Costly Signaling
Expensive, wasteful or effortful displays are believed precisely because they are costly to fake; conspicuous consumption, luxury escalation and status arms races are its commercial forms.
An everyday example
A watch whose whole function is that everyone knows what it cost.
What it can cost you
Paying for signal you do not need; entering an arms race with no finish line; misreading signals that are now cheap to fake.
Warning signs
- The cost is the point.
- Everyone I compare with is spending more each year.
One thing to do
Ask what quality the signal is supposed to prove and whether there is a cheaper way to prove it; exit races whose only prize is position.
Is this happening to you right now?
Describe your situation and get a read across all six brains. No account needed.
Check my situationRelated
Not medical, legal or financial advice. How Decision IQ works
One decision idea a week
One useful idea. No daily drip, no pressure.