An Examination of the Relationships Between Materialism, Conspicuous Consumption, Impulse Buying, and Brand Loyalty

Furthering the understanding of materialism has been of paramount concern to both consumer researchers and policymakers over the past several years. This paper examines the relationships between materialism, conspicuous consumption, impulse buying, and brand loyalty, as examining material-centric behavior is becoming evermore important in a consumption-based economy. This study first examines these constructs in detail and proposes hypotheses, then through the use of structural equation modeling, explores how materialism positively relates to conspicuous consumption, impulse buying, and brand loyalty utilizing survey data from over 500 respondents residing in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Managerial and consumer-oriented implications are discussed as we call for marketing managers to pay closer attention to societal outcomes stemming from the use of traditional marketing strategies.