Conspicuous Consumption and Race: Who Spends More on What

Fashionable clothes, jewelry, flashy cars…. They are all items of conspicuous consumption that give their owners status on the street.

Some groups, such as blacks and Hispanics, seem to spend more on such emblems of success than others. Or is that just a stereotype?

Comedian Bill Cosby has long condemned his own black community for spending too much on flashy goods at the expense of children’s education. He has been roundly criticized by some and praised by others, but there hasn’t been much evidence to show whether his claims are true. Those who believe spending patterns vary among racial and ethnic groups typically invoke cultural differences, but there hasn’t been much solid evidence of that, either  http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1963

My Comment:

The above is a research that provides food for thought.  Additional data that I would have loved to see is comparing by population. Like here is the sample population of white, Black and Hispanic. And out of this population, here is the percentage per race that is spending on the “Conspicuous Consumption” out of the sample population.

Another question is could it be that the whites redirect their spending to Vacations or other hobbies rather than conspicous Consumption.