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Consumerism: The Importance Of Materialism Among Consumers

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Materialism Among Consumers Materialism refers to ‘the importance a person places on possessions and their acquisition as a necessary or desirable form of conduct to reach desired end states, including happiness’ (B.Zhang, J.H Kim 2013). In other word, materialism is the belief about the importance of possessions in life by emphasizing on the ability to own material objects in terms of the type and quantity of the purchased products, focusing on the value placed on the acquisition of material objects (Kamolwan T. and Wiwatchai J, 2010). They feel that those luxury brands can boost their status by consuming luxury products publicly and possessing visible wealth (Liao and Wang, 2009). As consumers consider luxury brands as status-oriented possessions, …show more content…

It is also conceptualized as a set of attitudes which regard possessions as symbols of success, where possessions occupy a central part of life which include holding the belief that more possessions lead to more happiness (B.Zhang, J.H Kim 2013). Upon further elaboration, consumers who can afford luxury goods will pay even more attention to materialism as the purchase intention to present one's high-living standards (Husic and Cicic, 2009). Empirical studies found support that there are at least three characteristics of materialistic consumers: (1)they highly value obtaining and showing off possessions (2) they tend to be selfish (3) they desire to have lots of possessions (Schiffman, et al., 2010). As a personality-like trait, materialism differentiates between individuals for whom possessions have a central role in lives and those for whom possessions are less important. The characteristics of materialistic people are wearing expensive clothes and jewelry and driving luxury cars (Ervina Triandewi & Fandy Tjiptono,

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