Luxury goods are a social signal, as psychologists and economists will attest. They broadcast a message about status and taste, in part through their high-end materials, craftsmanship, and of course price tags.

But what exactly motivates someone to line up for a $500 pair of sneakers, or a $400 hoodie? These items carry the weighty cost of luxury goods, and may be made at top-level factories with high-quality materials. But when people have traditionally imagined luxury, sneakers and hoodies were not what came to mind.

Highsnobiety is a digital publisher, creative agency, and soon an e-commerce company whose young, fashion-centric audience—mostly men—includes a lot of people who will shell out hundreds for sneakers, hoodies, and t-shirts. Its main areas of coverage tend to be subjects like streetwear, music, and designer fashion. To get a sharper picture of its audience and what motivates it to buy, it surveyed about 5,000 of its 16- to 34-year-old readers and followers around the world, and nearly 2,400 other consumers in that age group in key markets.

More than a third of the Highsnobiety users surveyed, it noted in a new white paper, said they had purchased clothing, footwear, or an accessory costing over $500 in the past 12 months. But the price wasn't the point: The "vast majority of them see these purchases as a way to convey a value system they share with like-minded consumers," the authors note. The key takeaway was that these young shoppers, whatever their spending levels, aren't just buying products, they're "buying into a lifestyle or community"—one which often exists in a nexus of brands and people talking to each other through social platforms such as Instagram and events including product drops and festivals.

The meaning behind a product has always been an important facet of fashion and luxury. "The context is so important, and, let's face it, when you're selling luxury, you're not selling a product," Ian Rogers, chief digital officer of LVMH told Wired UK recently. "No one is buying a Dior handbag for EUR3,000 because of its incredible utility. You're buying it because the culture of Dior has meaning."

But what's shifting is that conveying one's values and insider knowledge is becoming as common and important—or more—for younger shoppers as showing off qualities like status. The result is that they're putting more emphasis on brands that align with their worldview, or on products that suggest a sense of belonging to a community—usually because they're so exclusive you have to be part of the community and willing to pay to get your hands on them.

That doesn't mean brands can simply stick a high price on a logo t-shirt, put out limited numbers, and expect consumers to jump; 89% of Highsnobiety users said they can tell when the people behind a brand are part of the culture they're representing or just co-opting it. And when young luxury shoppers do drop hundreds on a limited-edition product, they want it to take unexpected creative chances. Inspiration matters more than aspiration.