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From Status-Seeking Consumption to Social Norms. An Application to the Consumption of Cleanliness

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Author Info
Julia Sophie Woersdorfer ()
Abstract

Interdependencies in consumer behavior stem from either status-seeking consumption or compliance with social norms. This paper analyzes how a consumption act changes from a means to signal the consumer’s status to a means of norm compliance. It is shown that such a transformation can only be understood when consumer motivations other than social recognition are taken into account. We depict norm emergence as a learning process based on changing associations between a specific consumption act and widely shared, non-subjectivist consumer needs. Our conjectures are illustrated by means of a case study: the emergence of the cleanliness norm in the 19th century.

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Paper provided by Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group in its series Papers on Economics and Evolution with number 2008-10.

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Date of creation: Oct 2008
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Handle: RePEc:esi:evopap:2008-10

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Keywords: social norms; status seeking; externalities; consumer needs; consumer learning; cleanliness Length 32 pages;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, and Operations
D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information

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    Other versions:
  5. Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2005. "How much do we care about absolute versus relative income and consumption?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 405-421, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Elinor Ostrom, 2000. "Collective Action and the Evolution of Social Norms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 137-158, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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