sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

and in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

, the term sign value denotes and describes the value accorded to an object because of the prestige (social status) that it imparts upon the possessor, rather than the material value and

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosoph ...

derived from the function and the primary use of the object. For example, the buyer of a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated ...

limousine might partly value the automobile as transport, yet might also value it as a sign that ''signifies'' his or her wealth to a particular community and to society in general. The automobile’s transport-function is primary, from which arises its use-value, whilst the social prestige function is secondary, from which arises its sign-value. The French sociologist

Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as ...

proposed the theory of sign value as a philosophic and economic counterpart to the dichotomy of exchange-value ''vs.'' use-value, which

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

recognized as a characteristic of capitalism as an economic system.{{cite encyclopedia, url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/baudrillard/#1, title=Jean Baudrillard, encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, date=2008-12-24

References

Sociological terminology Jean Baudrillard