Special Possessions and the Expression of Material Values

Abstract

Possessions often reveal characteristics of their owners. This research examines the important possessions of consumers low and high in materialism to assess the extent to which these possessions express their owners' material values. Two aspects of the expression of values were examined—characterization, in which possessions embody aspects of their owner's values, and communication, in which possessions serve to signal the owner's values to others. Three studies are reported; they demonstrate that material values are characterized in the type of possessions valued and in the private and public meanings of these possessions. The data also show that a person's material values can be communicated through socially constructed stereotypes about possessions and about the relationship between possessions and their owners. In addition, study findings suggest that low-materialism consumers have an orientation that emphasizes both the interpersonal/symbolic value and the hedonic potential of possessions; the orientation toward possessions of those high in materialism seems to emphasize more utilitarian as well as appearance and status concerns.