Lexus is not a brand advocating Buddhism, and no car brand is stupid enough to incorporate Buddhism into brand tonality. In fact, there are many Lexus models, only two "broilers": ES200 and NX200, which are specifically aimed at individual markets such as China. These two cars are particularly popular in China-sales have gone up, and Lexus has become a "broiler" in the eyes of Chinese people.
290,000 RMB can buy "medium and large luxury executive car" ES, and 304,000 RMB can buy "medium luxury SUV" NX, which is really worth crying for car owners-Mercedes-Benz BMW of the same level will cost more180,000.
You laughed at people's simple minds and bought fake luxury cars; People laugh at you because you can't wear it. Is buying a luxury car just a car?
Lexus ES is a medium and large car, and its size is similar to that of Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series. The pricing style is strange, from 290 thousand to 483 thousand. At first, I belittled myself, which was related to the lower-level mercedes benz c class and BMW 3 Series. The price of high-end cars is on par with the main models of E-Class and 5 Series, just like brothers.
It is precisely because the starting price of ES200 is only 290,000 that it attracts the mouth water of the people who eat melons: Bah, even a fool like you deserves to be called a medium-sized luxury car!
By the way, I also despise the owner of ES200: Is it stupid to spend so much money on a fake luxury car?
ES200 is a knife handed by Lexus. Large and medium-sized luxury cars are not only cheaper than 300 thousand, but also use a relatively weak 2.0 self-priming engine. Officials are ashamed to talk about it, and the general guess is as weak as 10 second.
Ordinary brands of low-end mid-level cars all use 2.0T turbines, and Volkswagen Magotan and Buick Regal accelerate to go straight for 7 seconds. You are a weak chicken's 2.0 self-priming medium and large luxury car hidden in a big shell, which is seriously suspected of swindling and cheating.
Strangely, this ostentatious car is not only bought, but also willing to increase the price. The people who eat melons can't sit still, and they are anxious to remind car owners not to buy this kind of "IQ test car", as if the emperor is not in a hurry.
People who buy ES200 are not stupid. Lexus is more of a chicken thief. They have seen through a truth and understood each other.
Seeing a car is a car, but it is a low vision; Seeing a car is not a car, it is a medium eye; Seeing a car or a car is awakening.
You look at it with a deep and thoughtful face? Lexus ES200, explaining its 2.0 self-priming engine, CVT transmission and suspension structure from beginning to end, then sadly pointed to the owner: How could you be stupid enough to buy an Asian Dragon or Camry!
You have no idea how funny you are. When you say that lexus ES200 is not worth the price at all, you might as well buy a high-end Camry. Obviously, your thoughts are still at the floor level of "seeing a car is a car". If you know a little about consumer sociology, even if you not only have eyes but also a little brain when observing people's car buying behavior, you will not be so naive to talk about a car, especially a luxury car, from the "use value".
In other words, modern society has entered a "consumer society".
Below, I take some views of jean baudrillard, the godfather of postmodernism. The French philosopher published a short article entitled "Consumer Society" in 1970, which shocked the academic circles for a while. In the following decades, people were surprised to find that human consumption behavior was as expected by Mr. Bao.
Teacher Bao said: "If you want to be the object of consumption, things must become symbols"; He also said, "When we are consuming goods, we are consuming symbols." .
To paraphrase, people are actually buying a symbol when they buy lexus ES.
At first glance, this statement is not easy to understand. Just tell me more.
Consumer society corresponds to "production society". What is a productive society? Simply put, there are not enough things produced, and people are staring at the production end, hoping to produce more, and it is their turn to buy.
In the production society, people buy things for "use value". After all, the variety of goods is monotonous and the supply is limited. I wish I had something to buy for you. The public never dreamed of it.
As a person born in the 1970s, Lao Fu knew the words I was most familiar with when I was young, including the eight words hanging high on the face of every supply and marketing cooperative: "Develop the economy and ensure supply". If one day he made a windfall and bought a fruit candy from the supply and marketing cooperative, Fu Xiao would carefully peel a small crack on the plastic candy paper and lick it, so as to keep his head clear in the sweet dizziness, wrap the candy paper and put it back in his pocket to lick it next time.
Now Laofu will also buy candy for the New Year, but not to steal it for himself, but to put it in a beautiful candy platter on the coffee table in the living room. I remember that a certain staple food is not uncommon, but when I went to Heihe on business last winter, I found that Russian candy in the supermarket at the border port was good. During the Chinese New Year, the candy tray was replaced by purple candy, Russian sticky notes (a kind of toffee) and big-headed doll Alioka (a Russian chocolate brand).
Thanks to the blessing of the times, Lao Fu happily crossed from the production society to the consumption society.
In a consumer society, the supply of goods is ridiculously rich. There are countless varieties of the same commodity, and it will be very picky when consuming. When choosing candy, Lao Fu no longer values whether the candy is sweet or not (there are too many delicious candy), but whether it is chic enough or not, and whether it is the grade of serving in the New Year.
Speaking of which, do you have a vague feeling that Fu Xiao bought candy in those days, but what Lao Fu bought now is actually not candy?
The value of "symbol" is that it represents a certain meaning. The value of a symbol depends not on its use value, but on its relevance.
The most typical one is diamond. This kind of small stone is hard enough to pull glass, and you can't think of any use value; The reason why diamond is the king of precious stones is because the seller has fried it into a "sacred stone", which represents power, status and wealth, especially the priceless love. Doubting the value of this small stone is simply blaspheming sacred love.
If you have read BMW on the Moon, the pioneering work of modern detective novels, you should still remember how the hero commented on diamonds: "It's just carbon together". Diamonds are far from scarce, but someone controls the production and sales of diamonds, creating the illusion of scarcity.
A small piece of transparent carbon, tied together by people with ulterior motives and love, became an eternal token of love, and its value soared from then on. This is the power of symbols.
Compared with diamonds, LV's bag has more conscience. Expensive is expensive, at least it can hold things, and finally it has some use value.
In the consumer society, how many people choose goods for "use value"? Laofu can't afford diamonds and big-name bags, but he should choose a candy from Russia, because putting this unique candy on the dining table can tell people silently that Laofu has broken away from the low-level taste of licking candy and his quality of life is suspected to be well-off.
Even sugar has become a symbol, and lexus ES is of course a symbol. Although the "L" sign is one letter less than "LV", it is also powerful in expression. Both trademarks are scrambling to tell others: Oh, I'm sorry, you have seen through the identity of the rich!
Teacher Bao said that in the production society, what people consume is the "usefulness" of goods; In the consumer society, the usefulness of goods falls behind the scenes. "When we consume goods, we consume symbols and define ourselves in the process."
This does not mean that in a consumer society, things are useless; On the contrary, there are too many things that are equally useful. When people consume, they pay more attention to the differences between things than the usefulness. In other words, what you consume is not the goods, but the differences between them.
In modern society, there is not much difference between industrial products produced on a large scale, but if there is no difference, it is necessary to forcibly distinguish them.
It's a little winding. Take lexus ES and Toyota Camry for example, there is no difference in practicality between the two cars, and there is nothing wrong with saying that ES is a shell-changing version of Camry. With Camry, why should Toyota build another ES? It's simple. From the car itself, the two cars are very similar, but symbolically, they are completely different.
Symbols represent differences, and symbols are used to create differences.
People in modern society can only find out who they are and who others are in consumption. What brand of clothes to wear, what kind of restaurant to eat, what kind of car to drive, where to travel, what kind of hotel to stay in ... In consumption, people are classified; Only in consumption can we find our own level in this society, and coordinates are all kinds of goods and services that serve as symbols.
In high school politics class, I talked about what is the use value of goods and what is the exchange value; In consumer society, there is another kind of "symbolic value". And this "symbolic value" gradually began to play a leading role.
For example, the toothpaste we use contains almost the same things, but some sell for only a few dollars, while others sell for dozens of dollars. Is the person who buys a toothpaste for tens of dollars stupid? No, he bought a kind of confidence, because only people who have a good life can use toothpaste at this price. You will feel more layered with this toothpaste.
Poor human beings, so lost in the consumer society, not only show themselves to others by consumption, but also find themselves-or a fake self-through consumption.
After a long detour, I finally returned to lexus ES.
Since the symbolic value of commoditiES is more important in the consumer society, let's take a look at what kind of symbol lexus es is.
Commodity becomes a symbol, which can be seen from three aspects: grade symbol, personality symbol and fashion symbol.
Grade symbols represent social status. Lexus, a luxury brand! ES, medium and large executive limousine! To buy this kind of car, the owner must have strength!
Personality symbol is related to the owner's taste. The BBA in the luxury car is rotten in the street, and a Lexus has more personality!
The sign of fashion is to be eye-catching when driving out! Lexus ES, you look handsome!
It's smart to spend 300,000 yuan on a lexus ES200. It takes a little money to do great things. The most important "symbolic value" is very important. Even if the strength is weak, the difference is only a little "use value"-after so many years, you still can't figure out which is more important, and your brain is out of order!
If we insist on using "use value" to look at the car, it belongs to a relatively low-level "looking at the car is the car" than power, space and control. In the consumer society, the use value is actually the least valuable; If you know "symbolic value first", buying a car that can reflect your identity well can also be regarded as the intermediate level of "looking at the car without looking at the car"; If you only consider the use value when buying a car and don't want to prove anything with the car at all, that is the highest realm of "looking at the car or looking at the car". ? Text/Fu Xuefeng
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.