A study on the differences in social-face sensitivity and conspicuous consumption tendency based on sports consumers’ impulse buying tendency: focusing on Generation Z

Introduction This cross-sectional study examines whether differences in social-face sensitivity and conspicuous consumption tendencies emerge among South Korean Generation Z sports consumers according to their propensity for impulse buying. While prior research has examined these constructs independently, their integration within digitally mediated sports consumption contexts remains limited. Drawing upon impulse-buying theory and social-face theory, this study investigates whether dispositional impulse-buying propensity is systematically associated with socially evaluative sensitivity and identity-expressive consumption orientations. Methods Data were collected from 234 South Korean Gen Z consumers and analyzed using one-way MANOVA. Results Results indicated that the high impulse-buying group scored significantly higher in public self-consciousness, social self-shaming tendency, and all sub-factors of conspicuous consumption, whereas no significant difference was found in social formality. Discussion These findings suggest statistically significant group-based associations between impulse-buying propensity and both face-related sensitivity and conspicuous consumption orientations within the collectivist cultural context of South Korea. By positioning impulse-buying propensity as a dispositional segmentation variable linked to socially visible consumption patterns, this study contributes to the theoretical integration of impulse-buying and social-face perspectives in sports marketing research. However, given the cross-sectional design, the findings should be interpreted as relational rather than causal.