Conspicuous consumption in the context of "Institutional economics"

Nouveau riche (French for 'new rich'; French: [nuvo ʁiʃ]), new rich, or new money (in contrast to old money; French: vieux riche [vjø ʁiʃ]) is a social class of the rich whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. These people previously had belonged to a lower social class and economic stratum (rank) within that class and the term implies that the new money, which constitutes their wealth, allowed upward social mobility and provided the means for conspicuous consumption, the buying of goods and services that signal membership in an upper class. As a pejorative term, nouveau riche affects distinctions of type, the given stratum within a social class; hence, among the rich people of a social class, nouveau riche describes the vulgarity and ostentation of the newly rich person who lacks the worldly experience and the system of values of old money, of inherited wealth, such as the patriciate, the nobility, and the gentry. Though people who came from lower social classes are beginning to see it as a compliment rather than an insult, viewing it as recognition that they built their own wealth and status.

Economic materialism, known colloquially simply as materialism, is a personal attitude that attaches importance to acquiring (and often consuming) material goods. The use of the term "materialistic" to describe an individual's personality or a society tends to have a negative or critical connotation. Rarely also called acquisitiveness, it is often associated with a value system that regards social status as being determined by affluence (see conspicuous consumption), as well as the belief that possessions can provide happiness, which has been critiqued as a lie brought about by capitalism. Environmentalism can be considered a competing orientation to materialism.

The definition of materialism coincides with how and why resources to extract and create the material object are logistically formed. "Success materialism" can be considered a pragmatic form of enlightened self-interest based on a prudent understanding of the character of market-oriented economy and society.

Thorstein Bunde Veblen (/ˈθɔːrstaɪn ˈvɛblən/; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an 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 (1899), Veblen coined the concepts of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure. Veblen laid the foundation for the perspective of institutional economics. Contemporary economists still theorize Veblen's distinction between "institutions" and "technology", known as the Veblenian dichotomy.

Thorstein Bunde Veblen (/ˈθɔːrstaɪn ˈvɛblən/ THOR-styn VEH-blən; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an 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 (1899), Veblen coined the concepts of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure. Veblen laid the foundation for the perspective of institutional economics. Contemporary economists still theorize Veblen's distinction between "institutions" and "technology", known as the Veblenian dichotomy.

A Veblen good is a type of luxury good for which the demand increases as the price increases, in apparent contradiction of the law of demand, resulting in an upward-sloping demand curve. They are named after American economist Thorstein Veblen who described the contradiction.

The higher prices of Veblen goods may make them desirable as a status symbol in the practices of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure. A product may be a Veblen good because it is a positional good, something few others can own.

Instagram tourism or selfie tourism is the phenomenon by which an area sees an increase in tourism, often to the point of overtourism, due to exposure on social media and the resulting desire created in others to recreate the images they've seen on Instagram or TikTok. Studies in 2018 and 2023 found that social media exposure affected tourism and connected it to the sociological concept of conspicuous consumption.

Instagram tourism is often seen in areas which lend themselves to the taking of selfies with a background of picturesque natural beauty or vibrant city scenes. It has been characterized as a superficial consumption of rather than sincere interest in a place, and those engaging in it characterized as "people coming to get a photo of the photos they've seen".