Last Week there was a new X.Ite Talk with Silvia Bellezza. After her inspiring speech, we had a little conversation with her about technology and consumption. Here some insights emerged.

Enjoy it!

Last Friday, Silvia Bellezza, professor from Columbia business school, was in Luiss to talk about the dynamics of status signalling. Her speech focused both on how people communicate their own status and how people perceive the status of others. We asked her if technology can have a role in these processes. She explained that technology can influence Signaling Consumption. Social media, for example, have influenced the so-called “Trickle-Down” process. So many fashion trends associated to high classes tend to be spread through lower social classes and to become mainstream: this leads people from high classes to look for other items, products, brand and trends. It has been observed that social media have accelerated this spreading process due to the broadcast features of those platforms. The use of social network and the consumption of technological items can also be indicators of being busy or not, which can also have implications in terms of status. The use of high tech items can have a role in this process: innovative technological items operate more as a signal of status compared to more traditional items and tech products.