Status consumption in emerging markets: Evidence from Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of cultural capital on status consumption in the middle class of Brazil. It was conducted via three focus groups and 18 individual semi-structured interviews, involving middle-class adult men from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Based on content analysis, we analyzed various items of status consumption and identified several differences between members of the lower and upper middle class, with high and low cultural capital. Results indicate that the distinction is sharp in some social consumption fields (cooking practices, language skills, and travel) yet only slight in other categories (sports, technological, and home products).