Çağımızın tartışmasız en önemli olgularından biri olan tüketimi anlayabilmek
birçok disiplinin temel amaçları arasındadır. Tüketim motivasyonları, bireyleri satın
alma davranışına götüren kişisel ve toplumsal sebepler çoğu araştırmanın birincil
çabasını oluşturmaktadır. Bu çaba doğrultusunda gerçekleştirilen araştırmalar
modern kapitalist dünya düzeni içerisinde bireylerin tüketim aracılığıyla, maddi
sahiplik ile toplumsal statü ve prestij kazanma, kendilerine dair anlam aktarımı
yapma, ideal olan “ben”i yansıtma motivasyonlarına sahip olduklarını ortaya
koymaktadır. Öyle ki bireyler satın alma davranışını gerçek ihtiyaçlarından bağımsız
arzularıyla şekillendirmekte, yaşamlarındaki olumsuz duyguları, kaygı ve stresi
kronik satın alma eylemi ile çözmektedir. Mevcut çalışma ile tüketicilerin materyalist
eğilimleri, prestij hassasiyetleri ve kompulsif satın alma davranışlarıyla ilgili
çıkarımlar yapmak amaçlanmaktadır. Belirlenen amaç doğrultusunda 18 Eylül-21
Eylül, 2023 tarihleri arasında katılımcılara, Whatsapp, Instagram ve Linkedin
aracılığıyla ulaşılmış ve 308 kişinin katılımı ile anket çalışması gerçekleştirilmiştir.
Elde edilen veriler istatistiki analize tabi tutulmuş materyalist tuttum ve prestij
hassasiyeti katılımcıların cinsiyet, yaş, gelir, eğitim düzeyi ve aktif çalışma hayatları
bağımsız değişkenleri bağlamında incelenmiş aynı zamanda materyalist eğilimlerin
ve prestij hassasiyetinin kompulsif satın alma davranışı üzerindeki etkisi analiz
edilmiştir. Sonuçlara göre, materyalist tutumun yaşa ve eğitime göre istatistiki olarak
anlamlı farklılık gösterdiği; prestij hassasiyetinin sadece eğitime göre istatistiki
olarak anlamlı farklılık gösterdiği ve kompulsif tüketimin ise yaşa, cinsiyete ve gelir
düzeyine göre istatistiki olarak anlamlı farklılık gösterdiği görülmüştür. Ayrıca,
bireylerde materyalist tutum ve prestij hassasiyeti yüksekse, kompulsif satın alma
davranışının da yüksek olacağı bulunmuştur.
Extended Abstract
Consumption in the modern world is among the oldest and fundamentallife actions. The new thing about consuming behavior, which is one of theoldest facts about human beings, is changing motivations. The first attempts to explain the consumption phenomenon were carried out by classical economists and it was stated that the primary variable that created consumption was the “need”. As changing economic conditions, productionstyles and differentiating policies have transformed societies, individuals’motivations to consume have also changed. While wants and desires take theplace of needs, products subject to consumption are evaluated according totheir symbolic benefits rather than functional benefits, and consumed goodsare seen as a part of the consumers’ identities. As consumption began to ruleand govern the societies, individuals have begun to position the commoditiest hey have acquired or purchased at the center of their lives. Individua lhappiness and pleasure through material possession, consumption, and self-realization success have become the basic motto of life. The concept ofmaterialism, which exist since the ancient times, has been exposed to differentdefinitions and examinations in the transformed society with the reforms inthe economy. Although some of these definitions consider materialism froma positive point of view, as a concept that contributes to the economy byincreasing consumption especially in developing societies; the generalconsensus is that materialism drives people into an endless consumptionfrenzy. Individuals who express themselves through “commodities” are in aconstant act of consumption. As a rising value, materialism conditionssocieties to consumption. Individuals who want to create their identities withthe product they have acquired or purchased are integrated into the system.While consumption is an action that takes place in parallel with a need andincome in its most basic form, changing conditions have transformed themeaning and sphere of influence of the concept. Individuals who provide theirexistence and identity through consumption, focus on the symbolic benefitwhich will be provided by the product and service they buy. The individualwho performs the purchasing behavior evaluates many variables at the sametime. In addition to needs, desires and expectations, price and price perceptionappear as important criterion. Consumers, who are aware that every productthey choose to consume will convey a meaning about themselves, tend to seethe price as a tool that will contribute to their status. In other words, the highprice of the product to be purchased, independent of the quality, will create a“classy” and "prestigious" perception of the individual in the minds of otherpeople. Prestige sensitivity is another important variable that affects thepurchasing decision of the modern consumer. So much so that, individualsoften prefer the expensive one consciously, rather than paying a small pricefor the product they will buy. The main motivation here is the prestige andreputation that the high price will "provide". Both concepts are closely related
to compulsive consumption. Compulsive consumption can be summarized asthe consumer's out-of-control shopping, purchasing products or serviceswithout needing them. Compulsive buying may arise from individualcharacteristics as well as from the general situation prevailing in the society.Individuals conditioned to express themselves through commodities, showchronic and excessive buying behavior.The aim of our research is to determine whether the materialisticattitude and prestige sensitivity show a statistically significant differenceaccording to the independent variables and to examine the effect of materialistattitude and prestige sensitivity on compulsive buying. Also, in the context ofcompulsive buying, it is also aimed to determine the statistically significantdifferences that may exist according to the independent variables. In thisdirection, hypotheses were formed and tested statistically. Questionnairemethod was used for data collection. The questionnaire, which constitutes theresearch questions, was prepared in a single form consisting of two parts intotal. In the first part, there are 5 multiple-choice questions about thedemographic profiles of the participants; In the second part, there are 23statements about materialistic attitude, prestige sensitivity and compulsivebuying, which are suitable to be answered with a 5-point Likert scale. Carewas taken to prepare the questions in a way that could be easily understood bythe respondents by using clear statements. In this study, the reliability of theMaterialist Attitude scale was found to be "high" with Cronbach'sAlpha=0.786; The reliability of the Prestige Sensitivity scale was found to be"high" with Cronbach's Alpha=0.871, and the reliability of the CompulsivePurchase scale was found to be "high" with Cronbach’s Alpha=0.740. Simplerandom sampling method, which is one of the probability sampling methods,was used in the study. The number of respondents participating in the surveywas 308. According to the results of the research; materialist attitude differsstatistically significantly according to age and education; prestige sensitivitydifferes statistically only according to education variable, and compulsiveconsumption showed a statistically significant difference according to age,gender and income level. On the other hand, it has been found that if thematerialistic attitude and prestige sensitivity are high in individuals,compulsive buying behavior will also be high.