Social rank: implications for consumers as actors and observers

This review provides an introduction to the relationship between consumers' social rank and their behavior as actors and observers. As actors, people's experience of occupying a position of lower or higher social rank-whether actual or imagined-influences consumer behavior outcomes such as gift giving and luxury consumption. As observers, people exhibit both positive and negative responses to others' signals of social rank. Finally, research opportunities related to power versus status hierarchies, how observers categorize luxury consumption, and observers' ability to correctly assess an actor's social rank are discussed. In total, this review provides a primer on past, present, and future research on the role of social rank in consumer behavior.