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)