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I should have added that this isn't just a personal feeling. Differing consumer sentiment is a field that has been extensively studied (it is useful to know con
by atoav 1y ago
I should have added that this isn't just a personal feeling. Differing consumer sentiment is a field that has been extensively studied (it is useful to know consumer sentiment if you're a US company trying to sell stuff in the EU or vice versa).
This one is a good read: Rözer, J., Lancee, B. & Volker, B. Keeping Up or Giving Up? Income Inequality and Materialism in Europe and the United States. Soc Indic Res 159, 647–666 (2022), see<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-021-02760-1 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-021-02760-1>
- ndriscoll 1y agoFrom your link: > Interestingly, Americans report, on average, a weaker materialistic value orientation than Europeans (US average = 1.39, Europe average = 2.08 on a scale from 0 to 5)... However, in both continents, we find a positive association between inequality and materialism: the higher the level of income inequality is, the higher the level of materialistic values is as well. This doesn't really dispute my understanding, which is that "luxury brands" like Gucci are what lower class poor people buy to feel rich; actual rich people (except specific groups like celebrities who even then might be getting paid to wear "luxury" items) generally do not buy these things. It could be that I grew up in AZ which is near the bottom on the materialism scale, but I've never known conspicuous consumption to be anything other than tacky. Except for SF techies, the rich people I've known have generally been penny pinchers.