The present study aims at attaining a better understanding of the hedonic consumer value of materialism and non-hedonic values of happiness, life-satisfaction and religiosity. As a conceptual paper, the study refers to literature and prior empirical research with the objective of linking a significant body of literature on these apparently diverse constructs into a unifying theoretical framework. The study offers new research directions in the form of propositions for further empirical investigation.
TopThe Hedonic Construct Materialism: As Defined In Marketing
O Shaughnessy and O Shaughnessy (2002) believe that the tendency towards materialism is an inherent constituent of human condition and it was widespread prosperity which fuelled the emergence of both marketing activity and consumerist behaviour simultaneously. Materialism, as a field of study, gained greater attention over last two and a half decades (e.g. Belk, 1984; Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002; Richins & Dawson, 1992) and its causes and consequences (e.g. Larsen, Sirgy and Wright, 1999; Rindfleisch, Burroughs and Denton, 1997; Sirgy, et. al. 1998). The consumer researchers have studied materialism as a personality trait (Belk, 1984; 1985), as a consumer value (Richins 1987; Richins & Dawson, 1992), as a consumer attitude (Campbell, 1969), as an orientation towards money and possessions (Moschis & Churchill, 1978), as a way of life (Daun, 1983; Steiner, 1975), as an acquisitive ideology (Bishop, 1949) and Holt (1998) raised an important question as to whether materialism is more about “how” rather than “what” one consumes.