Tiden före den senaste finanskrisen präglades av generös kreditgivning och ökande inkomstskillnader. Det är väl bevisat att hög skuldsättning ökar risken för finansiell instabilitet, och bevisen blir fler för att inkomstojämlikhet påverkar överskuldsättning i en positiv riktning. Flera, däribland Frank et. al. (2010), vill förklara sambandet mellan inkomstojämlikhet och skuldsättning med att människor ägnar sig åt statuskonsumtion. Frank et. al. (2010) formulerar en hypotes för att empiriskt undersöka huruvida konsumtionsfunktionen bör innehålla en relativ faktor, och syftet för denna uppsats är att undersöka giltigheten i ”hypotesen om utgiftskaskader” i en svensk kontext. Hypotesen testas genom regression av förändringen i andelen skuldsatta hos Kronofogdemyndigheten på förändringen i gini-koefficienten inom kommuner mellan åren 2011-2016. Studien finner inget signifikant samband mellan andelen skuldsatta och gini-koefficientens förändring. Resultatet kan möjligen förklaras med att den geografiska enheten som observeras är för stor. / The years leading up to the latest financial crisis were characterized by generous credit markets and growing income inequality. It is well proven that high indebtedness increases the risk of financial instability, and there is growing evidence of income inequality affecting the debt-rate in a positive direction. Several, including Frank et. al. (2010), believes that the relationship between indebtedness and income inequality can be explained by people engaging in status-seeking consumption. Frank et. al. (2010) formulates a hypothesis to empirically investigate whether the consumption function should contain a relative factor, and the purpose of this paper is to test the validity of the expenditure cascade-hypothesis in a Swedish context.  The hypothesis is tested by regressing the change in the number of people with debt registered at the Swedish Enforcement Authority on the changes in the gini-coefficient within municipalities in the years 2011-2016. The study finds no significant correlation between the number of debtors and the change in the gini-coefficient. The results may be explained by the fact that the geographical unit of observation is too large.

This article contributes to the field of evolutionary macroeconomics by highlighting the dynamic interlinkages between micro-meso-macro with a Veblenian meso foundation in an agent-based macroeconomic model. Consumption is dependent on endogenously changing social class and signaling, such as bandwagon, Veblen and snob effects. In particular, we test the macroeconomic effects of this meso foundation in a generic agent-based model of a closed artificial economy. The model is stock-flow consistent and builds upon local decision heuristics of heterogeneous agents characterized by bounded rationality and satisficing behavior. These agents include a multitude of households (workers and capitalists), firms, banks as well as a capital goods firm, a government and a central bank. Simulation experiments indicate coevolutionary dynamics between signaling-by-consuming and firm specialization that eventually effect employment and consumer prices, as well as other macroeconomic aggregates.

This study sought to understand factors driving repurchase intentions for consumer electronics (CE) hardware and in particular mobile phones. The outcome of the study was expected to be of interest in academia and practice because it develops upon existing literature and identifies actionable variables that could be used to optimise market offerings. Based on a literature review it was hypothesised that the intent was driven by hedonic and utilitarian factors. These included conspicuousness and visibility; product bundling; reliability; technological features, usability of the product and the buyers’ age. The study tested these hypotheses using primary data. The method was employed to confirm the postulated drivers as well as to determine the direction of the effects. Data collection was conducted through a cross sectional internet survey enumerated in August 2010. The survey reached a broad sample of 144 responders. The analysis supported two of the six hypothesised drivers. The supported drivers were conspicuousness and usability. The recommendation was therefore to encourage the CE industry to focus on creating aesthetically appealing, fashionable devices that were intuitively easy to use requiring minimal assistance or product manuals. It also recommends that less emphasis be placed on durability, advanced features, on bundling additional extras and on targeting particular age groups. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Conspicuous consumption is a form of economic behaviour in which social pressure influences consumption decisions. Considering the current understanding of the detrimental ecological impact of excessive consumption practices, this paper overviews the potential to lessen wasteful consumption trends by utilising conspicuous consumption. This paper overviews research into this phenomenon, commencing with Thorstein Veblen’s work at the end of the nineteenth century. Combining this with research from sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper suggests potential indicators of sustainable consumption tendencies, including personality traits and group dynamics. The empirical aspect of this study successfully replicates the findings of a recent investigation into conspicuous consumption; that is, that consumption increases when conducted in public and income is linked to status. This study has been updated to include various aspects of sustainability behaviour and knowledge and has found trends associated with students of sustainability in Uppsala, Sweden. Furthermore, this paper suggests that the encouragement of conspicuous forms of sustainability could inspire sustainable consumption trends, or potentially lead to a reduction of overall consumption. Finally, this paper makes recommendations for policy makers in order to encourage social sustainability practices, building upon nascent movements such as 'Flygskam' ('Flight Shame') and successful anti-smoking strategies.

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Esta pesquisa analisa estímulos empregados em uma amostra de publicidades televisivas de automóveis com o objetivo de compreender como estes interpelam o sujeito no que diz respeito à irracionalidade imanente ao consumismo exacerbado. O estudo se apoia nos conceitos de estética da mercadoria, indústria cultural, regressão e narcisismo, conforme entendidos pela teoria crítica e psicanálise freudiana. Defende-se a tese de que tais estímulos mobilizam certos mecanismos psíquicos a fim de transformar as pulsões individuais em ações de consumo. Sob a premissa do consumo conspícuo, cuja finalidade é a ostentação com vistas a status e prestígio social, investiga-se como as alterações na percepção dos indivíduos, provocadas pelas pseudoexperiências estéticas mediadas pela indústria cultural, usurpam do indivíduo um esquematismo interno responsável em estruturar a percepção em correspondência com o entendimento, fortalecendo assim a ideologia do consumo. Em decorrência dessa base conceitual, são tomados como categorias de análise da publicidade os conceitos psicanalíticos de regressão, narcisismo, repressão e identificação. A pesquisa de campo permitiu constatar que os estímulos identificados são elaborados com base na carência interna de individualidade e liberdade, que, mobilizada pela publicidade, tende a se expressar na regressão narcísica como uma estratégia de preservação do ego. O mecanismo de regressão é explorado por meio de imagens arcaicas, a fim de despertar pulsões não sublimadas e direcioná-las para o desejo de possuir a mercadoria anunciada / This research treats with stimulus used in television advertising of automobile, in order to understand the irrationality immanent in the current exacerbated consumption. The study is based on the concepts of aesthetic of the merchandise, cultural industry, regression, and narcissism, as they are understood by critical theory and Freudian psychoanalysis. It defends the thesis that such stimulus mobilizes certain psychic mechanisms in order to transform the pulsions in actions of consumer. Under the premise of conspicuous consumption, whose purpose is ostentation to get status and social prestige, it investigates how changes in the perception of individuals, caused by pseudo aesthetic experiences mediated by cultural industry, usurp the individual of an internal schematism responsible in structuring the perception in correspondence to the understanding, thus strengthening the ideology of consumption. On this conceptual basis, it is taken as analytical categories of advertising psychoanalytic concepts of regression, narcissism, repression, and identification. The field research allowed to figure out that the stimulus identified are produced based on the internal lack of individuality and freedom, which mobilized by advertising tends to express itself in narcissistic regression as a self-preservation strategy. The mechanism of regression is explored by archaic images, in order to awaken pulsions not sublimated and direct them to the desire to possess the advertised merchandise

Abstract Problem: Previously, only few wealthy individuals had the opportunity to engage luxury consumption. Today, money and time is a lot more dispersed and thus give the regular citizen a chance to purchase luxury goods. Productivity and quality management has led to a growing production of luxury goods and has been spread to the mass population. Previous studies have proven that there is a relationship between possessions and identities, but lack research on younger consumers and their agendas for luxury consumption. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore how young consumers are using luxury consumption when constructing their identities and if this new group of luxury consumers consume luxury goods in a new way. Method: In order to fulfill the purpose of this thesis, an epistemological relativistic assumption has been made, and includes a qualitative exploratory research design with an inductive approach. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews, where participants had an interest in luxury consumption. Conclusion: Our findings suggests that there is a new group of young consumers who construct their identity through luxury consumption, based on the symbolic meanings and the perceived personal reward. This social group uses luxury consumption to conform with their preferred social references, but also to differentiate themselves. Certain possessions, interests and the environment an individual live in were all found to be important tools for young consumer when they construct their identity. “We are what we buy” has been proven to be a central concept in young consumers identity creation of this study.

Esta pesquisa analisa estímulos empregados em uma amostra de publicidades televisivas de automóveis com o objetivo de compreender como estes interpelam o sujeito no que diz respeito à irracionalidade imanente ao consumismo exacerbado. O estudo se apoia nos conceitos de estética da mercadoria, indústria cultural, regressão e narcisismo, conforme entendidos pela teoria crítica e psicanálise freudiana. Defende-se a tese de que tais estímulos mobilizam certos mecanismos psíquicos a fim de transformar as pulsões individuais em ações de consumo. Sob a premissa do consumo conspícuo, cuja finalidade é a ostentação com vistas a status e prestígio social, investiga-se como as alterações na percepção dos indivíduos, provocadas pelas pseudoexperiências estéticas mediadas pela indústria cultural, usurpam do indivíduo um esquematismo interno responsável em estruturar a percepção em correspondência com o entendimento, fortalecendo assim a ideologia do consumo. Em decorrência dessa base conceitual, são tomados como categorias de análise da publicidade os conceitos psicanalíticos de regressão, narcisismo, repressão e identificação. A pesquisa de campo permitiu constatar que os estímulos identificados são elaborados com base na carência interna de individualidade e liberdade, que, mobilizada pela publicidade, tende a se expressar na regressão narcísica como uma estratégia de preservação do ego. O mecanismo de regressão é explorado por meio de imagens arcaicas, a fim de despertar pulsões não sublimadas e direcioná-las para o desejo de possuir a mercadoria anunciada / This research treats with stimulus used in television advertising of automobile, in order to understand the irrationality immanent in the current exacerbated consumption. The study is based on the concepts of aesthetic of the merchandise, cultural industry, regression, and narcissism, as they are understood by critical theory and Freudian psychoanalysis. It defends the thesis that such stimulus mobilizes certain psychic mechanisms in order to transform the pulsions in actions of consumer. Under the premise of conspicuous consumption, whose purpose is ostentation to get status and social prestige, it investigates how changes in the perception of individuals, caused by pseudo aesthetic experiences mediated by cultural industry, usurp the individual of an internal schematism responsible in structuring the perception in correspondence to the understanding, thus strengthening the ideology of consumption. On this conceptual basis, it is taken as analytical categories of advertising psychoanalytic concepts of regression, narcissism, repression, and identification. The field research allowed to figure out that the stimulus identified are produced based on the internal lack of individuality and freedom, which mobilized by advertising tends to express itself in narcissistic regression as a self-preservation strategy. The mechanism of regression is explored by archaic images, in order to awaken pulsions not sublimated and direct them to the desire to possess the advertised merchandise

This theses Brand product as a symbol of young participants is focused on the phenomenon of brands, which is interpreted through its relation to social status. In the theoretical part of the theses there are two contradictory views discussed (T. Veblen's and G. Lipovetsky's), which provide two different points of view concerning contemporary society and the relation between luxurious goods and social status. Through this discussion the thesis provides the characteritics of youth in the context of its developement during the 20th century. Another discussed topic are marketing techniques focusing on today's young generation. In the research part the author aims to find a connection between luxurious brands consumption and the concept of status among young adults studying Czech high schools. Results did not prove this connection to be very strong, and it seems therefore that Lipovetsky's point of view was the one closer to our analysis.

Resultatet visar oss att människors konsumtionsvanor påverkas av våra beteenden. Både attityden mot beteendet, subjektiva normer och vår upplevda kontroll över köpet påverkar det slutliga utfallet av konsumtionen av märkeskläder. Det gäller framförallt för klädköp som är avsedda för att förbättra individens självbild. Vi kan också se relativt tydliga indikationer på att konsumtionen av märkeskläder som är avsedda att förbättra individens självkänsla har störst inverkan av individens attityd. Om individen har en positiv inställning mot att köpa märkeskläder för att öka sin självkänsla kommer den också i större utsträckning genomföra köpet. / The result shows us that people's consumption habits are affected by our behaviors. Both the attitude towards the behavior, subjective norms and our perceived control over the purchase affect the final outcome of the consumption of branded clothing. This is especially true for clothing purchases that are intended to improve the individual's self-image. We can also see relatively clear indications that the consumption of branded clothing intended to improve the individual's self-esteem has the greatest impact on the individual's attitude. If the individual has a positive attitude towards buying designer clothes to increase their self-esteem, it will also make the purchase to a greater extent.