the consumptions, 2) the second one based on a zero-sum game in the payoffs (utilities), and 3) the third one related to higher pricing mechanism to deny the consumption of others. The definition centered on a zero-sum game in the consumptions is originated from contributions of Ugo Pagano: When one party's level of consumption is positive, then at least one other party's level of consumption must be negative. However while the dimension of positional good is binary, the net (utility) impact of a positional good may be positive, zero or negative. The individual utility derives from the individual preferences on the level of consumption. If reasonable conditions – positive (negative) consumptions imply positive (negative) utilities – hold, then a second kind of definition of positional goods may be formulated: Zero-sum game in the payoffs. Positional goods are goods whose utility of their consumptions is relative (negatively) to the consumption of the others. A last definition of positional good derives from the so-called "Veblen effect", which is witnessed whenever individuals are willing to pay higher prices for functionally equivalent goods (a significant example is the luxury goods market). The Veblen effect also implies that a sufficient decrease in price leads not to an increase in demand, but to a decrease, because the social status derived from acquiring the goods in question may fall (remember the role of gap among San Gimignano's towers). In this respect, positional goods are goods for which the satisfaction derives (at least in part) from higher pricing. This brings us to an intriguing parallel between positional goods, such as "luxury goods", and what are known as "Giffen goods". Rae observed that in the case of "mere luxuries", while a halving of the price would require a doubling in the number of units purchased, in order to satisfy vanity to the same extent, a reduction of the price to a small fraction of its previous level would reduce demand to zero. Cournot also admitted that some goods "of whim and luxury ... are only desirable on account of their rarity and of the high price which is the consequence thereof ... [i]n this case a great fall in price would almost annihilate the demand" (cf. Schneider). Triad of economic goods People constantly compare themselves to their environments and care greatly about their relative positions, which influence their choices. Therefore, it could be argued that the paradigm of homo