Materialism and charitable giving: Can they co‐exist?

Abstract

It is generally believed that Western societies are more materialistic compared with other cultures. However, it has also been observed that Americans are among the most generous of all, contributing their time, money, and effort to charitable causes. This research attempted to examine the relationship between materialism and charitable giving. Results of an empirical study suggest that it is possible for materialism to co-exist with charitable giving. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

Encouraging Consumer Charitable Behavior: The Impact of Charitable Motivations, Gratitude, and Materialism

“…There was no support for the propositions that there are two separate segments of the population (one primarily materialistic and the other primarily altruistic), or that these conflicting values reflected the country's state of economic development (i.e., that more advanced countries can focus more on higher-order, less-materialistic needs) (Mathur 2013). Mathur (2013) noted, however, that the positive relationship between materialism and charitable giving could be attributed to either common antecedents (e.g., a desire for status) or to the possibility that the motivations for materialistic behavior and charitable behavior coincide. We suggest a materialistic person may be generous due to egoistic type motivations rather than agapic, self-sacrifice, or more altruistic motivations.…”

“…As noted earlier though Mathur (2013) examined the relationship between materialism and generosity and found that there can be a positive relationship between these two apparently conflicting values. This suggests that the two values can co-exist in the same person at the same time, but may alternate as the dominant value over time.…”

“…For instance, some studies link materialism to unethical consumer behavior (Muncy and Eastman 1998;Chowdhury and Fernando 2013), and find a negative association between materialism and charitable contributions (O'Reilly et al 2012;Richins and Dawson 1992). Another study shows materialism maintains both a negative and positive association with charitable behavior (Mathur 2013). Specifically, Mathur (2013) finds materialism negatively affects charitable behavior through inverse associations with empathy and social responsibility; yet, he also finds a direct positive relationship between materialism and charitable behavior.…”

“…Another study shows materialism maintains both a negative and positive association with charitable behavior (Mathur 2013). Specifically, Mathur (2013) finds materialism negatively affects charitable behavior through inverse associations with empathy and social responsibility; yet, he also finds a direct positive relationship between materialism and charitable behavior. These results suggest that it is possible for the apparently contradictory values of materialism and generosity to exist at the same time in the same individual, and more importantly, that the positive impact of materialism on charitable giving cannot be explained by the mediating constructs of empathy and social responsibility.…”

“…While there have been many articles that address the relationship between demographics and charitable behaviors (Schlegelmilch et al 1997), this research makes a contribution by looking beyond demographics to examine the impact of consumer traits, specifically materialism and its inversely associated trait-gratitude (Lambert et al 2009;McCullough et al 2002) and motivations on charitable behaviors. In examining these relationships, we answer Mathur's (2013) call to further assess how materialism positively influences charitable behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of consumers' charitable motivations on donations of both time and money (generosity), and to determine how these motivations account for the relationships between consumer traits and charitable behaviors.…”