Materialism and affect toward others: Influences on apparel consciousness

Materialism plays a significant role in the consumption of many products, particularly highly visible products like apparel. For highly materialistic individuals, possessions play significant roles in the construction and communication of their identities, where products are used as tools for individuals to build their lifestyles around the products and brands they acquire and display. This study examines two items, the affect held toward individuals viewed to be rivals and fashion consciousness using PLS-SEM. The results suggest that individuals’ materialism, specifically, individuals’ acquisition as the measure of success and acquisition as the pursuit of happiness, appear to affect the affect they experience toward others. Individuals with stronger beliefs that acquisition is a measure of success and as the source of happiness were observed to hold significantly less positive and more negative affect toward individuals viewed as rivals than those with lesser beliefs. The findings indicate that marketers may be able to affect the marketplace activities of materialistic consumers by affecting the affect they possess toward others.