Veblen, the American sociologist, and economist developed the term conspicuous consumption to define how people in American society spend money on luxury goods and services to display their accumulated wealth. In Karoui and Khemakhem’s (2018) perspective, Veblen did not view it as habitual behavior without rational roots and logic, but as a whole culture.
Examples of Veblen’s Conspicuous Consumption
People motivated by economic success due to various industrial activities select and shape the conspicuous consumption culture. When one owns and drives a car, it implies that there is enough wealth not to use public transportation. However, these persons prefer luxury cars to economy vehicles because owning and driving any is not enough show of wealth. They buy luxury automobiles to convey their higher status in society. These conspicuous consumers also prefer designer clothes and expensive jewelry to the ordinary to publicly display discretionary economic power. They use it as a means of maintaining or attaining a given social status.
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The conspicuous consumption culture is further evident in the building of houses in the United States. Mortgage companies build homes that are larger than needed for nuclear families. Consequently, people buy bigger houses to house their family members comfortably. Oversized houses lead to other forms of conspicuous consumption, such as multiple cars to fill the large garages and more clothing to occupy the vast closets.
The American prison system is also an indicator of how far society adapts to this culture. According to Lynch (2007), social institutions play a significant role in reinforcing conspicuous consumption patterns because of the immense expansion of U.S prisons. Prison expenditures include the production of large buildings that take extensive physical space. Since these correctional facilities secure a large prison population, the system is an example for other nations.
Conclusion
Conspicuous consumption encompasses the purchase of lavish services and goods to display social status and wealth publicly. Veblen identifies them as unnecessary, and the spread of the behavior and effects suggests that it is more than a personal tendency and hence termed it as a culture.
References
Karoui, S. & Khemakhem, R. (2018). Veblen, The First Marketing and Consumer Behavior Theorist. SSRN . Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3099386
Lynch, M. (2007). A Consuming Culture. In Big Prisons, Big Dreams: Crime and the Failure of America's Penal System (pp. 220-228) . New Brunswick, New Jersey; London: Rutgers University Press. Retrieved July 20, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1hch85p.12
