The karma of consumption: Role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction
Purpose: This paper aims to examine how social comparison (SC) and belief in karma (KA) encourage materialism (MAT) and promote consumers’ life satisfaction (LS). Design/methodology/approach: Two studies were conducted with Indian middle class consumers to test the basic premises of the current...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Emerald
2020
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80241 |
| _version_ | 1848764186648117248 |
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| author | Roy, Rajat Rabbanee, Fazlul Chaudhuri, Himadri R Menon, Preetha |
| author_facet | Roy, Rajat Rabbanee, Fazlul Chaudhuri, Himadri R Menon, Preetha |
| author_sort | Roy, Rajat |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose:
This paper aims to examine how social comparison (SC) and belief in karma (KA) encourage materialism (MAT) and promote consumers’ life satisfaction (LS).
Design/methodology/approach:
Two studies were conducted with Indian middle class consumers to test the basic premises of the current research. The first one used a survey (N = 247), while the second one used an experimental design (N = 206).
Findings:
The survey results showed that SC and belief in KA promoted MAT amongst Indian consumers and further enhanced their LS. Findings from the experiment revealed a novel two-way interaction, in that the KA–MAT relationship was moderated by the underlying motivation for MAT.
Research limitations/implications:
Future research may validate and extend our findings using different samples to increase external validity.
Practical implications:
By explaining the interactive effects of MAT, its underlying motivation and belief in KA, managers will gain a better understanding of why consumers in an emerging market like India purchase conspicuous products.
Originality/value:
This is the first paper to study how the KA–MAT relationship influences LS amongst consumers in the world’s fastest-rising economy. Furthermore, no prior research has reported a boundary condition for the KA–MAT relationship studied here. The findings contribute to an extremely limited body of literature on KA and consumption. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:15:21Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-80241 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:15:21Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Emerald |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-802412021-01-05T08:07:07Z The karma of consumption: Role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction Roy, Rajat Rabbanee, Fazlul Chaudhuri, Himadri R Menon, Preetha 1505 - Marketing Purpose: This paper aims to examine how social comparison (SC) and belief in karma (KA) encourage materialism (MAT) and promote consumers’ life satisfaction (LS). Design/methodology/approach: Two studies were conducted with Indian middle class consumers to test the basic premises of the current research. The first one used a survey (N = 247), while the second one used an experimental design (N = 206). Findings: The survey results showed that SC and belief in KA promoted MAT amongst Indian consumers and further enhanced their LS. Findings from the experiment revealed a novel two-way interaction, in that the KA–MAT relationship was moderated by the underlying motivation for MAT. Research limitations/implications: Future research may validate and extend our findings using different samples to increase external validity. Practical implications: By explaining the interactive effects of MAT, its underlying motivation and belief in KA, managers will gain a better understanding of why consumers in an emerging market like India purchase conspicuous products. Originality/value: This is the first paper to study how the KA–MAT relationship influences LS amongst consumers in the world’s fastest-rising economy. Furthermore, no prior research has reported a boundary condition for the KA–MAT relationship studied here. The findings contribute to an extremely limited body of literature on KA and consumption. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80241 10.1108/EJM-02-2018-0134 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Emerald fulltext |
| spellingShingle | 1505 - Marketing Roy, Rajat Rabbanee, Fazlul Chaudhuri, Himadri R Menon, Preetha The karma of consumption: Role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction |
| title | The karma of consumption: Role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction |
| title_full | The karma of consumption: Role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction |
| title_fullStr | The karma of consumption: Role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction |
| title_full_unstemmed | The karma of consumption: Role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction |
| title_short | The karma of consumption: Role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction |
| title_sort | karma of consumption: role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction |
| topic | 1505 - Marketing |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80241 |