You ain’t foolin’ me! Imposter judgments in luxury status signaling

Jared Wong (), Glen Brodowsky () and Foo Nin Ho ()
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Jared Wong: Yale University
Glen Brodowsky: California State University
Foo Nin Ho: San Francisco State University

Marketing Letters, 2024, vol. 35, issue 1, No 9, 129-141

Abstract: Abstract Past research has documented how consumers judge themselves as imposters when consuming luxury. By contrast, this research considers if and when consumers consider social others (i.e., signalers) to be imposters. We conceptualize imposter judgments along two dimensions: (1) perceived subjective wealth and (2) need for status. Study 1 finds that Black men are perceived to have lower wealth and lower need for status than White men even when engaging in the same status-signaling activity. Such judgments do not apply to Black women in hypothetical scenarios (Study 2). In more concrete scenarios, participants evaluated Black women as having lower wealth and lower need for status (Study 3), similar to how Black men are viewed. These experiments (N = 3,345) lead to the conclusion that Black and White luxury consumers are subject to inauthenticity judgements when signaling with luxury; however, these judgments manifest along different dimensions.

Keywords: Social judgments; Imposter syndrome; Luxury; Race; Status signaling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-023-09687-2

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