Editing Conspicuous consumption (section)

==History and development==
In ''[[The Theory of the Leisure Class|The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions]]'' (1899), Thorstein Veblen identified, described, and explained the behavioural characteristics of the ''[[nouveau riche]]'' (new rich) social class that emerged from [[capital accumulation]] during the [[Second Industrial Revolution]] (1860–1914).<ref>Veblen, Thorstein. (1899) ''The Theory of the Leisure Class|Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions''. New York: Macmillan. ({{ISBN|0-486-28062-4}}, 1994 Dover pbk ed.; {{ISBN|0-14-018795-2}}, 1994 Penguin Classics ed.).</ref> In that 19th-century social and historical context, the term "conspicuous consumption" applied narrowly in association with the men, women, and families of the [[upper class]] who applied their great wealth as a means of publicly manifesting their [[Power (social and political) |social power]] and [[Social status|prestige]], either real or perceived. The strength of one's reputation is in direct relationship to the amount of money possessed and displayed; that is to say, the basis "of gaining and retaining a good name, are leisure and conspicuous consumption."<ref>Veblen, Thorstein (1912), ''The Theory of the Leisure Class''. New York: Macmillan Company. p. 4.</ref>

In the 1920s, economists such as [[Paul Nystrom]] proposed that changes in lifestyle as result of the [[industrial age]] led to massive expansion of the "[[pecuniary emulation]]."<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Conspicuous Consumption – The Term, The Book, Examples|url=https://conspicuousconsumption.org/|access-date=2021-05-10|language=en-US}}</ref> That conspicuous consumption had induced in the mass of society a "[[philosophy of futility]]" that would increase the consumption of goods and services as a social fashion; consumption for the sake of consumption.

In 1949, [[James Duesenberry]] proposed the "[[demonstration effect]]" and the "[[Bandwagon effect#Microeconomics|bandwagon effect]]", whereby a person's conspicuous consumption psychologically depends upon the actual level of spending, but also depends upon the degree of his or her spending, when compared with and to the spending of other people. That the conspicuous consumer is motivated by the importance, to him or to her, of the opinion of the social and economic reference groups for whom he or she are performed the conspicuous consumption.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" />

===Social class and consumption===
Veblen said that conspicuous consumption comprised socio-economic behaviours practised by rich people as activities usual and exclusive to people with much disposable income;<ref name=":5" /> yet a variation of Veblen's theory is presented in the conspicuous consumption behaviours that are very common to the middle class and to the working class, regardless of the person's race and ethnic group. Such upper-class economic behaviour is especially common in societies with [[Emerging markets|emerging economies]] in which the conspicuous consumption of goods and services ostentatiously signals that the buyer rose from poverty and has something to prove to society.<ref>Postrel, Virginia. 2008 July/August. "[https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/consumption?ca=2I7oDJW7kruafuw%2BAmt%2FgGV%2BRts3U%2F5faeR%2BTMotW8A%3D Inconspicuous Consumption]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}." ''The Atlantic''. "Conspicuous consumption, this research suggests, is not an unambiguous signal of personal affluence. It's a sign of belonging to a relatively poor group."</ref>

In ''[[The Millionaire Next Door|The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy]]'' (1996), Thomas J. Stanley and [[William D. Danko]] reported ''conspicuous frugality'', another variation of Veblen's social-class relation to conspicuous consumption. That Americans with a [[net worth]] of more than a million dollars usually avoid conspicuous consumption, and tend to practise [[frugality]], such as paying cash for a used car rather using [[credit]], in order to avoid material [[depreciation]] and paying [[interest]] upon a car loan.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldpaww5kkmoC | title=The Millionaire Next Door| isbn=9780671015206| last1=Stanley| first1=Thomas J.| last2=Danko| first2=William D.| date=1998|publisher=Simon and Schuster}}</ref>