Conspicuous Consumption

The term conspicuous consumption was coined by Norwegian American sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929) in his 1899 book titled The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions. Conspicuous consumption refers to an individual's public or ostentatious use of costly goods or services to indicate his or her wealth and high social status. In capitalist societies, this practice includes purchasing and publicly displaying expensive goods (commodities or status symbols) that are luxuries rather than necessities. Conspicuous consumption goes beyond simply fulfilling an individual's survival needs (food, shelter, clothing) and is characterized by what Veblen described critically as wastefulness. Veblen conceived of conspicuous consumption as a practice in which men engaged to demonstrate their wealth. However, he also described women as conspicuous consumers whose actions indexed the wealth of their husbands or fathers (in Veblen's time, women did not have a recognized separate social status).

Conspicuous consumption can be a social problem because it has the effect of reaffirming social status [Page 163]boundaries and distinctions based on access to wealth. In some cases, such as the conspicuous consumption of elites in developing countries, this practice can lead to social unrest and even political violence.

Conspicuous consumption is a peculiar feature of industrial and postindustrial capitalism that reflects social inequalities within societies characterized by this system of production. In precapitalist societies, an individual's status within his or her social group could be indexed in a variety of ways: for example, through the exertion of physical force or the size and quality of landholdings. According to economists and sociologists, feudal societies had clear distinctions and direct relations of domination between high-status and low-status individuals, precluding the need for elaborate or symbolic demonstrations of wealth, status, and power on the part of the elite. With the advent of industrial capitalism, however, traditional bases of social power and authority (such as land ownership and titles of nobility) became unstable, and status within a society or social group became increasingly tied to the accumulation of money.

The urbanization that accompanied industrialization in Europe and elsewhere increased population density, placing in close contact individuals and families who were previously unknown to each other and who did not have a basis for judging the social status of their new neighbors. Conspicuous consumption allowed people in urban areas to project a certain degree of wealth or status to those around them. Veblen identified this practice with the nouveau riche (newly rich), a class of capitalists who tended to lack traditional status markers, such as noble bloodlines, and who compensated for this fact by buying and ostentatiously displaying consumer goods, such as clothing. In the context of the sudden instability of social status and the crumbling of traditional social distinctions (such as those in the feudal system), conspicuous consumption also became a way for the upper-class elites to reaffirm their place at the top of the social hierarchy.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, conspicuous consumption has become identified not only with the wealthiest members of society but with the middle class as well. In the United States, where no feudal system, nobility, or aristocracy has existed, consumption is the primary manner in which to indicate social status to others. The expansion in consumer purchasing power and the increased availability of a wide range of goods in the United States in the past century enables more individuals to practice conspicuous consumption.

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