There is a section of the Wall Street Journal every Friday that shows and discusses elegant mansions. The section includes large color photos of exteriors, grounds and luxurious interiors.
I often think about what the Wall Street Journal puts in its newly modified format. It originally added sports when Rupert Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal. This was an obvious effort to get readers. The next thing he did was to add a monthly magazine and expand some of the coverage of film and cultural events. These were clearly designed to get advertising revenue. But what was the reason for adding an entire section on mansions?
While it does generate revenue with two or three pages of advertising for expensive properties around the world, that would not be sufficient to incorporate a whole new section when the section is really just a real estate promotion section.
I think the reason has to do with the fact that one of the most important goals among people who have gained wealth is the desire to have immense amounts of personal space as a sign of power. Sometimes this shows itself in the form of many houses such as Michael Bloomberg's more than a dozen houses. Sometimes it is pure ostentation but that is rarer because luxurious homes are often not visible to the public.
Ultimately I think the main reason is that we have a value connection between wealth and the amount of personal space.
I often see advertising for some expensive product and the person in the ad is alone in the ad; possibly in a swimming pool by themself or possibly in a luxury golf environment by themself. I think there is a connection between having vast amounts of space and believing that one is rich.
This reality of space and wealth is visible in retailing. Low price stores have racks very close together. High price stores are the opposite with vast spaces between objects on sale. We associate being rich with space. I think the addition of the mansions section to the Wall Street Journal is primarily to emphasize the upscale nature of the newspaper’s readership.