What does conspicuous consumption mean?

Definitions for conspicuous consumption
con·spic·u·ous con·sump·tion

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word conspicuous consumption.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. conspicuous consumptionnoun

    buying expensive services and products in order to flaunt your wealth

Wiktionary

  1. conspicuous consumptionnoun

    A public display of acquisition of possessions with the intention of gaining social prestige; excessive consumerism in order to flaunt one's purchasing power.

  2. Etymology: Coined by Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) in 1899.

Wikipedia

  1. Conspicuous consumption

    In sociology and in economics, the term conspicuous consumption describes and explains the consumer practice of buying and using goods of a higher quality, price, or in greater quantity than practical. In 1899, the sociologist Thorstein Veblen coined the term conspicuous consumption to explain the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury commodities (goods and services) specifically as a public display of economic power—the income and the accumulated wealth—of the buyer. To the conspicuous consumer, the public display of discretionary income is an economic means of either attaining or of maintaining a given social status.The development of Veblen's sociology of conspicuous consumption also identified and described other economic behaviours such as invidious consumption, which is the ostentatious consumption of goods, an action meant to provoke the envy of other people; and conspicuous compassion, the ostentatious use of charity meant to enhance the reputation and social prestige of the donor; thus the socio-economic practises of consumerism derive from conspicuous consumption.

ChatGPT

  1. conspicuous consumption

    Conspicuous consumption refers to the practice of spending money on luxury goods and services to publicly display wealth and social status. It involves buying expensive items not necessarily because of their intrinsic value or usefulness, but mainly for the purpose of flaunting one's financial power. This term was first coined by sociologist Thorstein Veblen in his 1899 book, "The Theory of the Leisure Class".

Wikidata

  1. Conspicuous consumption

    Conspicuous consumption is the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power — either the buyer’s income or the buyer’s accumulated wealth. Sociologically, to the conspicuous consumer, such a public display of discretionary economic power is a means either of attaining or of maintaining a given social status. Moreover, invidious consumption, a more specialized sociologic term, denotes the deliberate conspicuous consumption of goods and services intended to provoke the envy of other people, as a means of displaying the buyer’s superior socio-economic status.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of conspicuous consumption in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of conspicuous consumption in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of conspicuous consumption in a Sentence

  1. Thorstein Veblen:

    Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.


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"conspicuous consumption." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/conspicuous+consumption>.

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