Before influencers and verified badges, social status lived in tiny online flexes. Millennials still laugh about these early ...

Once confined to adolescent years, braces have undergone a remarkable transformation in social perception. As more adults opt for orthodontic treatment, these dental devices have evolved beyond their ...

Silvia Bellezza is an Associate Professor of Business in Marketing at Columbia Business School. Her research focuses on status signaling in consumption. Whom do you hold in higher regard: Jimmy Carter ...

Remember when a certain brand of flip phone made you instantly cool? Or when a specific car model was the ultimate sign you'd "made it"? Status symbols are fascinating cultural indicators. They ...

Healthy -- and pricey -- snacks from Erewhon are among the new status symbols for Gen Z. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Young Americans are hungry to assert their social dominance — and they’re ...

Each generation cultivates their own emblems of success. In the past that might have looked like owning a car or holidaying abroad. More recently shows of affluence have entailed owning a new-fangled ...

In 2025, apple orchards have quietly become one of the most unexpected symbols of modern prestige. What was once a simple landscape of seasonal labor and family tradition now stands at the ...

Timothy Graham receives funding from the Australian Research Council for his Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE220101435), 'Combatting Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour on Social Media'. He ...

Once a status symbol, now worthless junk A nostalgic look back at the decade of excess, the 1980s, reveals a time when conspicuous consumption reached new heights. Technology promised to revolutionize ...

In comparison to younger people who are collectively struggling to achieve financial stability and comfort in their daily lives, millennials are doing pretty well — and they want the world to know it.