Aspirational consumption projects a future self rather than signaling present status

Evidence

Yet, while Veblen seems to condense conspicuousness and aspiration in drawing attention to the class-based performances animating consumer behavior, we would be remiss to read these terms as interchangeable. While ostentatious displays by the nouveau riche discernably communicate something about whom the individual is, aspirational consumerism is a projection of who the individual may become. The timeline for class mobility is therefore stretched out into an imagined future. — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 64

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharply distinguishes conspicuous consumption from aspirational consumption by their temporal orientation — a usable conceptual distinction.
• XREF: connects to: Deferred ‘exposure’ and visibility pay most aspirational content creators poorly — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 11; Self-imposed spending limits function as commitment devices against temptation — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2570; Existential dread drives conspicuous consumption beyond rational calculation. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of…, 456 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Existential dread drives conspicuous consumption beyond rational calculation. #complicates (0.82) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 456
• Glossy commercial imagery shapes working-class desire toward aspirational consumption #expands (0.80)
• Millennial lifestyle spending functioned as self-advertising rather than mere consumption #corroborates (0.78)
• Under capitalism consumption targets abstract value rather than bodily need #qualifies (0.75) — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 753
• Most consumer goods satisfy psychological cravings rather than felt deprivations #complicates (0.74) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 389
• Self-imposed spending limits function as commitment devices against temptation #complicates (0.72) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2570