Conspicuous (Status) Consumption

Recently, there has been a rise in the number of studies that examine the relationship between conspicuous consumption and poverty. With many of the world’s poor living on less than a few dollars per day, one would imagine that most, if not all, of this income would go toward securing basic necessities. In the event there is any surplus, the expectation is that this money would be used by the poor to escape poverty through savings, investments, health care, and education for current and future generations. However, this is not the case. Rather, those living in poverty and extreme poverty divert significant portions of their meager earnings to purchase luxury items such as alcohol, tobacco, jewelry, lavish weddings, [Page 287]or funerals. In many cases, the ...