The relationship between Narcissism, Social Media usage motivation and Conspicuous leisure consumption among MZ generation

Abstract

This study aims to show how the narcissistic personality of the MZ generation affects conspicuous leisure consumption by examining the mediating effect of social media usage motivations (interpersonal relationship-seeking motive, information-seeking motive, status-seeking motive, entertainment-seeking motive). In this study, we collected 210 data via convenience sampling from MZ generation, ages 21 to 41 and processed the data with SPSS 22.0 and SPSS Process Macro program. The results are as follows. First, narcissism showed a positive correlation with status-seeking motive among social media usage motives. Second, all social media usage motives (interpersonal relationship-seeking motive, information-seeking motive, status-seeking motive, entertainment-seeking motive) showed a significant correlation with conspicuous leisure consumption. Third, narcissism was found to have a significant effect on conspicuous leisure consumption. Lastly, MZ generation’s social media usage motives partially mediated the relationship between narcissism and conspicuous leisure consumption. Based on the results, this study suggests the importance of generational research and serve as a milestone for future studies that focus on MZ generation’s leisure industry. Moreover, we analyzed the pros and cons of conspicuous leisure consumption, and discussed the significance and limitations of the study.