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  • 11 - The Psychology of Consumer Social Hierarchy and Rank Signaling

  • from 2 - Consumer Psychology of Groups and Society
  • Edited by Cait Lamberton, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Derek D. Rucker, Kellogg School, Northwestern University, Illinois, Stephen A. Spiller, Anderson School, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Consumer Psychology
    Published online:
    30 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023, pp 309-330

  • Summary

    This chapter discusses and delineates how consumption can act as a rank-signaling system. Specifically, we offer three propositions regarding the mechanics of rank-signaling systems as they relate to consumption. Our first proposition is that people use consumption – the purchase and display of goods and services – as a means to encode (i.e., signal) their social rank. Our second proposition is that consumers use others’ consumption as a means of decoding their social rank. Our third proposition is that people can learn, adjust, and update the signals they use – that is, recoding how they signal their social rank. We both review evidence in support of these propositions and introduce results from two recent studies that examine people’s awareness and use of these rank-signaling mechanics. Finally, we close with a discussion of directions we see as fruitful for future research at the intersection of consumption and rank signaling.