Woman’s status brand displays: Materialistic men interpret women’s conspicuous consumption as high financial mating standards & are socially deterred by women’s such consumption

Setting the bar: The influence of women’s conspicuous display on men’s affiliative behavior. Jill M.Sundie et al. Journal of Business Research, October 21 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.039

Highlights
• Materialistic people pay differential attention to a woman’s status brand displays.
• Materialistic men report relying differentially on resources and status to attract women.
• Materialistic men interpret women’s conspicuous consumption as high financial mating standards.
• Materialistic men are socially deterred by women’s conspicuous consumption.
• Materialistic women are not socially deterred by a woman’s conspicuous consumption.

Abstract: Four studies provide evidence for a process by which a woman’s conspicuous consumption can serve as a deterrent to affiliative behaviors by materialistic men, via heightened perceptions of the woman’s financial standards for a romantic partner. Materialistic men report utilizing status and resources to attract women more than non-materialistic men. Materialistic men may therefore utilize information about a woman’s status-linked displays to better calibrate their financially-oriented mating efforts. Differential attention to more subtle displays of a woman’s luxury branded items appears to drive materialistic men’s disinterest in social interaction with a woman who conspicuously consumes. A woman’s conspicuous consumption causes materialistic men to rate a real interaction with that woman less favorably. For women, the opposite is observed, with non-materialistic women reacting more negatively to the interaction.

Keywords: MaterialismStatus consumptionConspicuous consumptionMatingSignaling