cloak or flaunt --> yoganarasimhan, 2012 Flashcards
cognoscenti
people who are especially well informed about a particular subject
first party signals
e.g. consumer reviews
help information asymmetry
second party signals
e.g. commercials
producer themselves
tend to believe signal if it was expensive –> must be good
third party
e.g. radio
from somebody who’s not necesarily a producer
why would you wanna cloak or flaunt
helps oversupply
get yourself known
main fashion claims
vehicle to conform - signal for peers
signal of taste or access to information - only sophisticated customers
–> cloaking or flaunting
cloaking
strategic uninformative
preserves products value
decreases no. of social interactions for signaling/showing off
only cognoscenti
flaunting
increases no. of interactions
undermines products signalling value
received help
guids consumers
fashion as conspicuous consumption
observed by others
signal taste / access to information / wealth –> position
external accessory for public display
products as social device
example of brand using cloaking
YSL on Muse 2 bag
somehow became the it bag
example flaunting
ralph laurent and scarf bag
advertised everywhere
helps consumer with style guids
fashion enables consumers
to fit in with peers
to distinguis themselves from their peers
exclusive + hard to find effect on signal
less often used as a device
BUT stronger when used
“in the know”
even with restauratns and clubs etc
want to show off one’s taste
assumptions of article
that you kow your level of sophistication and that u prefer hanging out with people with good taste
no social learning - only signaling
remains a costly signal - fashion made difficult to use
fashion as changing consumer taste
fashion is temporary
has a lifecycle
says something about you
identity good
expressed identity
you are what you consume
especially in cultural interest
positional good
status symbol, shows relative position
odten suprior qualities and features
style
the way it’s done/made
there’s a choice
no one way is clear
how can cloaking creative competitive advantage?
restrict information so only cognoscenti know about them
= competitive advantage
will enable sophisticated consumers to signal their taste
makes products more valuable to them
