Many contemporary social theorists recognize that materialism
is a pervasive problem for individuals, relationships, and society,
although there is less consensus about what can be done to alleviate
it. Belk (1985) defined materialism as the value a consumer
places on material possessions and concluded that materialism is
a broad construct that subsumes personality traits such as envy,
lack of generosity, and possessiveness. Richins and Dawson
(1992) conceptualized materialism as the placing of a relatively
high value on the possession of wealth and material goods. Inglehart
(2000) defined materialism (in contrast to post-materialism)
as a persistent emphasis on lower-order needs for material
comfort and physical safety over higher-order needs such as selfexpression
and quality of life. Kasser and colleagues used the
term ‘‘materialistic value orientation’’ to define the consumption-
based culture’s set of aims, beliefs, goals, and behaviors
(Kasser et al., 2004).
There are conflicting ideas about materialism in societal messages.
At present, society places considerable emphasis on materialistic
values, but at the same time, it emphasizes more
collective-oriented values such as family cohesion, community