Conspicuous Consumption, Relationships and Rivals: Women’s Luxury Products as Signals to Other Women

A designer handbag found on the shelves of stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, or Nordstrom costs anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars. Yet an average American woman purchases three new handbags each year, prominently flaunting designer brands such as Fendi, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, Prada, and Chanel. Spending on luxury goods amounts to as much as $525 billion per year in the United States alone, with women’s products accounting for over half of this consumption. Given women’s passion for pricey possessions, why do they desire luxury goods? Considerable research has examined why people purchase luxury products. Past work finds that the reasons for why consumers seek such possessions include everything from pursuing happiness and boosting self-esteem to signaling one’s status and identity (Belk 1985; Han, Nunes, and Dreze 2010; Richins 1987; Veblen 1899). But there is reason to believe that luxury goods play an important role in another ubiquitous part of life-relationships. Recent findings suggest that men’s conspicuous consumption plays a vital role in relationship by serving as a “sexual signaling system” (Sundie et al. 2011). In the current research, we examine whether women’s conspicuous consumption might have any function in relationships.