Anxious and Status Signaling: Examining the Link between Attachment Style and Status Consumption and the Mediating Role of Materialistic Values

Abstract

Attachment theory has recently been recognized as a potentially fruitful avenue for studying consumer behavior. However, few studies have examined the relationship between attachment styles and consumer preferences. Based on literature suggesting that individuals with anxious attachment styles have a particularly strong need for attention, we hypothesized and found that consumers with this attachment pattern displayed a higher propensity to purchase status-signaling goods than their peers with secure attachment styles. This effect was mediated by materialistic values, such that participants with an anxious attachment style reported the highest materialistic values. Additionally, and unlike previous scholarly work, we found evidence that an avoidant attachment style might be related to materialism. Together, the current findings highlight the importance of attachment theory in the study of status-signaling consumption and offer potential implications for research on social status and related research areas.