Post #15

Theory of Conspicuous Consumption The other day in class, my professor mentioned Louis Vuitton was doing a collab with Yayoi Kusama (famous Japanese artist), and told us he was looking forward to buying one of the bags from the collection. The travel bag they have on display will set you back for at least $1,000. You might be thinking "yeah that makes sense given the brand", but why do we purchase excessively expensive items knowing full well that they are worth less than their quality? The answer is in the Theory of Conspicuous Consumption. Thorstein Veblen, a famous philosopher from the 19th century coined the term Conspicuous Consumption in his "The Theory of the Leisure Class" book. Conspicuous consumption is the act of displaying ostentatious wealth to gain status and reputation in society. Both an LV bag and a regular bag will carry your items, but the LV bag is a visual representation you can afford and have the means for a lavish lifestyle. Have you ever noticed these so called "luxury brands" have their logos all over their products? That's partly because people purchasing those items want them there as a visible evidence of their wealth. Veblen argued that the middle class admired the lifestyle and consumption patterns of the leisure class and always sought to imitate them in order to improve their own social status. When you visit San Francisco, you'll realize it's nothing like Boston or Washington DC where people dress aesthetic and drive fancy cars. The lack of Conspicuous Consumption in SF gives it a very laid back culture where people do not care about the materialistic aspects of life and rather focus on innovating. You'll see someone on the street dressed like a hobo, and for all you know, they might be running a startup with $100mln in ARR. You can argue billionaires dress humble, but grey t-shirts Mark Zuckerberg wears cost $500. Billionaires flex on another level that is not obvious to an average peasant because the peasant can't comprehend more than a gucci bag as a sign of luxury. Telegram