Purchase, consumption, and materialism in scientific literature

a systematic review

Abstract

This study conducts a systematic literature review to identify the psychological and/or social factors that influence consumer attitudes toward consumption, purchasing, and materialism. Sixteen articles were selected using the PRISMA statement, based on searches in SciELO and Google Scholar. The results indicate that self-esteem, cognitive distortions, the gap between the “real self” and the “ideal self,” peer pressure, social networks, and marketing directly shape consumption. The pursuit of status and social validation drives materialism and impulsive buying, especially among young people. The studies were organized into five categories – consumption and materialism; impulsive behavior; youth and social influence; financial literacy and well-being; and cultural and demographic values – highlighting materialism as a central link between individual factors and social pressures. Materialism emerges as a cross-cutting factor in all these categories, acting as a bridge between impulsive behaviors and social influences. Consumption is also a discursive, mediated, and identity-driven phenomenon, opening up hypotheses for investigating the circulation of meanings, media influence, and the construction of cultural resistances.