The relations between materialism, consumer decisions and advertising perception

Abstract

Abstract The goal of the study was to explore whether materialism, defined as being overly interested in money and material goods and attributing them too big a role in life, is related to consumer financial decisions and advertising perception. The study was conducted among members of an internet research panel on a nationwide random quota sample (n=1.062). The results showed that many consumer decisions depend on the level of materialism as measured by the Material Values Scale (MVS) [1]. More materialistic people showed a higher inclination to spending money over saving. Materialism is also influencing consumer decisions relating to borrowing money: people with higher materialistic attitudes take out credits or loans and do so irresponsibly more often. Moreover, nonmaterialists while confronted with a marketing offer which is beyond their financial capabilities more often choose to resign, whereas materialists rather decide on finding additional money (from extra work or loans). Materialists also react differently to advertising communication referring to materialistic values. An advertising message referring to materialistic values decreases the perception of the product and company in the eyes of nonmaterialists, while materialists react to such communication less negatively.