The Safety of Objects: Materialism, Existential Insecurity, and Brand Connection
Abstract
Over the past 2 decades, a large body of research has examined how materialism is formed and how this value influences well-being. Although these studies have substantially contributed to our understanding of materialism, they shed little light on this value's relationship to consumer behavior. Our research seeks to address this gap by examining the influence of materialism on self- and communal-brand connections. We ground our conceptualization in terror management theory and suggest that materialistic individuals form strong connections to their brands as a response to existential insecurity. We test this premise by conducting a national survey among 314 adults as well as an experiment among 125 college students. Our results provide broad support for our thesis and suggest that the fear of death encourages materialistic individuals to form strong connections with their brands.
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No effects were found for brand loyalty.
“No effects were found for brand loyalty.”
From Terror Management Theory in the Consumer Domain: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis on Mortality Salience Driven Consumer Responses (2025) · cites this paper as Rindfleisch et al. (2009, Study 2)
Under MS, materialistic participants formed stronger brand connections than low-materialistic participants, while there was no difference in the control condition.
“under MS, materialistic participants formed stronger brand connections than low- materialistic participants, while there was no difference in the control condition.”
From Terror Management Theory in the Consumer Domain: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis on Mortality Salience Driven Consumer Responses (2025) · cites this paper as Rindfleisch et al. (2009, Study 2)
Being primed with death salience has been correlated with higher levels of materialistic value.
“Being primed with death salience has been correlated with higher levels of materialistic value (Elphinstone & Whitehead, 2019; Rindfleisch et al., 2009).”
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References 92 · Cited by 441
- Authors
- Rindfleisch, A., Burroughs, J. E., & Wong, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Consumer Research
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2009-06
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-16
- ISSN
- 0093-5301 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5277
- OpenAlex
- W2257296463
- Cited by
- 441
- References
- 92
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 29.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Consumer Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior
- Keywords
- materialism, brand connection, existential insecurity, terror management theory, fear of death, self-brand connection, consumer behavior, well-being
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