A film blog for students of my classes at Santa Clara University. Use this blog to discuss the films we are studying, classic films, current releases or production issues you encounter while making your own films.
A symbolic economy is one that relies on products promoting a status or image rather than a practical purpose. As was discussed in class, previous economies relied on physical goods like homes to show how well a family was doing. The more things you had in the house to do regular tasks the better off you were. For example, if you had a dishwasher, washer, dryer, refrigerator, and a TV during the 1950s, it could be assumed you were super well off. Presently, though, people rely more on things like iPhones to show status. Many of today's young adults are renting houses instead of buying, opting to save for expensive gadgets that show status rather than practical items. For instance, some people would rather save every penny they could to get an upgrade to an iPhone 6 than money to put toward a down payment on a car. This need to show status through expensive devices means that the market for these products is volatile. Continuing the iPhone example, it is not enough to just have a phone that can call people. Now your phone is expected to make calls, connect to the Internet, direct you places, and host a ton of other apps that all serve different purposes. If a company refuses to keep up with the people, they will go down.
The symbolic economy is the culturalization of the economy. It is defined by selling trends. It is no longer just the product itself, but also the symbolic value attached to the product that is being sold. There is an intangible element introduced into the symbolic economy. Consumers no longer purchasing products on necessity and functional basis, but are trending towards a consumerist society that allows symbolic value to account for their decisions on what to buy. The typical example would be the iphone. It is one of the most expensive phones and its competitors offer many of the same features if not ones that actually allow the individual to make their phone more specialized yet most prefer to iphone for its symbolic value, its hip factor. In this economy information is also a defining factor. Since there are more networks and a segmentation of audiences, advertisers find information about who is watching what when invaluable (or I guess very valuable) because it allows them to target their audiences more easily. It encompasses the idea of the "invisible ghost" that is culture permeating even the economy.
A symbolic economy sells status and "coolness" instead of practicality. Emphasis is no longer on the product itself, but on what it symbolizes and what it says about the consumer. An easy example is the iPhone. The iPhone is not the most technologically advanced phone and there are other brands of phones that actually are better, but the iPhone is trendy and cool. It is more expensive than its competitors but consumers want to pay the prices because of the iPhones status. Another example I used in class is what Abercrombie and Fitch is doing. Since Abercrombie is no longer considered "cool" and hasn't been for a while, the company is removing the Abercrombie logo from their clothes to stay in business. Preteens and people who still shop there don't want to be seen wearing Abercrombie clothes. This is kind of a silly example because Abercrombie hasn't exactly been the height of fashion for years but it's interesting that a company like that still has business when it's rivals are way more current. Companies like Abercrombie will go out of business unless they understand their consumers and what they want. Essentially, what's less important is having the most up-to-date household appliances and instead having the latest technological trends.
A symbolic economy is characterized by a market of products that sell based on trends, rather than solely on their practicality. Culture becomes a much more important factor in the creation and sales of products. A product has a value attached to it that isn’t based on the function of it, but rather the cultural significance or “coolness” of it. For example, phones aren’t simply phones anymore, but devices that have a certain brand attached to them that will affect what consumers decide to purchase.
A symbolic economy is primarily based on emotional appeal and cultural production and consumption. Therefore, it is an economy that thrives and survives based on what people see as cool or trendy. An example of this can be seen primarily with Apple technology. Throughout college campuses, including SCU, you can see a plethora of macbooks and iphones. One could argue that therefore, macbooks and iphones are the best working technologies in terms of computers and mobile devices. This is definitely not the case. There are a myriad of better technologies but Apple has won ober the market because of their "cool" factor. Iphones and Macbooks are sleek, easy to use, and generally, just look cool. Iphones have become a statute of status - if you currently have an iphone 6+, that gives you a higher status of people who don't have iphones all together, but also over those who have the iphone 4s. Generally, the symbolic economy is one that follows current trends and popularity - two things that have superiority over quality.
Symbolic economy is the economy carried by different kinds of jobs and industries than past generation to exactly fit into the customers’ needs focused on not practicability, but customers’ modern lifestyles, designs, and experience like coolness and simpleness as Varraveto' s example of iPhone, which got popular because of the style, carried by analyzing the trend that people ask for something more special than traditional common services and products people shared to pursue their original lifestyle based on their culture. Then, what people feel about the services and products based on their culture are more important than the practicability.
In a symbolic economy, products being sold are more than just tangible goods. They have attached meanings that can communicate something about status or our current culture. These products have a shorter lifespan because they shift with cultural norms and must constantly adapt to our lifestyle changes. The best way for me to understand this concept is to use the book's comparison between a dishwasher and fashion. A dishwasher is mainly utilitarian because of its function as a durable good but it also has symbolic qualities ("symbol of a family's upward mobility"), while fashion is mainly symbolic because of how it represents and portrays a person. Fashion also has some utilitarian qualities because it is a material good but it's obvious that it is much more symbolic and goes beyond being a tangible good. Fashion and media industries like TV or film are constantly evolving because of their connection to status/symbolic elements. Products like dishwashers do not have to replaced as often because of their consistency. A symbolic economy ultimately sells products that are constantly changing because of their interconnectedness with our culture.
The symbolic economy is different than the traditional economy because there is an additional component attached to the product- trends. This economy grasps consumers because of the culturally "cool" appeal of products, deterring them away from the concept of buying products out of necessity and need. The products in this economy are not necessarily durable goods, like a refrigerator or a washing machine, but instead, trendy goods that people associate with status, like the iphone.
The symbolic economy is vastly different from the antiquated economy of previous generations, and revolves around the social trends and desires of more contemporary consumers. In this pervasive economy, businesses must recognize and offer products or services that are cool, trendy, popular, and fashionable to society in the global marketplace. The iPhone is the best example of this, as it is wildly popular in the United States even though there are definitely superior mobile devices available on the market. Another example can be seen through Beats Headphones. While it has been reported countless times that these headphones provide lousy sound quality for the ridiculous price you pay for them, people still buy and own them, regardless of the existence of better quality headphones at better prices, thanks to Beats’ branding with celebrities, their pervasiveness in society, and the “cool” factor associated with them (I apologize in advance to anyone who owns Beats Headphones and gets offended by reading this).
One of the defining characteristics of our generation is our deeply-seated materialism; our desire for things we want but don’t need. The symbolic economy takes advantage of this characteristic and our craving for material objects that serve as status symbols or indicators of wealth. The symbolic economy reflects our eagerness to buy the newest, coolest gadgets to be a part of the “in group” in society. The market is no longer confined to creating products and services with the utmost practicality because practicality is no longer our primary concern or desire. Practicality won’t drive sales in today’s symbolic economy in the same way that they used to. The symbolic economy also offers an explanation for why certain products or services experience phenomenal success, such as Apple and Google, and why other companies like Abercrombie and MySpace are struggling to survive. We want to be associated with only certain cool brands and companies, and businesses in the symbolic economy try to play to this desire.
The symbolic economy represents an economy not based on large durable goods, but rather a market that is based upon consumer trends where people buy things they don't necessarily need. It is the idea of purchasing or owning goods that represent more than just their use. A great example is the Iphone. Any normal phone could fulfill our needs to have a cell phone and would allow us to call and text. There are also dozens of other smart phones out there. Because Iphones are the dominantly popular product in our society, they represent 'coolness,' and inclusion in our culture. The symbolic economy will always change, and it is unpredictable. Culture dictates what is popular in society, and as soon as those ideals change, the symbolic economy changes along with it.
Shifting to a symbolic economy changed production practices so that there is more emphasis on niche markets and services that creates more decentralization. During the Fordist era, there was mass production of durable goods that created a long-term and predictable profit. Since the symbolic economy is more service based, it has to keep up with cultural shifts. Now consumers have more purchasing power and buy the latest gadgets or services that are trendy, but not always necessary. Before, the economy was running off of necessary goods such as refrigerators that were standardized and mass produced. Now, consumers have so many different products and services to choose from, especially with the influence of technology. It makes it a lot more difficult for these businesses to predict what consumers want and will like.
Symbolic economy is all about going beyond just the product or the goods. It's about seeing what that merchandise says about you. There is a status symbol attached to certain goods and merchandise. It's an economy built on pride and fear. There is the pride of being recognizable as ahead of the curve and a fear as being associated with behind the trend. You want to be able to look like you in the know and are the forerunner of what's new and hip and cool. No one likes to be known as the person that's always late to the trend.
Symbolic economy is the idea of the supply and demand of culturally popular items and products. Consumers may use and purchase them both as practical items and materialistic items, but still are at the top of the market due to demands. This economy can be seen in the industry with tech devices such as anything with an Apple logo, that are seen as trendy and "cool" with the times. Brands and their symbolic economy can fade however, and their success usually does not last as long, as soon as a better product is introduced or there is bad word of mouth.
The symbolic economy represents economy whose basis is consumer trends and the demands of popular products. This means that societies focus is not essentially just the things they need or durable goods, but the things they desire which are also desirable to a majority of the public in order to maintain a type of status by presenting oneself in a specific way. This is very relevant with our generation, we want to have the things that everyone else deems cool, even if there are a multitude of similar products on the market we would rather have the front runner. These “cool” objects become the leading and foremost products in our society. Because we, the consumers, are the ones who deem what is “cool” the symbolic economy is constantly shifting based on shifts within our culture. As our culture changes, the products that are most desirable also change.
The symbolic economy is the financial system we are moving towards now in a post-fordism era. We used to rely on durable goods; goods that had practicality and were valued for their stability, purpose, and had measurable longevity. Now we ascribe to a structure that values items that represent power and status (goods that symbolize). If we think of Beats headphones or the iPhone, they mean something in terms of status. When you use these products, they say something about you.
It certainly contributes to R.W. Cave's idea of "the nobody knows" factor (a phrase taken from screenwriter William Goldman). There are positives to this symbolic economy—diversification of media content being one—but a definite downside is that, more than ever, the unknown factor of success is amplified.
Each individual product has its different set of unknowns and its own niche audiences it caters to—mass customization. Living in a symbolic economy that amplifies the unknown has brought about data mining. All sorts of media companies participate in data mining, gathering information about consumer habits, as another form of control. This still does not answer the idea that nobody knows, but it does set precedents for previous success that media creators can use to base their future projects on. Consequentially, information on consumer trends is valued above all. The symbolic economy is decentralized, flexible and difficult to predict.
In a traditional economy companies drive desires for concrete items. These items then have additions that can be purchased to further spending and bolster the economy. When a person buys a house they need to fill the house with appliance and these appliances constantly need to be upgraded or fixed. These items are made with mass production.
A symbolic economy is very different than this. Rather than companies driving the desire for concrete items, consumers drive the desires for symbolic items. In this economy symbolism and status have more power than the actual goods do. Companies make their money by data mining rather then the goods they sell. An example is iTunes, which is a technology of status, that sell research data to Apple. Consumers do not spend much money on iTunes, rather iTunes makes it’s money from selling the information to Apple. Another aspect that makes symbolic economy different from tradition is there is no longer mass production. Culture is constantly changing and so is the status goods provide. Companies are constantly innovating and changing what they produce, meaning there needs to be more flexible forms of production and distribution in a symbolic economy.
The symbolic economy is a new and developing concept. At the core it is an economy where consumers dictate what is produced based on the status it gives them. This requires for companies to constantly innovate and come up with the next ‘big thing.’
A symbolic economy is one that is based more off of the status that items give to a person rather than the actual quality or functionality of said items. One of the best examples that I can provide is the way that our society views Apple. Apple is considered a "cool" and "high status" company. When you see someone with an Apple product, like the newest iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, you automatically consider them cooler. This is the symbolic economy at work.
The symbolic economy represents a shift from tangible goods into a service based economy. In the past, known as the Fordist economy, industrialization bolstered the economy as goods were mass produced for the general public. Today, digitization and globalization, has changed economic models within the media industries. More and more people are looking to rent something than to buy it. Whether it be homes or movies. For example, DVD’s represent the past economy, and Netflix, a subscription content provider, represents the symbolic economy. The symbolic economy represents the way media is distributed and viewed in the modern age.
A symbolic economy depends on the trendiness of a product rather than practicality. The product has an intangible value marked by it's status in society.
For instance, Lulu Lemon leggings are known as pants that represent wealth, health, and status. They are more than just comfortable leggings that are used for exercise. They have a value that is much deeper, and much less tangible than this. Women who wear these pants are seen to be trendier, wealthier, and more healthy than those who don't.
The symbolic economy is the shift from the value of tangible and utilitarian goods to products that cater to the emotional appeal of a consumer. As others have said, the iPhone is the clearest case of this. However, Apple has done this with its other products such as the iPod and laptops. People buy Macs as their personal computers because it is symbolic of status. However, businesses and most people at work will not use Apple computers because they are significantly more expensive with virtually no performance difference.
Predicting the success of products is difficult because it is near impossible to figure out what consumers want and will like. Recently, data mining has becoming a huge industry, allowing the information of consumers to be sold and purchased to better understand their habits. This allows marketing companies to try to find a better angle to target their audience.
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A symbolic economy is one that relies on products promoting a status or image rather than a practical purpose. As was discussed in class, previous economies relied on physical goods like homes to show how well a family was doing. The more things you had in the house to do regular tasks the better off you were. For example, if you had a dishwasher, washer, dryer, refrigerator, and a TV during the 1950s, it could be assumed you were super well off. Presently, though, people rely more on things like iPhones to show status. Many of today's young adults are renting houses instead of buying, opting to save for expensive gadgets that show status rather than practical items. For instance, some people would rather save every penny they could to get an upgrade to an iPhone 6 than money to put toward a down payment on a car. This need to show status through expensive devices means that the market for these products is volatile. Continuing the iPhone example, it is not enough to just have a phone that can call people. Now your phone is expected to make calls, connect to the Internet, direct you places, and host a ton of other apps that all serve different purposes. If a company refuses to keep up with the people, they will go down.
The symbolic economy is the culturalization of the economy. It is defined by selling trends. It is no longer just the product itself, but also the symbolic value attached to the product that is being sold. There is an intangible element introduced into the symbolic economy. Consumers no longer purchasing products on necessity and functional basis, but are trending towards a consumerist society that allows symbolic value to account for their decisions on what to buy. The typical example would be the iphone. It is one of the most expensive phones and its competitors offer many of the same features if not ones that actually allow the individual to make their phone more specialized yet most prefer to iphone for its symbolic value, its hip factor. In this economy information is also a defining factor. Since there are more networks and a segmentation of audiences, advertisers find information about who is watching what when invaluable (or I guess very valuable) because it allows them to target their audiences more easily. It encompasses the idea of the "invisible ghost" that is culture permeating even the economy.
A symbolic economy sells status and "coolness" instead of practicality. Emphasis is no longer on the product itself, but on what it symbolizes and what it says about the consumer. An easy example is the iPhone. The iPhone is not the most technologically advanced phone and there are other brands of phones that actually are better, but the iPhone is trendy and cool. It is more expensive than its competitors but consumers want to pay the prices because of the iPhones status. Another example I used in class is what Abercrombie and Fitch is doing. Since Abercrombie is no longer considered "cool" and hasn't been for a while, the company is removing the Abercrombie logo from their clothes to stay in business. Preteens and people who still shop there don't want to be seen wearing Abercrombie clothes. This is kind of a silly example because Abercrombie hasn't exactly been the height of fashion for years but it's interesting that a company like that still has business when it's rivals are way more current. Companies like Abercrombie will go out of business unless they understand their consumers and what they want. Essentially, what's less important is having the most up-to-date household appliances and instead having the latest technological trends.
A symbolic economy is characterized by a market of products that sell based on trends, rather than solely on their practicality. Culture becomes a much more important factor in the creation and sales of products. A product has a value attached to it that isn’t based on the function of it, but rather the cultural significance or “coolness” of it. For example, phones aren’t simply phones anymore, but devices that have a certain brand attached to them that will affect what consumers decide to purchase.
A symbolic economy is primarily based on emotional appeal and cultural production and consumption. Therefore, it is an economy that thrives and survives based on what people see as cool or trendy. An example of this can be seen primarily with Apple technology. Throughout college campuses, including SCU, you can see a plethora of macbooks and iphones. One could argue that therefore, macbooks and iphones are the best working technologies in terms of computers and mobile devices. This is definitely not the case. There are a myriad of better technologies but Apple has won ober the market because of their "cool" factor. Iphones and Macbooks are sleek, easy to use, and generally, just look cool. Iphones have become a statute of status - if you currently have an iphone 6+, that gives you a higher status of people who don't have iphones all together, but also over those who have the iphone 4s. Generally, the symbolic economy is one that follows current trends and popularity - two things that have superiority over quality.
Symbolic economy is the economy carried by different kinds of jobs and industries than past generation to exactly fit into the customers’ needs focused on not practicability, but customers’ modern lifestyles, designs, and experience like coolness and simpleness as Varraveto' s example of iPhone, which got popular because of the style, carried by analyzing the trend that people ask for something more special than traditional common services and products people shared to pursue their original lifestyle based on their culture. Then, what people feel about the services and products based on their culture are more important than the practicability.
In a symbolic economy, products being sold are more than just tangible goods. They have attached meanings that can communicate something about status or our current culture. These products have a shorter lifespan because they shift with cultural norms and must constantly adapt to our lifestyle changes. The best way for me to understand this concept is to use the book's comparison between a dishwasher and fashion. A dishwasher is mainly utilitarian because of its function as a durable good but it also has symbolic qualities ("symbol of a family's upward mobility"), while fashion is mainly symbolic because of how it represents and portrays a person. Fashion also has some utilitarian qualities because it is a material good but it's obvious that it is much more symbolic and goes beyond being a tangible good. Fashion and media industries like TV or film are constantly evolving because of their connection to status/symbolic elements. Products like dishwashers do not have to replaced as often because of their consistency. A symbolic economy ultimately sells products that are constantly changing because of their interconnectedness with our culture.
The symbolic economy is different than the traditional economy because there is an additional component attached to the product- trends. This economy grasps consumers because of the culturally "cool" appeal of products, deterring them away from the concept of buying products out of necessity and need. The products in this economy are not necessarily durable goods, like a refrigerator or a washing machine, but instead, trendy goods that people associate with status, like the iphone.
The symbolic economy is vastly different from the antiquated economy of previous generations, and revolves around the social trends and desires of more contemporary consumers. In this pervasive economy, businesses must recognize and offer products or services that are cool, trendy, popular, and fashionable to society in the global marketplace. The iPhone is the best example of this, as it is wildly popular in the United States even though there are definitely superior mobile devices available on the market. Another example can be seen through Beats Headphones. While it has been reported countless times that these headphones provide lousy sound quality for the ridiculous price you pay for them, people still buy and own them, regardless of the existence of better quality headphones at better prices, thanks to Beats’ branding with celebrities, their pervasiveness in society, and the “cool” factor associated with them (I apologize in advance to anyone who owns Beats Headphones and gets offended by reading this).
One of the defining characteristics of our generation is our deeply-seated materialism; our desire for things we want but don’t need. The symbolic economy takes advantage of this characteristic and our craving for material objects that serve as status symbols or indicators of wealth. The symbolic economy reflects our eagerness to buy the newest, coolest gadgets to be a part of the “in group” in society. The market is no longer confined to creating products and services with the utmost practicality because practicality is no longer our primary concern or desire. Practicality won’t drive sales in today’s symbolic economy in the same way that they used to. The symbolic economy also offers an explanation for why certain products or services experience phenomenal success, such as Apple and Google, and why other companies like Abercrombie and MySpace are struggling to survive. We want to be associated with only certain cool brands and companies, and businesses in the symbolic economy try to play to this desire.
The symbolic economy represents an economy not based on large durable goods, but rather a market that is based upon consumer trends where people buy things they don't necessarily need. It is the idea of purchasing or owning goods that represent more than just their use. A great example is the Iphone. Any normal phone could fulfill our needs to have a cell phone and would allow us to call and text. There are also dozens of other smart phones out there. Because Iphones are the dominantly popular product in our society, they represent 'coolness,' and inclusion in our culture. The symbolic economy will always change, and it is unpredictable. Culture dictates what is popular in society, and as soon as those ideals change, the symbolic economy changes along with it.
Shifting to a symbolic economy changed production practices so that there is more emphasis on niche markets and services that creates more decentralization. During the Fordist era, there was mass production of durable goods that created a long-term and predictable profit. Since the symbolic economy is more service based, it has to keep up with cultural shifts. Now consumers have more purchasing power and buy the latest gadgets or services that are trendy, but not always necessary. Before, the economy was running off of necessary goods such as refrigerators that were standardized and mass produced. Now, consumers have so many different products and services to choose from, especially with the influence of technology. It makes it a lot more difficult for these businesses to predict what consumers want and will like.
Symbolic economy is all about going beyond just the product or the goods. It's about seeing what that merchandise says about you. There is a status symbol attached to certain goods and merchandise. It's an economy built on pride and fear. There is the pride of being recognizable as ahead of the curve and a fear as being associated with behind the trend. You want to be able to look like you in the know and are the forerunner of what's new and hip and cool. No one likes to be known as the person that's always late to the trend.
Symbolic economy is the idea of the supply and demand of culturally popular items and products. Consumers may use and purchase them both as practical items and materialistic items, but still are at the top of the market due to demands. This economy can be seen in the industry with tech devices such as anything with an Apple logo, that are seen as trendy and "cool" with the times. Brands and their symbolic economy can fade however, and their success usually does not last as long, as soon as a better product is introduced or there is bad word of mouth.
The symbolic economy represents economy whose basis is consumer trends and the demands of popular products. This means that societies focus is not essentially just the things they need or durable goods, but the things they desire which are also desirable to a majority of the public in order to maintain a type of status by presenting oneself in a specific way. This is very relevant with our generation, we want to have the things that everyone else deems cool, even if there are a multitude of similar products on the market we would rather have the front runner. These “cool” objects become the leading and foremost products in our society. Because we, the consumers, are the ones who deem what is “cool” the symbolic economy is constantly shifting based on shifts within our culture. As our culture changes, the products that are most desirable also change.
The symbolic economy is the financial system we are moving towards now in a post-fordism era. We used to rely on durable goods; goods that had practicality and were valued for their stability, purpose, and had measurable longevity. Now we ascribe to a structure that values items that represent power and status (goods that symbolize). If we think of Beats headphones or the iPhone, they mean something in terms of status. When you use these products, they say something about you.
It certainly contributes to R.W. Cave's idea of "the nobody knows" factor (a phrase taken from screenwriter William Goldman). There are positives to this symbolic economy—diversification of media content being one—but a definite downside is that, more than ever, the unknown factor of success is amplified.
Each individual product has its different set of unknowns and its own niche audiences it caters to—mass customization. Living in a symbolic economy that amplifies the unknown has brought about data mining. All sorts of media companies participate in data mining, gathering information about consumer habits, as another form of control. This still does not answer the idea that nobody knows, but it does set precedents for previous success that media creators can use to base their future projects on.
Consequentially, information on consumer trends is valued above all. The symbolic economy is decentralized, flexible and difficult to predict.
In a traditional economy companies drive desires for concrete items. These items then have additions that can be purchased to further spending and bolster the economy. When a person buys a house they need to fill the house with appliance and these appliances constantly need to be upgraded or fixed. These items are made with mass production.
A symbolic economy is very different than this. Rather than companies driving the desire for concrete items, consumers drive the desires for symbolic items. In this economy symbolism and status have more power than the actual goods do. Companies make their money by data mining rather then the goods they sell. An example is iTunes, which is a technology of status, that sell research data to Apple. Consumers do not spend much money on iTunes, rather iTunes makes it’s money from selling the information to Apple. Another aspect that makes symbolic economy different from tradition is there is no longer mass production. Culture is constantly changing and so is the status goods provide. Companies are constantly innovating and changing what they produce, meaning there needs to be more flexible forms of production and distribution in a symbolic economy.
The symbolic economy is a new and developing concept. At the core it is an economy where consumers dictate what is produced based on the status it gives them. This requires for companies to constantly innovate and come up with the next ‘big thing.’
A symbolic economy is one that is based more off of the status that items give to a person rather than the actual quality or functionality of said items. One of the best examples that I can provide is the way that our society views Apple. Apple is considered a "cool" and "high status" company. When you see someone with an Apple product, like the newest iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, you automatically consider them cooler. This is the symbolic economy at work.
The symbolic economy represents a shift from tangible goods into a service based economy. In the past, known as the Fordist economy, industrialization bolstered the economy as goods were mass produced for the general public. Today, digitization and globalization, has changed economic models within the media industries. More and more people are looking to rent something than to buy it. Whether it be homes or movies. For example, DVD’s represent the past economy, and Netflix, a subscription content provider, represents the symbolic economy. The symbolic economy represents the way media is distributed and viewed in the modern age.
A symbolic economy depends on the trendiness of a product rather than practicality. The product has an intangible value marked by it's status in society.
For instance, Lulu Lemon leggings are known as pants that represent wealth, health, and status. They are more than just comfortable leggings that are used for exercise. They have a value that is much deeper, and much less tangible than this. Women who wear these pants are seen to be trendier, wealthier, and more healthy than those who don't.
The symbolic economy is the shift from the value of tangible and utilitarian goods to products that cater to the emotional appeal of a consumer. As others have said, the iPhone is the clearest case of this. However, Apple has done this with its other products such as the iPod and laptops. People buy Macs as their personal computers because it is symbolic of status. However, businesses and most people at work will not use Apple computers because they are significantly more expensive with virtually no performance difference.
Predicting the success of products is difficult because it is near impossible to figure out what consumers want and will like. Recently, data mining has becoming a huge industry, allowing the information of consumers to be sold and purchased to better understand their habits. This allows marketing companies to try to find a better angle to target their audience.
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