelines and conducts a systematic literature review on quiet luxury from 2015 to 2025. Relevant studies were identified by searching for the term’s quiet luxury, inconspicuous luxury, and inconspicuous consumption. An initial search was conducted in August 2025 using the Scopus database across the Title, Abstract, and Keywords fields, yielding 88 records. After applying eligibility criteria, 67 records remained. These records were further screened at the abstract level, and articles that did not address luxury and inconspicuous consumption were excluded. This screening process resulted in a final sample of 36 articles included in the review. The preliminary findings revealed that quiet luxury is conceptualized through Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption and Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital to account for the shift from conspicuous to inconspicuous consumption. Multiple theories explain the causal relationships underlying the adoption of quiet luxury (e.g., psychological ownership and self-congruity). Quantitative methods were most employed, followed by qualitative and mixed-methods studies. Most research has been conducted in the U.S., followed by China, other Asian countries, European countries, and cross-cultural settings. The findings reveal notable gaps in methodological and cross-cultural breadth, calling for mixed-methods and comparative research across Western and non-Western cultural contexts.