The Urge to Splurge: A Terror Management Account of Materialism and Consumer Behavior
Terror Management Theory
Materialism
Death anxiety
Consumption
Mortality Salience
Consumer behaviour
DOI:
10.1207/s15327663jcp1403_2
Publication Date:
2004-05-13T19:13:12Z
AUTHORS (4)
ABSTRACT
This article presents terror management theory (TMT) as a way to understand how the human awareness of death affects materialism, conspicuous consumption, and consumer decisions. The pursuit of wealth and culturally desired commodities are hypothesized to reinforce those beliefs that function to protect people from existential anxieties. Following a brief overview of TMT and research, evidence is reviewed that explicates how intimations of mortality increase materialism as a way to enhance self‐esteem and affects consumer decisions that support one's cultural worldview. Adverse consequences of materialistic and consumeristic worldviews are described and the challenges for future research to discover ways to alleviate them are considered.
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