In other words: in the past consumers wanted to own goods, but knew they couldn’t afford everything they wanted. So they resigned themselves to it. Not now. They look at celebrities and want to be more like them, have the kind of clothes they wear, drive the cars, eat in the same restaurants and so on. They realize that much of this is out of their reach. But this is doesn’t stop them wishing they could get at the celebrities’ treasure box. So they’ll opt for the nearest thing and keep wishing and hoping. This might have seemed irrational as recently as the 1980s. Now, it’s normal: we would all like to be a bit more like celebrities.