Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to present the findings on the relationship between individualism-collectivism (INDCOL) and consumer materialism (MAT) concepts and to discuss the predictive use of INDCOL. Data of a doctoral dissertation with a sample size of 633 participants was used for SEM analyses. The analysis revealed a positive relationship between horizontal individualism (HI) and MAT as anticipated, however, vertical individualism (VI) is unexpectedly found to be negatively related to MAT. Also, the results did not reveal a significant relationship between vertical collectivism (VC) and MAT, and the horizontal collectivism (HC) factor could not be validated. The result of the HI-MAT relationship confirms the understanding that materialism has roots in an individualistic sense of modernity, when VI-MAT is discretely found negative. Therefore, it is comprehended that the INDCOL construct needs to be reconsidered for predictive use, since vertical/horizontal terms are found to be liable to cause problems on the conceptual inferences of individualism/collectivism. Thusly, associating the INDCOL concepts to behavioral theories is recommended for future research.

Keywords: