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Income inequality, income, and internet searches for status goods : a cross-national study of the association between inequality and well-being

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Walasek, Lukasz and Brown, G. D. A. (Gordon D. A.) (2016) Income inequality, income, and internet searches for status goods : a cross-national study of the association between inequality and well-being. Social Indicators Research, 129 (3). pp. 1001-1014. doi:10.1007/s11205-015-1158-4

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1158-4

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Abstract

Is there a positive association between a nation’s income inequality and concerns with status competition within that nation? Here we use Google Correlate and Google Trends to examine frequency of internet search terms and find that people in countries in which income inequality is high search relatively more frequently for positional brand names such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, or Chanel. This tendency is stronger among well-developed countries. We find no evidence that income alone is associated with searches for positional goods. We also present evidence that the concern with positional goods does not reflect non-linear effects of income on consumer spending, either across nations or (extending previous findings that people who live in unequal US States search more for positional goods) within the USA. It is concluded that income inequality is associated with greater concerns with positional goods, and that this concern is reflected in internet searching behaviour.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Faculty of Science > Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Income distribution -- Psychological aspects, Social status -- Psychological aspects, Consumption (Economics) -- Psychological aspects, Consumer behavior -- Psychological aspects., Internet searching
Journal or Publication Title: Social Indicators Research
Publisher: Springer
ISSN: 0303-8300
Official Date: December 2016
Dates:
DateEvent
December 2016Published
19 October 2015Accepted
Volume: 129
Number: 3
Number of Pages: 14
Page Range: pp. 1001-1014
DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-1158-4
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Open Access
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC), Leverhulme Trust (LT)
Grant number: ES/K002201/1 (ESRC), RP2012-V-022 (LT)

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