conspicuous consumption

n. The acquisition or display of expensive items to attract attention to one's wealth or to suggest that one is wealthy.

conspicuous consumption

n spending in a lavish or ostentatious way, esp to impress others with one's wealth

conspic′uous consump′tion

n. public enjoyment of costly possessions, flaunting one's ability to pay for such things. [used by T. Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)]

Thesaurus

Noun

conspicuous consumption - buying expensive services and products in order to flaunt your wealtheconomic consumption, use of goods and services, usance, consumption, use - (economics) the utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing; "the consumption of energy has increased steadily"

Translations

conspicuous consumption

The lavish expenditure of money or acquisition of expensive items as a public display of one's wealth or financial success. In rapidly developing economies, conspicuous consumption becomes more and more prevalent as a means for those who have done well to flaunt their new economic status.See also: conspicuous

conspicuous consumption

Showing off one’s material wealth. The term was coined by the American economist Thorstein Veblen in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), where he roundly criticized the well-to-do (leisure class) for preying on the rest of society and then flaunting their acquisitions. The term, always used as critically as by its author, has become a cliché. See also: conspicuous

conspicuous consumption

a term coined by VEBLEN to help define the characteristics of the LEISURE CLASS. Rather than consuming goods or services for their utility, Veblen suggests that some consumption is for show alone, i.e. the demonstration of one's social STATUS. This idea has been re-examined in the work of Fred Hirsch (1977) on POSITIONAL GOODS, and by BOURDIEU (1984a).

conspicuous consumption

Conspicuous Consumption

The purchase of items one does not need simply to show that one is able to afford them. For example, a person who buys an exotic automobile may be engaging in conspicuous consumption.

conspicuous consumption

the CONSUMPTION of goods and services not for the UTILITY derived from their use but for the utility derived from the ostentatious exhibition of such goods and services.

A person may buy and run a Rolls-Royce motor car not just as a vehicle for transportation but because it suggests to the outside world something about the owner. That person may wish to be seen as affluent or as a person of taste. This phenomenon (known as the VEBLEN EFFECT) can be viewed as an alternative to the more usual consumption theories where the quantity of a particular good varies inversely with its price (a downward-sloping DEMAND CURVE). A conspicuous consumption good may well have an UPWARD-SLOPING DEMAND CURVE so that the quantity demanded increases with its price.

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conspic′uous consump′tion

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Conspicuous Consumption

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Words related to conspicuous consumption

noun buying expensive services and products in order to flaunt your wealth

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