Two comments are in order. First, in a case where individuals appear to
buy more goods at a higher price because of the high price, there is actually
something else going on in addition to a price change. What really
appeals to such individuals is that other people think they paid a high price
—this is the basis for the “snob appeal.” But these buyers would still buy
more at a lower price (and hence still have negatively sloped demand
curves) as long as they were absolutely sure that other people thought
they had paid the high price. As one advertising slogan for a discount
department store puts it, “Only you know how little you paid.”
Second, even if such conspicuous consumers do exist, it is still unlikely
that the market demand curve is positively sloped. Countless lower-
income consumers would be glad to buy luxury handbags or cars if these
products were sufficiently inexpensive, and their behaviour would likely
offset the behaviour of the relatively few higher-income “snobs.”