The Economics of Conspicuous Consumption

A feature of the new consumer societies which has emerged in more recent years has been the growing economic and social importance of conspicuous consumption. Status-directed consumer demand, stimulated and promoted by the supply of products and services marketed as symbols of social identity and style, now represents a significant part of overall economic and commercial activity. Once regarded as a form of consumer behaviour associated only with the rich and privileged, conspicuous consumption is today a worldwide phenomenon, easily observed at all social and economic levels and a major determinant of the nature and direction of consumer demand. The origins of modern-day conspicuous consumption can be traced to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, to a time when the first consumer societies were being established. As these new markets emerged, so economics struggled to come to terms with a form of socially-inspired consumer behaviour with which it felt instinctively uneasy. Roger Mason traces the development of economic theory and thought since 1700 in its attempts to accommodate a new economics of conspicuous consumption. This enlightening book will be of much interest to scholars, researchers and students of consumer behaviour in economic theory, and will also be welcomed by those in the disciplines of sociology, psychology and business studies.