Culture and Consumer Society I: Milk Tea and Sneakers, Please

Author: 涛声
Reviewer: 观复·钧天

  A few days ago, Taotao's WeChat Moments and Qzone feeds were flooded with posts about "the first cup of milk tea in autumn":

  Whatever. Taotao was not jealous at all, QAQ. One post did catch his attention, though:

  Interesting.jpg. After thinking for a long time, Taotao realized that "Is the 'first cup of milk tea in autumn' a capitalist scam?" is not an easy question. The question does reveal something, however: our buying behavior is shaped not only by our empty wallets and less-than-careful calculations, but also by cultural factors and ideas.

  Examples are everywhere in a consumer society. Sneakers, anime merchandise, the first milk tea of autumn, video-game skins, fashion, and travel souvenirs all carry a conspicuous cultural dimension. Why do these phenomena arise, and what effects do they have? Both questions demand an answer. Join Taotao, then, on a journey through culture and consumer society.

Stop ①: Milk tea and sneakers, please

Part A: Why does this generation love alarmingly expensive sneakers?

  In between the demands of life, study, and work, most of us have seen "affordable luxury" items costing thousands of yuan on social media:

An Adidas YEEZY 350 V2 in the "Blue Tint" colorway, originally priced at about RMB 1,436 on the official website.

  After speculation drives them up, sneakers often sell for three or four thousand yuan, sometimes more than ten thousand. Buyers remain enthusiastic despite those startling prices. Alongside sneaker enthusiasts and investors are many young people who buy fashionable, affordable-luxury goods after influencers promote them—obviously not including the perpetually broke Taotao. Why would young people who are not especially wealthy purchase luxury goods that offer such poor value for money? Let us hear what Mr. Veblen has to say.

Thorstein Bunde Veblen (1857–1929), an American economist and sociologist whose works include *The Theory of the Leisure Class*.

  Today, we consume not only everyday necessities, but also signs intended to distinguish us from other people. Suppose you want to say, "I'm fashionable." What might you do? You could put on the YEEZY sneakers mentioned above and become a cool guy. Today, the sign of "fashion" matters more than the shoes' practical function. If an object is a sign, wearing trendy sneakers is equivalent to saying the word "fashion" itself.

  Veblen was the first to focus on this form of sign consumption. In its early form, sign consumption centered on conspicuous consumption. This occurs when aristocrats and other members of a leisure class who do not need to work demonstrate their wealth by consuming expensive goods and services.

  The early stage of sign consumption was the aristocracy's conspicuous consumption: consumption performed for other people to see. Princes and nobles displayed their power and wealth through magnificent clothing and extravagant pleasures.

A still showing Rococo dress. According to Veblen, conspicuous consumption was often performed "vicariously" by women such as wives.

  As a wage earner, Taotao is extremely envious of friends who can eat, drink, and have fun during working hours. They seem free from the burden of earning a living. Veblen has an explanation for this too.

The Maldives. Never mind: Taotao firmly believes that wherever there is sand in your heart, there are the Maldives.

  In addition to conspicuous consumption, the leisure class "wastes" time through conspicuous leisure. Veblen used that term for the nonproductive consumption of time. Like conspicuous consumption, it is a way to display membership in the leisure class.

  Over time, lower classes also began to practice conspicuous consumption widely to maintain respectability. After all, if spending money is enough to look wealthy, perhaps Taotao can do it too. How "wonderful!" Yet when we face a pair of costly designer sneakers, we can no longer tell whether they are expensive because they are beautiful or seem beautiful because they are expensive.

  In other words, as industrial society developed through industrialization, conspicuous consumption became a way for members of the lower classes to preserve respectability. Consuming for display was no longer exclusive to the leisure class.

Part B: You love me, I love you, autumn milk tea tastes so sweet

  As the opening of this article showed, perhaps your feed was also flooded by "the first cup of milk tea in autumn." Taotao had drunk milk tea only the day before the beginning of autumn, but he still desperately wanted another cup with the special meaning of being the "first cup of autumn." The thought made tears run from the corner of his mouth. Mr. Baudrillard, please unmute yourself and join the conversation.

Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007), a French philosopher whose works include *The Consumer Society* and *Simulacra and Simulation*.

  Baudrillard argued that everyday goods would not stop selling even after they became universal. With the arrival of consumer society, people began buying signs, or information, that differentiated them from others rather than the material functions of the products themselves. This is sign consumption. Consumption began to express people's individuality and taste.

  Before economic development, for example, people were more likely to choose sturdier, easier-to-use luggage. After development, they paid more attention to rarity, character, and design, and preferred branded luggage. The two suitcases perform the same practical function. Adding the sign of a brand, however, raises the product's value.

An excerpt from a Zhihu Premium column presented by Li Yuan. Fortunately, Taotao's wardrobe contains no clothes that demand worship. Being poor saves him from that problem, TAT.

  This shows that the meaning of wearing or owning an object lies not in its use value but in its character as a sign. People consume not a product's function but its sign.

  In today's highly developed consumer society, new products appear constantly. They create new signs and an endless stream of differences from other signs, or products. Because people continually pursue differentiation, consumption never ends. This is the principle of differentiation. People's desires are no longer expressed through individual agency but driven by the system of signs.

New products from KFC, McDonald's, and Burger King in June 2018, summarized by the Baijiahao account Xianshiyan. Viewed together, the products do not seem fundamentally very different.

  Consumer society endlessly stimulates the desire to consume by continually creating signs of difference. This is the principle of differentiation. Tiny differences make us eager to pay for annual limited editions and seasonal releases. In this process, desire is driven by the system of differences rather than by the individual subject. Put simply, you do not buy a product because you truly need it. Nearly nonexistent differences among signs provoke your desire to consume.

  It is important to distinguish sign consumption, which pursues difference from other people, from conspicuous consumption, which pursues respectability.

  Signs of difference now extend beyond fashion brands. They include "serial numbers," "environmentally friendly," "as worn by a celebrity," "classic," "members only," and "brand story." The list of differentiating signs is almost endless. It includes, of course, "the first cup of milk tea in autumn."

  This concludes our tour of the first stop. After some thought, Taotao has resolved to think three times before buying anything in the future. What do you think after reading the full article? The exploration train is about to depart, so let us set out again. See you at Stop ②.