Aspirational Conspicuous Consumption
broke flexing the life you don't have yet, so people treat you like you already do.
Grounded in the research on Wikipedia: Conspicuous consumption; Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899); aspirational framing per marketing/consumer research (e.g. aspirational brands)
the setup
Regular conspicuous consumption is rich people buying visible stuff to prove they're rich. The aspirational version is you buying that same stuff to signal a status you DON'T have yet. You're not flexing wealth, you're flexing the wealth you're hoping to be read as having. The logo isn't a receipt, it's a costume for a role you haven't booked. You're paying to be mistaken for the next version of you.
the science
Thorstein Veblen named conspicuous consumption in 1899: status through visible waste. The 'aspirational' twist is later marketing language, not Veblen's — brands like Coach or entry Gucci are built so people below the tier can buy in and feel adjacent. Pierre Bourdieu's 'Distinction' (1979) sharpens it: taste is a status ladder, and aspirational buying is reaching up a rung. Treat 'aspirational' as industry framing layered on Veblen, not a clean lab finding.