Abstract
Luxury brand research is a century-old intellectual enterprise involving transdisciplinary business scholarship. This chapter examines its origins and then traces the inception of research themes over the years. Particular attention will be paid to the connections between industry shifts and the emergence of new areas of inquiry. Due to these shifts, luxury research can be divided into four decades of innovation: Luxury 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0. The chapter begins with theorizing the luxury "concept" from early social thought (Luxury 1.0). Then, readers will tour the democratization of luxury (Luxury 2.0), followed by the mediatization and artification of luxury (Luxury 3.0). Lastly, the chapter will close by reflecting on the former phases to develop a research agenda for the next decade (Luxury 4.0).