Conspicuous conservation describes consumers who purchase environmentally friendly products in order to signal a higher social status.

Origins

The term is derived from the term " conspicuous consumption," coined by

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and sociologist

Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known critic of capitalism. In his best-known book, ''The Theory of the Leisure Class'' ...

in his 1899 book '' The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions''. Veblen described certain sections of the ''

nouveau riche ''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...

'' who used their purchasing power to display

prestige Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnet ...

. The term "conspicuous conservation" was coined by University of Syracuse economics professor Seymour Sacks, in a private conversation.

Experiments

Between 2007 and 2009, psychology professors Vladas Griskevicius (

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

), Joshua M. Tybur (

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

), and Bram Van den Bergh (

Rotterdam School of Management Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (or RSM) is the international business school of the Erasmus University Rotterdam located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. RSM offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes taught mostly in English, ...

) conducted a series of experiments investigating conspicuous conservation. In the resulting paper, ''Going Green to Be Seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation'' they argued that "buying such products can be construed as

altruistic Altruism is the principle and moral practice of concern for the welfare and/or happiness of other human beings or animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core asp ...

, since green products often cost more and are of lower quality than their conventional counterparts, but green goods benefit the environment for everyone". Because altruistic behavior might function as a costly signal of social status, conspicuous conservation can be interpreted as a signal of high status. Their experiments showed that activating status motives led people to choose green products over more luxurious non-green products. The status motive increases the willingness to buy green products in public (but not in private) settings and in settings where green products cost more than non-green products. According to the authors, status competition can thus be used to promote pro-environmental behavior.

Origins

Experiments

See also

References

Further reading