原创《消费新趋势无形胜有形》：本文是一篇关于新趋势论文范文，可作为相关选题参考,和写作参考文献。
In 1899, the economist Thorstein Veblen2 observed that silver spoons and corsets were markers of elite social position. He coined the phrase “conspicuous consumption” to denote the way that material objects were paraded3 as indicators of social position and status. More than 100 years later, conspicuous consumption is still part of the contemporary capitalist landscape, and yet today, luxury goods are significantly more accessible than in Veblen’s time. This deluge4 of accessible luxury is a function of the massproduction economy of the 20th century, the outsourcing of production to China, and the cultivation of emerging markets where labour and materials are cheap. At the same time, we’ve seen the arrival of a middle-class consumer market that demands more material goods at cheaper price points.
However, the democratisation of consumer goods has made them far less useful as a means of displaying status. In the face of rising social inequality, both the rich and the middle classes own fancy TVs and nice handbags. They both lease SUVs, take airplanes, and go on cruises. On the surface, the ostensible5 consumer objects favoured by these two groups no longer reside in two completely different universes.
Given that everyone can now buy designer handbags and new cars, the rich have taken to using much more tacit signifiers of their social position. Yes, oligarchs6 and the superrich still show off their wealth with yachts and Bentleys and gated mansions. But the dramatic changes in elite spending are driven by a well-to-do, educated elite, or what I call the “aspirational class”. This new elite cements its status through prizing knowledge and building cultural capital, not to mention the spending habits that go with it—preferring to spend on services, education and human-capital investments over purely material goods. These new status behaviours are what I call “inconspicuous consumption”.
The rise of the aspirational class and its consumer habits is perhaps most salient7 in the United States. The US Consumer Expenditure Survey data reveals that, since 2007, the country’s top 1 per cent （people earning upwards of $300,000 per year） are spending significantly less on material goods, while middle-income groups （earning approximately $70,000 per year） are spending the same, and their trend is upward. Eschewing8 an overt materialism, the rich are investing significantly more in education, retirement and health—all of which are immaterial, yet cost many times more than any handbag a middle-income consumer might buy.
新趋势论文参考资料：
结论：消费新趋势无形胜有形为大学硕士与本科新趋势毕业论文开题报告范文和相关优秀学术职称论文参考文献资料下载，关于免费教你怎么写新趋势集团方面论文范文。
