Materialism and Sustainable Consumption Behavior in Thailand: The Moderating Role of Income
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Purpose This study is to investigate the influence of materialism on sustainable consumption behavior among Thai consumers, with income serving as a moderating variable, and also to examine the materialism of Thai consumers. Methodology This study adopts a mixed-methods approach employing an explanatory sequential design. The research method begins with quantitative research data, which is then followed by qualitative research data. Quantitative research was employed to collect data through an online questionnaire from a sample of 355 participants and analyzed using regression analysis. Qualitative grounded theory was applied by using a semi-structured interview to collect data from a sample of 30 participants. The interview questions were developed based on the quantitative research findings, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings The quantitative research demonstrates that materialism was found to have a significant negative effect on sustainable consumption behavior at the 0.05 level. In addition, income was identified as a full moderating variable in the relationship between materialism and sustainable consumption behavior. In addition, qualitative research findings found that Thai consumers did not agree that materialism is a focus of their lives, and that materialism does not lead to happiness. On the other hand, they think that materialism is an indicator of key success in life. Moreover, the findings of this study differ from perspectives derived from international literature, as Thai consumers perceive materialism as an individual behavior primarily focused on the acquisition of possessions. Consequently, this behavior led them to overlook three important aspects of life, which are family, health, and debts. Applications of this study To suggest that the government should implement additional taxation policies on luxury goods in order to reduce consumers’ levels of materialism among Thai consumers and to use online social media to promote and stimulate sustainable consumption behavior. As for the industrial factor, it is advised to design and produce products that support increasingly sustainable consumption behavior among Thai consumers, such as non-polluting raw materials or environmentally friendly packaging.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The articles published in the journals are the authors' opinions, not the opinion of the editorial team or administrative staff. The articles published is copyright of the Journal of Business Administration and Accounting, Khon Kaen University.
References
Alzubaidi, H., Slade, E. L., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2021). Examining antecedents of consumers’ pro-environmental behaviours: TPB extended with materialism and innovativeness. Journal of Business Research, 122, 685-699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.01.017
Baltar, F., & Brunet, I. (2012). Social research 2.0: virtual snowball sampling method using Facebook. Internet Research, 22(1), 57-74. https://doi.org/10.1108/10662241211199960
Belk, R. W. (1985). Materialism: Trait aspects of living in the material world. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(3), 265-280. https://doi.org/10.1086/208515
Biermann, F., Kanie, N., & Kim, R. E. (2017). Global governance by goal-setting: the novel approach of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 26, 26-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2017.01.010
Carlsen, L., & Bruggemann, R. (2022). The 17 United Nations’ sustainable development goals: A status by 2020. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 29(3), 219-229. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2021.1948456
Confetto, M. G., Covucci, C., Addeo, F., & Normando, M. (2023). Sustainability advocacy antecedents: how social media content influences sustainable behaviours among Generation Z. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 40(6), 758-774. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-11-2021-5038
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16(3), 297-334. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02310555
Curran, P. J., West, S. G., & Finch, J. F. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological methods, 1(1), 16.
Dangelico, R. M., Nonino, F., & Pompei, A. (2021). Which are the determinants of green purchase behaviour? A study of Italian consumers. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(5), 2600-2620. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2766
Dimitrova, T., Ilieva, I., & Angelova, M. (2022). Exploring factors affecting sustainable consumption behaviour. Administrative Sciences, 12(4), 155. https://doi.org/10.3390 /admsci12040155
Dogerlioglu‐Demir, K., & Tansuhaj, P. (2011). Global vs local brand perceptions among Thais and Turks. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 23(5), 667-683. https://doi.org/10.1108/13555851111183084
Geiger, S. M., Fischer, D., Schrader, U., & Grossman, P. (2020). Meditating for the planet: Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on sustainable consumption behaviors. Environment and Behavior, 52(9), 1012-1042. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916519880897
Green, T., Griffith, J., Aruguete, M. S., Edman, J., & McCutcheon, L. E. (2014). Materialism and the tendency to worship celebrities. North American Journal of Psychology, 16(1).
Guest, G., Bunce, A., Johnson, L., 2006. How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field methods 18 (1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/152 5822X0527990
Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A Regression-based Approach. Guilford publications.
Hair Jr, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (1995). Multivariate data analysis with readings. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Hair, J. F., Black, W., Babin, B., Anderson, R., Black, W., & Anderson, R. (2019). Multivariate data analysis (Eighth Edi). Hampshire, United Kingdom: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2-24.
Hennink, M., Kaiser, B.N., 2022. Sample sizes for saturation in qualitative research: a systematic review of empirical tests. Social Science & Medicine 292, 114523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114523
Huaman-Ramirez, R., & Merunka, D. (2021). Celebrity CEOs’ credibility, image of their brands and consumer materialism. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 38(6), 638-651. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-08-2020-4026
Islam, T., Wang, Y., Ali, A., & Akhtar, N. (2022). Path to sustainable luxury brand consumption: Face consciousness, materialism, pride and risk of embarrassment. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 39(1), 11-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-09-2020-4099
Issock Issock, P. B., Muposhi, A., & Dlamini, S. (2025). Navigating the paradox: Materialism, sustainable practices and well-being in emerging markets. The Journal of Environment & Development, 34(3), 523-552. https://doi.org/10.1177/10704965241305845
Jalees, T., Khan, S., Zaman, S. I., & Miao, M. (2024). The effect of religiosity, materialism and self-esteem on compulsive and impulsive buying behavior. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 15(11), 2697-2731. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-03-2022-0078
Joseph Sirgy, M., Gurel-Atay, E., Webb, D., Cicic, M., Husic-Mehmedovic, M., Ekici, A., ... & Johar, J. S. (2013). Is materialism all that bad? Effects on satisfaction with material life, life satisfaction, and economic motivation. Social indicators research, 110(1), 349-366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9934-2
Kasser, T. (2016). Materialistic values and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 67(1), 489-514. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033344
Kotler, P. (1997). Marketing management: Analysis, planning, implementation and control (9th ed.). New Jersey: A Simon & Schuster Company.
Koul, R. (2012). Multiple motivational goals, values, and willingness to cheat. International Journal of Educational Research, 56, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2012.10.002
Lange, F. A. (1877). The history of materialism and criticisms of its present importance. James R. Osgood and Company.
Lee, M. S., & Ahn, C. S. Y. (2016). Anti-consumption, materialism, and consumer well-being. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 50(1), 18-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12089
Li, Z., Chatterjee, S., & Moorman, D. (2024). Exploring the interplay of materialism, financial socialization, financial capability, and credit card debt. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 42(7), 2099-2116. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-02-2024-0106
Liang, H., Wu, Z., & Du, S. (2024). Study on the impact of environmental awareness, health consciousness, and individual basic conditions on the consumption intention of green furniture. Sustainable Futures, 8, 100245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2024.100245
McLachlan, G. J. (1999). Mahalanobis distance. Resonance, 4(6), 20-26.
Miracle, V. A. (2016). The Belmont Report: The triple crown of research ethics. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 35(4), 223-228.
Monteiro, J., Silva, F. J. G., Ramos, S. F., Campilho, R. D. S. G., & Fonseca, A. M. (2019). Eco-design and sustainability in packaging: A survey. Procedia Manufacturing, 38, 1741-1749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2020.01.097
Nguyen, H. V., Moschis, G. P., & Shannon, R. (2009). Effects of family structure and socialization on materialism: a life course study in Thailand. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33(4), 486-495. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00778.x
Parvatiyar, A., & Sheth, J. N. (2023). Confronting the deep problem of consumption: why individual responsibility for mindful consumption matters. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 57(2), 785-820. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12534
Patial, R., Torres, T. M.-R., Berezan, C., Talwar, T., & Davidson, B. G. J. (2024). Exploring the influence of social media and materialism on impulsive real estate buying decisions among young immigrants in Canada. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-02-2024-0021
Ponchio, M. C., & Aranha, F. (2008). Materialism as a predictor variable of low income consumer behavior when entering into installment plan agreements. Journal of Consumer Behaviour: An International Research Review, 7(1), 21-34. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.234
Quoquab, F., & Mohammad, J. (2020). A review of sustainable consumption (2000 to 2020): What we know and what we need to know. Journal of Global Marketing, 33(5), 305-334. https://doi.org/10.1080/08911762.2020.1811441
Quoquab, F., Mohammad, J., & Sukari, N. N. (2019). A multiple-item scale for measuring “sustainable consumption behaviour” construct: Development and psychometric evaluation. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 31(4), 791-816. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-02-2018-0047
Rahimi, S. (2024). Saturation in qualitative research: An evolutionary concept analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 6, 100174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2024.100174
Raj, V. A., Jasrotia, S. S., & Rai, S. S. (2024). Intensifying materialism through buy-now pay-later (BNPL): examining the dark sides. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 42(1), 94-112. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-08-2022-0343
Richins, M. L. (2004). The material values scale: Measurement properties and development of a short form. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), 209-219. https://doi.org/10.1086/383436
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 303-316. https://doi.org/10.1086/209304
Sabah Welbeck, E. E., & Larbi, E. A. (2025). Sustainability consciousness, peer influence and sustainable consumption behaviour: The role of altruism among business students in Ghana. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-02-2023-0061
Sangkhawasi, T., & Johri, L. M. (2007). Impact of status brand strategy on materialism in Thailand. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 24(5), 275-282. https://doi.org/10.1108/07 363760710773094
Schumacker, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (2010). A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling. psychology press.
Segev, S., Shoham, A., & Gavish, Y. (2015). A closer look into the materialism construct: The antecedents and consequences of materialism and its three facets. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 32(2), 85-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-07-2014-1082
Shrestha, N. (2020). Detecting multicollinearity in regression analysis. American journal of applied mathematics and statistics, 8(2), 39-42. https://doi.org/10.12691/ajams-8-2-1
Shrestha, N. (2021). Factor analysis as a tool for survey analysis. American Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, 9(1), 4-11. https://doi.org/10.12691/ajams-9-1-2
Shrum, L. J., Chaplin, L. N., & Lowrey, T. M. (2022). Psychological causes, correlates, and consequences of materialism. Consumer Psychology Review, 5(1), 69-86. https://doi.org/10.1002/arcp.1077
Shrum, L., Lowrey, T. M., Pandelaere, M., Ruvio, A. A., Gentina, E., Furchheim, P., Herbert, M., Hudders, L., Lens, I., & Mandel, N. (2014). Materialism: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(17-18), 1858-1881. https://doi.org/10. 1080/0267257X.2014.959985
Sirgy, M. J., Yu, G. B., Lee, D. J., Joshanloo, M., Bosnjak, M., Jiao, J., ... & Grzeskowiak, S. (2021). The dual model of materialism: Success versus happiness materialism on present and future life satisfaction. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 16(1), 201-220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-019-09763-8
Soule, C. A. A., & Egea, J. M. O. (2024). Product lifespan extension of technology products: Exploring perceptions, value-beliefs, motives and attitudes in American and Spanish consumers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 81, 104036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.104036
Srisathan, W. A., Wongsaichia, S., Gebsombut, N., Naruetharadhol, P., & Ketkaew, C. (2023). The green-awakening customer attitudes towards buying green products on an online platform in Thailand: The multigroup moderation effects of age, gender, and income. Sustainability, 15(3), 2497. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032497
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research techniques. Sage Publications, Inc. Subhash Sharma, Richard M Durand, and Oded Gur-Arie. 1981.Identification and Analysis of Moderator Variables. JMR Journal of Marketing Research (pre-1986) p.291. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800303
Svanes, E., Vold, M., Møller, H., Pettersen, M. K., Larsen, H., & Hanssen, O. J. (2010). Sustainable packaging design: a holistic methodology for packaging design. Packaging Technology and Science: An International Journal, 23(3), 161-175. https://doi.org/10.1002/pts.887
Tan, C. S., & Ota, S. (2024). “I’d like to carry the world sustainably”–examining sustainable consumption behavior using reusable shopping bags. Social Responsibility Journal, 20(9), 1648-1663. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-09-2023-0492
Vantamay, N. (2018). Investigation and recommendations on the promotion of sustainable consumption behavior among young consumers in Thailand. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 39(1), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kjss.2018.01.007
Vantamay, N. (2019). 3S project”: A community-based social marketing campaign for promoting sustainable consumption behavior among youth. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 35(4), 32-49.
Verma, P. (2025). A Transaction Cost-Benefit for the Bottom of the Pyramid Market. Indian Journal of Marketing, 55(2), 53-68. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2025/v55/i2/174748
Watchravesringkan, K. (2012). Cross-cultural equivalence of materialistic values scale (MVS): An exploratory study between the United States and Thailand. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 20(3), 235-253. doi: 10.1057/jt.2012.19
Xie, H., Wen, J., & Choi, Y. (2021). How the SDGs are implemented in China——A comparative study based on the perspective of policy instruments. Journal of cleaner production, 291, 125937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125937
