The importance of consumers' needs in explaining symbolic consumption

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic process and the meaning of symbolic consumption according to the three symbolic needs (i.e., status needs, social needs, status & social needs) in order to understand how... [ view full abstract ]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic process and the meaning of symbolic consumption according to the three symbolic needs (i.e., status needs, social needs, status & social needs) in order to understand how symbolic messages are conveyed. This paper develops three dynamic models, categorized according to the consumers’ needs and identifies the underlying dimensions of symbolic consumption by capturing both the external motivational factors and the internal elements of symbolic consumption in symbolic consumption process. Findings highlight the important mediating role of brand affect in symbolic consumption, which previously has not been revealed empirically. Moreover, it is found that self-congruence does not mediate the relationship between brand reputation, collectivism/individualism and brand affect, despite its prominence in previous symbolic consumption studies. In the status & social needs model, brand reputation mediates between collectivism/individualism and self-congruence, brand identification, brand affect and brand loyalty. This is the first empirical paper to investigate symbolic consumption in the context of three types of model, according to symbolic needs, in this instance in the context of restaurant consumption. Moreover, this study reveals that when both social needs and status needs are mixed, a hierarchy exists between consumers’ symbolic needs.