Conspicuous Consumption

A useful purchase has two explanations: perhaps you bought it for its returns, or perhaps you are wealthy. Visible waste removes that ambiguity. When money is burned on scale, spectacle, or needless luxury, the absence of an economic payoff becomes evidence that the spender can absorb the loss. This is Costly Signaling expressed through consumption: imitation is difficult because the signal hurts. The audience matters as much as the purchase—the expense must be legible enough for other people to recognize its cost.

The signal establishes willingness or ability to spend, not competence, solvency, taste, or lasting value. A wedding can still damage the spender financially, and an ornate office can project success without demonstrating that the underlying business is sound. The visible signal may conceal the unseen costs required to produce it.