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Dual path effects of self-worth on status consumption: evidence from Chinese consumers

Hongjing Cui (Yatai School of Business Administration, Jilin University of Finance and Economics, Changchun, China) (School of Philosophy and Sociology, Jilin University, Changchun, China)
Taiyang Zhao (School of Philosophy and Society, Jilin University, Changchun, China)
Slawomir Smyczek (University of Economics in Katowice, Katowice, Poland)
Yajun Sheng (Yatai School of Business Administration, Jilin University of Finance and Economics, Changchun, China)
Ming Xu (Yatai School of Business Administration, Jilin University of Finance and Economics, Changchun, China)
Xiao Yang (Business School, Jilin University, Changchun, China)

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics

ISSN: 1355-5855

Article publication date: 19 December 2019

Issue publication date: 12 October 2020

784

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of self-worth on status consumption, focusing on the mediation of self-enhancement and self-compensation and the moderation of power distance belief (PDB) in the relationship of threats to self-worth and consumer choice.

Design/methodology/approach

Experiments are used to collect data. Three studies are designed to test the relationship between self-worth, self-enhancement and self-compensation, PDB and status consumption. In total, 180 MBA students participate Study 1, 186 and 244 undergraduate students participate Studies 2 and 3, respectively. ANOVA and bootstrapping method are adopted to analyze the data by using SPSS version 19.0. Study 1 tests the influence of self-worth on status consumption; Study 2 examines the mediation role of self-enhancement and self-compensation; and Study 3 tests the moderation role of PDB.

Findings

Results indicate that situational self-worth perception has dual path effects on status consumption. Both improvements in – and threats to – self-worth have a positive impact on status consumption. Improvements in self-worth affect status consumption through the mediation of self-enhancement motives. Threats to self-worth affect status and non-status consumption through the mediation of the self-compensation motive. In the context of a threat to self-worth, compared with consumers with a low PDB, high-PDB consumers have higher purchase intention for status goods but not non-status goods.

Research limitations/implications

In this study, improvements in – and threats to – self-worth are momentarily manipulated. The authors present one product in each experiment, but what would happen if both status goods and non-status goods were shown to participants? Which one will the authors choose under different self-worth manipulations? And how long can the effects last? These questions should be answered in future research.

Practical implications

This research provides a venue for marketers to introduce and advertise status goods. Marketing practitioners should establish the link between self-worth and status consumption appeals. In the Asia-Pacific markets, Confucian value is important to consumers, and high power distance is important in Confucianism. Thus when developing markets in China, international companies should emphasize Confucian values in the design of advertisements or other promotional items. Further, marketing for status goods should attach importance to the expression of their symbolic meanings.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on self-worth and status consumption. It also explores the dual path of the effect of self-worth on status consumption. The motives of self-enhancement and self-compensation are first proposed and tested to explain the mechanism, which differentiates the study from prior work and gives a more reasonable explanation for status and compensatory consumption. The moderation role of PDB delineates the boundary for the effect of a threat to self-worth on status consumption.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This paper is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 71602066, 71872070, 71902069, 71702142); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation 2019M651231; Jilin Provincial Academy of Social Sciences Branch Project “Research on Consumption Upgrade to Promote Industrial Upgrade Path of Jilin Old Industrial Base.”

Citation

Cui, H., Zhao, T., Smyczek, S., Sheng, Y., Xu, M. and Yang, X. (2020), "Dual path effects of self-worth on status consumption: evidence from Chinese consumers", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 32 No. 7, pp. 1431-1450. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-06-2019-0364

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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