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“Wanna Be Like You”: Comparing Lifestyles to Grow with Latent Desires

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Welcome to The New Normal: Life After The Chaos (AMSAC 2023)

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Abstract

Psycho-social environment affects cognitive dimensions and behavioral attributes of consumers, which alters the cognitive ergonomics of consumers towards consumption and develops discrete buying dispositions. Building upon personality and social comparison theory, and the literature review on conspicuous consumption, this study examines the causes and effects of inferiority feeling due to social comparison, which motivates consumers to reinforce the sense of ‘me too’ feeling and engage in conspicuous buying to stay at par or become superior to others in the society. The conspicuous buying behavior of consumers has been analyzed in this study in the context of intentions to buy high-value smart televisions among the low economic profile consumers in Mexico. This study contributes to the literature on retail productivity by measuring the triadic effect of quality of life, cognitive evolutions, and consumption pattern in emerging markets.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Santa Fe, Mexico

    Rajagopal

Authors
  1. Rajagopal
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Correspondence to Rajagopal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Rohrer College of Business, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

    Vincent Jeseo

  2. College of Business Administration, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA, USA

    Juliann Allen

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© 2024 Academy of Marketing Science

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Rajagopal (2024). “Wanna Be Like You”: Comparing Lifestyles to Grow with Latent Desires. In: Jeseo, V., Allen, J. (eds) Welcome to The New Normal: Life After The Chaos. AMSAC 2023. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49039-2_8

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