Materialism and its relationship to individual values

Kilbourne, William E.; LaForge, Mary C.

doi:10.1002/mar.20357

Cited by 62 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Table 1 provides an overview of their demographic characteristics. The overrepresentation of women is in line with findings in the compulsive buying literature; women are more prone to compulsive buying than men, such that 80-95% of the compulsive buyers reported are women (Kilbourne and LaForge, 2010). Furthermore, our relatively young sample aligns with findings that compulsive buying is negatively correlated with age (Dittmar, 2004), such that younger people tend to be more materialistic (Myers, 2000).…”

Section: Research Methodology and Sample Descriptionsupporting

confidence: 87%

The role of brands in the behavior and purchase decisions of compulsive versus noncompulsive buyers

Horváth

Birgelen

2015

European Journal of Marketing

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Purpose – This article investigates the role that brands play in influencing the behavior and purchase decisions of compulsive buyers and whether this role differs for noncompulsive buyers, resulting in four research propositions. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews, conducted with ten compulsive and ten noncompulsive buyers, reveal several interesting differences between the groups. Findings – The findings reveal several interesting differences between compulsive buyers and noncompulsive buyers. Noncompulsive buyers seem to appreciate and focus mainly on functional benefits of branded products and avoid buying unbranded products, whereas compulsive buyers value emotional and social benefits but often decide to buy “more and cheaper” items to achieve variety in their purchases. Noncompulsive buyers develop brand trust in, attachment to and higher willingness to pay for their favorite brand than for other brands, whereas compulsive buyers even struggle to name a favorite brand. Furthermore, compulsive buyers engage in more brand switching than noncompulsive buyers. Research limitations/implications – While this research provides the first, in-depth findings, a large-scale survey research is called for to provide statistically valid tests of the authors ' propositions. Practical implications – The findings indicate that compulsive and noncompulsive buyers seek different benefits of brands. Stressing the good quality should be particularly effective for noncompulsive buyers, whereas compulsive buyers will be triggered more effectively by claims about the emotional benefits. This finding has obvious implications for brand communication strategies but also raises an important ethical dilemma. The findings further indicate that compulsive buyers react to branded products in ways that may hurt brands with high brand equity. These, therefore, have an incentive to help compulsive buyers overcome this problem, rather than encouraging them in their buying behavior. Social implications – Considering the harmful effects of compulsive buying behavior on a person’s well-being, manufacturers and retailers should take corporate social responsibility in this situation and help society deal with it, using both proactive and reactive methods. For example, to facilitate the early identification of this type of behavior, retailers might stimulate customers to think about their purchasing motivations and inform them about the risks of compulsive buying. They could initiate the development, support or sponsorship of a “Shop Responsibly” campaign to help customers avoid such buying behaviors. Not only would these efforts increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, but they could boost the public image of the firm as a responsible organization that cares for societal well-being. Originality/value – This is the first study to investigate how compulsive buyers approach brands and whether they approach brands differently from noncompulsive buyers. It can draw attention to and encourage future research in this important area.

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Section: Research Methodology and Sample Descriptionsupporting

confidence: 87%

The role of brands in the behavior and purchase decisions of compulsive versus noncompulsive buyers

Horváth

Birgelen

2015

European Journal of Marketing

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“…Materialism is associated with a strong need to belong (Rose & DeJesus, ) self‐consciousness and social anxiety (Schroeder & Dugal, ), self‐doubt and uncertainty (Chang & Arkin, ), strong self‐enhancement needs (Kilbourne & LaForge, ) and low self‐esteem (Chaplin & Roedder‐John, . As previously explained, these correlates are typically associated with adolescents as a result of their “identity crises.” Materialism has been described as a coping mechanism that is used to regain stability, certainty, and a sense of identity (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, ; Chang & Arkin, ; Henry, ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Materialism is by no means a simple construct, it affects individuals and social groups in various ways and materialistic values are manifested differently according to the consumption context (Cleveland, Laroche, & Papadopoulos, ; Kilbourne & LaForge, ). For this reason, the consumption habits of teenagers will differ from those of adults.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the negative reported consequences of materialism, Kilbourne and Laforge () point out that the arguments on the effects of materialism can be characterized into four broad categories; positive social, positive individual, negative social, and negative individual. For example, Rose and DeJesus () suggest that through consumption, a sense of belonging can be achieved.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Commodification of Self‐Esteem: Branding and British Teenagers

Isaksen¹,

Roper²

2012

Psychology and Marketing

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This study explores the role of consumption in the lives of British adolescents, with a particular focus on its role in forming and maintaining self-esteem. Through a large qualitative study, over 100 adolescents revealed their attitudes and feelings toward consumption-particularly fashion. It was found that as a result of peer pressure and the importance of conformity among adolescents, consuming the correct possessions at the right time, is essential for social acceptance, gaining and maintaining friendships and thus self-esteem. This paper argues that self-esteem has been commodified. The consequences of failing to "keep up" with consumption trends were revealed; these include social exclusion, negative peer evaluation, and reduced self-esteem. Moreover, these negative consequences were particularly pronounced among adolescents from low-income families who, in contrast to their financial status, were eager to purchase the more expensive brands. Adolescents appear to have a striking awareness of the role of branding, advertising, and peer pressure in forming their consumption attitudes, yet they are unable to resist them. The findings from this study highlight the need for a rethinking of the more traditional components of adolescent self-esteem. C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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“…In Schwartz fall among value types of power and achievement (Schwartz, 1992, p.33), which implies that materialism, as a personal value that stress material possession, might be contradictory to values such as benevolence and universalism. Indeed, recent studies (Kilbourne & LaForge, 2010;Kilbourne, Gru¨nhagen & Foley, 2005) …”

Section: Values Value Systems and Materialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Materialism and life satisfaction among older people in Hong Kong : a case study and comparison with younger people

Chan¹

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The rapidly ageing global population reminds us to pay attention to the psychology of ageing. As research on materialism among older people is rare, this study aimed to explore the relationships between materialism and life satisfaction among older people in Hong Kong, a rapidly ageing Chinese society. It also suggested a novel concept -intergenerational material expectations (IME) -to understand older people's material expectations regarding their children. The data were compared with a younger group to find out if age differences existed. The study was a survey design among two age groups: older people aged 65+ and younger people aged 15-34.Questionnaires were collected from 170 older people aged 65+ and 186 youths aged 15-34. The Material Value Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale and a newly constructed scale measuring intergenerational material expectations (IME) were used.Multiple regression, ANCOVA and t-test were used for data analysis. After controlling for gender, age, education level and socio-economic status: 1) materialism and IME were positively related; 2) both materialism and IME were negatively related to life satisfaction (correlations between IME and life satisfaction disappear after controlling for self materialism); 3) older people scored higher on IME than on materialism; and 4) materialism was significantly lower among the older people than the younger. Although older respondents scored lower on materialism than younger respondents, it was still negatively correlated with life satisfaction. The higher IME score may imply that older people would transmit their material aspirations to their offspring as an expression of generative concerns. Future research might investigate if IME exists in other cultures and how older people's expectations of their children would affect their well-being. Table 4.4 Multiple regression of IME on materialism …………………….. 57 Table 4.5 Multiple regression of life satisfaction on IME …………………. 58 Table 4.6 Multiple regression of life satisfaction on IME (controlling for MVS) ……………………………………………. 59 Table 4.7 Inter-group statistics on materialism and life satisfaction……….. 60 Table 4.8 Results of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on materialism and life satisfaction between the older and the young groups…… 60 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………. 90 iv LIST OF TABLES

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Materialism and its relationship to individual values

Cited by 62 publications

References 42 publications

The role of brands in the behavior and purchase decisions of compulsive versus noncompulsive buyers

The role of brands in the behavior and purchase decisions of compulsive versus noncompulsive buyers

The Commodification of Self‐Esteem: Branding and British Teenagers

Materialism and life satisfaction among older people in Hong Kong : a case study and comparison with younger people

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