Display Value - The Psychology of Conspicuous Consumption

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‘Display
Value’
The Psychology  
of Conspicuous
Consumption
1
Dr Paul Marsden
Consumer Psychologist
@marsattacks

Looks matter. We choose brands because they look good
- signalling functional, emotional and aesthetic appeal
2

A good looking product will sell more, to more people,
for more margin - looking good is good business
3

Looks also matter because we often choose brands
because they make us look good
4

Choosing brands because they make us look good is
what is meant by ‘conspicuous consumption’
5

Traditionally, conspicuous consumption is about the public
display of economic wealth and elevated social status
6
HIERARC...

A modern variation of conspicuous consumption is
‘conspicuous compassion’ - public displays of charity
7

Why do we do it? Why do we need to display our
brands - and causes - publicly?
8

Psychologists believe conspicuous consumption is part of
‘impression management’ - self-managing our public image
9

Impression management through self-presentation
matters because people judge us by how we look
10
salary
looks
Frieze, Ire...

And we also judge ourselves by how we look
11

Vision is our dominant sense so visual impressions,
especially ﬁrst impressions, matter
12

So like a peacock tail that displays good genetic traits,
we use brands to visually display our own positive traits
13

So what can brands do to harness this ‘display value’ of
brands - displaying our positive traits with brands?
14

Then, we need to think beyond the functional value and
emotional value of our brands, and add in ‘display value’
16
FUNCTI...

The psychology of ‘display behaviour’ can help here - and
yes, it’s all about… sex
17

Evolution has hardwired the reward centres of our mind to
reward behaviour that appeals to potential mates
18

And that means looking good - by visually enhancing
displays of ‘sexual ﬁtness’ - youth, symmetry, proportions
19

So brands that amplify natural displays of sexual
attractiveness will have a natural appeal
20

Curiously, we may use premium brands to stop ‘mate
poaching’ - seen as gifts, they imply a committed partner
21

But brands not in this ‘extended sex industry’ also have
two BIG display opportunities
22

First, there’s the opportunity to understand the changing
status of ‘social status’ - a key part of sexual display
23

Our brains reward us for displaying social status because
status signals rank and resource - a social aphrodisiac
24

Secondly, sexual display is also about signalling our core
personality traits - to attract (and retain) compatible mates
26

Brands built with a human personality will have more appeal
because they help us display our own personality traits
29

So to wrap up with a simple take-out - the big opportunity
in branding is not function or emotion - it’s display!
30

Thanks - for more practical marketing psychology see
digitalintelligencetoday.com
31
Dr Paul Marsden
Consumer Psychologist...

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