Conspicuous Consumption: Vehicle Purchases by Non-Prime Consumers
51 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2021 Last revised: 12 Mar 2024
Date Written: March 11, 2024
Abstract
Consumers with higher income often spend more on luxury goods. As a result, lower-income consumers who seek to increase their perceived income status may be motivated to purchase conspicuous luxury goods. They may also desire to emulate the visible consumption displayed by their wealthier peers. Using a unique vehicle financing dataset, we find that consumers with lower credit scores value vehicle brand prestige more than average consumers. The stronger preferences for prestige lead non-prime consumers to purchase more expensive vehicles than they otherwise would have. We find evidence that the preferences for prestige are driven both by status signaling and peer emulation motives. Furthermore, we show that larger vehicle purchases financed by auto loans lead to worse loan performance and credit standing for non-prime consumers.
Keywords: Conspicuous Consumption, Status, Emulation, Automobile, Show Off, Vehicles, Auto Loan, Creditworthiness, Non-prime, Credit Constraint
JEL Classification: D12, G51, L62
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