Conspicuous consumption is a term introduced by the American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen, in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). It is used to describe the obvious consumption of goods, commodities and services for the sake of displaying income or wealth in order to acquire social status; it can be considered a "higher register" (or "stilted") synonym to other descriptions such as bling which would more likely be considered slang.

Invidious consumption, a necessary corollary, is the term applied to consumption of goods and services for the deliberate purpose of inspiring envy in others. However, by necessity, any conspicuous consumption will generate negative externalities, since socio-economic status (the socially-created effects of wealth or income) is a positional good which is in fixed supply - in fact, conspicuous consumption may be seen as the in-kind scarcity rent of socio-economic status. Minimizing economic inefficiency by capturing this rent and curbing wasteful consumption is an important argument for luxury taxes and other corrective policies. As John Stuart Mill argued:

taxes have some properties which strongly recommend them. In the first place, they can never touch those whose whole income is expended on necessaries; while they do reach those by whom what is required for necessaries, is expended on indulgences. In the next place, they operate in some cases as [... the only useful kind of sumptuary law. I disclaim all asceticism, and by no means wish to see discouraged, either by law or opinion, any indulgence (consistent with the means and obligations of the person using it) which is sought from a genuine inclination for, and enjoyment of, the thing itself; but a great portion of the expenses of the higher and middle classes in most countries incurred from regard to opinion, and an idea that certain expenses are expected from them, as an appendage of station; and I cannot but think that expenditure of this sort is a most desirable subject of taxation. If taxation discourages it, some good is done, and if not, no harm; for in so far as taxes are levied on things which are desired and possessed from motives of this description, nobody is the worse for them. When a thing is bought not for its use but for its costliness, cheapness is no recommendation. As Sismondi remarks, the consequence of cheapening articles of vanity, is not that less is expended on such things, but that the buyers substitute for the cheapened article some other which is more costly, or a more elaborate quality of the same thing; and as the inferior quality answered the purpose of vanity equally well when it was equally expensive, a tax on the article is really paid by nobody: it is a creation of public revenue by which nobody loses.

These terms are not used for behavioural disorders such as binge eating, or compulsive spending.

Conspicuous consumption as an addiction

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Conspicuous consumption has been discussed since the 1960s as a form of addiction arising from consumerism, creating hedonic expectations among the population, resulting in normalized anti-social and narcissistic behaviors. Indeed, it may be a contributing factor to behavioural disorders such as binge eating and compulsive spending and is a major contributor to personal bankruptcies, especially if the excessive spending is done on credit.

Examples of conspicuous consumption

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• Buying a better automobile/house/etc. to display one's status in the community; or, to provoke envy among neighbors (Invidious consumption).
• Buying the latest goods to prove affinity to current fads.
• Eating out at an expensive restaurant, despite economic unsuitability.
• Membership in expensive country clubs or other organizations despite hardships.
• Being heavily in debt to support the purchase of status symbols.
• Attending an expensive college or university of questionable academic status.
• Possessing objects that imply great cost for care or maintenance (swimming pools, horses)
• Lighting cigars with one hundred dollar bills.
• For further examples, watch a current rap music video.

See also

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• Bling-bling
• Commodity fetishism
• Conspicuous leisure
• Consumerism
• Keeping up with the Joneses
• La Distinction
• Economic materialism
• Status symbol
• Trophy wife
• Positional good
• Veblen good
• White elephant

Antonyms

These articles have the opposite meaning to Conspicuous consumption:

• Frugality
• Simple living
• Conspicuous conservation

References

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• Veblen, Thorstein. (1899) Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions. New York: Macmillan. 400 pp.

• 1994 Dover paperback edition, ISBN 0486280624

• 1994 Penguin Classics edition, ISBN 0140187952

External links

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• Thorstein Veblen: Conspicuous Consumption, 1902 at Fordham University's "Modern History Sourcebook"

Consumer behaviour | Anti-corporate activism | Economics | Sociology

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