Abstract
Many young people in Korea are addicted to luxury brands. This phenomenon often ruins their lives. By examining the causes of social, historical, and economical luxury obsession, the research aims to get a better understanding of people’s behavior. Severance of nobility culture in Korean history led to wealthy people’s indiscreet imitation of western culture. Without traditional and cultural heritage, Korea’s wealthy people only seek material display. In addition, various Korean traits such as social hierarchy, western-centrism, egalitarianism, narcissism, collectivism, competition, and love of authenticity account for the obsession trend. The introduction of credit cards and the nature of the luxury brand will also explain the love of luxury in Korea. Furthermore, the paper attempts to compare different generations and both groups’ attitudes to luxury commodity. Finding the sources of different forms of luxury consumption will provide greater comprehension of the current young generation’s attitude.