The status of being or the achievement of becoming? Towards better understandings of cars as status symbols

Abstract

This research responds to claims that status motivates car use. It extends understandings of what status is and of how status influences car use practices. The paper begins with a theoretical exploration of the concept of status and continues with a case study exploring how individuals in Christchurch, New Zealand, relate to status concerns associated with cars. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research, the paper finds that participants conceptualised status in terms of multidimensional hybrid assemblages of meaning. Further, a car had to match a person’s wider social and cultural context in order to perform as a status symbol. Cars that symbolised a sense of intentional accomplishment or progression were most often associated with desired dimensions of status. The paper concludes by noting that status symbolism reflects a complex interplay of social dynamics, and that status is more than a characteristic of a material object.