Conspicuous conservation describesconsumers who purchaseenvironmentally friendly products in order to signal a highersocial status.[1]
The term is derived from the term "conspicuous consumption," coined byeconomist andsociologistThorstein Veblen in his 1899 bookThe Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions. Veblen described certain sections of thenouveau riche who used their purchasing power to displayprestige.[2][3]
The term "conspicuous conservation" was coined byUniversity of Syracuse economics professor Seymour Sacks, in a private conversation.[4][5]
Between 2007 and 2009,psychology professors Vladas Griskevicius (University of Minnesota),Joshua M. Tybur (University of New Mexico), and Bram Van den Bergh (Rotterdam School of Management) conducted a series of experiments investigating conspicuous conservation. In the resulting paper,Going Green to Be Seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation they argued that "buying such products can be construed asaltruistic, since green products often cost more and are of lower quality than their conventional counterparts, but green goods benefit the environment for everyone".[1] Because altruistic behavior might function as acostly signal ofsocial status, conspicuous conservation can be interpreted as a signal of high status.[6] Their experiments showed that activating status motives led people to choosegreen products over more luxurious non-green products. The status motive increases the willingness to buy green products in public (but not in private) settings and in settings where green products cost more than non-green products. According to the authors, status competition can thus be used to promote pro-environmental behavior.[1]
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