Analysis of Conspicuous Consumption: A Survey of American Travelers

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Table of Contents
Assignment 1...................................................................................................................................3
Assignment 2...................................................................................................................................7
Part A...............................................................................................................................................7
Part B.............................................................................................................................................14
Reference List................................................................................................................................21
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Assignment 1
Conspicuous consumption is a theory that is often practised intentionally as well as
unintentionally by people. It is practised to maintain status in society and gain social benefits by
consuming luxurious goods. Conspicuous consumption is practised through a display of goods
that often acts as status symbols. In the current era, young people practise it unconsciously to
gain access to social membership by portraying conspicuous behaviour and actions through
possession of immaterial or material goods.
Theory
The term conspicuous consumption was developed by Thorstein Veblen during the composition
of the book The Theory of the Leisure Class in 1899 to explain the consumerism theory
practised by members of the society. The theory of conspicuous consumption states that people
acquire and possess luxurious goods in order to display their economic or financial power in
society (Veblen, 2017). The consumer displays luxurious goods under the perception that it will
allow them to attain a social position and get access to social benefits. The theory was developed
to indicate the characteristics and behaviour of the “nouveau riche” social class that emerged as
a consequence of accumulating wealth during the phase of second Industrial Revolution to
manifest their perceived or actual social prestige and power.
Progression in the theory
The theory has progressed manifold times in the recent era. Earlier, the theory was applicable for
individuals belonging to the upper class, but in the Twentieth Century, it has been widely applied
to a middle-class section of the society or the individuals and households that enjoyed the
discretionary income. It facilitated the practising of economic consumption of products and
services for the vanity of social status and prestige. It was assumed that rich people practised
conspicuous consumption only, but later it was seen that the people belonging to poor economic
and social classes also practised conspicuous consumption to give the perception to society of
belonging to a higher class or elite society (Patsiaouras and Fitchett, 2012). The citizens of
emerging nations practised it to overcome the impressions of the paucity of wealth. However, the
majority of rich Americans practise frugality instead of conspicuous consumption. It makes it
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evident only the low and middle section of the social practise conspicuous consumption to fulfil
their desires of seeking higher status in the society. Different scholars such as Leibenstein further
developed the theory to introduce the concept of snob effects and a bandwagon to broaden and
segment the theory of conspicuous consumption.
Common themes
A thorough analysis of the articles chosen for the research has to lead to the conclusion that there
are certain themes that are common, which makes it evident that various scholars and critics
agree on certain aspects of the theory. According to Vohra (2016), the consumers who practice
conspicuous consumption are generally impulsive in their buying behaviour as they view the
product or service as a status symbol instead of analysing their utility. They ignore the uses or
benefits that the product or service will provide them and purchase them just to display their
economic power in society.
Another theme common to the articles is that conspicuous consumption is a consequence of
CSNI and CNFU among society. CSNI is the mindset of improving social status by acquiring
similar products and services to compete with the other members of the higher social class. On
the other hand, CNFU is the tendency to acquire luxurious commodities and services to order to
develop a distinction from the rest of society to attain higher social standing in society (Podoshen
and Andrzejewski, 2012). These tendencies make people indulge in luxurious commodities and
services to improve their social status and power by utilising their economic power. It results in
the creation of competition among the members of society to gain higher prestige in the society.
The competition has become so intense that the tendency of CSNI and CNFU has become
embedded in the mindset of the current generation leading to unconscious conspicuous
consumption.
Different themes
There are also themes that are distinguished from the above themes as each critic and scholars
have their perception and point of view about the theory. The response of the critics and scholar
differs as there are contrasting observations regarding conspicuous consumption. Some critics
are of the view, conspicuous consumption is the consequence of increased income leading to
widening of income disparity in the society. On the other hand, some critics consider increasing
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conspicuous consumption is not related to the growth of the economy but the increasing desire of
the lower section of the society to portray high social standards and gain social benefits (Segal
and Podoshen, 2013). Another distinction among the perception of the critics is that conspicuous
consumption leads to loss and wastage of economy as the commodities are purchased for the sole
motive of enhancing social standard rather than fulfilling needs. It can lead to higher national
economy expenditure in cases of military requirements. Different nations compete with each
other to acquire better arms and equipment, but it consequently drains the national economy.
Some critics differ from this viewpoint as they consider conspicuous consumption as a boon for
the economy of the nation.
Limitations
The study conducted on conspicuous consumption brought to light some limitation that
prevented enriching of the information for the assignment. The extent of literature available
about conspicuous consumption is scanty which makes it evident that there is a lack of research
on this topic. The research methodology adopted in the available literature is either qualitative or
quantitative, due to which it generates incomplete data and information. Only a few kinds of
literature comprise both methodologies that have proved helpful in gathering relevant and
authentic data for the research. The lack of information prevented in-depth analysis of the
behaviour, characteristics and progress of conspicuous consumption.
Future research directions
The study has helped in analysing the various directions in which the research can be further
conducted in future to facilitate better understanding and availability of relevant and authentic
information and data. Research should be conducted to understand the current buying behaviour
of young teenagers and the extent to which conspicuous consumption has become embedded in
their mindset (Kastanakis and Balabanis, 2014). It is essential to conduct research to gather
information about conspicuous consumption to ensure further development of the concept and
evaluate the consequences of their practical implications. Research about the influence of market
trend on conspicuous consumption and brand loyalty will help researchers as well as business
organisations to understand the behaviour of the customers and develop the economy of the
nation.
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References
Conceptual article
(proposed theory)
Patsiaouras, G. and Fitchett, J.A., 2012. The evolution of conspicuous
consumption. Journal of historical research in marketing, 4(1), pp.154-176.
Quantitative article Segal, B. and Podoshen, J.S., 2013. An examination of materialism,
conspicuous consumption and gender differences. International Journal of
Consumer Studies, 37(2), pp.189-198.
Qualitative article Vohra, A.V., 2016. Materialism, impulse buying and conspicuous
consumption: A qualitative research. Global Business Review, 17(1), pp.51-
67.
Mixed method article Podoshen, J.S. and Andrzejewski, S.A., 2012. An examination of the
relationships between materialism, conspicuous consumption, impulse
buying, and brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing Theory and
Practice, 20(3), pp.319-334.
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Assignment 2
Part A
Executive Summary
This section of the report analyses the process and methods adopted for the development of the
questionnaire that was distributed to American travellers to understand conspicuous consumption
and the various factors that influence the practices. It evaluates the process adopted to design the
questionnaire to cater to the management issue.
Introduction
A questionnaire is a set of questions to collect the opinion and perspective of a group of people
to understand the opinion of the mass population. It is an effective quantitative research method
that was used to understand the future behavioural intention of American travellers practising
conspicuous consumption while travelling international and domestic destinations.
Main Discussion
Every research process needs some qualitative and quantitative data that will help in enriching
the information available for the research project as well as collect some firsthand data to
understand the behaviour and perception of the participants contributing to the data collection
process. Quantitative data collection was conducted through a survey by distributing
questionnaire among the American travellers to understand the extent of conspicuous
consumption practised by them as well as understand the influence of various factors such as
experience, motivation, shopping habits, cultural values, socio-demographics etc. A
questionnaire comprising of twenty questions was developed for the purpose.
Developing the questionnaire is easier said than done. The questionnaire was developed after
analysing the various aspects of conspicuous consumption and identifying the factors that
influence the practices of American travellers. The questions were developed to understand to
gather data and information that will prove relevant and valuable for the research and help in
reaching a conclusion. The questionnaire provides a short introduction to the participants to
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explain the cause for conducting the survey and providing them with relevant information so that
they do not feel that their opinions and perspectives will be misused by the researcher
(Salzberger and Koller, 2013). It informs the participants that the survey process complies with
the Privacy Act, and the information will be kept confidential. It further appreciates the
contribution of the participants in gather relevant information about the conspicuous
consumption of American travellers.
The questionnaires provide basic information about the participants through questions listed in
section D while the rest of the questionnaire focuses on understanding the varying response of
the participants about conspicuous consumption of luxurious good while travelling. The
questions were developed using simple language to avoid vagueness. The questions are direct
and precise so that the participants do not face any difficulty in answering them. It was duly
noted that none of the objectionable questions or phrases was used in the formation of the
questionnaire (Zarantonello and Pauwels-Delassus, 2015). The layout of the questionnaire has
been kept formal and simple to keep it appealing to the participants. It was ensured that there
were no repetitive or baseless questions to waste the valuable time of the participants. The
questions have been structured in a systematic manner to make sure that it follows a logical
sequence and lead the participants to reach a conclusion. Simple instructions were provided to
the participants to ensure they understand the process successfully and there is no confusion or
doubts in the minds of the participants.
During the development of the questionnaire, efforts were made to focus on topic and question
about different aspects of conspicuous consumption practices of American travellers. The
questions selected for the questionnaire would help in getting information about the recent
travelling experience of the participant so that precise and correct information is collected
through the survey (Palinkas et al., 2015). The questionnaire is divided into four sections to
make the structure easy and simple. Section A consists of general questions while section B
enquires about the purchase of conspicuous commodities bought in a recent trip. Section C
addresses the factors influencing the conspicuous consumption practices such as behavioural
intention, experience, shopping motivation and cultural values. The last section of the
questionnaire provides information about the participants.
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Section C of the questionnaire has been developed using a replicable scale to ensure that the
questionnaires consists of relevant questions and will help in conducting a comparative study
with other research works. A replicable scale is a range of indicators that have been previously
tested, developed, which makes the questions valid and reliable as a part of a complex concept
(Bruner II, 2015). Once the replicable scales have been developed, it can us used multiple times
on various sampling group or sections of the population to make the evaluation process standards
and gather more information and data about the concerned area of study. The replicable scale has
been used the manifold time for academic purposes as it helps in saving time as the items of the
questionnaires have been piloted beforehand for the researcher. It will further enable the
researcher to compare the research project, and the data collected from the survey with other
research work to understand the similarities and differences between the projects and develop a
better understanding of the concept (Jain and Robert Bosch 2015).
The four questions of section C has been developed using a replicable scale from Work and/or
fun: measuring hedonic and utilitarian shopping value to use questions regarding the complex
shopping behaviour of the consumers such as utilarian and hedonic shopping values (Babin et
al., 1994). It was chosen as the concept of shopping value will help in understanding the
conspicuous consumption habits of luxurious products of American travellers. It offered
questions that will enable the researcher to incorporate relevant questions in the survey and
gather data that will help in reaching a conclusion. It will facilitate addressing of the
management problem and develop a better understanding of the various factors that influence the
conspicuous consumption practices of the American travellers.
The questionnaire comprises of mixed format so that the different influencing factors can be
incorporated in the survey. A combination of closed and open question formats have been used
in the questionnaire to develop a better understanding of the future behaviour intention of the
American travellers regarding their conspicuous consumption practices of luxurious goods
(Alshenqeeti, 2014). The questionnaire was critically analysed and checked before conducting
the survey to identify any mistakes and prevent the collection of wrong information as it will
lead to error in the results achieved through the research project.
Conclusion
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The questionnaire was developed after thorough research and modification to create a
questionnaire that will help in gathering relevant data and information about the conspicuous
consumption habits and practices of the American travellers and understand the various factors
that influence the practice of displaying luxurious products to improve social standing and
prestige by portraying economic power. Replicable scales and various formats have been used
for the creation of the questionnaire so that various aspects of the research topic are addressed
and help in gathering valuable information and data for enriching the research project.
Questionnaire
Questionnaire
Victoria University is conducting a consumer behaviour survey of Australian luxury goods
consumption. The aim of the study is to find out more about their socio demographics,
culture values, shopping motivation and experience that influence their buying behavioural
intention. All information and opinions provided will be strictly confidential, used for
research purposes only and managed in accordance with the Privacy Act. Thank you for
your time and cooperation in assisting the educational development of students at Victoria
University.
SECTION A. GENERAL QUESTIONS
1. Are you citizen/or permanent residence of Australia?
Yes (Go to Question 2) No (STOP, Thank you)
2. What is your perception of a conspicuous/luxury item?
High quality of material Uniqueness Product exclusivity
Quality of craftsmanship Premium price Aesthetics
Rarity Famous brand Premium quality
Authenticity Expensive price Distinctiveness
3. Have you travelled in the last 12 months during which you bought conspicuous/luxury item(s)?
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Yes (Go to Question 4) No (STOP, Thank you)
SECTION B. ABOUT YOUR MOST RECENT TRIP DURING WHICH YOU BOUGHT CONSPICUOUS /LUXURY
ITEM(S)
Please tick (√) your choices relate to your most recent trip and shopping activities.
4. What trip type was your most recent trip during which you bought conspicuous /luxury item(s)
Domestic International
5. What was your main purpose of this trip? (Tick one box only)
leisure Business Cultural/social event
Visiting friends/relatives Shopping Education
6. Who were you travelling with? (Tick one box only)
Alone Tour Family and friends Spouse/partner
7. What conspicuous/luxury item(s) did you buy during this trip?
Wine Jewellery Collectable Electronic item
Arts, paintings Antiques Perfumes Clothing/Bags
Crafts Watches Books Other --------------------------
8. Which of the following best described your purchase? (Tick one box only)
Solely purchased for myself Solely purchased on behalf of others
Solely purchased as a gift All of the above
9. What was your main reason for purchasing these items?
For fun For self-fulfilment For belonging For prestige
For respect For friendship For accomplishment For investment
SECTION C. YOUR CULTURAL VALUES, SHOPPING MOTIVATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND BEHAVIOURAL
INTENTION
10. Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements in relation to the cultural values
with
1= Strongly Disagree 7= Strongly Agree
Respect for other 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A cohesive family 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Education and achievement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cooperative and harmonious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Loyalty 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Seeking fun and excitement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Desire for material possessions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A belief in the value of hard work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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