What is symbolic consumption?

Purchasing or consumption can be said to be the main goal of consumer behavior. While purchases will occur because of the need and desire for the product. But not infrequently the purchase is not caused by a need and desire. Someone before making a purchase begins with a need and a desire (want). Buying activity is part of an effort to fulfill the urge of needs and desires. Need is a state that is felt not to exist in a person. Something that is not in a person. The experience decisionmaking perspective is carried out by consumers who have experience in understanding brands and products. For consumers, knowledge about brands and products is considered sufficient. So there is no need for a lot of information related to the use of brands and products. The influence of experience from using brands and products has an impact on the purchasing decisionmaking process. The introduction of the problem around how the experience of brand and product problems before. Information search process based on solving problems from previous purchases. Brand and product choices are based on the impact of previous experience. Consumer behavior in the purchasing decision process does not always follow a linear path in the consumption process. Linear flow in decision making starts from problem recognition, seeking information, evaluating information, purchasing, and evaluating after purchase. Because consumers have different attitudes and views on brands and products. There are several types of consumers based on consumer involvement. Consumer engagement with brands and products. Consumer involvement in assessing brand existence. It is a consumer effort to compare brands, loyalty to certain brands, even rejection of certain brands. Consumer involvement in a brand is a consumer evaluation of a brand that has been known and is being promoted by the seller

The high number of internet users and the development of social media such as Instagram and Tiktok currently one of the factors in the developmeny of high consumption of fast fashion products that are slowly changing people’s lifestyle. Consumers make undirected purchases which result in increased hedonic motivation and shopping orientation. This study to examine whether social media affects impulse buying behavior through hedonic shopping motivation and shopping orientation in purchasing fast fashion products. This study uses descriptive and verification quantitative research methods using structural equation model (SEM) analysis which is processed using SmartPLS on 239 respondents of generation Y and Z in West Java. The result showed that (1) social media have a positive and significant effect on impulsive buying behavior, (2) social media have a positive and significant effect on hedonic shopping motivation, (3) social media have a positive and significant effect on shopping orientation, (4) hedonic shopping orientation have a positive and significant effect on impulsive buying behavior, (5) shopping orientation have a positive and significant effect on impulsive buying behavior, (6) positive and significant hedonic shopping motivation and shopping orientation able to mediate the effect between social media on impulsive buying behavior. This study shows that social media usage can influence impulse buying behavior, especially in buying fast fashion products. Hedonic shopping motivation and shopping orientation can be influenced by social media and affect impulsive buying behavior so that requires attention for producers in selling which products will be sold or not. On other hand, consumers also need to pay attention to products that they are going to buy so that their purchasing patterns are more focused.

Researchers have tried hard to understand the concept of symbolic consumption and more precisely the reasons for symbolic consumption as it is one of the central issues of concern around which the marketing strategy for many products revolves. There are many products being purchased for the symbolic value they carry, rather than the functional value or the utilitarian value of the product. Researchers classified the needs into functional, emotional and symbolic needs. While the lesser known and understood facts about symbolic consumption and the changing behaviour of consumers are being worked upon by various researches, the constant change in the pattern of this behaviour makes it difficult for researchers to stick to a particular stream and area of research. The term symbolic consumption is used to describe the phenomenon whereby people consume to reflect their sense of self-identity. Symbolic consumption has been addressed primarily not only in consumer studies, but also in anthropology, sociology, economics, marketing, human ecology, and social psychology. Over the period, consumers have constantly changed their perceptions and notions regarding branded products and their value. The driving factors that make the consumer consume or not a particular product are varied and influence the process in various possible combinations of these individual factors. Questions regarding why a product is purchased by a group of people, the recurrence of its purchase or why a product is selected over the others have always been revolving in the minds of marketing groups and researchers. This paper analyses the theoretical aspects of the determinants of the constantly varying consumer behaviour in indulging in symbolic consumption of brands in the Indian scenario with a focus on the determinants which affect the consumer in their buying decision are examined.

This study investigates the symbolic meaning of tourism destination brands. Specifically, this study examines the relationship between symbolic consumption of tourism destination brands and destination brand loyalty. A structural equation model tests data collected from international tourists (n=361) who visited a Mediterranean resort city. The results validate three dimensions of symbolic tourism destination brand—self-congruence, brand identification, and lifestyle-congruence affect destination brand loyalty. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed within the general framework of consumer behavior theory.

The increasing commitment to sustainable consumption has intensified the scholarly focus on the determinants of environmentally friendly consumer behavior. This investigation provides an insight into the intricate interplay between green consumer values, functional (FV), conditional (CV), social (SV), and emotional (EV), and their impact on buying behavior (BB). Using survey data, we scrutinized the mediating roles of attitudes toward purchasing green products (APGP) and receptivity to green communication (RGC). Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the empirical analysis yielded a mix of supported and unsupported claims about the mediation effects on the relationship between consumer values and buying behavior. Direct effects of FV on BB were significant, but the indirect effect through APGP was not, suggesting that APGP does not mediate the relationship between FV and BB, and that consumers’ functional value perceptions influence their buying behavior independently of their attitudes toward green products. Both direct and indirect effects of EV and FV on BB through APGP and RGC were significant, suggesting partial mediation. The results suggest that APGP and RGC partially mediate the effects of EV and FV on BB but do not mediate the effects of CV and SV on BB. Comparing these findings with previous research, we observe some parallels and divergences. Our study confirms the significant direct effect of FV on buying behavior, consistent with previous studies that underscore the importance of tangible benefits in influencing consumer decisions. Furthermore, the significant direct and indirect effects of EV on BB and APGP in our results are consistent with previous research, suggesting that emotional factors play a decisive role in green purchasing behaviors. However, factors such as CV and SV were found to have no impact in our research compared to previous studies. These discrepancies suggest that while CV influences attitudes, it may not strongly influence purchasing behavior through the mediating constructs in our model. Furthermore, the results imply that social factors may influence attitudes but do not necessarily translate into actual purchasing behavior in our context. Our study also reveals that RGC plays a substantial role in influencing buying behavior, indicating a significant total effect greater than indicated in previous research. These insights illuminate the complex mechanisms by which consumer attitudes and communication receptivity shape eco-conscious purchasing choices. Theoretical contributions enrich the discourse on green consumer behavior, while practical implications guide marketers in crafting communication strategies that resonate with consumer values and attitudes, thus fostering sustainable consumption patterns.

AbstractSymbolic interactionism is one of the few social psychology perspectives that recognizes the important role of physical artifacts, including consumer products, in social life. Consumer products are artifacts people can use to maintain the expressive order within social life – the order that is embedded within the shared meanings of a culture. As a formal theory of symbolic interactionism, affect control theory emphasizes culturally shared affective meaning, the impressions produced within social events, and identity processes that rely on those cultural meanings and social events. We contend that affect control theory provides a framework for understanding and researching how consumer products influence people's social experience and interaction. First, we specifically explore how affect control theory's concepts of affective meaning, identity modification, and impression management can be applied to understanding consumer products. Building on this foundation, we then consider how affect control theory might also contribute to three new research directions: social interaction with consumer products, affective design of consumer products, and the prosumer identity created from consumer products. Our conclusion is that affect control theory provides sociologists with a means of exploring the important and fascinating questions that emerge when we consider people's symbolic interaction with consumer products.

This article analyzes how brand strategy wins consumer psychology and the key factors that win consumer psychology. It explains that the core of brand strategy is to win consumer psychology and the significance of brand strategy to consumer habits. The methods adopted in this research are mainly literature research and case analysis. Analysis Every consumer is only willing to choose and accept some brands when buying products. Enterprises can only grasp the target customers’psychological gap through the brand information output by the brand strategy, or tap into the target customers’psychological resources more effectively than competitors, thus occupying the important position of the target customers’ psychological resources. This subtle psychological change is that there is only consumer perception and no objective facts. According to the results of the analysis, the brand strategy is mainly based on the attributes of the product and the consumer's psychology has an impact on consumer spending habits. Brand strategy is to use the brand as a logo to distinguish other competing brands, form a cognitive image, be recognized by consumers, and reflect a durable and credible value commitment related to the products and services behind the brand. It can be said that brand strategy has created a certain product attribute in consumer perception. And win the consumer's psychology through the key factors that affect the consumer's consumer psychology, so as to promote the consumer's consumption behavior, so that the consumer forms a certain consumption habits, so the brand strategy has an important effect on consumers' consumption habits. This article combines psychology and management related knowledge, analysis Faced with a large number of products, consumers cannot accept all products, so the brand is of great significance to consumers' consumption habits. This article analyzes how brand strategy wins consumers' consumer psychology, and the key factors to win consumer psychology, for companies to implement more accurate, consumer psychology and consumer habits in the context of the era of huge competition today. The strategy provides a certain theoretical basis.

With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing importance of e-commerce, the study of online consumer behavior is of particular relevance. The purpose of this study was to form a methodological approach to assess the relationships and the level of influence of the factors activating the purchasing behavior of online consumers against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research methodology was based on the transformation of Cattell’s questionnaire and the implementation of correlation analysis. To determine the predisposition of online consumer behavior at the time of making a purchase decision, this study used the questionnaire method. The survey was conducted among online shoppers in the top 10 countries in terms of e-commerce market growth. The scientific contribution is the proposed methodological toolkit to assess the purchasing behavior of online consumers, which identifies the most influential factors in their purchasing behavior and provides an opportunity to assess the dynamics of their activity during the study period, to identify key trends and determine changes in their behavior. The research revealed what changes in online consumer buying behavior are typical in the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of consumer awareness and experience has increased. Online consumers have become more experienced, which has influenced the activity of their buying behavior. This study proved the shifting influence of online consumer purchasing behavior factors during the pandemic. The increasing importance of the speed of decision making by consumers when purchasing goods and services online was determined.

Environmental pollution that is happening is increasingly creating awareness on the consumer side. One of the causes of environmental pollution is the use of plastic bags. The use of plastic bags that are not environmentally friendly causes environmental damage. Therefore, it is necessary to change the use of inorganic plastic bags into environmentally friendly shopping bags. Changes in the use of environmentally friendly shopping bags can reduce the impact of environmental pollution. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in green buying behavior in using eco-friendly shopping bags. Sampling used was purposive sampling and data collection using the G-form via Line and WhatsApp. The number of respondents who were taken was as many as 190 people. Hypothesis testing using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) with Smart-PLS software. The results of the study show that environmental concerns, perceived prices, and green products have an influence on green buying behavior. Meanwhile, perceived environmental responsibility has no influence on green buying behavior. The gender variable cannot moderate environmental concerns, perceived prices, green products, and perceived environmental responsibility towards green buying behavior. The results of this study indicate that environmental concern causes consumer buying behavior to change to products that are environmentally friendly. That the price perception for environmentally friendly products is felt by consumers accordingly so that their behavior changes to environmentally friendly products. Nevertheless, the variable perceived environmental responsibility cannot change consumer buying behavior. Changes in green buying behavior are not distinguished by gender. Companies engaged in the field of eco-friendly shopping bags have opportunities due to consumer awareness of using environmentally friendly shopping bags.

Retail shopping practices have always been under the highlight for marketing researchers. Therefore, the focus of this study was not only to identify the impact of consumer behaviors in conventional shopping but also to find their role in influencing ethical consumption. We propose a theoretical framework based on the concept of S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model whereby consumer buying motivations namely Hedonic and Utilitarian, affect Ethical consumption through different buying behaviors. These included Cognitive, Affective, and Impulsive behaviors. Through an adapted 5-point Likert scale questionnaire, in total, 207 responses from Pakistan were analyzed using PLS-SEM technique. Indirect mediation was applied between hedonic and utilitarian motivation with cognitive, affective, and impulsive buying behavior as well as direct mediation with ethical consumption. The findings of the study revealed that consumer buying motivations such as hedonic and utilitarian play an important role in explaining consumer buying behaviors used in the study, namely: cognitive, affective and impulsive. A significant impact was found between hedonic motivation and affective buying behavior as well as impulsive buying behavior. Utilitarian motivation showed the most significant relationships with affective and cognitive buying behavior and also ethical consumption. The findings of the research could not validate the impact of cognitive and affective buying behavior on ethical consumption. However, impulsive buying behavior showed a significant contributor in explaining ethical consumption. The findings are valuable as many previous studies have not considered a collective impact of buying motivations and behaviors together on ethical consumption. This will help producers to bring innovation in developing green products in a more efficient manner while knowing the underlying causes of poor ethical consumption in Pakistan and thus, using the right techniques to position their products and provide benefits sought by customers.