The Person in the Purchase: Narcissistic Consumers Prefer Products That Positively Distinguish Them

Narcissists, who seek keenly to self-enhance, strive to positively distinguish themselves. Might they therefore be inclined to purchase consumer products that enable them to do so? Study 1 found that narcissism, but not self-esteem, predicted dispositions to purchase products for the purpose of prom...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 2013-08, Vol.105 (2), p.335-352
Main Authors: Lee, Seung Yun, Gregg, Aiden P, Park, Seong Hoon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Awards
Brand Preferences
Consumer Attitudes
Consumer Behavior
Consumer preferences
Consumer products
Consumerism
Consumers
Female
Human
Humans
Individuality
Male
Narcissism
Personality - physiology
Personality psychology
Personality traits
Preferences
Products
Scarcity
Self Concept
Self Esteem
Selfenhancement
Selfesteem
Sentences
Uniqueness
Young Adult
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Summary:Narcissists, who seek keenly to self-enhance, strive to positively distinguish themselves. Might they therefore be inclined to purchase consumer products that enable them to do so? Study 1 found that narcissism, but not self-esteem, predicted dispositions to purchase products for the purpose of promoting personal uniqueness. Studies 2 and 3 found that narcissism predicted greater interest in exclusive, customizable, and personalizable products. Study 3 also found participants higher in narcissism regarded their prized possessions as less likely to be owned by others. Finally, Studies 3 and 4 found that interest in a hypothetical product, respectively, to be bought either for oneself or someone else, covaried with an experimental manipulation of product exclusivity and scarcity, but principally when levels of narcissism were high. Our findings illustrate the impact of narcissism on consumer preferences and support an agentic interpretation of narcissistic self-enhancement.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/a0032703