Inconspicuous consumption: A departure from materialism or its new manifestation?

Martyna Płudowska; Andrzej Sękowski

doi:10.18290/rpsych.2018.21.4-5

Martyna Płudowska The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Social Science
Andrzej Sękowski The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Social Science

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rpsych.2018.21.4-5

Keywords: inconspicuous consumption; materialism; culture of consumption; aspirational class

Abstract

In the paper the authors describe the phenomenon of inconspicuous consumption, including the consumer behaviors characteristic of it and the socioeconomic processes underlying it. The authors analyzed the manifestations of inconspicuous consumption from the perspective of three conceptions of materialism: Belk’s, Richins and Dawson’s, and Kasser and Ryan’s. They identified the elements linking inconspicuous consumption with specific aspects of materialism as well as the points of difference between these two phenomena.

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