The Impact of Conspicuous Consumption in Social Media on Purchasing Intentions

Özet

Purpose – With the rapid increase in the use of social media in the last decade, the conspicuous consumption lifestyle within society has been now transferred to the social media. Along with the changing culture of consumption, the consumer who witnesses such portrayals on social media aspires to and desires the same products and services. Having regard to this situation, this study examines the impact of the conspicuous consumption trend in social media on purchasing intentions. Accordingly, the study aims to discover whether social media is being used as a conspicuous consumption channel and whether these conspicuous portrayals affect purchasing intentions. Design/methodology/approach – A face to face survey was carried out with 409 participants who use social media. The collected data was analyzed with AMOS and SPSS statistical package programs using structural equation modelling. Findings – According to the findings resulting from the analysis, consumer involvement, personal image representation and share satisfaction have been found to have a positive impact on purchasing intention. Discussion – People have started to use social media as a channel for displaying their conspicuous consumption behavior to other people. It can be useful for companies to organize various events on social media and promote their products and services in a customized manner.