The Dark Side of Consumer Behaviour: The Causes and Consequences of Materialism (MAPPing)

Project no.: PP32/1803

Project description:

The topic of materialism has caused considerable interest among marketing and psychology researchers who have uncovered this phenomenon’s links with various social and psychological maladies. The adverse effects of materialism on personal and collective well-being acknowledge the need to research the causes and consequences of this phenomenon. Recent works highlight that understanding of materialism can be enhanced by studies considering social interaction skills and their antecedents (e.g., emotional intelligence). The relationship between materialism and subjective well-being has been extensively researched. The body of research on compulsive buying (the consequence of materialism) is also large. However, research that links emotional intelligence to materialism and compulsive buying is sparse though it is suggested that materialism research may benefit from these studies and literature review provides the theoretical basis to hypothesize these links. The planned research will yield insights into the phenomenon of materialism, attention being paid both to the under-researched antecedents, as well as to consequences of the materialism.
The research project is aimed at explaining the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of the relationship among materialism, emotional intelligence, subjective well-being, compulsive buying, and coping strategies. Research shows that materialism is not naturally inherent in individuals. Emotional intelligence is also considered to be a learned skill. Therefore, the analysis of factors that induce and suppresses materialism, and its consequences would lead to the development of relevant strategies for materialism reduction. An assessment of the effect of emotional intelligence and resulting coping strategies would explain why materialism is related to inferior subjective well-being and would provide new insights and implications on the subject of materialism reduction and mitigation of negative consumer behaviour manifested as uncontrollable compulsive buying, excess expenditure, and overconsumption.

Project funding:

KTU R&D&I Fund


Project results:

Publications:

[S1; HR; OA] Šeinauskienė, Beata; Rūtelionė, Aušra; Nikou, Shahrokh; Lekavičienė, Rosita. The effect of emotional intelligence on materialism and compulsive buying // Drustvena istrazivanja. Zagreb : Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar. ISSN 1330-0288. eISSN 1848-6096. 2021, vol. 30, iss. 3, p. 487-508. DOI: 10.5559/di.30.3.02. [Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science); Scopus; DOAJ] [IF: 0,391; AIF: 2,481; IF/AIF: 0,157; Q4 (2020, InCites JCR SSCI)] [CiteScore: 0,80; SNIP: 0,442; SJR: 0,180; Q3 (2020, Scopus Sources)] [M.kr.: S 006, S 003] [Indėlis: 0,250]

Presentation of research results at conferences:

[T1e; CZ] Seinauskiene, Beata; Rūtelionė, Aušra; Tarutė, Asta; Lekavičienė, Rosita; Nikou, Shahrokh. The effect of emotional intelligence on materialism and compulsive buying // 9th EMAC regional conference “Marketing challenges, innovations and trends in emerging markets”, 12-14 September, 2018, Prague, Czech Republic : conference book. Prague : Oeconomia Publishing House, 2018. ISBN 9788024522791. p. 47. [M.kr.: S 003]

[T2; DE] Šeinauskienė, Beata; Rūtelionė, Aušra; Lekavičienė, Rosita; Jakštė, Ligita. Emotional intelligence and materialism: mediating effect of subjective well-being // 48th EMAC annual conference, May 28-31, 2019, Hamburg, Germany: proceedings. Hamburg : Universität Hamburg, 2019, art. no. 398. ISBN 9783982114606. p. [1]. [M.kr.: S 003]

[T1d; US] Šeinauskienė, Beata; Rūtelionė, Aušra; Zailskaitė-Jakštė, Ligita; Lekavičienė, Rosita; Nikou,
Shahrokh. Materialism, emotional intelligence, and coping strategies // 2019 summer AMA conference: Marketing on fire: burning questions, hot new methods, and practical ideas worth spreading, August 9-11, 2019, Chicago, IL, USA : proceedings / Editors: K. Cutright, J. A.Mourey, R. Peres. Chicago : American Marketing Association, 2019. ISBN 9780877570059. p. 212-213. [M.kr.: S 003]

Period of project implementation: 2018-04-03 - 2018-12-31

Head:
Beata Šeinauskienė

Duration:
2018 - 2018

Department:
Academic Centre of Economics, Business and Management, School of Economics and Business