Is Consumer Materialism Truly Detrimental to Pro‐Environmental Attitudes, Intentions and Behaviours? A Systematic Literature Review

ABSTRACT As climate change intensifies, understanding the psychological drivers of pro‐environmental consumer behaviour becomes increasingly critical. One such driver, materialism, plays a complex role: it has historically been associated with consumerism and economic growth, yet often stands in tension with pro‐environmental goals. Despite growing scholarly interest in pro‐environmental behaviour, ongoing changes in policies, societal values and consumer awareness call for a current and comprehensive synthesis of how materialistic values shape pro‐environmental attitudes and behaviours. The sample of 124 studies was used by applying the ‘Scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews’ (SPAR‐4‐SLR) approach in reviewing articles published between 2011 and 2024. We performed (a) a bibliometric analysis, (b) a qualitative analysis of sample articles, (c) identified emerging themes, (d) a meta‐analysis and (e) TCCM‐framework based discussion of findings. While most studies report a negative relationship between materialism and pro‐environmental behaviour, the number of studies reporting a non‐significant or positive relationship is growing. The pooled effect sizes indicated a small overall negative association between materialism and pro‐environmental outcomes, with mean correlations of r = −0.10 for attitudes, r = −0.10 for intentions and a near‐zero effect for behaviour ( r = 0.00). This paves the way for new theoretical explanations for the coexistence of two previously considered opposing behavioural orientations: materialism may have multifaceted associations with pro‐environmental behaviour that vary across behavioural types, cultural regions and potentially distinct motivational forms of materialism (e.g., status‐driven vs. utilitarian).