Cultural meaning of consumer goods: impact of cross cultural values on motives for consuming conspicuous goods in Sri Lanka

This research examines empirically the impact of cross cultural values of Sri Lankan consumers on their motives for conspicuous consumption, which is broadly defined as “obtaining extravagance goods at higher prices to demonstrate their status and wealth to the public”. The primary data collected from 225 respondents selected from four districts (i.e. Hambantota, Nuwara Eliya, Puttlam, Vavuniya) to represent various ethnicities were taken up with a number of multivariate data analysis techniques to explore their attractiveness towards consumption of conspicuous products in terms of four types of motives, including: Conformist, Hedonic, Status, and Uniqueness. The results suggest that the demand for such products largely increases in line with the perceived scarcity of the product, and there exists a greater variability amongst different ethnic groups with regard to their perception towards conspicuous consumption.