| Summary: | With the influx of luxury brands into the local retail scene and locals‟ intensifying demand for such brands even in times of recession, Singaporeans seem to be exhibiting increasingly materialistic values. In addition, companies spanning a variety of industries have also jumped onto the bandwagon of offering the option of cosmetic customisation to consumers. Since personal possessions are used in part by materialists to convey their social status, will the concept of cosmetic customisation appeal to them? Given the importance of personal possessions to materialists, will they display impulse purchase tendency? These two questions form the basis of our study.
To shed light on these questions, we conducted a computer-administered survey on 150 respondents in Singapore aged 18-24. Through regression analyses, we established that materialists prefer cosmetic customisation and have a tendency to engage in impulse purchase. Therefore, marketers targeting such consumers should offer cosmetic customisation option for conspicuous goods and try to make the process hassle-free to encourage materialists to make such purchases. The store layout and advertising styles can also be optimised to persuade materialists in undertaking purchases. Materialists should also safeguard their interests by exercising more self-restraint in making instalment or credit purchases so as to avoid getting into escalating debts. As maternal materialism level may predict a child‟s materialism level, these potential consequences if left unaddressed, could transform into a vicious cycle affecting future generations.
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