Viver e não postar... é mesmo viver?: um estudo sobre o consumo materialista de experiência a partir das motivações de uso das redes sociais

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the impact of the motivations for using the social networks Facebook and Instagram on the development of the materialistic consumption of brazilian consumers' experience. Specifically, it seeks to i) measure the degree of materialism of the studied sample; ii) evaluate the motivations of brazilian users for the use of social networks Facebook and Instagram; and iii) investigate the motivations for using social networks that had a significant influence on the materialistic consumption of experience. To this end, a quantitative study was carried out, using the survey method, with a sample of 540 users of the social networks Facebook and Instagram. For data analysis, descriptive analysis, exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression techniques were used. Still, considering that some scales that composed the research instrument had not been applied in previous investigations in the brazilian context, it was used the methodology of translation and cross-cultural adaptation proposed by Beaton et al. (2000). Regarding the results, intermediate materialism was the most observed degree. Among the motivations for using the social networks Facebook and Instagram, the desire for popularity and online social comparison were identified as the most important. From the multiple linear regression technique, it was found that the Materialistic Consumption of Experience was positively influenced by Self-promotion on social networks, Conspicuous Online Consumption, Online Social Comparison and the desire for Popularity on social networks. The estimated model determined that the proportion of the sample variation in Materialistic Consumption of Experience explained by the independent variables is 27.4%, evidencing the important impact that social media has had on consumer behavior, demonstrating that these platforms have opened up more consumption possibilities so that individuals can signal their self-concept and relate to others. One of the main findings of this study concerns the role of social comparison in the development of materialistic consumption of experience, because this factor was considered non-existent in relation to experiences, which, due to their specificities, would serve as attenuators for this phenomenon. In addition, limitations of the research and suggestions for future studies are presented.