High socioeconomic status is associated with diverse consumption preferences across brands and price levels

Abstract Socioeconomic inequality shapes not only what people can afford but also how they engage with consumption as a social and cultural practice. Drawing on theories of conspicuous consumption, inconspicuous consumption, and cultural omnivorousness, we argue that lower economic constraints leave more room to diversify consumption behaviour along cultural and social aspects in the form of omnivorous or lifestyle-based niche consumption. Therefore, high socioeconomic status is associated with more diverse preferences for daily goods and services. We provide empirical evidence for this diversity hypothesis by analysing millions of mobile-tracked visits from thousands of Census Block Groups to thousands of branded stores in New York State. The results show that people living in high-income neighbourhoods visit a more diverse range of brands and price levels. The associations between diversity and income persist but are less prominent for necessities and for the densely populated and demographically diverse New York City. The associations replicate for education as an alternative measure of socioeconomic status and for the state of Texas. We further illustrate that the associations cannot be explained by simple geographic and demographic attributes, including the neighbourhoods’ demographic diversity and visitation volume, the residents’ geographic mobility, and the stores’ local availability, so deeper social and cultural factors must be at play.