The Price of Prestige

14 chapter one

do not always behave in this predictable way. In some cases, an increase

in price may lead to an increase in demand, contradicting our intuitive

understanding of rational behavior.

Indeed, why would a rational actor opt for an expensive good when a

cheaper one would work just as well? This is the puzzle that motivates the

analysis of conspicuous consumption. Veblen viewed conspicuous acts of

consumption as public displays of one’s social standing. Once consump-

tion is viewed as also involving a signal, then two differently priced goods

no longer provide the actor with the same utility. If the actor benefits from

this display, choosing the more expensive good may prove rational.

An example from zoology is instructive.^30 Studies in zoology identify

patterns of conspicuous and excessive displays among animals and plants.^31

Yet excess in the animal kingdom seems to contradict the Darwinian logic

of the survival of the fittest; the colorful peacock’s tail is a case in point.

What kind of evolutionary advantage can such a heavy and visible tail pro-

vide? Zahavi and Zahavi ( 1997 , 229 ) explain puzzling traits through the

handicap principle.

The handicap principle is a very simple idea: waste can make sense, because

by wasting one proves conclusively that one has enough assets to waste and

more. The investment — the waste itself — is just what makes this advertise-

ment reliable.

The male peacock “accepts” a handicap by growing a costly resplendent

tail and by parading it around despite its weight and visible colors. In the

wild, when avoiding potential predators, such an exaggerated and burden-

some tail can prove lethal. However, according to Zahavi and Zahavi’s

model, what the peacock loses in agility is compensated through the use of

the tail as an effective signal of fitness to prospective mates. In this, Zahavi

and Zahavi’s handicap principle relies on the logic of costly signals that is

also employed frequently by international relations theorists.^32 Following

this logic, wasteful handicaps are sound from an evolutionary perspective

if they establish effective communication by enhancing the credibility of

signals. A male peacock displaying a full and healthy tail signals his abil-

ity to survive and prosper even with the handicap of a large, heavy, and

conspicuous appendage. He thus proves himself a worthy mate. In this

manner, the handicap principle, which Zahavi and Zahavi see as a neces-

sary companion to Darwin’s law of natural selection, encourages wasteful

traits. Importantly, when dealing with social species, Zahavi and Zahavi