Status consumption tendency: Scale development and validation

Objective: To help consumer researchers better understand consumer motivation and satisfy the urgent need for a clearer construct structure and a new measurement tool of status consumption, the study developed a two-factor construct structure for status consumption and a bidimensional scale of status consumption tendency scale. Method: Validation of the scale measuring status consumption tendency was conducted using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and reliability test based on a 402 university student sample in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Convergent and divergent validity of the scale were examined and proved by correlation test with five literature scales. Result: The construct structure of status consumption was first defined as consumers’ motivational tendency to perform status consumption by preservative or proactive acquisition of status products with symbolic capitals. The result showed a different interpretation to the construct structure of status consumption but a two-factor structure was still suggested. Conclusion: Consumers’ motivation in status consumption was found to be guided by either their self-attitude or their subjective view on how others think of the consumption behavior, which were labeled as internal and external status consumption. Gender and SES have a weak influence to consumers’ motivation in internal status consumption. The SCT scale was not fully developed by this study and further development was required in future research. All rights reserved.