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Conspicuous Consumption

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Description | Example | Discussion | See also

Description

Conspicuous consumption is buying goods with a key goal of impressing others. While the product or service purchased may provide functional benefit,

A typical example of conspicuous consumption is in the purchase of luxury goods.

Example

A woman buys a fashionable dress. She waits for the first time to wear it out for a wedding, when there will be many others who might admire the dress.

A man buys a sports car, hoping it will impress both women he likes as well as his friends.

Discussion

Conspicuous consumption was first discussed by Thorstein Veblen in his 1899 book 'The Theory of the Leisure Class'. The nineteenth century saw a massive rise in the middle classes, which extended further in the twentieth century. A characteristic of this class is that they have more money than is required for basic survival and can hence use this discretionary fund in ways that increase pleasure rather than just helps them stay alive. While some goods can add interest (such as books), our social nature makes admiration and esteem from other people a particular delight. It is this social benefit that conspicuous consumption addresses.

Many markets lean heavily on principles of being conspicuous and showing oneself to be better than others. The fashion industry is a classic example, where clothes are presented as being a means of displaying wealth as customers spend more on the latest fashions.

Marketers can make use of conspicuous consumption in many markets, not just in the high end. This can be seen in the way adverts show how others will admire you for your purchase of the promoted goods.

It can seem something of a paradox that people seek admiration from others by positioning themselves as superior to those others. While this may garner admiration, it may be grudging and can stimulate status competition. People hence can increasingly boast and spend more money in order to out-do one another, including when they can hardly afford to do so.

Conspicuous Conservation is making deliberate efforts to appear to be actively concerned about the environment, in particular spending money with this in mind. The real goal, however, is the same as conspicuous consumption: to impress other people with our unselfish concern for the world.

Conspicuous Compassion involves being visibly kind to others, for example helping the vulnerable or donating to charity. This can be seen in celebrity charity dinners where the 'great and the good' pay high prices to be seen at paradoxically sumptuous dinners that are used to raise money for non-profit organizations.

Virtue Signaling is a general approach in indicating how morally superior you are, for example by taking a position in an argument that supports vulnerable sections of society. In effect it says 'I am superior to you because I follow more social values.'

See also

The Veblen Effect, Values, The Need for Esteem, The Need for Status, Virtue Signaling