Narcissism and Conspicuous Consumption

The personality trait of narcissism involves a self-aggrandizing and entitled orientation. Narcissists' consumer behaviour exemplifies this orientation. In particular, narcissists show greater interest in products that are symbolic (e.g., flashy, ostentatious, prestigious) over products that are utilitarian (e.g., functional, affordable, practical). My PhD will examine why narcissists manifest this preference for conspicuous consumption. Assuming the centrality of materialism to the narcissistic self-concept (Sedikides, Gregg, Cisek, & Hart, 2007), I speculate that conspicuous consumption is a source of meaning for narcissists. Narcissists may find meaning in life partly through conspicuous consumption, that is, when they acquire desired and high prestige products. This is a novel hypothesis in the literature. Specifically, I will: (1) examine the extent to which narcissists derive meaning in life from conspicuous consumption, (2) test whether blocking conspicuous consumption decreases narcissists' meaning in life, and (3) determine whether narcissists respond to a threatened sense of meaning with increased conspicuous consumption, but respond to an affirmed sense of meaning with decreased conspicuous consumption