‘Display Value’ The Psychology of Conspicuous Consumption

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Dr Paul Marsden Consumer Psychologist

@marsattacks

Looks matter. We choose brands because they look good - signalling functional, emotional and aesthetic appeal

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A good looking product will sell more, to more people, for more margin - looking good is good business

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Looks also matter because we often choose brands because they make us look good

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Choosing brands because they make us look good is what is meant by ‘conspicuous consumption’

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Traditionally, conspicuous consumption is about the public display of economic wealth and elevated social status

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HIERARCHY OF DESIGN NEEDS

UTILITY

SAFETY

COMFORT

DISPLAY

Source: Adapted from Crilly, N., Moultrie, J., & Clarkson, P. J. (2004) Seeing things: consumer response to the visual domain in product design. Design Studies, 25(6), 547–577

A modern variation of conspicuous consumption is ‘conspicuous compassion’ - public displays of charity

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Why do we do it? Why do we need to display our brands - and causes - publicly?

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Psychologists believe conspicuous consumption is part of ‘impression management’ - self-managing our public image

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Impression management through self-presentation matters because people judge us by how we look

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salary

looks

Frieze, Irene Hanson, Josephine E. Olson, and June Russell. "Attractiveness and Income for Men and Women in Management1." Journal of Applied Social Psychology 21.13 (1991): 1039-1057.

And we also judge ourselves by how we look

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Vision is our dominant sense so visual impressions, especially first impressions, matter

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So like a peacock tail that displays good genetic traits, we use brands to visually display our own positive traits

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So what can brands do to harness this ‘display value’ of brands - displaying our positive traits with brands?

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First we need to double-down on brand design, we’ll only help people look good if our brand looks good

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Then, we need to think beyond the functional value and emotional value of our brands, and add in ‘display value’

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FUNCTIONAL EMOTIONAL

DISPLAY

The psychology of ‘display behaviour’ can help here - and yes, it’s all about… sex

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Evolution has hardwired the reward centres of our mind to reward behaviour that appeals to potential mates

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And that means looking good - by visually enhancing displays of ‘sexual fitness’ - youth, symmetry, proportions

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So brands that amplify natural displays of sexual attractiveness will have a natural appeal

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Curiously, we may use premium brands to stop ‘mate poaching’ - seen as gifts, they imply a committed partner

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But brands not in this ‘extended sex industry’ also have two BIG display opportunities

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First, there’s the opportunity to understand the changing status of ‘social status’ - a key part of sexual display

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Our brains reward us for displaying social status because status signals rank and resource - a social aphrodisiac

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So one smart ‘display value’ strategy is to become a new status brand - signalling alpha status within a target group

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Secondly, sexual display is also about signalling our core personality traits - to attract (and retain) compatible mates

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So brands with a clear brand personality based on one of the five CRESS brand personality dimensions will appeal

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RUGGEDNESSCOMPETENCE SINCERITY SOPHISTICATIONEXCITEMENT

BRAND PERSONALITY

Source: J. Josko Brakus, Bernd H. Schmitt, & Lia Zarantonello (2009) Brand Experience: What Is It? How Is It Measured? Does It Affect Loyalty - Journal of Marketing ol. 73 (May), 52–68

A more effective way to deliver ‘display value’ may be to build brand personality around core human personality traits

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CONSCIENTIOUSNESSOPENNESS AGREEABLENESS NEUROTICISMEXTRAVERSION

HUMAN PERSONALITY

OCEAN TRAIT TATTOO i128-O80-C41-E63-A73-N1

Inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious

(Mini vs. Buick?)

Careful/dependable vs. easy-going/

careless (Honda vs. Jeep?)

Outgoing/energetic vs. quiet/calm (BMW

vs. Lexus?)

Friendly/cooperative vs. formal/driven

(Acura vs. Mercedes?)

Sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident

(Volvo vs. Porsche?)

O C E A N

Brands built with a human personality will have more appeal because they help us display our own personality traits

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So to wrap up with a simple take-out - the big opportunity in branding is not function or emotion - it’s display!

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Thanks - for more practical marketing psychology see digitalintelligencetoday.com

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Dr Paul Marsden Consumer Psychologist

@marsattacks