The role of Benign Envy on Consumption - A Cross-Cultural Comparison in Social Networking Environment

Objectives This thesis aims to investigate benign envy and purchase intentions of social media users in different cultures. To achieve this, Finnish and Vietnamese of all ages, who engaged in social media usage were sampled. As they represent the less and more collectivist sides of consumers, the difference in collectivism is employed to examine the variations in purchase intentions across cultures. Summary Despite being known for its negative impacts on personal and social well-being, envy possesses a subtype called benign envy, which constructively affects sales and economic development. Additionally, compared to malicious envy, benign envy is more common in social media settings. As the number of social media users increases substantially, this positive side of envy becomes a promising aspect for businesses to exploit. Previous studies connect benign envy with the motivation to obtain the same virtue or goods owned by the advantaged party. It is thus hypothesized that this pattern remains valid in online contexts. Moreover, because the intensity of benign envy and the need to conform with social norms are positively correlated to collectivism, collectivist nations are expected to have higher purchase intentions than individualists. 206 participants were engaged through a questionnaire to draw answers for these propositions. While the results support the first argument, they reject the second one since the impacts of envy and collectivism on purchase intentions are independent. Conclusions It could be concluded from this research that benign envy, regardless of offline or online settings, enhances the incentive to obtain the good of the comparable other. Nevertheless, collectivism does not have a significant role in this relationship. Social comparison, on the contrary, could increase envy-related consumption

Envy on Social Network Sites: How Reading Friend's Posts Leads to (Benign) Envy and Influences Purchase Intentions

Seeing other's perfect lives as presented on Social Network Sites (SNSs) sometimes triggers envy, and previous researchers were worried about the negative impact of it on users’ well-being. This dissertation examines if users are suffering ill effects from the consumption of SNS services and addresses the positive effects of envy on purchase intentions and consumer behavior. Two types of envy are distinguished: one is benign envy with a motivation of moving up, and the other is malicious envy with a motivation of pulling the envied person down. This dissertation investigates the prevalence of (benign and malicious) envy on SNSs, explored the impacts of tie strength (i.e., relationship closeness) and post content (experiential vs. material purchases) on envy and the impact of envy on purchase intentions. Eight studies, including surveys and experiments, were conducted using various samples (total N = 1816) in Western countries. The results showed that users only experienced a limited degree of envy and it was more likely to be benign envy rather than malicious envy. Benign envy was positively predicted by the tie strength but was independent of the post content. Furthermore, benign envy was positively associated with the purchase intention of the envied object. It was also found that consumers posted their experiential purchases more frequently than material purchases on SNSs; and most SNS users perceived experiential purchases as more self-relevant than material purchases, and hence more envy was triggered after reading posts about experiential purchases. This dissertation argues that, given that experiential purchases could bring people more happiness than material purchases, experiencing benign envy about other’s experiential purchases is not necessarily a bad thing–it motivates people to work harder and pursuit the experiential purchases that could bring more happiness. Marketers can also utilize this emotion for better advertising (e.g., by showing the tourism-related ads to those who are benignly envious about friends' vacation experiences). This dissertation further contributes to the literature on the SNSs and well-being, experiential and material purchases, envy, and consumer behavior. More details and the theoretical and practical implications for SNS users, marketers, platforms, and researchers are elaborated in this dissertation

Resolving the complexity in Gen z's envy occurrence: a cross-cultural perspective

Envy is an impactful emotion on consumer behaviors, yet envy is quite complex to be comprehended due to its two different forms (malicious and benign). Therefore, it is significant to find out the factors occurring envy to consume to understand the impact and consequences of envy. This empirical study improves our understanding of envy occurrence (malicious or benign) in Generation Z (Gen Z) consumers by comparing two countries (the United States and Mexico) as representing individualistic and collectivistic cultures. We apply complexity theory as a basis for the configurational model, which we test using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. We use three configurations—personality, attitudes, and attached importance to participants on social networking sites—to explore causal recipes leading to malicious and benign envy. The findings of this study highlight the differences in Gen Z consumers' envy occurrence regarding configurational factors. In addition to said factors, this research indicates that culture plays a significant role in Gen Z's envy occurrence, thus contributing to the current knowledge set

Cross-cultural evidence for the influence of positive self-evaluation on cross-cultural differences in well-being

Poster Session F - Well-Being: abstract F197We propose that cultural norms about realism and hedonism contribute to the cross-cultural differences in well-being over and above differences in objective living conditions. To test this hypothesis, we used samples from China and the United States. Results supported the mediating role of positive evaluative bias in cross-cultural differences in well-being.postprin

Values and need satisfaction across 20 world regions

Poster Session F - Motivation/Goals: abstract F78Intrinsic valuing predicts the satisfaction of psychological needs (Niemiec, Ryan, & Deci, 2009). We conceptually replicate and extend this finding across 20 world regions. In multi-level models, Schwartz’s (1992) self-transcendence value was positively related to autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction, even when controlling for the Big Five.postprin

Three perspectives on fertility treatment – a temporally extended and high-risk service and a conversational taboo

According to recent estimates, one in six couples worldwide is—at least temporarily—affected by infertility. For those couples, fertility treatment is often the last resort, which, however, involves high levels of emotional distress. In the vein of transformative service research, the aim of this dissertation is to identify ways to enhance their well-being during this stressful period of life. In three papers, the researcher focuses on the long duration of treatment, the high risk of failure and the perception as a taboo topic, which are key sources of patients’ emotional distress. In Paper 1, fertility treatment is considered as a temporally extended service, suggesting that patients’ well-being changes over time. Surveying 212 infertility patients at different stages of the patient journey, this paper aims to answer the research question, how emotional distress and fertility-related needs evolve (1) over the course of a treatment cycle and (2) across multiple treatment cycles. In Paper 2, fertility treatment is explored as a high-risk service. Researchers have comprehensively studied uncertainty in consumers’ decision-making and how they cope with service failures, but little is known about how consumers cope with uncertainty while waiting for a service outcome. Building on 23 in-depth interviews with infertility patients, this paper explores strategies of coping with uncertainty in high-risk services. In Paper 3, the focus lies on fertility treatment as a conversational taboo. While taboo topics used to be discussed only behind closed doors—for instance, in secluded online forums—they have recently begun to be discussed also on public social media platforms. In a netnographic study, the potential of social media with regard to the well-being of consumers confronted with taboos is outlined through the analysis of 69 infertility-related YouTube videos from various infertility vloggers

Tu envidia es mi progreso: An Ethnographic Account of the Development of Squatter Settlements in San Juan de Miraflores, Lima, Peru.

The following dissertation explores the past 60 years of self-help housing in Lima. Specifically, it looks at the uneven development that has occurred in parts of a municipality called San Juan de Miraflores. I argue that self-help housing is part of a larger modernization project that aims to encourage the emergence of a self-regulating individual. Pro-development literature creates a selective history of marginal neighbourhoods, effectively silencing the histories of working class Miraflorinos. The aim of this ethnographic study is to destabilize official histories and representations about development in marginal communities. The bulk of the dissertation looks at the history of a land occupation that occurred in January, 2000. Special attention is given to insert the study in its political, economic, and social context. I conclude that the development process at work in Lima since the end of WWII reflects an unresolved tension in Peruvian urbanization. Common working class people resist the drive toward a progress that favours individual achievement over community well-being. I argue that underprivileged groups have always been included in development schemes. Social inclusion, then, is not the solution to uneven development. Rather, we need to look to the resistances to development that underprivileged classes mount, incorporating their criticisms into a new vision for society that challenges the merits of the kind of individuality promoted by liberal and neoliberal proponents

International Handbook of Practical Theology

A practical theology, that wants to face the complexity, plurality and differentiation of situations and contexts of religious practices from a global point of view, needs to refer to the discourses that shape them. The contributions can be divided into the sections ‘concepts of religion’, ‘religious practices’, and ‘discourses’, their aim is to identify the respective religious-cultural context and the related framework of interpretation

Fascism, Vulnerability, and the Escape from Freedom

A worldwide struggle between democracy and authoritarianism set against a backdrop of global surveillance capitalism is unmistakable. Examples range from Myanmar, China, and the Philippines to Hungary, Turkey, Russia, and the United States. Fascism, Vulnerability, and the Escape from Freedom offers a multidisciplinary analysis drawing on psychology and literature to provide readers with a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that drive people to abandon democracy in favor of vertically organized authoritarianism and even fascism. In a comparative study of texts selected for their insights and occasional blind spots regarding fascist experiments of the past 100 years, Delogu examines fascism’s exploitation of fear (of change, loss, and death), disruption, and extreme inequality. The book offers an accessible and persuasive argument linking fascist authoritarianism, also called “right-wing populism,” to certain underlying conditions, such as a rise in us-versus-them thinking; distrust or simple apathy regarding democratic institutions, norms, and results; the vulnerabilities that result from extreme inequality (economic, social, racial); and addictions and codependency. Stressful events, such as a pandemic, an environmental disaster, or deep recession aggravate these harmful factors and make the fascist temptation, including the use of violence, almost irresistible. Delogu’s distinctive examination of texts that plumb the unconscious reveal linkages between actions and unavowable motives that purely historical and theoretical studies of fascism leave out. Erich Fromm’s neglected 1941 classic Escape from Freedom serves as a key reference in Delogu’s study, as does Robert Paxton’s authoritative history, The Anatomy of Fascism (2004). After underscoring the argument and urgent context around these two studies (Hitler’s Germany and George W. Bush’s post-9/11 America), Delogu examines novels, a diary, memoirs, and manifestos to show how vulnerability forces individuals to choose between exclusionary fascist authoritarianism and inclusive, collaborative democracy