Conspicuous consumption: A meta-analytic review of its antecedents, consequences, and moderators

This paper documents a comprehensive theoretical framework that has been developed to understand conspicuous consumption behavior. The proposed framework identifies three antecedents and two consequences of conspicuous consumption. We tested hypotheses concerning this framework using a meta-analytic approach. We also meta-analytically tested the effect of contextual, methodological, and individual-level moderators on the relationship between conspicuous consumption and its consequences. Additionally, we examined the mediating role of conspicuous consumption behavior in the relationship between its antecedents and consequences using meta-analytic structural equation modeling. After an extensive literature search based on multiple selection criteria, we use 59 independent research studies and 97 unique effect sizes to test hypotheses. The findings theoretically contribute to the stock of knowledge on conspicuous consumption and provide new insights for practitioners.