I’m no expert on costly signaling theory, but I can’t see any reason it shouldn’t apply to opportunity costs as well as any other kind of cost. If I see twenty people using a social network to establish themselves as hip, popular kids who like all the cool trendy things to like, and one person using that network to quote obscure references instead, the fact that that kid is giving up the opportunity to cement their status as hip and popular seems noteworthy.
If everyone is using the same sorts of signals to establish themselves as hip and cool, then it diminishes the value of the signal. That’s when countersignaling becomes useful.
I’m no expert on costly signaling theory, but I can’t see any reason it shouldn’t apply to opportunity costs as well as any other kind of cost. If I see twenty people using a social network to establish themselves as hip, popular kids who like all the cool trendy things to like, and one person using that network to quote obscure references instead, the fact that that kid is giving up the opportunity to cement their status as hip and popular seems noteworthy.
If everyone is using the same sorts of signals to establish themselves as hip and cool, then it diminishes the value of the signal. That’s when countersignaling becomes useful.