Unscrambling the Impact of Malicious Envy and Materialism on Impulse Buying, with Social Comparison as a Mediator

This research aims to examine the correlation between Materialism (MT), Malicious Envy (ME), Social Comparison (SC), and Impulse Buying (IB) with Social Comparison as the mediating variable. The cross-sectional survey method was used to gather data from 395 retail consumers using self-completion questionnaires. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between the constructs. The results show that both direct and mediated effects are substantial. Research also highlights that materialism and malicious envy are predictive of social comparison behaviors, which explains the significant variance in impulse buying. The current study shows that social comparison plays a mediator role between both materialism and malicious envy, two related psychological and emotional factors, and impulse buying. The present findings can be useful for marketers, policymakers, and the general public because of the results. It is socially relevant to understand how marketers can use social comparison in an advertising campaign to change consumer behavior, although ethical concerns need to be resolved. There is a suggestion made to policymakers to fight impulsive buying triggers by focusing on consumer education. In the same manner, people can use mindfulness and self-introspection to counter the gripes of materialism and envy.