Inconspicuous Consumption is The New Conspicuous Consumption
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Added on 2020-09-08
Inconspicuous Consumption is The New Conspicuous Consumption
Added on 2020-09-08
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INCONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION IS THE NEWCONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION
Table of ContentsTable of Contents...........................................................................................................2INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................1INCONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION.........................................................................11.How can inconspicuous consumption be defined?.................................................12.The shift from conspicuous to inconspicuous........................................................23.. On what do the elite consumers spend their money?...........................................44.How companies can benefit from inconspicuous consumption.............................65.Future of inconspicuous consumption....................................................................66. Marketing a product to the inconspicuous consumer............................................7CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................7RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................7REFERENCES..............................................................................................................8
INTRODUCTION The marketers are speaking more and more about the rise of inconspicuous consumption, theelite consumers that do not prefer traditional branded luxury products but they rather opt fordiscreet ones. Inconspicuous is a trend which has become global and it is going forward. The present study is based on identifying the inconspicuous consumption of upper-classconsumers. It has been noticed that rich people now become more alert toward spending on thegoods and services. They understand that spending money on products and services only fordisplaying purpose is not worthwhile (Arnould, Price and Malshe, 2006). It can be just stated aswastage of money for useless products. In the modern time, upper class people started spendingon such items which are useful for them in present and future, such as spending on childeducation, gardeners etc. this being more effective and referred to as inconspicuousconsumption. The present study provides detail information related to rising in inconspicuousconsumption among upper class people. INCONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION 1.How can inconspicuous consumption be defined? Inconspicuous consumption can be defined as the behaviour of consumers in which theylook at the worth of the goods and accordingly they invest in the product. In the earlier era, highincome class people spend huge money on luxurious goods such to show their economic power.As per the view of economist Thorstein Veblen, silver spoon consumers show their elite socialposition to others. On another hand, Ponsonby-McCabe, (2014) stated that middle-class personsfirst look at their desires and think whether this material will fulfil their need of not (Social classand consumer behaviour, 2017). Accordingly, they invest money in any product. Conspicuousconsumption is known as the spending of money for purchasing of luxury goods and services, topublicly display the economic power of the income . In present time, there is reduce in theconspicuous consumption among the upper-class consumer. Now wealthy people do not choosegoods to display that wealth as it is a theory related to the changing consumption habit ofupperclass people. The theory of leisure class was the first that examines the behaviour of richconsumer while making the purchase decision (Ponsonby-McCabe and Brown, 2010). Higherclass people dedicate their budget to less visible, but more valuable products instead of fillingtheir needs with luxurious things that in future is of zero value. 1
According to Eckhardt, Belk and Wilson, (2015) conspicuous consumption can bedefined as buying highly expensive goods to wasteful display wealth. These costly products areunable to fulfil their needs but still people purchase it just to show their richness to others.2.The shift from conspicuous to inconspicuous As per the view of Dougan (2012) Conspicuous consumption represents the buying ofexpensive goods only to show wealth and not to fulfil the consumer needs. Conspicuousconsumptions can be considered as unambiguous signal that can influence personal choice. It isthe sign that reflects social class of two different people. If person belongs from rich backgroundthen individual can think to buy luxurious products but if person belongs from poor family thenthey always prefer to buy such products that can satisfy their need. Changes from conspicuous toinconspicuous consumption can be seen in luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton selling a sweaterwith a knitted V pattern rather than using the easily identifiable logo. This may be because richpeople do not want to cause anger during economic austerity (Belk 2011;). They are creatingtheir status through creating a cultural capital and the spending habits that come with this. Overthan spending money on material goods, they rather use it for education, services and humancapital investment which have an impact on the quality of life and new generation future. Theshift from conspicuous to inconspicuous happened in three phases. First one is the traditionalconspicuous consumption, where expensive goods with visible brands, serve to affirm status. Wuand et.al, (2017) argued that spending pattern of different people are different from each other.For example black people have good income sources thus, they can spend money whatever theywant to buy thus, they need not to show their wealthy by buying costly products. Whereas thereare white people those have less income sources they try to show their status to other peoplethus, they generally prefer to purchase costly products. The second phase, in consumers eyes, ‘’luxury was losing its lustre’’ (Belk 2015). In the lastphase, the luxury brands become widely available. The shift to inconspicuous consumption is even more visible in countries that were known aspredominantly conspicuous. Inconspicuous consumption has risen in China and Middle Eastcountries, this showing that this country is becoming wealthier. As per the view of Walters and Carr, (2017) in the recent time buying luxurious productscannot make social class. People like to buy more useful products rather than purchasingconspicuous brand names. Lee, (2017) argued that racial impact on preferences of consumers.2
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