Social consumerism

Consuming for social status

🏷️ Categories: Behavior, Social relationships

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In the winter of 1929, the U.S. economy collapsed and caused a worldwide financial crisis.

Paradoxically, the upper class of the time, despite having lost their fortune and being bankrupt, continued to flaunt jewelry, banquets and other luxuries. They reduced their consumption of basic necessities, but not of luxuries. In the 2008 crisis, the same thing happened: sales of works of art, luxury watches, leather goods, jewelry and other expendable goods barely dropped (Kapferer & Bastien, 2012).

What is the point of this acquisition of luxury goods when you are broke?

Status.

The value of status

The sociologist Veblen called it “conspicuous consumption”.

Wealthy people consume to show off, not to meet their needs. A luxury car, brand-name clothes, an expensive watch, the latest model of telephone... These are not possessions valued for their performance, but as ways of displaying one's economic power to society (Frank, 1988).

We are no longer the society that Veblen lived in, but we still want to be seen.

It is common for people to have possessions whose features are far beyond their actual use. It doesn't matter if we don't really need the features of the latest phone on the market or if our car is an exaggeration compared to the use we give it, what matters is that others see that we can afford to have the most exclusive and supposedly "most desirable" products.

Now this phenomenon perhaps has more reach than in Veblen's time thanks to the internet and social media. Each person has his or her own showcase.

This is how we arrived at the exhibition society.

Who can afford the most?

Veblen saw that lower-income people tried to imitate the richer ones in order to resemble the image of power they exhibited.

This is still alive.

Human beings are social beings and brands take advantage of this need for recognition to sell us products that have this halo of success, power and exclusivity (Richins, 2011). They have turned a simple logo into a synonym of status.

Wearing that brand of clothing or that car is more than just clothing for protection or having a vehicle to get around, they are symbols of power. Think about it, what would be the point of fake imitations if it weren't for the logo? It seems more logical to look for a quality handbag from a generic brand at a good price than to buy a Gucci knockoff.

And therein lies the key: we don't buy for performance, we buy for status.

The logo doesn't make the clothes warmer.

The spiral of consumerism

Why do we do it?

Why are we willing to invest much more than necessary just for status? The psychologist Abraham Maslow said that once we have fulfilled our physiological and security needs and we have social affection is when we begin to seek social validation. We want to belong to the group and, above all, we want the validation of others.

The search for validation and comparison with others is natural (Festinger, 1954).

The bad thing is the spiral of consumerism we have ended up in where we measure ourselves against the rest to see who has more power according to their possessions, and no matter how much you have, because of the Diderot Effect there will always be something more to want.

You drive to work in a Renault and a Lamborghini the same way, but they don't see you the same way.

What would happen if we questioned our values and purpose more often?

Perhaps we would be more aware of what drives us to buy certain things and avoid always feeling inferior to someone, because someone will always have something better in some way. It is a competition in which you are always poor.

In the end, it all comes down to one question: When will it be enough?

✍️ Your turn: Have you ever felt the need to buy something you didn't need for fear of not fitting in?

💭 Quote of the day: “The things you once owned, now own you.” Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club.

See you next time! 👋

References 📚

1. Festinger, L. (1954). A Theory of Social Comparison Processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117-140. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872675400700202

2. Frank, R. H. (1988). Choosing the right pond: Human behavior and the quest for status. Public Choice, 56(1), 84-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00052075

3. Kapferer, J., & Bastien, V. (2012). The luxury strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands.

4. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346

5. Richins, M. L. (2011). Materialism, Transformation Expectations, and Spending: Implications for Credit Use. Journal Of Public Policy & Marketing, 30(2), 141-156. https://doi.org/10.1509/jppm.30.2.141

6. Veblen, T. (1899). The Theory of the Leisure Class. Macmillan.