“I want to be beautiful and rich”: Consumer culture ideals internalization and their influence on fashion consumption

Abstract

ABSTRACT Within the US culture, two consumer culture ideals – namely, the body perfect and the material good life – are dominant. This study addressed the question – how are these two consumer culture ideals internalized? And, how an individual’s degree of internalization of these consumer culture ideals influence one’s fashion consumption behavior? By building on the Tripartite Influence Model, a widely used empirical model in body-image research, a research model was proposed. Data were drawn from self-reported online survey by respondents located in the US (N = 472). The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling. All but one proposed hypotheses were supported, which explained 20% of the variance for fashion involvement construct (p <.001). Findings of the study revealed that sociocultural factors (i.e. parents, peers, and mass media) contribute to an individual’s degree of cultural ideals internalization, which in turn influences one’s level of body satisfaction and fashion consumption behavior. The findings of the study would be of interest to several entities, including social advertisers and marketers, media activists, and body image educators, among others, which are also discussed.