Conspicuous Experiences as Unique Social Signals of Both Status and Warmth

Abstract

Showing off expensive purchases signals wealth and status. To date, the literature exploring this conspicuous consumption process has largely focused on material goods (e.g., cars) while neglecting targets of consumption such as experiences (e.g., vacations) whose transitory nature may bring unique considerations from a signaling perspective. We contend that not only can expensive experiential purchases serve as strong status signals when displayed through certain channels (e.g., social media), but they also confer unique benefits in other interpersonal domains relative to the more traditional material conspicuous consumption. A first set of studies (Studies 1a-d) show that conspicuous experiences convey status equivalently to conspicuous material goods while simultaneously signaling communality better than material items. A second set of studies examine the mechanisms underlying the communal benefits of experiential conspicuous consumption (Studies 2a-c). One final study expands upon the type of status conferred to experiential conspicuous consumers, showing that experiential conspicuous consumption primarily affords prestige- (as opposed to dominance-) based status. These findings broaden our understanding of status perception and position conspicuous experiences as signaling tools with unique social value.