Treasuring Possessions: the Rise of Materialism Among East Asian Consumers?

Westernization, modernization, and globalization of world markets has led to transitioning “consumer societies” in many parts of the world, implying a spread of materialistic ideology from industrialized, capitalistic cultures such as the United States and Western Europe to other cultures (O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy 2002). Belk states that, “…even third world consumers are often attracted to and indulge in aspects of conspicuous consumption before they have secured adequate food, clothing, and shelter” (1988, p. 104-105). Yet, despite the intuitive logic for a spread of materialism across cultures, our ability to understand such a transition depends on the availability of effective cross-cultural measures of materialism. In response, this study tests the applicability of Richins and Dawson’s (1992) materialism scale for Chinese, Korean, and Thai consumers, exploring for the first time the existence and possible nuances in materialistic values among three discrete East Asian cultures.

Citation:

Kittichai Watchravesringkan and Barbara Dyer (2006) ,"Treasuring Possessions: the Rise of Materialism Among East Asian Consumers?", in LA - Latin American Advances in Consumer Research Volume 1, eds. Silvia Gonzalez and David Luna, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 78-80.