Auctions, The Social Construction of Value, Charles W. Smith, page 109, paragraph 3

An Auction is seldom simply held; rather, it is staged. Place, setting, and props are arranged to reinforce the ambience and sense of community appropriate to the particular auction. These factors convey, among other things, different degrees of affluence, seriousness, glamour, order, separation, formality, tradition, and risk. They also put constraints on who can participate. To understand how, it is necessary to be aware of the specific ways in which different auctions are staged and the various factors that favor one form over another.

University of California Press, 1990, Berkeley, 0-520-07201-4