sexual selection ... Has nothing to do with possessions.
Income is a heritable trait, as is socio-economic status (SES). SES is partly a measure of possessions. Higher income allows one to consume possessions, and it has been posited that it is possible to conspicuously consume, thus allowing sexual selection in regards to income and SES to occur.
Why I can't lust after the Lexus
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 22/11/1997
It is good value, looks OK, handles well. But unlike its sexy competitors, it's just not desirable, finds Peter Dron ...
What does Lexus offer against these icons, especially the BMW (frequently cited as Lexus's target), whose length it matches to the millimetre?
Value for money is a good starting point. ...
The BMW may not offer better value, and in most objective measurements it is not a significantly better car. But it is a more desirable car than the Lexus. The same may be said of the Mercedes, Jaguar and Audi.
Income is not a heritable trait in an evolutionary context because it's not a biological trait, thus it has nothing to do with sexual selection, as a biologist would define it. And even if it did, I don't think a woman looks at a guy with a MacBook and thinks "old money". I'll ask a few to be sure.
And Lexus is similarly priced in any given class (for instance, entry level sedan, in which they're both around $32k) in which they compete. They just don't have anything (currently, one's coming soon) in that high end, though their LS hybrid does cost more than a lower-end S-Class.
11 year old articles might not be the best source of information.
Income is not a heritable trait in an evolutionary context because it's not a biological trait
If you are meaning to imply that there can be such a thing as a heritable trait that is not biological, perhaps you should define what you mean by the term "biological trait". What do you mean when you say that income is not a biological trait?
FYI, here is a dictionary (M-W Unabridged) definition of heritability:
the proportion of observed variation in a particular trait (as intelligence) that can be attributed to inherited genetic factors in contrast to environmental ones
Maybe you mean "heritable trait".
sexual selection ... Has nothing to do with possessions.Income is a heritable trait, as is socio-economic status (SES). SES is partly a measure of possessions. Higher income allows one to consume possessions, and it has been posited that it is possible to conspicuously consume, thus allowing sexual selection in regards to income and SES to occur.
http://www.google.com/search?q=veblen+conspicuous+consumptio...
Mercedes and Lexus seemed pretty comparable for the same class back when I was looking.Where did you find a $200,000 Lexus?
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2009/mercedes_benz/s_class
Sum Up: the luxury-car benchmark.
http://www.google.com/search?q=mercedes+lexus+%22better+valu...
http://www.google.com/search?q=lexus+%22not+a+luxury%22+merc...
... faded in 2006 and 2007 as buyers looked at better-value alternatives, notably the Lexus
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring...
Why I can't lust after the Lexus Last Updated: 12:01am BST 22/11/1997
It is good value, looks OK, handles well. But unlike its sexy competitors, it's just not desirable, finds Peter Dron ...
What does Lexus offer against these icons, especially the BMW (frequently cited as Lexus's target), whose length it matches to the millimetre?
Value for money is a good starting point. ...
The BMW may not offer better value, and in most objective measurements it is not a significantly better car. But it is a more desirable car than the Lexus. The same may be said of the Mercedes, Jaguar and Audi.