This research examines how people react to nonconforming behaviors, such as entering a luxury boutique wearing gym clothes rather than an elegant outfit or wearing red sneakers in a professional ...setting. Nonconforming behaviors, as costly and visible signals, can act as a particular form of conspicuous consumption and lead to positive inferences of status and competence in the eyes of others. A series of studies demonstrates that people confer higher status and competence to nonconforming rather than conforming individuals. These positive inferences derived from signals of nonconformity are mediated by perceived autonomy and moderated by individual differences in need for uniqueness in the observers. An investigation of boundary conditions demonstrates that the positive inferences disappear when the observer is unfamiliar with the environment, when the nonconforming behavior is depicted as unintentional, and in the absence of expected norms and shared standards of formal conduct.
Abstract
In the past decades, as traditional luxury goods and conspicuous consumption have become more mainstream and lost some of their signaling value, new alternative signals of status (e.g., ...vintage, inconspicuous consumption, sustainable luxury) have progressively emerged. This research applies the grounded theory method to establish a novel framework that systematically unifies existing conceptualizations, findings, and observations on alternative signals of status. The proposed framework organizes alternative signals in terms of their distance from traditional status symbols and categorizes them along six focal dimensions: time (new/old), quantity (many possessions/few possessions), conspicuousness (conspicuous/inconspicuous), aesthetics (beautiful/ugly), culture (highbrow/lowbrow), and pace of life (slow/fast). This parsimonious framework captures various consumption phenomena related to status signaling, unifies existing theories, and generates a fruitful agenda for future research.
Abstract Trickle-down theories suggest that status symbols and fashion trends originate from the elites and move downward, but some high-end restaurants serve lowbrow food (e.g., potato chips, ...macaroni and cheese), and some high-status individuals wear downscale clothing (e.g., ripped jeans, duct-taped shoes). Why would high-status actors adopt items traditionally associated with low-status groups? Using a signaling perspective to explain this phenomenon, the authors suggest that elites sometimes adopt items associated with low-status groups as a costly signal to distinguish themselves from middle-status individuals. As a result, signals sometimes trickle round, moving directly from the lower to the upper class, before diffusing to the middle class. Furthermore, consistent with a signaling perspective, the presence of multiple signaling dimensions facilitates this effect, enabling the highs to mix and match high and low signals and differentiate themselves. These findings deepen the understanding of signaling dynamics, support a trickle-round theory of fashion, and shed light on alternative status symbols.
Conspicuous Consumption of Time BELLEZZA, SILVIA; PAHARIA, NEERU; KEINAN, ANAT
The Journal of consumer research,
06/2017, Letnik:
44, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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While research on conspicuous consumption has typically analyzed how people spend money on products that signal status, this article investigates conspicuous consumption in relation to time. The ...authors argue that a busy and overworked lifestyle, rather than a leisurely lifestyle, has become an aspirational status symbol. A series of studies shows that the positive inferences of status in response to busyness and lack of leisure time are driven by the perceptions that a busy person possesses desired human capital characteristics (e.g., competence and ambition) and is scarce and in demand in the job market. This research uncovers an alternative kind of conspicuous consumption that operates by shifting the focus from the preciousness and scarcity of goods to the preciousness and scarcity of individuals. Furthermore, the authors examine cultural values (perceived social mobility) and differences among cultures (North America vs. Europe) to demonstrate moderators and boundary conditions of the positive associations derived from signals of busyness.
Consumer Minimalism Wilson, Anne V; Bellezza, Silvia
The Journal of consumer research,
01/2022, Letnik:
48, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Abstract
Minimalism in consumption can be expressed in various forms, such as monochromatic home design, wardrobe capsules, tiny home living, and decluttering. This research offers a unified ...understanding of the variegated displays of minimalism by establishing a conceptual definition of consumer minimalism and developing the 12-item Minimalist Consumer Scale to measure the construct. Three distinct dimensions of consumer minimalism are identified: number of possessions (reflecting the ownership of few possessions), sparse aesthetic (reflecting the preference for simple and uncomplicated designs), and mindfully curated consumption (reflecting the thoughtful selection of possessions). A series of studies, using samples from a variety of populations (N = 3,735) demonstrates the validity and reliability of the tridimensional Minimalist Consumer Scale, situates the measure conceptually and empirically within a broader nomological network of related constructs (e.g., voluntary simplicity, frugality, green values, materialism), and documents the scale’s ability to predict relevant consumer preferences and behaviors.
This research examines how core consumers of selective brands react when non–core users obtain access to the brand. Contrary to the view that non–core users and downward brand extensions pose a ...threat to the brand, this work investigates the conditions under which these non–core users enhance rather than dilute the brand image. A distinction between two types of non–core users based on how they are perceived by current users of core products is introduced: “brand immigrants” who claim to be part of the in-group of core users of the brand and “brand tourists” who do not claim any membership status to the brand community. A series of studies show that core consumers respond positively to non–core users when they are perceived as brand tourists. The brand tourism effect is mediated by core users’ pride and moderated by brand patriotism and selectiveness of the brand.
The urgent need to address unsustainable consumption practices has become increasingly evident. While much traditional consumer behavior research serves to stimulate consumption, the focus needs to ...shift towards encouraging more sustainable consumption patterns. This commentary synthesizes insights from a roundtable discussion at the 2023 Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, which comprised an exploration of novel, creative, actionable, and theoretically sound avenues for getting people to consume less, consume better. The commentary tackles three essential questions: (1) What do we mean by consuming less, consuming better? (2) Who is/are responsible for such behaviors? (3) How do we get people to consume less, consume better? In doing so, it lays out several future research directions.
We propose the anticipation-event-recall (AER) model. Set in a continuous time frame, the AER model formally links the three components of total utility (i.e., utility from anticipation, event ...utility, and utility from recall). The AER model predicts the temporal profiles of instant utility experienced before, during, and after a given event. Total utility is calculated as the integral of instant utility. The model builds on the psychological elements of conceptual consumption, adaptation, and time distance. By virtue of its rich formulation, the AER model produces a wide set of insights and testable predictions, including the U shape of instant utility during anticipation and the optimal duration of anticipation for a given event. Using both real and hypothetical events, we provide empirical evidence in support of the main implications of the AER model.
Data, as supplemental material, are available at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2362
.
This paper was accepted by James Smith, decision analysis
.
The authors propose that purchasing luxury can be a unique means to engage in sustainable consumption because high-end products are particularly durable. Six studies examine the sustainability of ...high-end products, investigate consumers’ decision making when considering high-end versus ordinary goods, and identify effective marketing strategies to emphasize product durability, an important and valued dimension of sustainable consumption. Real-world data on new and secondhand accessories demonstrate that high-end goods can be more sustainable than mid-range products because they have a longer life cycle. Furthermore, consumers engage in more sustainable behaviors with high-end goods, owning them for longer and disposing of them in more environmentally friendly manners. Nevertheless, many consumers prefer to concentrate their budget on multiple ordinary goods in lieu of fewer high-end products partly because of product durability neglect, a failure to consider how long a product will last. Although consumers generally believe that high-end products last longer, they fail to take such a notion into account when making purchases. Finally, this research offers actionable strategies for marketers to help consumers overcome product durability neglect and nudge them toward concentrating their budget on fewer high-end, durable products.
Consumers are often faced with the opportunity to purchase a new, enhanced product, such as a new phone, even though the product they currently own is still fully functional. The authors propose that ...consumers act more recklessly with their current products when in the presence of appealing, though not yet attained, product upgrades (not just mere replacements). Carelessness and neglect toward currently owned products stem from a desire to justify the attainment of upgrades without appearing wasteful. A series of studies with actual owners of a wide range of different goods (durable, consumable, functional, and hedonic products) and evidence from a real-word data set of lost Apple ¡Phones demonstrate how the availability of product upgrades increases cavalier behavior toward possessions. Moreover, the authors demonstrate that product neglect in the presence of attractive upgrades can occur without deliberate intentions. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.
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