This research investigated the impact of materialism on consumer''s duality in attitudes in the context of conspicuous consumption. This research defined consumer''s duality in attitudes as the inconsistence of attitudes between toward other''s consuming behavior and toward self consuming behavior of conspicuous products. Firstly, this research examined materialism as the antecedent variable affecting consumer''s duality in attitudes toward conspicuous products. Secondly, this research suggested and tested extrinsic incentive bias, people tend to infer that others are more motivated than themselves by extrinsic motive and less motivated by intrinsic motive, as underlying mechanism to explain the reason why materialism affects consumer''s duality in attitudes in the context of conspicuous consumption.
In experiment 1, this study investigated that extrinsic incentive bias can be occurred in the context of inference making about purchasing motive of conspicuous products and that the extent of extrinsic incentive bias can be differentiated by the level of consumer''s materialism. This experiment employed a 2(materialism: high vs. low) * 2(consuming subject: self vs. others) mixed factorial design with the first factor divided between subjects and the second factor manipulated within subject. The individual''s level of materialism was measured by materialism scales(Richins 2004). 46 students at Dongguk University participated in the experiment. The experiment was conducted in classrooms. Participants firstly were asked to read information about a luxury brand, Cartier including the brand history, the range of products'' prices, product lines etc. After reading information, the list of consumer''s purchasing motives of conspicuous products(4 intrinsic motives and 4 extrinsic motives) are provided. And participants rank-ordered the importance of eight different motives for themselves and then they inferred the rank-order that would be provided by general consumers of Cartier. Finally, Participants responded materialism scales. As a result, Experiment 1 showed that extrinsic incentive bias occurred in the context of conspicuous consumption and that such extrinsic incentive bias can be affected by the level of individual''s materialism. Consumers with high materialism inferred that for others, extrinsic motives are more important than intrinsic motives, and for the self, intrinsic motives are more important than extrinsic motives. On the other hands, consumers with low materialism predicted that for both self and others, extrinsic motives are more important than intrinsic motives.
In Experiment 2, firstly this study examined the influence of materialism on consumer''s duality in attitudes in conspicuous consumption. Secondly, this study investigated the role of extrinsic incentive bias whether it is underlying mechanism of consumer''s duality in attitudes. The experiment employed a 2(materialism: high vs. low) * 2(consuming subject: self vs. others) between subjects design. A total of 262 people from 25 to 45 years old participated in the experiment. The experiment was conducted on online web-site. When participants accessed web-sites, firstly a news clip including the sales status of Hermes bags in korea and korean consumers enthusiastic responses toward Hermes bags etc. After reading the news clip, participants were instructed to imagine buying the Hermes bag. And they responded questionnaire about Hermes consumption: evaluation of consuming subject''s materialism level, attitude toward consuming behavior, and inference making of purchasing motive. In this step, participants in self condition were responded to questions under the assumption that consuming subject is themselves. And participants in others condition were responded under the assumption that consuming subject is others, general consumers. Next, all participants responded purchase intention toward the Hermes bag. Finally, the level of participants'' materialism were measured. The result of experiment 2 is to support all hypotheses except H 2-2. First of all, experiment 2 showed that the higher materialistic consumer, the higher purchase intention toward conspicuous products. Secondly, experiment 2 demonstrated that for attitudes toward consuming behavior of conspicuous products, consumers with higher materialism appeared larger attitude difference between when consuming subject of conspicuous products is myself and others. And experiment 2 also supported the underlying mechanistic role of extrinsic incentive bias. Consumers with higher materialism tended to fall more in extrinsic incentive bias in inference making of conspicuous products consuming motives. High materialism consumers tended to infer that intrinsic motives have a larger influence on one''s buying behavior than extrinsic motives do, but they tended to infer that extrinsic motives have a larger impact on others'' buying behavior than intrinsic motives. On the other hands, low materialism consumers tended to infer that extrinsic motives have a larger impact on both self''s and others'' buying behavior than intrinsic motives. However, the hypotheses about the evaluation difference of consuming subject''s material level between self and others was not supported.
This study has several significant contributions and implications. First of all, this study contributes to the growing literature about the role of materialism in consumer behavior by identifying the role of materialism on consumer''s duality in attitudes in conspicuous consumption text. And in the second this study has contributions of enlarging the area of extrinsic incentive bias by firstly applying it into consuming text and secondly identifying the moderating role of individual trait on it. In addition, findings of this study can help marketing managers of conspicuous products like luxury brands to develop marketing and communication strategies toward high materialism consumers. Emphasizing on intrinsic factors(ex. self-satisfaction, pursuit of happiness) in messages instead of extrinsic factors can be more effective to attract them and to make them buy products. And areas for future research are discussed.