Understanding Conspicuity in the Dissemination of Experiences on Social Media: The Effect of Materialism

ABSTRACT

Objective:

to develop and test a model that explains the motivations for the behavior of disclosing the consumption of experiences on social media, considering the effect of materialism.

Theoretical approach:

the reasons given by the literature for the use of social media and materialism are adopted to understand the increasingly popular behavior of disclosing experiential consumption.

Method:

the study is based on a sequential mixed methods approach. First, a qualitative study was carried out with social media users. Subsequently, conceptual models were tested by PLS-SEM.

Results:

the conspicuous consumption online refers to the final construct of the explanatory model of the behavior of disclosing the experiential consumption in social media. The dissemination of experiences is used to build a positive identity and for the creation interpersonal relationships. From the conceptual models analyzed, it is admitted that materialism can play different roles in the explanatory model of the behavior of disclosing the consumption of experiences in social media.

Conclusions:

when verifying the conspicuity in consumption and exposition of experiences, it is assumed that consumers are focusing more on symbolic meanings than on satisfying psychological needs when adhering to experiential consumption.

Keywords:
experiential consumption; social comparison; social interaction; self-promotion; conspicuous consumption