The Impact of Cultural and Economic Capitals on Social Distinction: With an Emphasis on Ownership of a Luxury Car

Social distinction is a condition which is seen through the actions of consumption. In modern societies, social classes and class fractions adopt different social positions through the use of economic and cultural goods . An automobile is a distinctive status symbol, marking off, but ultimately misrecognizing the inequalities of classes of a society. This research tries to show that different classes, possessing or dispossessing different economic and cultural capitals, by choosing a luxury automobile, are looking for distinction and by choosing mass-produced automobiles try to satisfy their lives’ needs. The research tries to answer this question that whether a luxury automobile (Arvand license plate) leads to creation of sense of distinction among high class fractions which possess cultural and economic capitals?
The survey method was used for this research. Statistical population included all populations of Dezfoul who were 18 years old and above. Through convenience sampling, the sample group was 268 people, of which 134 had Arvand-license plate cars and 134 had Mass-produced cars. Also, the self-made questionnaire which had good reliability and validity was used to collect data.
Findings: Analysis of data demonstrated a significant difference between the owners of Mass-produced cars and the luxury ones in all three dimensions, namely economic and cultural capitals and social distinction . The correlation between economic capital and social distinction was stronger in comparison to the correlation between cultural capital and social distinction.. In. Structural equation Model, the variance changes of distinctions through economic and cultural capital was defined 64% among which the role of economic capital was highly more than the cultural capital.
the research results showed that high-class people with the luxury cars, due to having access to economic and cultural capitals, achieve social distinction which distinguishes them from the rest of social classes. On the contrary, low-class people with their mass-produced cars and with lower economic and cultural capitals achieve less social distinction or, better to say, do not look for social distinction.