Ostentatious Consumption Research Articles

The Impact of Social and Economic Status on the Marital Behaviour of Young People

The social and economic status significantly influences social development and individual behaviour, cultural factors and a deteriorating economic situation hinder youth marriage. This study aimed to highlight the impact of social and economic conditions on the marital behaviour of young people. The research employed a descriptive approach, based on a sample of 60 individuals. The results indicated that both social and economic conditions play a significant role in shaping the marital behaviour of youth, with an average impact score of 3.39. It was also found that the education level of both partners and tribal and familial affiliations affect this behaviour. Furthermore, the costs of marriage, driven by ostentatious consumption and the desire to emulate others, contribute to the decision-making process surrounding marriage. Finally, the findings confirmed that there is no significant difference in the impact of social and economic status on marital behaviour based on gender.

THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF BRAND LIKEABILITY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRAND IMAGE AND CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION

Purpose- The understanding of competition that continues in many areas of enterprises also continues in branding. Businesses that succeed in branding provide a competitive advantage. Businesses will be guided in branding by thinking about concepts such as brand image and brand likeability related to branding in the context of conspicuous consumption. Thus, consumer behaviour in the future can be predicted more realistically by analyzing the factors affecting the conspicuous consumption trend. In an intensely competitive environment, brands develop strategies that will ensure recognition and adoption by consumers. Brand image and likability play an essential role in this process. Although many studies are conducted on ostentatious consumption, brand image and brand likeability, a limited number of studies evaluate the three concepts together. This study focuses on the mediator effect of brand likeability in the relationship between brand image and conspicuous consumption. Thus, a research model has been created due to the literature review and the collected data were tested through the hypotheses created. Methodology- Quantitative data collection and analysis method has been used in the research and the research universe comprises consumers over 18 in the Marmara region, and the sample comprises 748 people who participated in the research. The data were analyzed with the SPSS and Process Macro program. The research model created due to the literature review has been tested. Findings- When looking at the research findings, it positively and significantly affects the ostentatious consumption tendency of brand image. Accordingly, the first hypothesis is confirmed. At the same time, this relationship mediates brand likeability; thus, hypothesis 2 is also accepted. Conclusion- The tendency to conspicuous consumption emerges by being influenced by brand image and brand likeability factors. In the research, there has yet to be a study that correlates brand image and brand likeability with conspicuous consumption. From this point of view, the study is a candidate to contribute to the literature. Keywords: Conspicuous consumption, consumers, brand, brand image, brand likeability. JEL Codes: M30, M31, M39

스포츠센터 이용소비자의 체면민감성이 과시적 소비성향, 충성도 및 재구매의도에 미치는 영향

스포츠센터 이용소비자의 체면민감성이 과시적 소비성향, 충성도 및 재구매의도에 미치는 영향

“Money Does Not Stay, It Is a Visitor”: Conspicuous Consumption and the Fleeting Riches in Pursuit of Elusive Happiness

This article uses archival material from the South African reality television show “I blew it” to explore the notion of happiness and consumption as it relates to township masculinities in the South African context. The program follows the lives of people who inherited fortunes from their deceased parents, got compensated by government for being involved in a road accident, or played lottery and won millions of Rand. Most of the beneficiaries blew their money becoming poor again. The experiences of these people are usually framed within the framework of conspicuous consumption born out of the need to announce one’s newly found status as the big man signified by, in most instances, having a lot of money, dating different women, and participating in rituals such as “ostentatious consumption.”

Caballos, hacaneas y jaeces: la distinción de una montura de prestigio en los Hechos del condestable don Miguel Lucas y otras fuentes de la Castilla Medieval

The horse is a statutory element, a powerful social marker, a tool of prestige, a trend that was reinforced from the 14th century onwards. We propose to study the staging of luxurious horses in situations of pomp, particularly in late medieval Castilian noble festivities. Focusing on the chronicle, Los Hechos of the Constable Miguel Lucas, we will see the importance of the horse in the culture of the nobility through the practice of equestrian gifts, the ostentatious consumption to which all the equipment and adornment of the horse gives rise, the effort to compose a harmonious picture between the rider and his mount. Finally, we will see how this staging of equestrian nobility gives a particular importance to the ambler horses and the ambling step.

Consumption in Confucianism and China’s modern economic strategy

Aim. The presented study aims to examine the concept of consumption from the socio-economic perspective and to investigate the relationship between modern consumer demand and the traditional Confucian way of life in China.Tasks. The authors determine the concepts of private consumption in Chinese society in historical retrospect and explore the influence of Confucian ideas on modern consumers in China.Methods. This study uses the methods of analysis, grouping, and systematization; synthesis of information from various sources in Chinese and English; general scientific methods of induction and deduction.Results. The current Chinese government is making efforts to boost consumer demand and purchasing potential, but the desire for consumption is not common to the traditional Chinese way of life. Confucianism, which has strongly influenced Chinese society, has made Chinese buyers unique in terms of their consumer behavior and preferences.Conclusions. Several factors affect the consumer habits and behavior in China: the ideas of Confucianism, which instill modesty and rejection of ostentatious consumption in the Chinese, on the one hand, and Western ideas of individualism and humanism, encouraging impulsive and status purchases, on the other. This apparent contradiction makes the Chinese a unique group of consumers with their own characteristics, which requires a more detailed study.

소셜 빅데이터를 활용한 코로나 19 전후 호텔 공간 소비 특성의 변화 - 인스타그램 해시태그의 의미 네트워크 분석을 중심으로 -

This study aims to compare the hotel space consumption of Generation MZ before and after COVID-19 through the analysis of Instagram posts. After the outbreak of COVID-19, various offline spaces, especially hotels, are facing a crisis from a considerable decrease in tourists. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumption behavior and hotel preferences. As this “new normal” is expected to continue to evolve even after the pandemic eases, it is important to analyze the changes in customers’ hotel consumption behavior with the outbreak of COVID-19. To do so, this study adopted an approach utilizing social big data. A Python web crawler was developed using several open-source libraries. The dataset was prepared from a total of 41,743 posts, including 24,163 posts written 1.5 years before the COVID-19 outbreak and 17,580 posts written 1.5 years after. From these posts, 49,135 and 31,764 different hashtags, respectively, were analyzed using frequency analysis and semantic network analysis. The results demonstrated that the consumption of hotel space has changed. First, the hocance (hotel+vacance) trend, referring to staying in guestrooms, has grown while the number of travelers has drastically decreased. Second, self-expression and showing-off consumption behavior has decreased. Accordingly, public spaces such as lobbies and lounges used for ostentatious consumption have been integrated with food and beverage facilities such as cafes, and the importance of multi-purpose halls seems to be further strengthened. Finally, the importance of traditional amenities has weakened, while that of experiential content has grown. For hotels to appeal to customers, including Generation MZ, in the future, this study proposes a complex hotel that can flexibly change its existing functions and structures. The information and knowledge gained from this study will contribute to planning a hotel space for the COVID-19 era.

중국인들의 체면민감성이 과시소비성향과 와인구매의도에 미치는 영향

As the importance of quality of life due to improved income levels has emerged, it has been argued that China's consumer market is showing a different characteristic than before and is reaching a transition period toward mature consumption in advanced countries. Amid the establishment of a reasonable consumer culture, value-oriented consumption is established among young consumers, while the consumption pattern of luxury purchases is still in the overall society, so a diverse understanding of consumers' consumption patterns is needed. The study wanted to examine wine consumption and purchasing intentions, which represent a significant growth in luxury goods, and the purpose of this study was to find out whether face sensitivity directly influences the propensity of consumption by changing the subject of consumption from the older generation to the millennials. The purpose of the project is to examine whether this propensity to show off consumption has a significant impact on wine purchase intentions and to provide implications.Firstly, a sense of shame, a sense of other people, and a sense of form, which are lower factors of face sensitivity, were all shown to affect personality-seeking consumption in the positive direction. Secondly, a sense of shame, a sense of others, and a sense of formality were all shown to have an effect on trend-seeking consumption in the positive direction. In addition, as a result of examining the impact of face sensitivity on high-price oriented consumption propensity, only the lower factors of shame and other people's consciousness were statistically significant, and the formal consciousness was not significant. Fifth, impact of ostentatious consumption propensity on wine purchasing intentions, only the lower factors, personality-oriented, brand-oriented, and high-price-oriented consumption propensity, were statistically significant, and the trend of trend-seeking consumption was not significant. Lastly, looking at the impact of face-sensitive sensitivity on wine purchasing intentions, other people's consciousness, and formal consciousness were all statistically significant. This is interpreted as the practice and value system of chinese society, influenced by confucianism, has valued face to show off social status, status, authority, formalities or examples in human interrelationships, and that this sense of face continues to consume to show off one's superiority or self-confidence today.

소비성향에 따른 호텔 선택속성의 차이연구

This study carried out empirical analysis centering on hypothesis setting to verify the difference of hotel selection attribute factors according to the types of consumer’s consumption propensity. we conducted an empirical analysis of customers aged over 19 who have visited hotels located in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province for the past three years. The survey was conducted from August 1 to September 30, 2019 by pre-trained researchers. A total of 320 questionnaires were distributed, 287 questionnaires were finally used except 33 unsuitable or inconsistent questionnaires. As a result of the analysis, there was a statistically significant difference in the hotel selection attribute factors among the clusters of consumption propensity. Finally, The hypothesis presented based on previous studies was adopted, and the implications were suggested. Firstly, hotels are thought to be useful for improving performance if they strategically utilize excellent accessibility, thoroughly safety and security along with good location. In addition, it is necessary to establish a suitable royalty program for ostentatious consumption pursuing group and provide services that are well-treated from the customer’s perspective. Secondly, The saving pursuing group can be seen as visiting the hotel in anticipation of friendly services and relatively cheap food, so instead of sticking to the same atmosphere, it is necessary to change the hotel‘s decoration and employee uniforms, employee training, diversification of discount policies, and menu changes that can provide new and fresh images to customers. Finally, the planned purchase pursuing group is more likely to be dissatisfied if the expected or better services are not provided by analyzing and using facilities and services as well as prices in advance. Accordingly, hotels should make effort to plan steady products and services.

La narcogangsterización de la música popular

La música popular de explícito contenido narcogangster se caracteriza por su violenta expresividad aunada a una estética particular (en el marco de diferentes actuaciones tipificadas). A nivel metodológico este trabajo plantea la caracterización de los principales modos de representación de este fenómeno masivo, a partir de la indagación semiótica de algunos videos de importancia mundial. Los resultados indican que nexos entre el tráfico de drogas, las prácticas de consumo ostentoso, la incitación a la violencia y la dionisiaca idea de dar rienda suelta a los deseos se establecen como telón de fondo a estos discursos sonoro-estéticos. Se discute la comprensión de este proceso en la música popular como una violenta y exitosa tendencia en extensión a nivel mediático.

Znaleziska z miejscowości Górzec w pow. strzelińskim w kontekście przemian kulturowych okresu wędrówek ludów

In the eighteenth and nineteenth century in the vicinity of the village of Górzec was found a set of artefacts probably representing scattered treasure from the beginning of the Migration Period. Such deposits are an expression of the rapid changes in the circulation of capital and the perception of value in this period. The influx of large quantities of gold and changes in silver’s value resulted in rapid changes in the status of various groups and individuals. An unstable social hierarchy is a prerequisite for the existence of the phenomenon of the potlatch, i.e. the ostentatious consumption or removal of goods from circulation. It seems that the deposits of the Migration Period should be considered this way. In 2010-2011 in the area of Górzec, excavations were undertaken. The aim was to discover of the remains of settlements from the time of the deposition of the treasure. As a result of this work, the existence of a settlement from phase D-D2 of the Migration Period was revealed. Hence, it is most likely that it is slightly younger than the treasure, but this is still open to question.

The dual nature of materialism. How personality shapes materialistic value orientation

This article presents two empirical studies examining different types of materialism as identified in an analysis of connections between materialism and HEXACO personality traits. Two groups of materialistic subjects and one non-materialistic group were revealed in both studies. In one group, a high level of materialism was accompanied by low levels of honesty-humility, agreeableness, and emotionality and higher levels of extraversion (Peacock type). In the second group, materialism was found alongside lower levels of honesty-humility, agreeableness and extraversion but higher levels of emotionality (Mouse type). “Peacocks” were more prone than “Mice” to look for immediate financial gains and ostentatious consumption, whereas “Mice” were more anxious and insecure in their ambivalent attitudes to money and were more concerned about their financial futures. Despite the similar importance attached to material possessions, the two types of materialism should be considered separately in future research.

Moral Blindness: The Loss of Sensitivity in Liquid Modernity by Zygmunt Bauman and Leonidas Donskis (review)

Reviewed by: Moral Blindness: The Loss of Sensitivity in Liquid Modernity by Zygmunt Bauman and Leonidas Donskis David A. Meir Moral Blindness: The Loss of Sensitivity in Liquid Modernity. By Zygmunt Bauman and Leonidas Donskis. Malden, MA: Polity, 2013. Pp. iv + 218. $22.50. ISBN 978-0745662746. In recent years, sociologist Zygmunt Bauman and philosopher Leonidas Donskis have explored aspects of Europe’s shifting sense of identity and insecurity as it enters its own brave new world. Anchored in an Eastern European cultural milieu, Bauman [End Page 478] and Donskis exchange reflections on the implications of a new normality in everyday life guided by an all-pervasive “insensitivity to human suffering” (7). The title uses a phrase from Bauman’s earlier works, “liquid modernity,” to signify not so much social uncertainty as a narcissistic shifting of moral sands. The authors present what they see as the two-fold consequence of instantaneous gratification achieved through a superficial connectivity—e.g., Facebook, email, and texting—specifically the elevation of a materialist capitalism and an evasive moral imperative. Intellectual iconoclasts in their own right, Bauman and Donskis draw upon a rich field of cultural-intellectual social critiques characterizing twentieth-century discourse but incapable of grasping the liquidity of the twenty-first. Donskis bridges Anatole France’s piercing analysis of social blindness with those of Milan Kundera and Hannah Arendt’s concept of the banality of evil; similarly, Bauman redirects Aldous Huxley’s focus from an impending totalitarianism to the “consumerist society, an eminently Western creation” (21). Dehumanizing prisoners in Abu Ghraib by otherwise ordinary people—conceptually paralleling Christopher Brown’s Ordinary Men (1993)—fits well with dehumanized killing by drones, mass surveillance, and the voluntary surrendering of personal privacy. According to Bauman, Emmanuel Levinas recognized these trends in the refocusing of social attention away from pending anxieties about the future and towards a present-time, euphoric, delusional ecstasy “of being in control.” In the process, questions about good and evil disappear along with an active historical memory (31). Donskis finds historical parallels of our contemporary adiaphorization in Greek Stoicism and in the French Revolution, which Bauman refines further as moments when the heroic was displaced by the elevated, degraded individual. Bauman and Donskis integrate numerous suggestive reference points into their exchange. Bauman’s passing reference to Ludwig Wittgenstein evokes the shadow of logical positivism while his use of Theodor W. Adorno reminds one of the sociological implications of totalitarianism. For both, literature provides the clearest field in which the political has mutated towards a technocracy in the guise of “democracy and free choice” (45). Similar to Huxley’s work, Donskis finds in Yevgeny Zamyatin’s literary work from the 1930s a dystopian world devoid of its classical heritage and humanistic impulses. Bauman detects a dystopian theme in the more contemporary fiction of Michel Houellebecq. Houellebecq’s Possibility of an Island (2007) appears as the intellectual successor of George Orwell, Zamyatin, and Huxley. Houellebecq’s liquid dystopia portrays a society addicted to sexual gratification, material excess, personal fame, and a masochistic critique of itself through humor. Although Bauman and Donskis return several times to Houellebecq’s Possibility for inspiration, their comments appear equally inspired by Houellebecq’s earlier work The Elementary Particles (2000), which is not mentioned. As communicative discussants, Bauman and Donskis explore the declining political manifestations of a voice of moral authority through a plethora of examples. Human [End Page 479] rights advocates of the stature of Andrei Sakharov failed to materialize during either the so-called Occupy movement or the Arab Spring. Facebook dominated discussions of power while Twitter could claim a Nobel Prize nomination. Each vied for dominance in manipulating the final public record, transferring an unprecedented volume of data into the hands of millions. Enamored by the growing international crisis, Bauman projects that their greatest impact would be against a “tyrannical or authoritarian regime” whereas democracies could channel popular discontent into the new social media. “Greed, rapacity and ostentatious consumption” signifies the objectives and existential uncertainty which defined the precariat—a blending of middle and working classes (63–64). Jean Baudrillard and Lutz Niethammer perceived within these political phenomena an unquestioning and uncritical embrace of every media sensation. Houellebecq...

The Influence of Social Face Sensitivity on Vanity and Consumption Behavior

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of social face sensitivity on vanity and consumption behavior. Questionnaires were administered to 461 college students living in Deagu Metropolitan City and Kyungbook province. Frequency, factor analysis, reliability analysis, regression analysis, and t-test were used for data analysis. Social face sensitivity was categorized into consciousness of being embarrassed, social formality, other consciousness and prestigiousness. Vanity factors were found as physical price, achievement concern, achievement price, and physical concern. Consumption behavior were categorized into 5 factors such as ostentatious consumption, impulsive buying, external information search, brand trust, utilization of internet information and material-oriented. Consciousness of being embarrassed, social formality, and other consciousness, the sub-variables of social face sensitivity had significant effects on achievement concerns and physical concerns. Other consciousness of social face sensitivity had significant effects on all factors of consumption behaviors. There was significant differences in the prestige of social face sensitivity and physical concerns of vanity and ostentatious consumption, impulsive buying, and also in external information search and utilization of internet information of consumer behavior. This indicates that women showed high physical concerns for vanity and ostentatious consumption, impulsive buying, external information search and utilization of internet information of consumption behavior while men care more about prestigiousness of social face sensitivity. Keywords: social face sensitivity, vanity, consumption behavior

Effects of Price Attitude toward Apparel Products on Shopping Values and Consumption Behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of price-attitude toward apparel products on shopping values and consumption behavior. The study was carried out in Deagu and Kyungbook area. Applying the convenience sampling, total 326 questionnaire were collected from university students who were randomly selected as participants. This study used frequency, factor analysis, reliability analysis, regression analysis, and t-test for data analysis. The finding are as follows. Price-attitude toward apparel products was categorized into information leading, price dignity, price discount, list price orientation, quality value and using coupons. Shopping tendency factors were found as pursuit of pleasure, pursuit of sociality, and pursuit of economic feasibility. Consumption behavior factors were categorized into impulsive buying, ostentatious consumption, utilization of internet information, possession of material and brand trust. Price-attitude toward apparel products had a significant effect on shopping values and consumption behavior. University students seemed to consider the value of money to be very important as well as economic feasibility. They utilized information from the internet to buy products with good quality and showed high usage level of coupons. And, university students who buy at a least price tried to show dignity with expensive brand products and they consider those brands express self-confidence.

Withdrawal from growth: The environmental challenge for twenty-first-century socialism

Capitalism cannot exist without continuously expanding production of an ‘immense collection of commodities’ around the world. However, there is an irrefutable fact that is jeopardizing capitalism and its chimerical claims of sustained economic growth: the planet has biophysical limits. Twenty-first-century socialism, therefore, cannot rely on the dynamics of economic growth. It rather has to build a world economy that not only frees workers from exploitation, but releases nature from irrational exploitation as well. In fact, for socialist countries to withdraw from growth represents the paramount environmental challenge to be overcome. This means moving from ostentatious consumption towards a new principle of moderation. This is the essential foundation for an economy that operates within the limits of our biophysically finite world.

Antecedents of ostentatious consumption in Kuwait

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of status‐oriented Muslim consumers in Kuwait. More specifically, to study how personality traits such as materialism, susceptibility to social influence and self‐monitoring explain status consumption.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 433 consumers provided information on their status consumption orientation and the personality traits under study. Respondents expressed their opinion on the statements on a five‐point Likert scale. Factor analysis was used to explore the underlying dimensions, the reliability of the measures and the components. Regression analysis was used to predict the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThis paper hypothesized that the three personality traits, namely materialism, susceptibility to personal influence and self‐monitoring, influence status consumption among Muslim consumers in Kuwait. Based on the results, the data supported all but the effect of self‐monitoring, that is, the ability to readily alter one's behavior to fit the current situation. Also, younger consumers seem to engage in more status consumption than older ones. There is also a positive correlation between income and status consumption.Research limitations/implicationsStatus consumption‐oriented consumers are typically susceptible to informational and normative influence and are materialistic.Practical implicationsThese findings can be used in market segmentation and advertising, for example, status consumers could be depicted using or consuming products in situations that imply prestige and approval from important referent groups.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to enlarge the psychological profile of Muslim consumers and their orientation towards consumption.

남성들의 패션 라이프스타일에 따른 향수 구매 및 사용행동

The purposes of this study was to identify perfume purchasing and using behavior according to men's fashion lifestyle. Self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. The subjects were 317 men aged 19-40. The results were as follows: First, over half of men had purchased at least one perfume during last year and the price was 30,000-60,000won. Men selected perfumes which harmonized with their image or purposes of using perfumes. Men selected a perfume as a present for their girl friends or wives to convey their concern or love. Most men purchased perfumes at department stores and selected after experiencing samples, and by affecting advertisements of newspapers or journals. Over 60% of men possessed at least one perfume and most of them were imported perfumes. Most men used perfume on a special day such as dates or job interviews, and they received perfume as a gift from their girl friends or wives. Most men used perfumes to enjoy fragrances by themselves and preferred sea fragrance most. Second, factors of men's fashion lifestyle were fashion information, individuality, conservativeness, ostentation, activity, and fashion style. Men were segmented into ostentatious consumption group, active group, fashion leader group, and fashion retard group. Third, fashion leader group purchased perfumes more than other groups and fashion retard group purchased the least.

Multidisciplinary focus on leisure and tourism

This paper examines the role of the contrasting specialization and integration developments in science and society. Particular attention is focused on the development of leisure, recreation, and tourism within modern industrialized society and on feasible scientific approaches as applied to the study of leisure activities. The evolution of leisure reveals a continued societal preference for increased income over leisure. This phenomenon has resulted in a drive towards ostentatious consumption, less free time, and large scale differentiation in leisure activities. The birth of modern mass tourism is one example. Such segmentation is characterized by specialized disciplinary know-how and analytic/fragmented policies. Intersector comparison of such policies shows they produce external costs which can only be avoided if an integrated approach is pursued. The paper argues for a new multidisciplinary focus on socioeconomics of leisure.