Rich people keep buying things that aren't actually functional to show off their wealth

{1} 富人购买没有功能的东西，比如没有时间的手表和固定式自行车，根据沃顿商学院教授Jonah Berger。功能性是造成进入壁垒的五大成本之一。其他四个成本是：金钱，时间，机会，痛苦和奉献。这些成本降低了广泛采用的可能性，并区分了内部人员和模仿者，从而创建并维护了某些状态符号。访问BusinessInsider.com了解更多故事。没有显示根据宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院营销学教授，“看不见的影响：隐藏”一书的作者约拿伯杰尔的说法，功能性就像购买没有功能的东西一样。事实上，功能性有助于解释是什么使某些事物成为地位符号。形状行为的力量。“Berger在他的书中引用了两个例子：价值300,000美元的Romain Jerome手表只是通过指示它是白天还是黑夜，在发布后两天内售罄，以及没有刹车的固定齿轮自行车来告诉时间在旧金山丘陵地区很受欢迎。”通过减少或消除功能性优势，固定齿轮自行车和手表不能说明时间成为身份的巨大信号，“他写道。 ”大多数人购买这些产品是为了它们的功能性好处，因此明确放弃这些好处的东西会发出明确的身份信号。“他补充说：”即使是小孩也可以骑十速自行车，但只骑自行车需要技巧任何人都可以购买一款能够讲述时间的手表，但是需要一个有强烈自我感觉的人（以及另一种方式来判断它是什么时间）才能佩戴一款没有的手表。“根据Berger的说法，功能性诱导进入的成本或障碍 - 但这并不是唯一的成本。更多：像迈克尔科尔斯和Abercrombie＆Fitch这样的品牌的演变解释了一些地位符号的垮台，沃顿商学院教授说明了成本创造和维持状态符号的部分从功能性来看，还有其他四项成本可以推动Berger说，身份成本，就像购买游艇所需的钱一样;时间成本，就像花时间学习葡萄酒一样;机会成本，如眉毛刺穿，使得办公室工作变得困难; Berger写道，这些成本降低了广泛采用的可能性，但它们也有好处。”他们区分了内部人员和模仿人员“，这就是痛苦和奉献的代价，比如做几百次仰卧起坐以获得六块腹肌。他说。 ”在了解或关心某个特定领域的人与不熟悉特定领域的人之间。有一天你不能只是跳上一个固定的东西并希望安全地骑它。你必须花时间和精力学习如何去做“但是成本也会做另外一件事 - 他们解释了为什么有些信号会持续存在并留下来。伯杰说，成本越高，就越有可能坚持并保持其作为一个清晰准确的信号的价值，而外界人员挖走它的可能性就越小。他写道：”通过降低采用的可能性，成本同时增加了信号在区分具有某种特征的人与不具有某种特征的人之间的价值。简而言之，某些成本 - 并不总是与钱有关 - 可以创建和维护状态符号。 {1}{0}{1}

Rich people buy things that don't have a function, like watches that don't tell time and fixed-gear bikes, according to Wharton professor Jonah Berger.Afunctionality is one of five costs that creates a barrier to entry. The other four costs are: money, time, opportunity, and pain and dedication.These costs reduce the likelihood of widespread adoption and distinguish between insiders and imitators, thus creating and maintaining certain status symbols.Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.Nothing displays wealth like buying things that don't have a function.In fact, afunctionality helps explain what makes certain things status symbols, according to Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior.”Berger cites two examples in his book: A $300,000 Romain Jerome watch that only told time by indicating if it was day or night, which sold out within two days of its launch, and fixed-gear bikes with no brakes, which are popular in hilly San Francisco.“By reducing, or removing, functional benefits, fixed-gear bikes and watches that don't tell time become great signals of identity,” he wrote. “Most people buy these products for their functional benefits, so something that explicitly forgoes those benefits sends a clear identity signal.”He added: “Even a kid can ride a ten-speed bike, but it takes skill to ride a bike with only one gear. Anyone can buy a watch that tells time, but it takes someone with a strong sense of self (and another way to figure out what time it is) to wear a watch that doesn't.”According to Berger, afunctionality induces a cost or barrier to entry — but it's not the only cost to do so.Read more: The evolution of brands like Michael Kors and Abercrombie & Fitch explains the downfall of some status symbols, according to a Wharton professorCertain costs create and maintain status symbolsApart from afunctionality, there are four other costs that can propel something into a status symbol, Berger said: Monetary costs, like the money it takes to buy a yacht; costs of time, like time spent learning about wine; opportunity costs, like having an eyebrow piercing that makes it hard to get an office job; and the costs of pain and dedication, like doing hundreds of sit-ups to get six-pack abs.These costs, Berger wrote, reduce the likelihood of widespread adoption, but they also have benefits.“They distinguish between insiders and imitators,” he said. “Between people who know or care about a particular domain and people who don't. You can't just hop on a fixie one day and hope to ride it safely. You have to take the time and effort to learn how to do it right.”But costs also do one other thing — they explain why some signals persist and stick around. The more costly something is, the more likely it is to persist and retain its value as a clear and accurate signal and the less likely it is that outsiders will poach it, Berger said. “By reducing the likelihood of adoption, costs simultaneously increase a signal's value in distinguishing people who have a certain characteristic from those who don't,” he wrote.In a nutshell, certain costs — which aren't always necessarily related to money — can create and maintain status symbols.

{1}

{0}