In a consumer society, belonging to a particular social class now entails consuming a requisite set of goods and services. And there’s the added complication; goods and services are getting continually upgraded these days. Typically, new (say, microwave oven) or upgraded products (say, a frost-free fridge) are adopted by a small group of innovating consumers which initially raises their status. Others around, perforce to reverse the decline in status resulting from their failure to adopt those products, also take to them, till they come into general use.

In small, open communities you learn what others have bought through frequent visits to their homes and personal contact. However, in urban, anonymous settings, the goods have to be more visible to everybody. No wonder, items of high public visibility, such as houses, cars or clothes constitute such important status symbols. Consumers often reduce their expenditure on non-status products, such as healthcare or leisure spending, in order to be able to afford the status goods.

Patterned on consumer societies elsewhere, we now have a burgeoning middle class preoccupied with keeping up with Joneses. There’s more money with more families, especially dual income families, and no shortage of status-conferring goods and services in the market.

The quintessential consumption society — the American — has been witnessing a new development since the beginning of the 1980s — a sort of new consumerism. Many a middle class family is no longer satisfied with the old regime of keeping up with the Joneses; its reference group has gone up several notches. People are more likely to compare themselves with, or aspire to the lifestyles of those far above them in the economic scale.

A major reason for this change is the decline of neighbourhood. Not only was it a focus of social interaction but also known for it’s anchoring role. In its stead, the workplace has arisen as a fertile site for consumption comparisons. The process has been accelerated by the growing number of married women in jobs. In the workplace, they are exposed to a more diverse reference group than what a typical suburban housewife experiences . And so are more likely to engage in upward consumption comparisons, say, with office superiors enjoying higher incomes.

Television again takes over a good part of people’s free time and this leads to the decline of face-to-face socialising with friends and neighbours. Thus, television has become increasingly important in providing information about the spending pattern of others. TV viewers see and hear what members of other social classes have and how they consume, even behind their closed doors.

Television, coupled with lifestyle magazines, give a highly skewed picture of spending patterns; portraying almost exclusively the rich and the super rich — with their mansions, yachts, convertibles and swimming pools.

At the same time, the country’s capitalist economy is producing a bumper crop of millionaires and billionaires. The wealthy founders of computer start-ups are taken as heroes. They are deemed a breed apart from the "robber barons" of capitalism a hundred year earlier. An era has dawned where "greed is good", with moneymaking elevated to a most laudable undertaking.

And many of the new-rich revel in bouts of conspicuous consumption. Unlike some of the old-rich, they find nothing reprehensible in ostentatious living, but consider it a recognition of their meteoric success in life, measured in terms of moneymaking.

Members of the upper middle class are following suit with their own imitative luxury spending. A growing number of people believe that vacation homes, swimming pools, travel abroad, nice clothes, and multiple cars are symbolic of a good life.

As upscale lifestyles now dominate aspirations, the aspirational gap between what’s aspired to and what can be obtained has widened enormously. As a consequence, a majority of consumers find themselves frustrated; their incomes are inadequate for satisfying their lifestyle aspirations.

The traditional constraints on ostentatious and luxurious spending, including religious and moral strictures, have eroded dramatically. On the contrary, the efforts of producers, advertisers and marketeers to create an alluring, even irresistible, spending environment have become more pervasive and sophisticated.

It is always made out that consumer spending is good for the American economy. But then it could mean consumers accumulating all sorts of far-from-essential goods. A glaring example is the hectic buying of large, powerful trucks (SUVs) used as mere cars. Critics of conspicuous consumption point to the self-defeating aspect of competitive consumption. Even general increases in income do not yield improvements in self-reported happiness and well-being. And the rise of an aspirational gap creates a persistent, perpetual dissatisfaction that cannot be cured by any level of absolute income.

Something similar could be happening in India, too. If we have no Bill Gates, we have persons like Vijay Mallya — with his top-of-the line cars, yachts, private planes, horses and mansions — to emulate. Lifestyle magazines highlight what the rich can do with their money, in the shape of exotic travel, luxury automobiles, expensive perfumes and drinks.

And, of course, television is playing a major role. A middle class family watching run-of-the-mill serials such as Kusum or even Kutumb, sees families living in relative luxury: exquisite glass dining tables, spacious living rooms opulently furnished, impressive chandeliers, posh country retreats, medical treatment abroad. Possibly the most conspicuous consumption of all: the not uncommon spectacle of lavish weddings; weddings that could well cost lakhs, some even over a crore.

Many in our upper middle class set-up have begun observing and aspiring to standards set by the rich and the super rich. Another indicator of upscaling is that people are more likely to believe that a good life can be had from material goods. The increasing prevalence and importance of brand-name status goods, such as Gucci handbags or Rolex watches (as their cheap counterfeit versions), is another indicator of the growth of affluent lifestyles.

Rampant corruption and malpractices in public life is one offshoot of the aspirational gap. You have the former PPSC chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu accumulating 200 pairs of shoes and 200 suits — just an inkling of his lavish lifestyle — apart from acquiring umpteen prime properties and crores in cash. And it’s not inherited or earned wealth, but gained through blatant corruption.

That’s the problem with new consumerism, with its heavy emphasis on conspicuous consumption. As lifestyle aspirations get pitched that high, it could end up in dissatisfaction for many an aspirant or a compulsion to employ unethical means.