I think it even works to some extent, even among people who don't officially care. Here in academia we're not supposed to care about materialism, and many people actively make an effort not to. But conference organizers still put in things like lavish conference banquets, not because they enjoy wasting money and raising already-high registration fees, but because they've noticed it seems to make a difference in what kind of paper submissions and attendance numbers they get. I'm not sure what part of it is cynical versus subliminal, but it seems to work either way. I imagine some professors actively like the opportunity to spend an extra $100 on "conference registration" if it means they get it back in an off-the-books lavish banquet, while others grumble at the extra $100 of their already-tight grant money being wasted. But either the latter category are outnumbered, or the wining-and-dining subconsciously works on them anyway, by making them remember the conference more positively. Possibly there's just something to lavish entertainment making people well disposed to you, even if they know that's what's going on.