She pretty-much nails the true motivations of most of her customers: “I enjoy something better than my friends can have...” (11:30). Such honesty is refreshing.
Digging deeper, what she said in context is that the owner of high priced gear justifies his purchase by saying, "
I work harder than my neighbor and therefore..." Just to be clear, that motivation does not equate to mere avarice and/or snobbery, and is very Weberian. If Max was writing today his book would be titled
The Anti-Confucianist Ethic and the Spirit of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.
She also claims that some buyers don't want to take the time and effort to buy, learn, and then have to buy again once their knowledge increases, so they just go to the store and buy whatever they can afford regardless. That sentiment prevails in audio today, everywhere. Back in the day I knew folks who would go to the store and order a complete teak or rosewood Bang and Olufsen set to go with their Scan Design furniture. The sound didn't really matter. It was the Danish modern look that did. Or purchase a McIntosh system sight (and sound) unseen because they could, and had heard good things about the brand.
On the other hand, I knew a man who owned an (at the time) very expensive McIntosh audio system along with expensive loudspeakers. You wouldn't have known it since he kept all the pieces behind walnut cabinet doors, and his loudspeakers where hidden behind screens. He enjoyed his gear for personal pride of ownership, and it was a testament to his success. But it had nothing to do with whatever his neighbors owned, for which he could not have cared less.
That said, my experience with a certain segment of mainland Chinese
nouveau riche (and they all are pretty much 'nouveau', the modern Chinese era beginning from the time of Deng Xiaoping) is that some of them, like some Westerners, certainly enjoy consuming conspicuously and then showing their luxury brands in public. Bags for the women Swiss watches for men. High end cars. Audio? It's hard to wear your McIntosh amp out in public, so I don't know about that aspect of their thinking.