This article examines the evolution of conspicuous consumption from a practice associated primarily with elite social classes to a widespread behavioural pattern in the digital age. Historically, the public display of wealth functioned as a marker of social power, but contemporary social media environments have radically transformed how status is constructed, performed, and perceived. Through influencers, algorithms, and psychologically driven engagement cycles, social platforms have turned status display into a continuous and reinforcing system. The article ultimately argues that influencer culture, audience psychology, and platform algorithms together form a closed loop that consistently rewards and amplifies conspicuous behaviour.
Conspicuous Consumption And Cultural Authority
When individuals purchase tens of Birkin bags or frequently engage in prolonged luxury vacations, these actions are rarely about the functional value of the product or experience itself. Instead, they serve as symbolic representations of wealth and social standing. The concepts of “conspicuous consumption” and “conspicuous leisure” were first introduced by economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen to describe how members of the upper class publicly display wealth as a means of demonstrating social dominance. According to Veblen, such displays are inherently wasteful, functioning as proof of affluence by signalling one’s ability to remain non-productive (Veblen, 1992).
However, the authority to determine what counts as “fashionable,” “cool,” or socially valuable does not rest solely with those who possess economic wealth. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu argued that social legitimacy is also shaped by cultural capital, defined as the accumulation of knowledge, education, and symbolic prestige. Individuals endowed with high cultural capital are positioned to define taste within society and to convert economic capital into more socially acceptable and legitimized forms of distinction (Bourdieu, 2002). In this way, cultural hierarchies are reproduced not only through wealth, but through symbolic authority.
Influencers And Productive Conspicuousness
The rise of social media has fundamentally altered the arena in which this status competition unfolds. Digital platforms have produced a new professional group: the social media influencer. Unlike traditional elites, influencers do not merely display luxury as an incidental activity; their occupation is built upon a carefully curated and continuous display of consumption. Bainotti (2024) describes this phenomenon as “productive conspicuousness,” where displays of luxury function as labour rather than waste.
For influencers, especially micro-influencers, practices such as accumulation, renting luxury items, and participating in resale markets are strategic tools designed to construct and maintain social status online. These practices generate audience engagement, attract brand partnerships, and ultimately produce income. As a result, influencers represent a transformed leisure class whose visibility and symbolic capital are directly monetized. Leisure itself becomes performative and economically productive, redefining Veblen’s original conception of conspicuous leisure for the digital era.
Audience Psychology And Relative Deprivation
The psychological consequences of constant exposure to aspirational content are particularly significant for audiences engaging in passive social media consumption. Research by Yang et al. (2025) demonstrates that passive browsing increases upward social comparison, leading to heightened feelings of relative deprivation, defined as the perception that one is worse off compared to others. These feelings, in turn, predict stronger tendencies toward conspicuous consumption.
The impact of relative deprivation is most pronounced among individuals with low subjective socioeconomic status (SSS), or their perceived position within the social hierarchy. For individuals who already feel disadvantaged, influencer content intensifies feelings of inadequacy and motivates attempts to compensate through symbolic consumption. Wu et al. (2022) further support this finding by showing that low SSS predicts conspicuous consumption most strongly when individuals believe that upward social mobility is unattainable. When structural advancement feels blocked, consumption becomes an alternative route to symbolic status.
This process aligns with self-completion theory, proposed by Braun and Wicklund (1989). According to this theory, individuals who are committed to a desired identity but feel insecure or incomplete in achieving it engage in compensatory behaviours. Material symbols of prestige function as substitutes for missing credentials or recognition. Consequently, followers who aspire to an influencer’s lifestyle may purchase luxury goods or their replicas as symbolic markers of belonging and identity completion.
Algorithmic Reinforcement And The Consumption Loop
These individual and structural dynamics combine to form a powerful self-reinforcing system. Influencers produce increasingly conspicuous content because platform algorithms reward engagement. Audiences, particularly those with low SSS, consume this content passively, experience relative deprivation, and attempt to alleviate identity insecurity through consumption. Dinh and Lee’s (2024) Intrinsic-Extrinsic Consumption Motivation Model captures this process by demonstrating how exposure to influencer content simultaneously activates intrinsic desires to imitate and extrinsic anxieties such as Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).
As users engage with conspicuous content, algorithms respond by promoting similar material, further amplifying both influencer visibility and audience exposure. This feedback loop ensures that conspicuous behaviour is consistently rewarded across all levels of the system. Influencers gain sponsorships, platforms generate advertising revenue, and audiences remain psychologically invested in the cycle. Each click reinforces the system that sustains it.
Conclusion
Conspicuous consumption has evolved from Veblen’s static display of inherited wealth into a dynamic system of identity economics. Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital now operates within digital environments, where influencers arbitrate taste and reputability through productive displays of consumption. These displays trigger social comparison, relative deprivation, and identity compensation among audiences, particularly those most vulnerable to feelings of social inferiority.
The result is a pervasive digital ecosystem in which algorithms, influencers, and viewers collectively construct a reality where identity is perpetually incomplete and perpetually commodified. Luxury symbols such as yachts, Rolex watches, caviar, and Birkin bags are no longer exclusive markers of old money. They have become prizes in a digitally mediated social contest where participation is open to all, yet sustained by relentless pressure to consume one’s way toward an imagined ideal self.