Less Is More? An Economic Analysis On Brand Visibility and Social Status

In the medieval ages, social classes were easily distinguishable based on their clothing; wool and dyed fabric were common among the peasants while the noblemen wore silk and fur lined jackets. Today, the line of clothing choices that distinguish social classes are blurred but certain brands can signal an individual’s social standing. With masstige; masstige in short means prestige for the masses, being widely used in the marketing scene of luxury goods, many of these premium brands are offering “accessible luxury goods” for the masses. An example here would be a downward brand extension of Moschino-H&M collection, the BMW 1 series and traditional BMW sedans. Moschino as a standalone brand is an Italian luxury fashion house while H&M is a fast-fashion retailer that are targeted to plain old folks to keep up with fashion trends without breaking their bank.

With that being said, consumer preference towards branding conspicuousness speaks volumes about their social aspirations. Think Gucci’s instantly recognizable iconic double G logo that is emblazoned over a collection of their items. An individual that buys a Supreme hoodie that has the logo plastered over the apparel may want to signal (whether consciously or unconsciously) to people that he has the money to purchase items from the latest collection and that he fits into the exclusive crowd. On the flip side, quiet luxury goods such as Hermes (often dubbed a Veblen Good), a luxury French brand with subtle opulence and discreet branding is known to win the hearts of those with high disposable income with their craftsmanship and quality. Often, these items are only spotted by those “in the know” crowd with trained eyes to recognise the product.

With that being said, we now dissect the types of consumers in the luxury good market. Joseph Nune, the author of "Journal of Marketing", coins 4 types of personas that drive consumer behaviour depending on their purchase motivation and social standing, the personas are patricians, parvenus, proletarians and poseurs.

Patricians are quiet luxurians who are often those with high social status, many of which come from old money or family wealth. Patricians tend to spurn luxury that do not ostentatiously display their wealth. They are individuals with high financial means and low in need to consume for prestige’s sake.

Parvenus are affluent individuals who crave for social status. They are also high in financial means but not to the extent of the wealth possessed by Patricians. Often seen sporting goods that project their wealth, they are concerned with social status and dissociating themselves from the lower income bracket and associating themselves with the other Parvenus and Patricians.

Poseur, on the other hand are mainly driven by consumption for the sake of status. Poseur itself is a French word which means “to pretend to be what he/she is not”. They are individuals who do not have the money to buy authentic luxury goods and are those who will turn to counterfeit luxury goods.

Proletariats are individuals who do not seek to use purchase of luxury goods as a means of signaling. They are less affluent individuals who are not status conscious and do not bother to seek dissociation or association from any form or social class.

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About the Author

Isabelle Choo

An ambitious procrastinator, Isabelle is currently doing some soul-searching on her future career. She runs an online thrift store in her free time and has a huge sweet tooth. Always piling up her to-do list while procrastinating on her bed, she is quick to be down for creating/writing content that is millennial-worthy.