“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:9)
Overview
One of my favorite jokes is about wealth. A local rich man had died, and at his funeral a small group of his friends approached the preacher to ask a question about the dearly departed. “You knew the man well,” says one of his friends, “So… how much did he leave behind?” The preacher pauses for a moment, shrugs, and responds “Well… all of it, I guess.”
As funny as this quip is, it is a sobering reminder of how vain the pursuit of material wealth can be. And yet, sadly, we tend to be more like the rich man’s friends than the preacher. Desires for material wealth and possessions have plagued us since the time of Christ, and long before.
Conspicuous consumption is particularly problematic, as it serves little purpose other than to gain the attention and admiration of others. So many people wish to buy a new car, a big house, or expensive brand clothing just to be liked by others.
But do these luxury purchases actually affect others’ perceptions of us? What if buying that expensive sports car or exorbitantly priced pair of shoes didn’t even make others like us more? Perhaps it would help us become more content with what we have.
As funny as this quip is, it is a sobering reminder of how vain the pursuit of material wealth can be. And yet, sadly, we tend to be more like the rich man’s friends than the preacher. Desires for material wealth and possessions have plagued us since the time of Christ, and long before.
Conspicuous consumption is particularly problematic, as it serves little purpose other than to gain the attention and admiration of others. So many people wish to buy a new car, a big house, or expensive brand clothing just to be liked by others.
But do these luxury purchases actually affect others’ perceptions of us? What if buying that expensive sports car or exorbitantly priced pair of shoes didn’t even make others like us more? Perhaps it would help us become more content with what we have.
Overview of the Experiments
In this series of experiments, we sought to test whether a handful of high-priced goods affects the psychological perceptions of others toward the owner. We ran four experiments, two of which involved a new car or sports car, and two of which involved name-brand clothing items, including a pair of Nike Air Max 270 sneakers and a jacket by The North Face.
In each experiment we briefly described a hypothetical person then randomly assigned participants to view images of either the expensive goods or affordable or generic brand goods that our hypothetical person owned. We then measured how much each participant would like this person on a 1-7 scale.
To analyze our studies, we used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to compare the averages between each of the two conditions in each study. We report these averages along with the “p-value” as a measure of the reliability of the statistical results. More details about our methodology can be found here.
In each experiment we briefly described a hypothetical person then randomly assigned participants to view images of either the expensive goods or affordable or generic brand goods that our hypothetical person owned. We then measured how much each participant would like this person on a 1-7 scale.
To analyze our studies, we used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to compare the averages between each of the two conditions in each study. We report these averages along with the “p-value” as a measure of the reliability of the statistical results. More details about our methodology can be found here.
Experiment 1: Sports Car
For our first experiment, we tested whether a driver of a new Lamborghini vs. a new Honda Civic would be liked differently from a passerby. Participants were told to “Imagine you are walking down the street and a car (pictured below) pulls up next to you. The driver rolls down the window and asks you where the nearest gas station is.” Participants saw one of the following images below before rating how much they liked the driver on a seven-point scale (1 = Not at all, 7 = Very much).
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We actually conducted this experiment twice, once with 404 people on the Amazon MTurk platform, then again on the Prolific platform with 406 people for replication. For ease of interpretation we have combined the data here, noting any differences in the results across the two platforms.
Results
We actually found a slight negative effect of driving the luxury sports car (avg. = 4.14) relative to the Honda (avg. = 4.38) on the driver’s likability (p = 0.019). However, this 0.30-point difference on a 1-7 scale equates to only a 7% drop, which is fairly trivial. This result was slightly stronger in our replication experiment on Prolific than on Amazon MTurk, but the interaction of -0.30 was not statistically significant (p = 0.133). Overall, the results suggest that driving a Lamborghini actually makes you just a little less likable than driving a more mainstream car.
Experiment 2: New Car vs. Used Car
In our next experiment, we tested whether driving a new car vs. used car affects your likability. We recruited 400 participants from Amazon MTurk, each of whom read about a car driver, saw an image of either a of either a 2005 or 2021 Ford Taurus, and rated how much they liked the driver.
Each participant read the following vignette. “Imagine you’re parking your car at the grocery store. Another driver pulls into the space across from you driving a [2005 / 2021] Ford Taurus (pictured below). He gets out of his car, nods to you as an informal greeting, then walks into the store.” Participants then saw one of the following cars before rating how much they liked the driver.
Each participant read the following vignette. “Imagine you’re parking your car at the grocery store. Another driver pulls into the space across from you driving a [2005 / 2021] Ford Taurus (pictured below). He gets out of his car, nods to you as an informal greeting, then walks into the store.” Participants then saw one of the following cars before rating how much they liked the driver.
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Results
There was practically no difference in driver likability between the new car (avg. = 5.03) and used car (avg. = 5.04), (p = 0.968). Thus, there seems to be no likability bump from driving a brand new car, even relative to a model over 15 years older.
Experiment 3: Name-Brand Shoes
Shifting gears away from cars, we next turned to clothing. In this experiment we tested whether a pair of expensive well-known name-brand shoes (Nikes) or lesser-known shoes (Hoka) would be more liked. Importantly, this experiment tested how much participants like the shoes themselves, rather than the person.
Each participant was told to imagine that they see someone wearing the shoes below, then rated how much they liked the shoes on a 1-7 scale. We randomized whether each participant saw the Nike Air Max 270s or the Hoka shoes.
Each participant was told to imagine that they see someone wearing the shoes below, then rated how much they liked the shoes on a 1-7 scale. We randomized whether each participant saw the Nike Air Max 270s or the Hoka shoes.
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Results
Again, participants did not seem to hold any regard for one brand of shoe over the other. The Nikes were rated just a trivial, nonsignificant amount higher (avg. = 4.45) than the Hokas (avg. = 4.26), (p = 0.318). Furthermore, similar to our previous studies, there were no significant interactions with gender or age, even for younger men, who we thought may care more about sneaker brands.
Experiment 4: Name-Brand Jacket
Our final study tested perceptions of a person wearing an expensive jacket from the well-known North Face brand, relative to a generic no-label jacket with 399 participants from Amazon MTurk. This time we included a photo of the person wearing the jacket, photoshopping off the label for the generic version. We also measured participants’ perceptions of the jacket wearer’s socioeconomic status in addition to overall likability, to see if expensive name-brand clothing affects other types of perceptions.
Each participant was instructed as follows. “Imagine you’re out to dinner with a few friends and someone you haven’t met before. The new acquaintance (pictured below) introduces himself as Chris.”
Participants were then shown one of two photos of a model wearing an expensive North Face jacket, with either The North Face logo showing on the model’s jacket or photoshopped out for the generic jacket version. A cropped version of these photos is presented below.
Each participant was instructed as follows. “Imagine you’re out to dinner with a few friends and someone you haven’t met before. The new acquaintance (pictured below) introduces himself as Chris.”
Participants were then shown one of two photos of a model wearing an expensive North Face jacket, with either The North Face logo showing on the model’s jacket or photoshopped out for the generic jacket version. A cropped version of these photos is presented below.
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Results
Once again, we did not find a significant difference in likability between the wearer of the expensive name brand North Face jacket (avg. = 4.75) and the wearer of the generic jacket (avg. = 4.72), (p = 0.794). It seems as though high-end consumer goods do not affect one's overall likability.
We did, however, find a slight increase in perceived socioeconomic status between the North Face brand jacket (avg. = 4.79) and the generic jacket (avg. = 4.56). This effect was small though, only a 4.8% increase. Thus, although it's possible that lower-order constructs that may affect overall likability could be impacted by high-end goods, these effects may also be small and dependent on the context.
Conclusion
In summary, buying things to impress others seems to be a losing strategy. None of our experiments showed even moderate increases in likability from possessing luxury, name-brand, or expensive consumer goods. Nor did any of the goods have much of an effect on related perceptions, such as liking the good itself or the perceived socioeconomic status of the possessor. The benefits of conspicuous consumption seem to exist solely in the fleeting mind of the possessor.
With that in mind, the best investment really does seem to be treasurers in heaven. Especially when considering the paltry gains from material wealth here are on Earth.
With that in mind, the best investment really does seem to be treasurers in heaven. Especially when considering the paltry gains from material wealth here are on Earth.