Rory Sutherland

Yes, one purpose of it in a particular group would probably be, you know, I visibly have resources to spare.

But quite a large part of this stuff is actually signaling to ourselves.

which is, you know, because I'm worth it.

I deserve this.

I'm the kind of person who drives this.

It provides me with a kind of ego boost, a sense of reassurance, whatever it may be.

And so consequently, if you think about part of the reason why bags became very expensive is that very high-end clothing...

can only be worn in quite specific situations.

On the other hand, a bag, like a man's watch, can be worn every day.

So one of the reasons why those things are expensive is, to use a very interesting measure, cost per entertainment hour.

I wear a Casio G-Shock.

I think it was 130 quid because I actually decided, as a gross rationalist, that the best watch is one that's cheap enough to wear in the shower so you don't have to take the f***ing thing off every day.

But...

Paul Dolan, Professor Paul Dolan, who's the behavioral scientist at London School of Economics, I met him, when I first met him, I said, I'm intrigued because you've worked with Daniel Kahneman on happiness, and I noticed you wear a Rolex.

And he said, no, no, he said it's extremely good value for money because it makes me feel good every single day when I put it on.

And in 20 years' time, I'll give it to my son.

In 21 years' time, I don't know how old his son was.

I'll pass it on to my son who can enjoy exactly the same thing.

So there's a repository of meaning.

Now, cost per entertainment hour is quite interesting because it was used to explain the fact that relatively poor young people will spend $90, $100 on a computer game, which seems like a lot of money until you realize that they might play that game for 80, 90, 100 hours or more.