Veblen Field Intelligence

LAYER 2: QUALITY GUIDANCE

6. In golf, EVERYTHING is a status signal. The putter you carry, the bag you use, the course you play at, the method you follow. A product positioned as "what serious golfers use" taps status motivation that resists rational persuasion. Premium pricing can INCREASE demand when the purchase signals competence/status.

7. Status signals decay. What was once exclusive becomes mainstream, then becomes a commodity signal. Assess where each signal in the campaign sits on the freshness-to-commodity spectrum.

8. Counter-signaling is the highest-status move. The truly confident golfer understates rather than displays. When the audience has high status, the copy should under-signal rather than over-signal. Bragging is low-status behavior.

9. Price sensitivity inverts for status goods. When the product signals status, lowering the price can DECREASE demand. Assess whether the current price point serves or undermines the status positioning.

PURPOSE

Veblen's status economics reveals the social signaling infrastructure beneath purchase decisions:

• Conspicuous Consumption: Buying to display status. Where does the purchase signal competence, wealth, or insider knowledge to others?
• Invidious Comparison: Status measured by the gap between self and others. What comparison points does the campaign activate? Who does the prospect want to surpass?
• Signal Decay: Exclusive signals commoditize over time. Are the campaign's status signals fresh or exhausted?
• Pecuniary Emulation: Lower tiers imitating upper tiers. Is the campaign positioned to exploit emulation flow downward from aspirational adopters?
• Counter-Signaling: Deliberately understating to signal supreme confidence. When is restraint a more powerful status signal than display?

EXECUTION PROCESS

Step 1: Load Campaign Brief

Read the Engine Router output. Extract: offer structure, price point, authority positioning, target audience demographics, competitive landscape, proof inventory.

Step 2: Status Signal Inventory

Map every status signal present (or absent) in the campaign:

1. Product status signals: What does owning/using this product signal to others?
2. Method status signals: What does following this method signal about the user's sophistication?
3. Authority status signals: What status does the endorser/creator confer by association?
4. Price status signals: Does the price point signal premium, mass-market, or discount?
5. Missing signals: What status signals does the audience expect that the campaign fails to provide?

Step 3: Signal Decay Assessment

For each status signal identified:

1. Freshness: Is this signal novel (high status) or overused (commoditized)?
2. Decay trajectory: Is it freshening, stable, or decaying?
3. Competitive saturation: How many competitors use the same signal?
4. Replacement signals: What could replace a decayed signal with a fresh one?

Step 4: Emulation Pattern Analysis

1. Who emulates whom? Map the emulation chain in the target market.
2. Adoption flow direction: Is the product positioned for the emulated group or the emulating group?
3. Aspirational gap: How large is the gap between the prospect's current status and the status the product promises?
4. Emulation velocity: How fast is this product/method moving from aspirational to mainstream?

Step 5: Counter-Signaling Assessment

1. Audience status level: High-status audiences respond to understatement; low-status audiences respond to display.
2. Current signal intensity: Is the campaign over-signaling (trying too hard) or under-signaling (wasting status potential)?
3. Counter-signal opportunities: Where would restraint or understatement signal MORE status than explicit claims?

Step 6: Produce Findings

{
  "dimension": "status_signals | signal_decay | emulation_patterns | counter_signaling | price_as_signal",
  "finding": "Specific finding in one sentence",
  "evidence": "What in the campaign brief and market supports this",
  "leverage": "high | medium | low",
  "copy_application": "Structural recommendation for downstream skills",
  "recommended_for_skills": ["05", "06", "11", "15"]
}

Step 7: Select the Single Finding

The ONE status insight that would most change the campaign's positioning:

• Which status signal, emulation pattern, or price-as-signal move should the campaign leverage?
• Why does this outrank everything else?
• What downstream skills are most affected?

OUTPUT STRUCTURE

{
  "thinker": "veblen",
  "layer": "B",
  "layer_name": "positioning_identity",
  "campaign": "[project-name]",
  "generated_at": "[timestamp]",
  "findings": {
    "status_signals": {
      "product_signals": [ ... ],
      "method_signals": [ ... ],
      "authority_signals": [ ... ],
      "price_signals": "...",
      "missing_signals": [ ... ],
      "leverage": "high|medium|low",
      "copy_application": "..."
    },
    "signal_decay": {
      "fresh_signals": [ ... ],
      "decaying_signals": [ ... ],
      "commoditized_signals": [ ... ],
      "leverage": "high|medium|low",
      "copy_application": "..."
    },
    "emulation_patterns": {
      "emulation_chain": "...",
      "adoption_flow": "...",
      "aspirational_gap": "...",
      "leverage": "high|medium|low",
      "copy_application": "..."
    },
    "counter_signaling": {
      "audience_status_level": "...",
      "current_signal_intensity": "...",
      "counter_signal_opportunities": [ ... ],
      "leverage": "high|medium|low",
      "copy_application": "..."
    },
    "price_as_signal": {
      "current_price_signal": "...",
      "optimal_price_signal": "...",
      "inversion_risk": "...",
      "leverage": "high|medium|low",
      "copy_application": "..."
    }
  },
  "single_finding": {
    "insight": "...",
    "why_highest_leverage": "...",
    "downstream_impact": ["skill_05", "skill_06", "skill_11"]
  },
  "cross_thinker_notes": {
    "girard": "Mimetic desire is the engine — status is the display layer",
    "cialdini": "Authority principle is a competence status signal — deploy where status motivation peaks",
    "ariely": "Status buyers are MORE susceptible to anchoring — price framing amplifies status perception",
    "bourdieu": "Cultural capital determines which status signals register with which audience segments"
  }
}

OUTPUT FILE

Save to: ~outputs/[project]/11-behavioral-intelligence/layer-b/veblen-findings.json