Parallel mediation analysis of household income and impression management with financial scarcity on materialism

Contemporary materialism/consumerism emphasizes excessive spending to own the latest and greatest products. Maintaining an appearance of wealth is economically unfeasible for most. Materialism can generate beliefs of insufficient funds and inadequacy to afford goods. Materialism is the possession of goods for happiness, centrality, and success. Material goods become a focus to someone’s life to signal well-being. Financial scarcity theory explains people believe they are constantly behind or unable to pay for their needs. These individuals will perform tradeoffs to fulfill needs. Perceived lack of finances drives consumers to buy goods that fill perceived deficiencies. Path analysis demonstrated financial scarcity related to higher materialism. Higher financial scarcity related to lower household income and thereby higher materialism. Higher financial scarcity related to higher impression management and thereby higher materialism. These results indicated the possession of goods can artificially inflate someone’s socioeconomic status to compensate for self-perceived paucity.