Bose

American audio equipment company that exemplifies dishonest signaling. Bose positions as premium audio ($1,000 headphones, $3,000 speakers) through heavy marketing investment rather than engineering superiority. Consumer Reports testing consistently ranks Bose behind competitors at half the price on audio quality metrics.

Bose's signal is costly (marketing spend) but dishonest (quality doesn't match price). The difference from honest signals: Ferrari owners get both signal value AND actual performance. Bose buyers get signal value that evaporates during blind listening tests. Honest signals survive informed scrutiny; dishonest signals require ignorance to persist.