Perhaps you fancy yourself someone who doesn’t care if you’re wearing a real label, because style is style, not a bunch of brand names, right? Maybe you’re the type to, say, rock a most-likely-fake Dior T-shirt pillaged from Salvation Army, because you don’t need the real thing, so long as you look good. Aside from costing the designer money, would it matter to you if you were carrying a fake Alex Wang Rocco Bag? Science says YES, yes, it would!
“A new study claims that our need for brand authenticity is a deep-seated human instinct … we crave authenticity as an end unto itself. We want the real iPhone not because it works better but because it’s the real one. The same logic explains why we splurge on Hermes bags, Rolex watches, Prada T-shirts, fancy Bordeaux, and expensive art.”
The author continues:
Well, at least this explains Kanye’s Twitter feed.
“It’s easy to ridicule this behavior as mere snobbery. We might look down on the pretentious fools carrying Louis Vuitton luggage, or bragging about their Vertu phone, or wearing underwear with a big logo. We probably assume that they’ve just wasted a lot of money on some costly social signaling, or that they’re using the brands to assuage their deep insecurity. Unfortunately, we’re all vulnerable to the same tendency.”
Well, at least this explains Kanye’s Twitter feed.
