Materialism and life satisfaction: The moderating roles of alexithymia and product retention tendency

This research examines how alexithymia and product retention tendency affect the relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. Extant research has established that materialism has a negative effect on personal well‐being and that consumer culture and marketing facilitates this effect by encouraging consumers to focus on material pursuits to satisfy extrinsic goals. However, previous research has not explored how emotional personality traits and lifestyle values influence this “dark side” of materialism. Alexithymia is an emotional personality trait that inhibits an individual's ability to identify, describe and regulate emotions. Results from survey data show that alexithymia moderates the effect of materialism on life satisfaction, such that the effect is negative for individuals without alexithymia, but positive for individuals with alexithymia. Moreover, product retention tendency attenuates the negative effect of materialism for individuals without alexithymia, but strengthens the positive effect of materialism for individuals with alexithymia. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

I (do not) consume; therefore,I am: Investigating materialism and voluntary simplicity through a moderated mediation model

With the burgeoning of consumer culture and materialism on a global scale, a counter-culture movement, namely, voluntary simplicity, is slowly gaining currency. Extant research reveals a degree of disparateness in the relationship between materialism and voluntary simplicity. Drawing on the value-basis theory and anti-consumption research, the current study attempts at an unorthodox study of the fledgling culture of anti-consumption in urban India. The paper empirically examines the relationship between materialism and voluntary simplicity in India. This research, through an experimental study followed by a sample survey, conducted among urban Indian consumers, examines how satisfaction with life, self-efficacy, and individualism interact with materialistic values to eventually influence voluntary simplicity attitudes. In Study 1 (N = 74 working professionals), we experimentally triggered materialistic aspirations and evaluated their effects on voluntary simplicity in comparison to a control condition. In Study 2 (N = 315), individuals self-rated their materialistic values, satisfaction with life, self-efficacy, cultural orientation, and voluntary simplicity attitude. Our study, contrary to the suggestions in the existing literature, demonstrates that materialists espouse voluntary simplicity attitudes when environmental degradation around them directly impacts their health, wealth, and well-being. In addition to the positive direct effect, satisfaction with life and self-efficacy serially mediate the relationship between materialism and voluntary simplicity, providing a welcome divergence from dark-sided conceptualizations of materialism. Our results help global marketers, and public policymakers better understand the interaction between materialistic values and sustainable consumption attitudes, in the developing country perspective.     

A tale of two marketplaces: Consumption restriction, social comparison, and life satisfaction

Analysis with reports from more than 56,000 consumers across 38 countries reveals that social comparison (upward/downward) moderates the relationship between consumption restriction and life satisfaction. Specifically, insufficient access to goods and services combined with the likelihood of making upward social comparisons lowers life satisfaction??this negative consequence also is exacerbated by poverty. Most studies focus on wealthier consumers given importance of material abundance to affluent lifestyles; this investigation suggests that materialism also influences lives of impoverished consumers. Challenging our conventional wisdom, these results reveal that social comparisons are significantly more powerful determinants of life satisfaction for people in much poorer, developing societies than for people in more affluent societies. Specifically, compared to their affluent counterparts, impoverished consumers experience greater decreases in life satisfaction when their access to goods and services is lower than others within their societies.     

Does Television Viewership Play a Role in the Perception of Quality of Life?

Abstract

The authors hypothesized that television viewership influences materialism and dissatisfaction with standard of living, which in turn contributes to feelings of dissatisfaction with life. They collected data from five countries to examine the issue in a variety of cultural and media environments. The countries and types of samples were: United States (consumer panel and college students), Canada (urban households), Australia (urban households), Turkey (urban households), and China (urban households). The results were generally consistent with the hypotheses. However, most of the support came from the U.S. samples. Two possible explanations may account for the findings. One is that the effect of television viewership on life satisfaction is a unique phenomenon that is applicable only to the United States. Given the disparity of viewership levels between the U.S. and other countries, that explanation has some face validity. The other is that the effects were less evident in non-U.S. samples because of methodological limitations of the cross-cultural research. Overall, the results show that television viewership, at least in the U.S., may play a significant role in making people unhappy with their lives. Much of television advertising reinforces material consumption and possession with images of the “good life.” Thus, television advertising contributes to terminal materialism—materialism for the sake of materialism. Socially responsible advertising professionals should make a concerted effort to create messages that reflect instrumental materialism—materialism for the sake of meeting essential and basic needs.     

Rethinking Worldly Possessions: The Relationship between Materialism and Body Appearance for Female Consumers in an Emerging Economy

This article investigates how women in an emerging economy relate the importance of material possessions to the importance they assign to the appearance of their body. The results of two studies demonstrate a very strong and positive relationship between materialism and several measures of body appearance. Study 1 shows strong correlations between materialism and body appearance in a sample of relatively young (m = 18.7 years) and affluent female students from a private university. Using structural equation modeling, Study 2 finds that in a sample of women averaging 40 years, more materialistic women did focus substantially more on body appearance than less materialistic women. Further, antecedents (self‐esteem, hedonic attitudes toward advertising, and skepticism toward advertising) and consequences (satisfaction with life) of materialism and body appearance were included in the model. In interpreting the results, it is assumed that individuals prone to materialism apply similar appearance‐centered mental schemata to their body as they do to material possessions.     

The role of materialism,religiosity, and demographics in subjective well-being

In appealing to consumers, marketers need to know what the good life means across various consumer segments. The present study seeks to deepen the understanding of consumer subjective well-being (SWB) by exploring its relationship with selected secular and sacred values. SWB, defined as individuals' cognitive and affective assessments regarding their life satisfaction (Diener, 1984), is treated as the dependent variable in investigating how SWB is influenced by individual consumer materialistic attitudes (a secular value), religiosity (a sacred value), and demographics. Significant differences between high and low religiosity consumers regarding the role of income and materialistic attitudes in predicting SWB were found. Although income and some aspects of materialism are positively related to the SWB of low religiosity consumers, these variables are negatively related to the SWB of high religiosity consumers. This study implies that marketers might benefit from considering consumer religiosity as a segmentation and targeting direction in the design of materialistic positionings and communications. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Contingent Self‐Esteem and Materialism: A Correlational and Experimental Investigation

While there is substantial evidence regarding the role of generalized self‐esteem and identity deficits as potential antecedents of materialism, the exact nature of the domains from which such self‐esteem deficits (that breeds materialism) emanate has remained unexplored. Moreover, there is scant research attention on intrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem and how it relates to materialism. The present study investigated contingent self‐esteem in extrinsic domains as antecedents of materialism. It was shown that extrinsic and intrinsic forms of contingent self‐esteem relate differently with materialism such that intrinsically contingent self‐esteem is incompatible with materialistic attitudes. Study 1 (N = 231 Singaporean adults) furnished cross‐sectional evidence that extrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem positively predicts materialism. Study 2 (N = 206 undergraduates from a public university in Singapore) found that intrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem is negatively related to materialism. Study 3 (N = 105 Singaporean undergraduates) showed that experimental induction of extrinsic and intrinsic contingent self‐esteem leads to higher or lower materialism among participants respectively. The findings advance understanding on the self‐esteem‐materialism link by showing how the domain‐specific view of self‐esteem has the potential to promote or discourage materialism based on whether self‐esteem is anchored to external or internal domains. Recommendations for intervention researchers and practitioners are proposed.     

Materialism,Religion, and Implications for Marketing—An Ethnographic Study of Nichiren Buddhism

The pursuit of material pleasures, construed as symbolizing consumer culture, is often at odds with religion. Hence for consumers for whom religion is important, there may be a quandary reconciling religious values, such as simple living and modest possessions with living in today's society awash with the ideology of consumerism with its abundance of goods and propaganda of the materialistic good life. This study explores how consumers reconcile religious precepts with materialism in today's consumer culture and society with an ethnographic study of a worldwide Buddhist organization that practices Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. The study reveals that religion can embrace even the paradoxical entities of consumerism, materialism, and spiritualism; transcend thought duality; and emanate the positive potential intrinsic to all, leading to an individual human revolution with implications for marketing and societal transformation. The researcher hopes to add to the understanding of the religion, consumerism, and materialism linkage.     

Research frontiers on the dark side of consumer behaviour: The case of materialism and compulsive buying

ABSTRACT

Materialism and compulsive consumption are viewed as dimensions of the dark side of consumer behaviour and have been the focus of consumer research for several decades. This article first shows that previous efforts to study compulsive buying and materialism have been limited in part because they have relied on single perspectives and inadequate methods. Second, it suggests that research in this area could be advanced by adopting emergent approaches and methods that have been used in social and behavioural sciences to study the onset and development of maladaptive behavioural patterns. Third, the article presents the multi-theoretical life course research paradigm that has been widely adopted in numerous disciplines as an approach to the study of various forms of maladaptive behaviour. Fourth, it illustrates how this approach could be employed to study the onset and development of materialism and compulsive buying. Finally, drawing from this paradigm, the article offers new insights in the form of propositions and conceptual directions to help researchers improve their efforts in studying materialism and compulsive buying as well as other forms of the dark side of consumer behaviour.     

Materialism as an attempt to cope with uncertainty

Three studies tested the hypothesis that people may turn to materialism when they face uncertainties in modern life. Study 1 showed that anomie and self‐doubt are significant predictors of materialistic orientations; other plausible antecedents have less predictive value. In Study 2, participants experiencing chronic self‐doubt showed a higher level of materialism if they were primed to experience doubt and insecurity. In Study 3, participants with chronic perceptions of anomie showed a higher level of materialism if they were primed with the concept of normlessness. Together, these three studies show that some people turn to materialism when they experience uncertainty within the self (self‐doubt) or perceive uncertainty relating to society (anomie). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The influence of life satisfaction on nostalgic advertising and attitude toward a brand

Nostalgic advertising has become a popular means for advertisers to reach their consumers. A viewer's life satisfaction is an important factor that may influence the effect of nostalgic advertising. Positive life satisfaction is an important determinant of nostalgic advertising receptivity. Thus, the present study builds a model for the relationships among life satisfaction, nostalgic advertising, emotional response toward a brand, ad attitude and purchase intention. Life satisfaction was identified as an antecedent variable for evoked nostalgia. In addition, emotional response to the advertised brand was shown to be an important predictor of purchase intent. The findings provide insightful implications for marketers and advertisers by identifying meaningful relationships between life satisfaction and nostalgic advertising.     

Materialism and Consumer Ethics: An Exploratory Study

As the issue of marketing's social responsibility grows in significance, the topic of materialism surfaces. While many marketing efforts encourage materialism, the materialism that is encouraged may have negative societal effects. An understanding of the effects of materialism on individuals, families, society, etc., is important in evaluating whether or not it is socially irresponsible for marketers to encourage materialism. However, the adequate empirical work has not yet been done on the overall effects of materialism. The current paper asks and addresses one important empirical question in this area. Do consumers who are more materialistic have different ethical standards than those who are not? Empirical evidence is presented which would indicate that materialism is negatively correlated with people's higher ethical standards as consumers. The implications for this in understanding social responsibility are discussed.     

Effects of family structure and socialization on materialism: a life course study in Thailand

Consumer researchers have long been interested in understanding the development of materialistic attitudes and values in different cultural settings. The life course approach, which has developed recently as an interdisciplinary programme for studying various aspects of behaviour, was used as an overarching framework for studying the development of materialism in Thailand. Specifically, the paper first presents the general conceptual framework that serves as a blueprint for discussing theoretical perspectives. Next, hypotheses derived from life course perspectives are formulated, and a survey of young adults (ages 20 to 32) is used to test them. We found that family disruption influences materialism only among those young adults from lower social classes. Findings of this paper have implications for theory development and suggest directions for future research.     

Characteristics of materialism and its measurement: assessing the Belk's materialism scale in Hungary

In terms of consumer values, the socialist system (altruism, acting for the good of the community, interest in culture, etc.) reflects a post‐materialist orientation. According to data from World Value Surveys, however, there was a strong shift towards materialist values in the former socialist countries after the political changes; this also holds true for Hungary. Most likely, this shift is due partly to the success of the market economy, competition and private enterprise and partly to the disappearance of the obligatory system of values of the socialist regime. The present research study uses the materialism scale developed by Belk to measure possessiveness, non‐generosity and envy in Hungary. The research study focused on the quantitative analysis of a national representative sample (n = 500) in 2002 and 2007 respectively. The results of the study indicate that in both periods surveyed, possessiveness was the most significant dimension within the three examined features of materialism. Changes in the nature of possessiveness, however, corresponded to the changes in consumer behaviour. Based on our findings, we can assume that possessions have a central place in people's life.     

Mood management through metaverse enhancing life satisfaction

This study aims to explore a social metaverse's positive effects as mood management on consumers' life satisfaction and usage intentions. A total of 304 survey responses from active users of a popular social metaverse platform, Zepeto, were collected with help from an online survey firm. Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted using AMOS 25.0. The direct paths from social metaverse consumption as positive mood enhancement and negative mood alleviation to consumers' life satisfaction were significant, which led to greater usage intentions. Positive mood enhancement influenced usage intentions both directly and indirectly through increased life satisfaction; however, the effect of negative mood alleviation on usage intentions was fully mediated by life satisfaction. Interestingly, for the players who spend money in the social metaverse, only the path from negative mood alleviation to usage intentions mediated by life satisfaction was significant.     

Different forms of corporate philanthropy,different effects: A multilevel analysis

This study investigates how different types of corporate philanthropy impact employees' life satisfaction. Grounded in signaling theory, we explore and clarify the nuances among three types of corporate philanthropy values: the absolute value of corporate philanthropy, the value of a firm's corporate philanthropy relative to its past level, and the value of corporate philanthropy relative to the firm size. Results of multilevel analyses on a large scale sample with 218 firms and 2,261 employees at two time points reveal that: the absolute value of corporate philanthropy positively influences employees' life satisfaction; the value of a firm's corporate philanthropy relative to its past philanthropy negatively impacts employees’ life satisfaction; and the value of corporate philanthropy relative to the firm size positively affects employees' life satisfaction. The results indicate that the influences of corporate philanthropy on employees' life satisfaction vary depending on the evaluation benchmarks. Firms may benefit by taking their size and past philanthropy into consideration when making corporate philanthropy investment decisions.     

Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh

Microcredit has long been hailed as a powerful tool to promote livelihoods and reduce poverty through entrepreneurship. However, its impacts on people's subjective well-being remain underexplored. We present a unified theoretical framework for analyzing the effect of microcredit-enabled entrepreneurship on overall life satisfaction – a key manifestation of subjective well-being. Empirically, we apply an instrumental variable approach to a unique census-like household survey conducted in three villages of Bangladesh in 2013. In spite of having no direct effects, we find that microcredit borrowing has an indirect negative effect on overall life satisfaction, through increased worry. On a positive note, we find that female micro-borrowers experience an increase in satisfaction with financial security and achievement in life. We also provide evidence that micro-borrowers with higher levels of assets experience an increase in satisfaction with financial security.     

Materialism,fashion consumers and gender: a cross‐cultural study

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among materialism, gender and fashion consumer groups from two countries – one representative of an individualistic culture (US) and one representative of a collectivistic culture (Korea). Participants were 397 students from a university in Korea (n = 221) and a university in the US (n = 176) who completed the questionnaire. The materialism construct showed adequate reliability for participants in both cultures. Fashion change agents scored higher on materialism (centrality and success) than fashion followers. Females scored higher on materialism than males which seemed to be based on higher scores on the centrality subscale. Participants from the US and Korea differed on all three subscales of materialism with US participants scoring higher on centrality but lower on success and happiness than Korean participants. The findings of this study provide valuable implications for fashion marketers and retailers in Korea and US. The findings are limited to Korean and US consumers and cannot be generalized to other cultures. This paper fills a gap in the literature by comparing materialistic values between genders and fashion consumer groups in an individualistic culture (US) and a collectivistic culture (Korea).     

The terror of death and consumers’ sustainability attitudes

Applying Terror Management Theory, this research attempts to investigate how the terror of death perception affects consumers' sustainability attitudes under the contingent condition of religiosity. This field study was conducted in Malang, Indonesia. The findings disclose that both mortality salience and self-esteem increase materialism. Materialism is found to intensify consumers’ sustainability attitudes of green concern and consumer social responsibility (CnSR). It is also found that religiosity strengthens the effect of mortality salience on materialism and that of materialism on CnSR. Contrarily, religiosity weakens the effects of materialism on green concern. However, there is no statistical support for the moderating effect of religiosity on the linkage between self-esteem and materialism.     

Animosity and willingness to buy foreign products: Moderating factors in decision-making of Chinese consumers

This study examines empirically how Chinese consumers evaluate and respond to foreign products made in Japan. Specifically, it examines the moderating effects of materialism and susceptibility to normative influence on the effects of country-specific animosity on willingness to buy foreign products. The results confirm that the effect of consumers' animosity is subject to both consumers' personal values (for example, materialism) and social influences (susceptibility to normative influence). In terms of willingness to buy foreign products, the negative effect of economic animosity is alleviated by consumers' materialism, whereas that of war animosity is strengthened by consumers' susceptibility to normative influence. In turn, evidence from this study suggests implications for marketing strategies in developing countries.