To be or not to be happy? that is the question of consumption in social behaviors

Abstract

Objective: To examine and evaluate the moderating roles of social behaviors and consumption in happiness. Method: We carried out a survey with 197 real consumers, and used confirmatory factor analysis and linear regression model, with moderation including the Johnson-Neyman technique, to analyze the data. Main Results: The outcomes contribute to the previous literature on the positive relationships of frugality, hedonism, and social acceptance with happiness and the negative relationships of materialism, social anxiety, and conspicuousness. More specifically, our three hypotheses imply in one positive (i.e., hedonism moderates the positive relationship between happiness and frugality) and two negative moderations (i.e., social anxiety amplifies the negative relationship between happiness and materialism; and conspicuousness negatively moderates the positive relationship between happiness and social acceptance) which were all supported by the literature and by our empirical research. Theoretical Contributions: Our paper adds to the literature on happiness, from an emerging country perspective, by clarifying the moderating roles of social anxiety, hedonism, and conspicuousness in the relationship between materialism, frugality, social acceptance, and happiness, which still have inconsistences in the literature. Relevance: Thus far, there is no research on the simultaneous effects of happiness on consumption and social behaviors. We test the moderating roles of social anxiety, hedonism, and conspicuousness in the relationship between consumption and social behaviors, and happiness. Managerial Contributions: Firms can ensure that consumers react by different levels of these social behaviors while consuming brands or products may and, at the same time, (1) bring some effort to social bonds to their parties, (2) experience happiness, and (3) attract new customers.