Luxury holidays and Michelin meals are new status symbols

Posting pictures from a city break in the US, a safari in Tanzania or dinner at a fancy Michelin restaurant elevates our social status. Experiences are the new status symbols and even make us appear warm and passionate. This is shown by new research from Aarhus BSS.

The social media are overflowing with images of expensive and exclusive experiences. Photo: Adobe Stock

Bragging is not a new phenomenon. Just look at the pyramids or the sacrifice rituals of earlier times, where status was measured by who could afford to sacrifice the most precious possessions. Similar behaviour is known from the animal kingdom: the peacock flaunting its beautiful plumage, and the gorilla beating its chest to signal dominance.

Today we humans are chasing status symbols in much the same way.

The social media are overflowing with images of expensive and exclusive experiences. According to a 2023 study from American Express, when deciding where to go on holiday, many of us go for destinations that will look good in photos and that we can show off.

”Status and hierarchy are absolutely fundamental aspects of human existence. In the workplace, in our relations with friends and in our lives in general, we seek status." 

Wilson Merrell, postdoc, Department of Political Science

“Status and hierarchy are absolutely fundamental aspects of human existence. In the workplace, in our relations with friends and in our lives in general, we seek status. We’re very interested in how the desire for status manifests in the modern world,” says Wilson Merrell, postdoc at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus BSS, about his new research published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

In the past, research has focused almost exclusively on material goods and shown that expensive cars and Rolex watches are perceived as symbols of status and work wonders, for example, when it comes to attracting potential partners, while expensive and exclusive experiential purchases as status symbols have been understudied.

Wilson Merrell’s new research shows that exclusive experiential purchases convey status equivalently to material purchases, and that – as an added bonus – people are even perceived as warmer, more friendly and popular when sharing their experiences with others.

So by flaunting your expensive holiday, you get the best of both worlds: You convey social status and that you are a person in whose company others thrive. In long-term relationships, you will be seen as attractive because community-oriented qualities such as kindness are preferred here. You may even be preferred for certain jobs with a focus on relational skills.

We like them

To investigate our perception of individuals with conspicuous consumption behaviour (both material and experiential), the researchers scraped posts from Instagram. They collected 100 images from real-world Instagram profiles featuring clear motifs of material and experiential goods. Some images featured motifs like expensive watches, branded clothing and iPhones – typically under hashtags like #outfit of the day. Other images were pictures from luxury holidays, glamping, restaurants and cafés (also called foodporn), typically under hashtags like #luxuryvacations. These images were shown to test subjects from the United States, who were then asked: What do you think of the person who posted this? How warm do you find this person to be? How high a status do you think this person has?

It was clear the test subjects had a more favourable impression of people who posted images of experiences than people who posted images of material things. People who were preoccupied with material goods were perceived as less warm.

The perceived status of people who posted pictures of glamping was on a par with the status of people who had bought an expensive laptop. The difference was to do with the social value attached to the individuals. It was shown that people who posted about experiences scored higher on community-oriented qualities such as kindness and warmth than those who posted pictures of luxury goods.

"People who posted experiences were perceived as being just as suitable for the high-status jobs."

Wilson Merrell, postdoc, Department of Political Science

What jobs are they suitable for?

The researchers also asked the test subjects for their opinion on how well-suited the people from the Instagram photos would be for various jobs.

The results showed that people who posted about experiences were considered better suited for jobs where social skills are important, such as social workers and social educators.

While those who posted luxury goods were perceived as being better suited to industries where social qualities do not play such a big role, such as engineering and law.

“The interesting thing is that people who posted experiences were perceived as being just as suitable for the high-status jobs as those who score low on social skills. But they have the advantage of being perceived as being capable of performing social jobs as well,” says Wilson Merrell.

Driven by intrinsic or extrinsic motivation

But what do our positive associations with people who buy experiences hinge on? One hypothesis was that it matters whether one is driven by intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. If you love travelling or are very passionate about spending time with your family, you are driven by intrinsic motivation. While you are driven by extrinsic motivation if your focus is on showing off and appearing attractive to others.

The researchers found that when scrolling through Instagram and seeing an experience, people often assume that it is rooted in intrinsic motivation. We think people go on holiday or eat out because they like it. Images of material goods, on the other hand, are perceived as being driven by extrinsic motivation.

“We perceive people who are driven by intrinsic motivation as nice people we want to be friends with. They still signal status, but they also signal warmth, and that’s because we believe ​they do it because of their intrinsic qualities,” says Wilson Merrell and continues:

“But when we come across Instagram posts featuring images of material goods, we assume that people are posting them just to show off. They post this picture because they want to flaunt their high status, and that’s what makes us think, ‘Because they’re doing it explicitly – to show off – they’re not very warm, and I wouldn’t want to be friends with them’,” explains Wilson Merrell.

Experience must be shared with others

In addition to intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, it was shown that sharing an experience with others was crucial for our perception of an individual as a kind and community-oriented person.

Both must be present in order to reap the benefits of community-oriented characteristics. People who post pictures of holidays and dining experiences they have shared with others score higher on the question ‘To what extent does this person fit your ideal of a new good friend?’ than if they are solo experiences.

“People show their value by sharing pictures of expensive holidays on social media. They brag in a humble way about what they have experienced. Conspicuous experiences are probably something we will see more of in the future.”

Wilson Merrell, postdoc, Department of Political Science

Filling a gap in research

This is the first time researchers have combined research into material versus experiential purchases with research into status signalling. Wilson Merrell has explored this understudied area of research together with psychology professor Joshua M. Ackerman from the University of Michigan. 

“We were surprised that nobody had done this before because you read a lot about conspicuous consumption behaviour in the literature. We know about the various psychological processes behind the consumption of material goods versus experiential goods. We know how differently people perceive experiential and material consumption in general, such as its effects on well-being, our relations with others, identity creation, and those kinds of things. But no research literature exists on the effect of conspicuous consumption on our perception of status,” explains Wilson Merrell.

Quite apart from filling a gap in research. What can we use the new results for?

“Status signalling is happening all around us all the time in ways that we may not be aware of. Someone talking to us about their holiday has an impact on how we see them. Scrolling through Instagram and seeing someone showing off a watch or showing off a delicious meal, even though they may not be doing it solely to say ‘Hey, look at me, I’m feeling great,’ it still affects the way we perceive the person. And I think that being more aware of the status signals that are all around us all the time can affect our perceptions of others in important ways,” Wilson Merrell replies.

In the past, flashing a Porsche was easy, driving around town. While a holiday experience was more fleeting. But with the advent of social media, it is almost as easy to flaunt your trip to Paris. With your smartphone, you can take selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower and even livestream your ascent up the tower to your friends. And the experience is not over as you board the plane to fly home. It can live on for a long time on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

“People show their value by sharing pictures of expensive holidays on social media. They brag in a humble way about what they have experienced. Conspicuous experiences are probably something we will see more of in the future,” Wilson Merrell estimates.

Facts

We strive to comply with Universities Denmark’s principles for good research communication. For this reason, we provide the following information as a supplement to this article:

Type of study Empirical set of experiments targeting perceptions of different displays of consumer behaviour. 
External collaborators University of Michigan (USA) 
External funding Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF 144) 
Conflict of interest None
Other No
Link to the scientific article Flaunting Porsches or Paris? Comparing the Social Signaling Value of Experiential and Material Conspicuous Consumption 
Contact information Postdoc Wilson Merrell, wmerrell@ps.au.dk