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Conspicuous conservation describes consumers who purchase
Between 2007 and 2009, psychology professors Vladas Griskevicius (
environmentally friendly
Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...
products in order to signal a higher social status
Social status is the relative level of social value a person is considered to possess. Such social value includes respect, honour, honor, assumed competence, and deference. On one hand, social scientists view status as a "reward" for group members ...
.
Origins
The term is derived from the term "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 c ...
," coined by economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
and sociologist Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Bunde Veblen (; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an American Economics, economist and Sociology, sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known Criticism of capitalism, critic of capitalism.
In his best-known book ...
in his 1899 book '' The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions''. Veblen described certain sections of the ''nouveau riche
; ), new rich, or new money (in contrast to old money; ) is a social class of the rich whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. These people previously had belonged to a lower social cla ...
'' who used their purchasing power to display prestige
Prestige may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Films
*Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband
*The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...
.
The term "conspicuous conservation" was coined by University of Syracuse economics professor Seymour Sacks, in a private conversation.
Experiments
Between 2007 and 2009, psychology professors Vladas Griskevicius (University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
), Joshua M. Tybur (University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...
), and Bram Van den Bergh (Rotterdam School of Management
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (or RSM) is the international business school of the Erasmus University Rotterdam located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. RSM offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes taught mostly in English, ...
) conducted a series of experiments investigating conspicuous conservation. In the resulting paper, ''Going Green to Be Seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation'' they argued that "buying such products can be construed as altruistic
Altruism is the concern for the well-being of others, independently of personal benefit or reciprocity.
The word ''altruism'' was popularised (and possibly coined) by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as , for an antonym of egoi ...
, since green products often cost more and are of lower quality than their conventional counterparts, but green goods benefit the environment for everyone". Because altruistic behavior might function as a costly signal of social status
Social status is the relative level of social value a person is considered to possess. Such social value includes respect, honour, honor, assumed competence, and deference. On one hand, social scientists view status as a "reward" for group members ...
, conspicuous conservation can be interpreted as a signal of high status. Their experiments showed that activating status motives led people to choose green products over more luxurious non-green products. The status motive increases the willingness to buy green products in public (but not in private) settings and in settings where green products cost more than non-green products. According to the authors, status competition can thus be used to promote pro-environmental behavior.
See also
*Altruism
Altruism is the concern for the well-being of others, independently of personal benefit or reciprocity.
The word ''altruism'' was popularised (and possibly coined) by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as , for an antonym of egoi ...
* 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 c ...
* Social status
Social status is the relative level of social value a person is considered to possess. Such social value includes respect, honour, honor, assumed competence, and deference. On one hand, social scientists view status as a "reward" for group members ...
* Virtue signalling
Virtue signalling is the act of expressing opinions or stances that align with popular moral values, often through social media, with the intent of demonstrating one's good character. The term ''virtue signalling'' is frequently used pejorativel ...
* Conspicuous leisure
Conspicuous leisure is a concept introduced by the American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen in '' The Theory of the Leisure Class'' (1899). Conspicuous or visible leisure is engaged in for the sake of displaying and attaining social s ...
* Class consciousness
In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that persons hold regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their common class interests. According to Karl Marx, class consciousness is an awa ...
* Anti-consumerism
Anti-consumerism is a sociopolitical ideology. It has been described as "''intentionally'' and ''meaningfully'' excluding or cutting goods from one's consumption routine or reusing once-acquired goods with the goal of avoiding consumption". The ...
* Sign value
A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or med ...
* Signalling theory
Within evolutionary biology, signalling theory is a body of theoretical work examining communication between individuals, both within species and across species. The central question is how organisms with conflicting interests, such as in se ...
References
Further reading
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conspicuous Conservation Economics of sustainability Consumer behaviour Psychology experiments