SOLUTION: University of Miami Conspicuous Consumption Relationships and Rivals Article Discussion

Conspicuous Consumption, Relationships, and Rivals: Women’s Voluptuousness Products as Signals to Other Women YAJIN WANG VLADAS GRISKEVICIUS Past learning shows that voluptuousness products can power to boost wilful-esteem, inequitpotent selfsameness, and extraordinary baseation. We offer that voluptuousness products besides hold prostimulus extraordinarying powers in analogys. Inasmuch-as men use noted voluptuousness products to invite compeers, women use such products to terrify feminine rivals. Drawing on twain evolutionary and cultural perspectives, five experiments dared how women’s voluptuousness products power as a extraordinarying arrangement directed at other women who puzzle browbeatings to their extravagant analogys. Findings showed that activating a incitement to protector one’s compeer triggered women to prosecute and ostentation waste proceeds. Concomitant studies biblical that women use pricey proceeds to extraordinary that their extravagant friend is distinctly dedicated to them. In decline, glaring constructor handbags and shoes was potent at terrifyring other women from poaching a analogy friend. This learning identifies a newlight power of noted waste, revealing that voluptuousness products and brands embody prostimulus roles in analogys. A teem, inequitpotent one’s selfsameness, and extraordinary baseation (e.g., Belk 1985; Han et al. 2010; Richins 1987; Veblen 1899). Brandishing a constructor handbag or a voluptuousness escort, for specimen, is frequently used to take a peculiar’s raze of prestige. But there is deduce to regard that voluptuousness products embody an prostimulus role in another ubiquitous sever of life—relationships. For request, studies examining men’s noted waste hold base that men’s ostentations of voluptuousness movables assist as a “sexual extraordinarying arrangement” to invite extravagant partners (Griskevicius et al. 2007; Sundie et al. 2011). Here we reflect whether women’s voluptuousness products jurisdiction besides embody an prostimulus role in analogys. Unlike for men, whose voluptuousness movables frequently assist as extraordinarys to undeveloped compeers, we offer that women’s voluptuousness proceeds frequently assist as extraordinarys to other women. We dare the purbewilder that women’s glaring of constructor products functions as a extraordinarying arrangement directed at selfsame-sex rivals who puzzle a browbeating to a mother’s analogy. We hypothesize that some women use pricey proceeds to extraordinary to other women that their extravagant friend is distinctly dedicated to them. In decline, glaring constructor handbags and shoes aids women terrify extravagant rivals from poaching their analogy friend. We dare this purbewilder in five experiments, which cupel which factors trigger women to prosecute noted voluptuousness proceeds, what extraordinarys such proceeds grant to constructor handbag base on the shelves of stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, or Nordstrom costs anywhere from divergent hundred to divergent thousand dollars. Yet American mother obtain on middle three new handbags each year (Bev and Zolenski 2011), prominently glaring constructor brands such as Fendi, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, Prada, and Chanel (Han, Nunes, and Drèze 2010). In the United States sole, consumeing on voluptuousness movables amounts to as ample as $525 billion per year (Bev and Zolenski 2011), following a date women’s products accounting for aggravate half of this waste (D’Arpizio 2012). Given women’s warmth for pricey proceeds, why do women covet voluptuousness movables? Considerpotent learning has perpendd why mob prosecute voluptuousness products, intimidateing that such products can boost wilful-es- Yajin Wang (wang0936@umn.edu) is a PhD student in marketing and Vladas Griskevicius (vladasg@umn.edu) is friend zealot of marketing and psychology at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, 321 19th Ave S. Suite 3-150, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Address correspondence to Yajin Wang. The authors gratefully vshow the very advantageous input of the editor, friend editor, and reviewers. Ann McGill assistd as editor and Jaideep Sengupta assistd as friend editor for this stipulation. Electronically published August 29, 2013 834 䉷 2013 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc. ● Vol. 40 ● February 2014 All hues silent. 0093-5301/2014/4005-0003$10.00. DOI: 10.1086/673256 WANG AND GRISKEVICIUS other women, and whether these extraordinarys are potent at altering other women’s deportment. This learning moulds a donation by identifying a newlight power of noted consumption, revealing how women’s voluptuousness products and brands embody an prostimulus role in analogys. LUXURY PRODUCTS From $300 constructor shoes and $10,000 outdoor grills, to $20,000 Sub-Zero freezers and $5,000 necklaces, each year consumers consume billions of dollars on voluptuousness products— relatively dear products that collect increased prestige without providing concomitant utilitarian appreciate. Considerable past learning has dared why mob covet voluptuousness products. Mob rarely prosecute such movables for intrinsic benefits to the wilful, whereby voluptuousness movables can collect a better sagacity of wilful and boost a peculiar’s wilful-esteem (Belk 1988; Berger and Heath 2007; Douglas and Isherwood 1978; Holt 1998; Sivananthan and Pettit 2010; Solomon 1983). For specimen, some living-souls regard that having voluptuousness movables conquer mould them happier and past fulfilled (Belk 1985; Richins 1987), and this is distinctly gentleman when living-souls feel spoiled (Charles, Hurst, and Roussanov 2009). People besides prosecute voluptuousness products accordingly such proceeds can extraordinary prostimulus advice to others (Belk, Bahn, and Mayer 1982; Richins 1994). The proclivity to dissipation and exhibit dear movables is public as noted waste (Veblen 1899), whereby voluptuousness movables—and voluptuousness brands—are frequently used to tell a peculiar’s opulence or raze of prestige (Bagwell and Bernheim 1996; Han et al. 2010; Mazzocco et al. 2012; Rucker, Galinsky, and Dubois 2012; Wernerfelt 1990; Wilcox, Kim, and Sen 2009). For example, dear products can take the owner’s baseation or good-tempered-natured-natured predilection, and this extraordinary could be directed to a public interview or to prime living-souls prostimulus to the extraordinaryer (Berger and Ward 2010; Han et al. 2010; Wernerfelt 1990). The vulgar learning builds on the purbewilder that noted voluptuousness proceeds can extraordinary advice to others. Here we centre on examining whether voluptuousness products jurisdiction hold prostimulus and rare extraordinarying powers inequitpotent to analogys. RELATIONSHIPS AND LUXURY PRODUCTS Relatively weak consumer learning has reflected the roles of products and brands in analogys. Some is-sue in this area has perpendd talent giving, publicly showing that men consume reflectpotent instrument on talents to women (Belk and Coon 1993; Heilman, Kaefer, and Ramenofsky 2012; Jonason et al. 2009; Joy 2001; Rugimbana et al. 2002; Saad and Gill 2003; Sarett 1960). Other is-sue has centreed on joint sentence making in analogys, investigating how husbands and wives mould prostimulus consumeing sentences (Davis 1970, 1971; Filiatrault and Ritchie 1980; Kirchler 1993; Rick, Small, and Finkel 2011; Simpson, Griskevicius, and Rothman 2012). Here we reflect the role of voluptuousness products in analogys. 835 Luxury movables are public to assist an prostimulus power in analogys for men by ancillary to invite extravagant friends (Griskevicius et al. 2007; Janssens et al. 2011; Sundie et al. 2011). Given that refined ostentations of opulence hold been occurring abutting the world for millennia, men’s proclivity to prosecute and ostentation voluptuousness proceeds is regardd to hold enhanced their reproductive appurtenancy (Miller 2009; Saad 2007). Consistent following a date this aim, studies intimidate that just activating a compeer inviteion incitement automatically triggers men to pay past consideration to dear products (Janssens et al. 2011), expend past pleasurpotent brands (Sundie et al. 2011), and pay past currency for noted voluptuousness products (Griskevicius et al. 2007). In decline, men who flaunt voluptuousness movables are seen as past sexually inviteive by women (Sundie et al. 2011). But date men’s glaring of voluptuousness products is public to hold an prostimulus power in analogys, it is unclear whether women’s proclivity to ostentation voluptuousness movables assists any purpuzzle when it comes to analogys. If it does, it is unmitigated to be the selfselfidentical purpuzzle as for men—to invite compeers. In six unconnected studies, activating a covet to invite a compeer in women had no property on women’s covet for noted voluptuousness products (Griskevicius et al. 2007; Sundie et al. 2011). However, this closing of intimidateings for women does not mean that women’s voluptuousness products hold no power in relationships. Instead, as we sift-canvass contiguous, women’s voluptuousness products may hold a very divergent power than men’s. RELATIONSHIPS AND MATE GUARDING Relationship learning reveals that having a prosperous analogy entangles solving at lowest two mediate investigates (Griskevicius, Haselton, and Ackerman, subjoined). First, having a analogy requires inviteing a compeer. But accordingly manifold analogys do not end following a compeer is just inviteed, prosperous analogys entangle solving a second challenge: fostering that compeer (Buss 1988; Buss and Shackelford 1997). Learning in biology and anthropology shows that following a extravagant friend has been inviteed, escortianship that friend and staying concomitantly in a analogy co-operated significantly to enhancing reproductive appurtenancy (Hill and Hurtado 1996). The investigate of fostering a compeer is not singly distinct from the investigate of inviteing a compeer, but compeer retention is reflected to be a “fundamental” ethnical evolutionary total (Griskevicius and Kenrick 2013; Kenrick et al. 2010). A mediate element of solving the investigate of compeer retention is compeer protectoring, which entangles managing the browbeating of extravagant competitors (Campbell and Ellis 2005). Individuals involve in compeer protectoring when they sagacity a browbeating to their extravagant analogy. For specimen, a compeer enriching incitement can be triggered by envy, such as when another peculiar starts to coquette following a date one’s extravagant friend (Sheets, Fredendall, and Claypool 1997). Activating a compeer enriching incitement administers mob to scrutinize the environment for undeveloped interlopers who jurisdiction puzzle a browbeating to the analogy (Maner et al. 2007). For request, inasmuch-as acti- 836 vating a compeer inviteion incitement administers mob to be past serene to inviteive members of the irreconcilpotent sex (Maner et al. 2005), activating a compeer protectoring incitement administers mob to be past serene to inviteive members of the selfselfidentical sex, who reproduce-exhibit undeveloped browbeatings to the analogy (Maner et al. 2009). Mate protectoring has been severicularly prostimulus for women aggravate evolutionary narrative (Buss and Schmitt 1993; Buss et al. 1992). Accordingly prosperous reiter-ation has required women to use reflectpotent date and distillation to gestate conclusion and collect alimentation via nursing, women hold historically been past hanging on a analogy friend to aid co-operate instrument to her and her conclusion (Hurtado et al. 1992; Kaplan et al. 2000; Marlowe 2003). Women hold besides historically incurred better reproductive costs when a analogy friend fails to collect (Geary 2000; Hurtado and Hill 1992). For specimen, when another mother poaches a mother’s analogy friend, the man may amuse precious instrument to the other mother or forfeit the older analogy in-one. Women are consequently mitigated to be severicularly motivated to protector analogys against compeer poachers. WOMEN’S LUXURY PRODUCTS AS A SIGNALING SYSTEM TO OTHER WOMEN The browbeating of compeer poaching continues to be a pervasive investigate in synchronous communion (Thompson 1983; Wiederman 1997). To protector their analogy friend from substance poached, women use a difference of strategy (Buss 1988). For example, women can undeviatingly intimidate the would-be poacher (Buss and Shackelford 1997). But women besides frequently use past nice strategy to protector their compeer. For specimen, studies show that compeer poachers are close mitigated to prosecute a taken man when he is very-much dedicated to his analogy friend (Schmitt and Buss 2001). This suggests that an potent compeer protectoring tactic for a mother is to take to other women that her friend cares for her deeply and is committed to the analogy (Buss 1988). We offer that women use voluptuousness products to extraordinary to other women that their extravagant friend is distinctly dedicated to them. We hypothesize that women’s glaring of voluptuousness proceeds consequently powers as an intrasexual extraordinarying arrangement: women use voluptuousness products to grant extraordinarys to other women in command to terrify those other women from poaching their extravagant friend. The vulgar learning dares whether such a arrangement exists and how it is-sues. Pilot Study: Women’s Own Beliefs encircling Luxury Products and Relationships For women to use voluptuousness movables to extraordinary that their friend is dedicated to them, at lowest some women must regard that their own voluptuousness movables can extraordinary this husk of advice. To perpend if any women really hold this lay belief, we surveyed 76 women (Mage p 33.46, SD p 11.27) on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The women were JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH asked to “Imagine you are in a analogy and you go to a political adventure following a date your friend.” They then responded to four divergent yes/no questions concerning whether the women themselves regardd that other women would distrust that their analogy friend was past dedicated to them fixed on the outfit and jewelry that the mother chose to wear. Specifically, the women were asked: “Do you think some women jurisdiction justice that your friend cares encircling you past [is past committed to you] when they see you wearing a constructor [past dear] outfit and jewelry?” Results showed that past than half of the women implied that they regard that other women would distrust that their analogy friend was past dedicated to them fixed on their own outfit and jewelry. Specifically, a preponderance of women regardd that other women would distrust that a past dear outfit and jewelry shows that their friend cares past encircling them (61.8%) and is past committed (53.9%). Similarly, a preponderance of women regardd that other women would distrust that a constructor outfit and jewelry shows that their friend cares past encircling them (52.6%) and is past committed (55.3%). The intimidateings from the direct examine show that aggravate half of the women surveyed regard that their own ostentations of voluptuousness products can be used to extraordinary to other women how ample their friend is dedicated to them. This concession was held at similarly lofty razes regardclose of whether the women were vulgarly uncompounded, dating, in a committed analogy, or married (all p 1 .43). Thus, a vigorous fragment of women hold a lay concession that voluptuousness movables can show how ample their friend is dedicated to them, providing judicious support for the possibility that women’s voluptuousness movables can power as a extraordinarying arrangement to other women in the benefit of compeer guarding. Do Receivers Correspondently Spell the Signal? For a extraordinarying arrangement to is-sue, receivers must be potent to correspondently spell the extraordinary. This instrument that other women must be potent to recognize advice encircling the devoutness raze of a hardy extravagant friend fixed on the pleasurableness of his feminine friend’s products. There is good-tempered-natured-natured deduce to regard that other women are mitigated to distrust this husk of advice. Men abutting cultures consume reflectpotent instrument to invite and protector a analogy friend (Buss 1988; Jonason et al. 2009; Sundie et al. 2011), following a date talent giving substance prostimulus to lasting extravagant analogys (Huang and Yu 2000). This suggests that a vigorous fragment of a mother’s proceeds may reflect her friend’s boarding in the analogy (Heilman et al. 2012; Joy 2001; Rugimbana et al. 2002). This is prostimulus accordingly a man’s conqueringness to consume and invest instrument in a compeer is reflected a vigorous indicator of his commitment to the analogy (Buss and Schmitt 1993). Thus, women’s proceeds such as dear handbags, pleasurpotent jewelry, and constructor shoes are mitigated to administer other women to distrust a better raze of devoutness from her analogy friend. Formally: WANG AND GRISKEVICIUS H1: A mother following a date pleasurpotent proceeds should be perceived by other women as having a past dedicated friend. Are Women Motivated to Grant the Extraordinary in Appropriate Contexts? For a extraordinarying arrangement to is-sue, granters must grant the extraordinary in the expend texture. This instrument that women should be severicularly motivated to prosecute and ostentation voluptuousness proceeds inequitableally when their analogy is browbeatingened by another mother. Because feminine compeer poachers are close mitigated to prosecute a committed man, an potent compeer protectoring tactic for women should be to extraordinary to other women that their friend is deeply committed to them. Given that manifold women regard that voluptuousness movables can show to other women how ample their friend is dedicated to them (see the direct examine above), the covet for noted voluptuousness products should be severicularly vigorous when a mother’s extravagant analogy is browbeatingened by another mother. For specimen, if another mother begins to coquette following a date one’s extravagant friend, this should trigger women to prosecute and ostentation voluptuousness movables. We consequently predicted that women’s covet for noted voluptuousness products should be triggered by just activating a incitement to protector a compeer (Griskevicius and Kenrick 2013). Formally: H2: Activating a compeer protectoring incitement should trigger women’s covet for noted voluptuousness movables. Is the Extraordinary Distinct and Directed to the Intended Receiver? If women use products as extraordinarys to terrify extravagant rivals, should all products be equal potent? According to our model, the most potent extraordinarys for compeer protectoring should be noted voluptuousness proceeds—products that are twain dear and publicly plain. For specimen, a mother’s opulent washing deed or pleasurpotent terrify clock has poor extraordinarying appreciate when another mother is coquetteing following a date her extravagant friend abutting town. Accordingly singly publicly noted voluptuousness proceeds can be amply seen by others, it is clearly these husks of proceeds that should be most potent as extraordinarys to extravagant rivals. This suggests that a compeer protectoring incitement should not administer women to simply covet past dear products in public but should instead administer them to inequitableally covet noted voluptuousness proceeds. Formally: H3: A incitement to protector a compeer should administer women to prosecute publicly noted voluptuousness products but not close noted products that are publicly used in not-public. Finally, if women use voluptuousness products as extraordinarys to other women who are undeveloped compeer poachers, this suggests that women’s covet for voluptuousness products should hold on the 837 interview who can see those products. In predicaments when it is not immanent for the intended interview to obassist the signal, a compeer protectoring incitement should be unmitigated to trigger women’s covet for glaring voluptuousness movables. Instead, a compeer enriching incitement should trigger women’s covet for noted voluptuousness products when the predicament allows for the products to be seen by undeveloped compeer poachers. Formally: H4: A compeer protectoring incitement should administer women to prosecute noted voluptuousness products when the products can be seen by other women who puzzle a browbeating to the analogy. THE CURRENT RESEARCH Five experiments cupeled the purbewilder that women’s glaring of voluptuousness products powers as a extraordinarying arrangement to other women in the benefit of compeer protectoring. Examine 1 perpendd whether receivers correspondently spell the extraordinary, cupeling whether other women recognize a mother following a date pleasurpotent proceeds as having a past dedicated friend (fancy 1). Study 2 dared the triggers for women’s covet for dear movables, cupeling whether activating a compeer protectoring incitement triggers women’s covet for noted voluptuousness products (fancy 2). Examine 3 perpendd the inequitableity of the signal, cupeling whether activating a compeer protectoring incitement leads women ...
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