construction and validation of a consumer orientation questionnaire (SCOI) designed to measure Fromm's (1955) 'marketing character' in Australia, The

Social Behavior and Personality, 2000 by Saunders, Shaun, Munro, Don

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The hypotheses that Depression would be significantly and positively correlated with both the SCOI and Materialism were supported. Hence, it would appear that both the marketing orientation and, more specifically, the importance which consumers attach to possessions, are associated with perhaps the most important indicator of mental health: depression (eg, Spielberger et al, 1995; Secunda, Katz, Friedman & Schuyler, 1973; Beck, Resnik & Lettieri, 1974).

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If an individual's sense of worth and prestige in a market-driven society should depend largely upon conspicuous possessions (eg, Richins & Dawson,1992; Bloom, 1995), then the volatility of the market place in western society might induce feelings of helplessness and hopelessness (which underlie depression) in those persons as they continually strive to maintain status in the face of changing market trends. This explanation is consistent with attribution theory, where, in determining the cause of an event, a person usually makes a decision as to whether the particular outcome was due to either internal factors (such as personality characteristics), or to external factors (which are often classified as `uncontrollable) (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Hence, attributions represent subjective attempts to explain the causes of events, and are often biased to preserve individuals' self-esteem (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). In this example, an individual might preserve self-esteem by attributing an inability to keep pace with market trends to an uncontrollable external cause. Such an attribution may also induce feelings of frustration.

The hypotheses that individuals who score high on the SCOI and Materialism would score lower on Empathy were not supported. This finding should also be considered from the perspective that persons who score high on the SCOI and Materialism questionnaires may not consciously or otherwise aim to ignore the needs of others while satisfying their own needs and wants.

A possible explanation for the above behavior can be found in a certain type of behavioral trap known as the 'ignorance trap'. A behavioral trap refers to "a situation in which individuals or groups embark on a promising course of action which later becomes undesirable and difficult to escape from (Plous,1993). People caught in `ignorance traps' either do not understand or do not anticipate the likely or possible consequences of their behaviors before undertaking them (Pious, 1993). When one considers ignorance traps combined withthe effects of social camparison theory (Festinger, 1954), then (in light of the present results) it could be argued that Fromm's marketing character may be mostly unaware that the pursuit of self interest may not be in the best interest of either friends and relatives, or the greater community, especially when those with whom one compares oneself with (i.e., similar others within the same community) are behaving in a similar fashion. Such considerations also delineate the difference between Fromm's social criticism approach, and a purely psychological one which aims to understand the underlying causes of behaviour instead of apportioning blame.

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construction and validation of a consumer orientation questionnaire (SCOI) designed to measure Fromm's (1955) 'marketing character' in Australia, The

Social Behavior and Personality, 2000 by Saunders, Shaun, Munro, Don

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