The Role of Envy in Consumption

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
Date
2019
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
(Mikkeli) Bachelor’s Program in International Business
Language
en
Pages
35 + 5
Series
Abstract
Objectives The main objectives of this study were to find how young consumers reacted to experiencing two different types of envy and would the envy type affect the willingness to consume or the effort to acquire the product, that is, if it would drive the respondents to conspicuously consume. The objectives also included finding if Attention to Social Comparison Information (ATSCI) affected the willingness to buy or effort to acquire the product. These phenomena have been studied separately, but not in conjunction as will be done in this thesis. Summary The research of this thesis was conducted using a quantitative survey, where young consumers were asked to answer questions related to an imaginary situation that was created to incite the feeling of envy in the respondent. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that respondents who experienced benign envy would be more willing to consume the product and would put in more effort to acquire the product. This study was not able to provide statistically significant results of differences of envy types in driving purchasing or effort of acquiring. However, it was found that the respondent who experienced benign envy and had a high score on the ATSCI-scale, were willing to put more effort into acquiring the product than other respondents. Conclusions It could be concluded that no significant differences between the envy types were found in driving consumption, but based on the previous literature, benign envy is the driver for consumption, due to its emulation characteristics. This needs to be taken into account when marketing products to consumers. In addition, consumers who are aware of social comparison will make a larger effort to acquire goods to close the apparent gap of social comparison.
Description
Thesis advisor
Shukla, Paurav
Keywords
consumer behavior, conspicuous consumption, envy, marketing
Other note
Citation