conspicuous consumption

English

Etymology

Coined by American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen in 1899.

Noun

conspicuous consumption (uncountable)

1. A public display of acquisition of possessions with the intention of gaining social prestige; excessive consumerism in order to flaunt one's purchasing power.
   • 1899, Thorstein Veblen, chapter 4, in The Theory of the Leisure Class […] ‎^[1], New York: Macmillan, →OCLC:

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

   • 1907 June, Alvin S. Johnson, “Influences Affecting the Development of Thrift”, in Political Science Quarterly, volume 22, number 2, page 238:

     "Conspicuous consumption" is a proof of economic success.

   • 1952 Nov, Paul Mackendrick, “Education for the Art of Living”, in The Journal of Higher Education, volume 23, number 8, page 423:

     Professional humanists . . . resent Veblen's saying that knowing an ancient language is conspicuous consumption and conspicuous waste, like growing your fingernails long and painting them, or keeping a Pekingese.

   • 2004 Sep, Ed Hopkins, Tatiana Kornienko, “Running to Keep in the Same Place: Consumer Choice as a Game of Status”, in The American Economic Review, volume 94, number 4, page 1086:

     As a society becomes richer, those whose incomes do not grow spend more on conspicuous consumption in an attempt to keep up.

Translations

public display of acquisition of possessions

• Catalan: consum ostentós m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 炫耀性消費／炫耀性消费 (xuànyàoxìng xiāofèi)

• Finnish: kerskakulutus (fi)
• French: consommation ostentatoire f
• German: Geltungskonsum m, Prestigekonsum m, Repräsentationskonsum m
• Hungarian: hivalkodó fogyasztás
• Italian: consumo ostentativo m, consumo vistoso m
• Portuguese: consumo conspícuo m
• Russian: демонстрати́вное потребле́ние n (demonstratívnoje potreblénije)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

See also

• acquisitiveness

See also

• keep up with the Joneses
• Veblen effect

Further reading

• conspicuous consumption on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “conspicuous consumption”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "conspicuous consumption in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus(Wordsmyth, 2002)
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)