Millionaires on Instagram: Millennials’ Display of Experiential Luxury and Personal Branding Strategies on Visual Social Media

Modern luxury research draws upon the concept of conspicuous consumption, the act of publicly displaying luxury goods as a means of showing-off one’s wealth (Veblen, 1899). Millennials are considered to be the next generation of luxury consumers. With the rise of social media, it is predicted there will be over 3 billion users by 2021 (Statista, 2017). However, little is known as to how millennial consumers behave on visual social media and what they display in their accounts. The concept of personal branding states that individuals are able to create their own brand by being their own marketer (Peters, 1997). Thus doing, they are reinventing themselves into someone they would like to publicly display, while being in total control of their branded self (Kaputa, 2005). This concept has not been looked at in the context of micro-celebrities – individuals who acquire popularity on social media through followers (Marwick, 2015). Instagram being a highly visual social media platform creates an environment that is fit for setting the scene by displaying wealth. This study explores millennials’ display of experiential luxury through personal branding strategies on visual social media, looking at the case of ‘Millionaires’ of Instagram. We collected data through an anonymously curated platform on Instagram called “Rich Kids of Instagram” (see Marwick, 2015). The final sample included a total of 27 users. We carried out a visual content analysis and a netnography. The content analysis included 493 Instagram posts. The netnography immersion lasted 6 months and was conducted on 810 Instagram posts.