Athens University of Economics & Business

M.Sc. in Marketing & Communication - Specialization in International Marketing

Cross-Cultural Consumer Behaviour

Instructors: Flora Kokkinaki

Zoe Anagnostidou

Materialism & Happiness Working group:

Alexandra Boula Miltiadis Lappas Nikoleta Moutafidou Pavlos Papadimitriou

1

Materialism & Personality

“Materialism is a value that represents the individual's perspective regarding the role possessions should play in [a persons] life”

(Richins , 1994, p. 522)

“The importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions. At the highest levels of materialism, such possessions assume a central place in a person's life and are believed to provide the greatest sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction” (Belk, 1984, p.291)

Possessiveness - control or ownership of possessions (Belk, 1983, p.514)

Nongenerosity – unwillingness to share (Belk, 1984, p. 291)

Envy - feelings of hatred or dislike at another person’s superiority (Schoeck, 1966)

Materialistic Traits

◈ Pursuit of possessions and materialism’s role in consumption choices reflects materialism as a value

A Value Conceptualization of Materialism

◈ The importance of acquisition to reach satisfaction

◈ Impossible to achieve happiness

(Fournier & Richins, 1991, p. 411)

Material & Experiential Purchases

2

Possessions & happiness

◈Devotion of time and money (Boven, 2005, p. 132)

◈The importance of buying more (Richins, 2003, p.1)

◈“…joyless material possessions […] resulting in comfort but not pleasure” (as cited in Nicolao et al., 2009, p.189)

(Boven, 2005, p. 134)

Material purchases

Experiential purchases

Material:

• Tangible

• Last a couple of days

•Take up physical space (Nicolao et al., 2009, p.189)

Experiential: • Intangible

• Last for a lifetime

• Provide knowledge (Nicolao et al., 2009, p.189)

• Can not be acquired if not available (Boven & Gilovich, 2005, p. 1201)

Some material possessions can be perceived as experiences (Boven, 2005, p. 133-134)

Material possessions with sentimental value can provide more happiness (Boven & Gilovich, 2003, p. 1201)

“… the hedonic superiority of experiential over material purchases is multiply determined.”

(Boven,2005,p.137)

Material • Instant pleasure (as cited in Nicolao et al., 2009, p. 190)

• Social ills

(Boven, 2005, p.133)

• Guilty feelings (Richins, 2012, p.3)

Experiential

• Lasting pleasure (as cited in Nicolao et al., 2009, p. 196)

• Social relationships

• Less disadvantageous comparison (Boven, 2005, p.137)

Product-Evoked Emotions

3

“ “Materialists believe

that acquiring things

will make them

happier and they tend

to act on this belief by

buying more”

(Watson, 2003, p.724)

Product-evoked emotions in 3 phases of the purchase process

Greater emotional intensity for high-materialists during the purchase process

Negative emotions fear envy anxiety discontent

prepurchase process

actual purchase process

postpurchase process

Positive emotions joy excitement happiness

(Richins, 2012, p.5)

(Richins, 2012, p.14)

Fluctuation of Emotions Across the Purchase Process

High-materialism consumers ◈ Prepurchase phase: hedonic elevation

◈ Postpurchase phase: hedonic decline

Low-materialism consumers Positive emotions

◈ flat

◈ slightly upward

(Richins, 2012, p. 12)

Relation between product’s cost and consumers’ positive emotions

Low-materialists: remain unaffected by the cost of the product

High-materialists: more intense hedonic elevation for expensive products

Contradiction in the source of emotional fulfillment

◈ High-materialists derive happiness from products

◈ Low-materialists derive emotional fulfillment from interpersonal relationships and spirituality

(Richins, 2012, p.06)

(Myers, 2000, p. 57)

Adaptation to new acquisitions

positive feelings associated with product acquisition:

not durable and fade quickly -in a matter of few weeks.

Why? ◈ adaptation to new acquisitions is inevitable (Dunn et al., 2011, p.116-117).

Consequence: Want to acquire more goods, so they can recapture the positive feelings they had experienced upon purchase

The Pursuit of Happiness

4

“positive disconfirmation of expectations … result in high satisfaction”

Meets expectations Exceeds expectations Lower than expected

(Sirgy, 1998, p. 236)

.. dissatisfaction is greater when our standard of living expectations is a set goal affected by social comparisons

(Sirgy, 1998, p.250)

A competing motivational system

A materialistic person does not stop earning money

Optional Distinctiveness Theory (Brewer, 1991, 478)

◈ Make money to belong to a group ◈ Make more money to differentiate myself

(Ahuvia, 2008, p. 502).

“ Value Conflict

“[M]aterialism can be viewed as the value a consumer places on the acquisition and possession of material objects” (Boroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002, p. 349).

Materialistic Values

Prioritize individualism Depreciate group well-being

Community Values

Prioritize group well-being Depreciate individualism

(Solomon, 2013, p. 170)

Depression Neuroticism

(Borough & Rindfleisch, 2002, p. 365).

Materialistic Values

Community Values

Value Conflict

INNER CONFLICT

Thanks!

Any questions?

Works Cited

Ahuvia, A. (2008). If money doesn’t make us happy, why do we act as if It does? Journal of Economic Psychology, 29, 491-507. Belk, R., W. (1985). Materialism: Trait aspects of living in the material world. Journal of Consumer Research, 12, p 265-280. Belk, R., W. (1984). Three scales to measure constructs related to materialism: Reliability, validity, and relationships to measures of happiness. Advances in Consumer Research, 11, 291-297. http://acrwebsite.org/volumes/6260/volumes/v11/NA-11 Belk, R., W. (1983). Wordly possessions: Issues and criticisms. Advances in Consumer Research, 10,514-519. Bover, V. L, & Gilovich, T. (2003). To do or to have? That is the question. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 1193-1202. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.6.1193 Boven, V.L. (2005). Experientialism, materialism, and the persuit of happiness. Review of General Psychology 9, 132-142. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.132

Brewer, M.B. (1991). The social self: On being the same and different at the same time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 475-482. Burroughs, J.E. (2002). Materialism and well-being: A conflicting values perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 348-370. doi:10.1086/344429 Dunn, E., W. et al. (2011). If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 21, 115–125. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2011.02.002Fournier, S., & Fournier, S. & Richins, M. (1991). Some theoretical and popular notions concerning materialism. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 6, 403-414. Myers, D., G. (2000). The funds, friends, and faith of happy people. The American Psychologist, 55, 56-67. doi:edsgcl.63492305 Nicolao, L., Irwin, J. R., & Goodman, K, J. (2009). Happiness for sale: Do experiential purchases make consumers happier that material purchases?. Journal of Consumer Research, 36, 188-198. doi:10.1086/597049

Richins, M. L. (2013).When wanting is better than having: Materialism, transformation

expectations, and product-evoked emotions in the purchase process. Journal of

Consumer Research, 40, 1-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/669256

Richins, M., L. (1994). Special possessions and the expression of material values.

Journal of Consumer Research, 21, 522-533.Sirgy, M.J. (1998). Materialism and quality

of life. Social Indicators Research, 43, 227-260. doi:10.1023/A:1006820429653

Schoeck, H. (19660. Envy: A theory of social behavior. New York: Harcourt, Brace and

World.

Solomon, M.R. (2013). Consumer behavior: Buying, having and being (10th ed.).

Essex, UK: Pearson Education Limited.

Watson, J., J. (2003). The relationship of materialism to spending tendencies, saving,

and debt. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24, 723–739.

doi:10.1016/j.joep.2003.06.001