CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION OF ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING DEVICES AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF BANGKOKIANS

Chantal Herberholz and Nattaya Prapaipanich ()
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Chantal Herberholz: Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Nattaya Prapaipanich: School of Economics and Public Policy, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand

The Singapore Economic Review (SER), 2019, vol. 64, issue 05, 1371-1395

Abstract: Empirical evidence of the conspicuous consumption theory is limited and ambiguous. It has been shown, however, that the consumption of life experiences makes people happier than the consumption of material goods. Yet, these studies typically conduct dichotomous comparisons and do not distinguish between conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption. Conspicuous and inconspicuous online social networking devices (OSND) are experiential goods and as such fall between life experiences and material goods. The objective of this paper, thus, is to examine the relationship between conspicuous consumption of OSND and subjective well-being, which is proxied by happiness and mental health. Cross-sectional data (n=500) were collected in 2015 using probability sampling. The ordered logistic regression results reveal that conspicuous consumption of OSND is negatively related with happiness and mental health in all regressions as hypothesized, while the coefficient on inconspicuous consumption of OSND is positive. Also, the number of virtual friends is negatively associated with happiness. Among the control variables, it is noteworthy that respondents with high blood pressure, used to capture physical health, have lower happiness and mental health, while respondents with higher education and high own monthly income exhibit higher happiness and mental health. Respondents, whose personality can best be characterized as “agreeable”, have lower happiness and mental health which is in line with the old saying that “nice guys finish last”.

Keywords: Conspicuous consumption; online social networking devices; happiness; mental health; social comparison (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1142/S0217590817500060

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