Never-Ending Desires: Assessing Consumer's Propensity to Desire Consumption Objects

This paper discusses the dimensions of consumers’ propensity to desire consumption objects. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with consumers from different age categories and social milieus. A thorough analysis of the narratives revealed the existence of four dimensions of consumers’ propensity to desire consumption objects: pleasure, discomfort, guilt, and control. Participants were also questioned about their level of materialism, their unsatiated desires, their ability to cope with unsatisfied desires, their satisfaction with their current life, and their subjective well-being. The relationships between these concepts are explored and implications of the proposed concept for different streams of consumer research are discussed.

Citation:

Lilia Boujbel (2007) ,"Never-Ending Desires: Assessing Consumer's Propensity to Desire Consumption Objects", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8, eds. Stefania Borghini, Mary Ann McGrath, and Cele Otnes, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 319-324.