Despite extensive corporate responsibility research into both what products firm produce and how they produce them, research is lacking in one product category in which the what and how linkage create questionable corporate practice – luxury products. Luxury is in some cases created by companies controlling the so-called user imagery of their customers, i.e., by companies encouraging ‘desirable’ individuals to consume their products and obstructing ‘undesirable’ individuals from consumption. This chapter critically analyses the implications of this corporate practice based on a study of Sweden’s most luxurious nightclub. The study’s results show that the nightclub has organised its activities to allow categorisations of individuals into ‘desirable’ and ‘undesirable’ customers. Furthermore, the study shows that a creation of ‘misery’ for the vast majority of individuals (the ‘undesirable’) is essential for creating ‘enjoyment’ for the selected few (the ‘desirable’). The chapter concludes by discussing implications for practitioners interesting in altering this situation.
Reprinted in L.A. Parrish (ed.) (2007) Business Ethics in Focus. Nova Publishers; 275-288, and M. W. Vilcox and T. O. Mohan (eds.) (2007) Contemporary Issues in Business Ethics. Nova Publishers; 163-176.