Sexual selection of conspicuous consumption

• Published in: Journal of evolutionary economics Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 531 - 552
• Main Author: Koliofotis, Vaios
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal reproduction; Classification; Cognitive style; Conspicuous consumption; Consumer behavior; Consumers; Consumption; Cultural change; Cultural transmission; Economic Growth; Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods; Economics; Economics and Finance; Entrepreneurship; Evolution; Females; Hypotheses; Institutional/Evolutionary Economics; Males; Mating; Microeconomics; Psychology; R & D/Technology Policy; Regular Article; Social learning; Conspicuous consumption; consumer learning; O12; A12; Sexual selection; D01; D11; Costly signaling; B15; B52
• ISSN: 0936-9937; 1432-1386
• DOI: 10.1007/s00191-021-00753-4

Recently, a number of papers draw upon ideas from sexual selection and costly signaling theory to argue that conspicuous consumption has evolved as a sexually selected mating strategy. I outline what are considered to be the criteria for arguing that a trait is the outcome of sexual selection and I explore whether conspicuous consumption is sexual adaptation. Though I share the insight that evolutionary theory can contribute to our understanding of consumption behavior, I argue that existing evolutionary explanations of conspicuous consumption do not examine human evolved psychology and available evidence about past environments. I further argue that cultural evolution theory provides an alternative explanation of conspicuous consumption in modern environments. In particular, conspicuous consumption is understood as a pattern of behavior marked by specific social learning mechanisms. Such an approach reflects the analytical tools of cultural evolution theory and provides a classification of cognitive factors involved in consumption choices.