Status Goods: Experimental Evidence from Platinum Credit Cards*
通过印尼银行白金信用卡的田野实验，发现消费者对纯地位属性的需求，地位商品在社交场合更常用，且提升自尊会减少对地位商品的需求。
This article provides field-experimental evidence on status goods. We work with an Indonesian bank that markets platinum credit cards to high-income customers. In a first experiment, we show that demand for the platinum card exceeds demand for a nondescript control product with identical benefits, suggesting demand for the pure status aspect of the card. Transaction data reveal that platinum cards are more likely to be used in social contexts, implying social image motivations. In a second experiment, we provide evidence of positional externalities from the consumption of these status goods. A final experiment provides suggestive evidence that increasing self-esteem causally reduces demand for status goods, indicating that social image might be a substitute for self-image.