In an economic study of conspicuous consumption, Arrow and Dasgupta (2009) examined how happiness mediates present vs. future standing. Essentially, the paper examined if we have a desire to consume conspicuously (i.e., noticeable by others), this might bring happiness in the present, but the need to continue consuming would bring future conflict (e.g., need to purchase more and more, working harder to spend harder, spending larger amounts of money). I would like to focus on the idea of conspicuous consumption, in general, though.
The authors look at conspicuous consumption, first posited by Thorstein Veblen in late 1800s and early 1900s. The idea is that there is a "comparison of one's consumption with those of others" (p. 2). These consumption behaviors have to observable; therefore, conspicuous. According to the theory, "wealth confers status and esteem; and conspicuous consumption is a way of displaying wealth" (p. 3).
In examining leisure as a consumptive good, it tracks that leisure too could involve observable consumption that a person with the time and money would want to show others their wealth and status. Leisure can take the form of observable behaviors, such as tourism, specialized equipment (e.g., kayak, climbing gear, GPS device, ATV, etc.), or through our entertainment (e.g., 3-D TVs, 60" flat screens, blu-ray players, etc.). Does the same hold true for other forms of leisure that are not outwardly noticeable, such as the amount of books one owns, pairs of shoes, music owned, etc.
As the authors note, researchers studying this affect have differing results. For instance, they noted a study where researchers examined neighbors of a Dutch lottery winner... finding that the winner's spending did not affect his neighbors consumption behaviors (see Kapteyn et al., 2007). So is there something here? Do we consume conspicuously relative to our peers? Do we do this with everyday household goods? Do we consume conspicuously in our leisure?
I do think conspicuous consumption is a truth in leisure. Take the wealthy cruisers for instance. I recently saw a show on the travel channel discussing those that cruise the world for a year spending roughly 1 million a piece to go on this trip. I had a friend that took a cruise to Mexico for $69 dollars over spring break, and I must wonder, what is the difference? I think conspicuous consumption.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that conspicuous consuption is the truth to our leisure. It seems like we are working for the weekend. It seems to be what is the biggest or "coolest" item we can buy that will look cool to our friends. Just as Drew was talking about with cruises. I have been on a few and I wonder what else these luxury cruises provide?
ReplyDeleteI will be the first to admit to being a victim to conspicuous consumption. For some reason, all of my leisure experiences are the greatest and usually most expensive activities possible. I don't think it's because I intentionally seek out those activities, but that's what I enjoy. The worst part is comparing it to your hourly income, and then counting all of the hours it would take you to work to pay for it!! I do that for eating out all of the time, seeing how many hours I would have to work just to be able to pay for my meal.
ReplyDeleteI know when the wife and I go out to eat, we usually try to go to some nice place. Even if we have to drive to OKC or Tulsa, and when we are on vacation we try to find the cool and upcoming place or something along those lines. I try to convince myself that its because we are foodies and enjoy seeing what others are doing in the field. That and we have both work in food for so long, that it is really nice to see new ventures. But when looking at the prices for everything on the menu and narrowing it down to the ones we want. In the back of my mind I can't help but compute on many hours I have to spend on a kitchen line to pay for these items.
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