Consuming beyond means: debt trap of conspicuous consumption in an emerging economy

Jaikumar, Saravana; Sharma, Yukti

doi:10.1080/10696679.2020.1816476

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…However, this short term happiness comes at the cost of the reduced budget for the satisfaction of basic needs hampering long-term progress (Srivastava et al, 2020). Conspicuous consumption enhances household indebtedness, which becomes accentuated in the case of rural households and households with lower educational attainment among members (Jaikumar and Sharma, 2020). It initiates a "positional trade mill" fueling ever-increasing levels of conspicuous consumption for status gain (Linssen et al, 2011), which in turn, makes BoP consumers complicit in perpetuation of marketing systems which de-dignify and exploit them (Jagadale et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We (Desai and Vanneman, 2015). It has been extensively used for providing empirical evidence in a wide range of previous studies on conspicuous consumption in India (Khamis et al, 2012;Jaikumar and Sarin, 2015;Jaikumar et al, 2018;Jaikumar and Sharma, 2020). The IHDS, 2011 provides detailed information about 52 consumption categories at the household level, of which 12 consumption categories have been classified as conspicuous items.…”

Section: Data and Empirical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Television viewing and conspicuous consumption of households: evidence from India

Kumar

Kumra

2021

JCM

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of television viewing duration of a household on its annual category-level conspicuous consumption and also the enhanced level of this relationship for the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) households. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses formulation was guided by cultivation theory and the concept of compensatory consumption. The hypotheses were later examined by using ordinary least square (OLS) regression on the data from the large nationally representative India Human Development Survey, 2011 (IHDS-II) database. Findings Television viewing duration of the household exerts a positive effect on its annual category-level conspicuous consumption expenditure. The nature of this relationship is enhanced for the BoP households. The annual category-level conspicuous consumption for the BoP households increases by close to four percent for every hour increase in their television viewing duration while such increase for other households is close to one and a half percent only. Research limitations/implications Findings can be further strengthened by using time-lagged dependent variable taken at monthly intervals, as well as survey data linking household television viewing duration with desirability of conspicuous goods. Practical implications Managers can rely on television for reaching BoP consumers while being cognizant of the negative effects of promoting conspicuous consumption among them. They need to adopt a responsible marketing approach. Besides regulating television, policymakers need to work toward increased provisioning of educational and financial services for BoP households. They can leverage television for promoting beneficial behavior in BoP households. Originality/value The study empirically establishes the external validity of cultivation theory at the household level in an emerging economy by using a large nationally representative database. It also establishes the higher vulnerability of BoP households to increase category-level conspicuous consumption in response to television viewing. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically examine the effect of television viewing duration of household on its annual category level conspicuous consumption.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data and Empirical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Television viewing and conspicuous consumption of households: evidence from India

Kumar

Kumra

2021

JCM

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“…Admittedly, conspicuous consumption is a kind of irrational consumer which has been linked with many negative outcomes. [123][124][125] Employees and organizations should be aware of the adverse effects of WFC on this irrational consumption behavior. Employees are suggested to seek solutions to alleviate WFC to mitigate their conspicuous consumption tendency.…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship Between Work-to-Family Conflict and Conspicuous Consumption: An Identity Theory Perspective

Gong¹,

Chen²,

Tang³

et al. 2023

PRBM

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Purpose The adverse effects of work-to-family conflict in occupational health fields have been widely concerned. However, we do not yet know whether and how work-to-family conflict affects people’s consumption behavior. This study used identity theory as the conceptual framework to test the hidden link between work-to-family conflict and conspicuous consumption, the possible underlying mechanism of status anxiety, and the boundary condition of work-family centrality. Methods We conducted two quantitative studies to test the hypotheses. Study 1 used a cross-sectional survey (N = 486) to test the relationship between work-to-family conflict and conspicuous consumption and the mechanism of the relationship. Study 2 used a 10-day daily diary survey (N between = 100, N within = 776) to duplicate the results of Study 1 and further test the moderating effect of work-family centrality. Results We found that work-to-family conflict was positively related to conspicuous consumption, and this relationship was mediated by increased status anxiety. Moreover, this mediating effect was more substantial for employees with lower work-family centrality. Conclusion This research is the first to link work-to-family conflict and conspicuous consumption theoretically and empirically. The findings supported identity theory, adding new knowledge to the consequences of work-to-family conflict and contributing to organizations’ prevention and intervention programs on behavioral health issues in work-family conflict.

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“…Individuals who find new living spaces in the virtual world have discovered that their efforts to skip grades are easier in the virtual world compared to the real world. In particular, with the increasing use of social media, expenditures for conspicuous consumption have increased and changed (Jaikumar and Sharma, 2021;Wilcox and Stephen, 2013;Beall Boley, Landon & Woosnam, 2021;Taylor and Strutton, 2016). In addition to the products and services they buy, individuals have started to share their donations, environmental behavior, green product demands and opinions on social media channels.…”

Section: Veblen's Leisure Class and The Phenomenon Of Conspicuous Con...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Homomoralis Search in Purchase Behaviors of Veblen’s Leisure Class and the Conspicuous Who Imitate Them Through Vignettes

EROL¹

2023

pejoss

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Economics and marketing disciplines, which left behind the days when traditional theories were in competition with behavioral theories, where the basic view is to maximize self-benefit, have been busy with studies that question the limits of people's selfishness in recent years. In these studies, in which human behavior is considered the dependent variable, the independent variables constantly differ. In the research, in which different working methods are used, many independent variables such as psychology, genetics, neurology, sociology, personality, and environment can be mentioned. In this study, while the dependent variable remains the same as "human", the motives of non-producing and conspicuous consumers were tried to be determined by following the moral traces of Veblen's leisure class and conspicuous purchasing behaviors. Drawing attention to his findings opposing the law of demand of the economy, Veblen states that in some cases, the demand of some consumers for goods with higher prices may increase. He calls this group of consumers the leisure class. This class is a class that participates in the economy only through consumption. In addition, the class of conspicuous people trying to imitate the economic behavior of this class also emerged from Veblen's theory. The pretentious class, on the other hand, can be defined as consumers who participate in the economy through production, but who try to imitate the leisure class because of their spending behavior. Researching such consumer classes can be difficult, often due to social desirability. In other words, individuals may not want to admit it even if they are in the leisure class, or they may try to provide evidence that they are not, even though they are in the conspicuous class. For this reason, in this study, the vignette method, which has recently become widespread in the field of social sciences, was preferred in order to minimize socially desirable response errors. The results of the study conducted through the vignette method reveal that people who are estimated to be from the leisure class are more likely to display ethical behaviors about spending. In other words, the group that is only involved in the economy through consumption shows not only homoeconomicus but also homomoralis behaviors that try to maximize their own interests. In the conspicuous class, homomoralis traces are more obscure. As Veblen clearly states in his theory, conspicuous ones display changing behavior in front of others for the sole purpose of showing off.

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Consuming beyond means: debt trap of conspicuous consumption in an emerging economy

Cited by 12 publications

References 53 publications

Television viewing and conspicuous consumption of households: evidence from India

Television viewing and conspicuous consumption of households: evidence from India

The Relationship Between Work-to-Family Conflict and Conspicuous Consumption: An Identity Theory Perspective

Homomoralis Search in Purchase Behaviors of Veblen’s Leisure Class and the Conspicuous Who Imitate Them Through Vignettes

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