Materialism Measure

What it measures

The original Richins (1987) materialism measure, developed to explore the relationship between media exposure, consumer aspirations, and materialism as a value orientation. Validated on student and adult samples, this instrument captures the global attitudinal core of materialism — the belief that possessions, wealth, and acquisition are central to life satisfaction and self-definition. Items span beliefs about the importance of owning nice things, the role of possessions in personal happiness, and the use of material goods as indicators of success and social status. This scale is historically significant as the precursor to the more widely cited Richins & Dawson (1992) MVS and Richins (2004) MVS short forms. It is the appropriate choice when a brief unidimensional composite is required, when replicating research from the pre-1992 literature, or when comparing materialism measurement approaches. Richins & Dawson (1992) found that the 1987 measure loaded predominantly on the Happiness and Success dimensions of the MVS, suggesting it captures the evaluative/outcome-expectancy components of materialism more than the Centrality (salience-in-daily-life) dimension.

Response format

5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree); all items averaged to form a single materialism composite score

Scale items

• It is important to me to have really nice things.
• I would like to be rich enough to buy anything I want.
• I admire people who own expensive homes, cars, and clothes.
• The things I own say a lot about how well I'm doing in life.
• Buying things gives me a lot of pleasure.
• I like to own things that impress people.
• I try to keep my life simple, as far as possessions are concerned. (R)
• The things I own aren't all that important to me. (R)
• I enjoy spending money on things that aren't practical.
• Purchasing things makes me happy.
• I place a lot of value on having nice things.
• I don't place much emphasis on the amount of material objects people own. (R)
• Having a lot of possessions is a sign of success.
• People judge others by the things they own.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

For most contemporary consumer research applications the Richins & Dawson (1992) MVS (id:487) or Richins (2004) MVS short forms (id:488) are preferred, as they provide subscale-level diagnostic information on Success, Centrality, and Happiness dimensions. The 1987 measure is recommended when: (a) replicating or extending pre-1992 materialism studies, (b) a single brief composite is sufficient, or (c) the research question specifically concerns materialism as a global value orientation rather than its facets. The 1987 measure does not distinguish centrality-of-acquisition from acquisition-as-a-route-to-happiness — this conflation is the primary psychometric limitation addressed by the MVS. Correlates moderately with the Belk (1985) Materialism Scales (id:489), which decompose materialism into possessiveness, non-generosity, and envy. In media effects and social comparison research, the 1987 measure is often the referenced instrument due to its origin in media-materialism linkage studies.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Richins, M.L. (1987). Media, materialism, and human happiness. Advances in Consumer Research, 14, 352–356.

Keywords