The effect of religious inclinations and social media use on conspicuous consumption

While conspicuous consumption explains the habits and purchasing behaviors of consumers that make up today's consumption society, it is of great importance to examine the factors affecting this consumption pattern. Knowing what the factors that encourage conspicuous consumption are and revealing what drives individuals to conspicuous consumption will ensure that the marketing strategies to be developed in this regard are more accurate and realistic. Conspicuous consumption, which means consuming by showing, exhibiting, and allowing others to see, attributes symbolic, emotional, and psychological meanings to purchased goods and services, and removes the goods from their economic and functional value. Although the religious belief in general and İslamic religions, in particular, prohibit show and waste, the Muslims, who are under the influence of today's secular and capitalist understanding, cannot escape this consumption with the attractiveness of fashion, advertisements, and mass media. Social media tools, on the other hand, constantly provide favorable environments that nurture conspicuous consumption and allow people to exhibit themselves by transforming into showcases. This thesis study investigates how religious inclination and social media use affect conspicuous consumption, and examines the conspicuous consumption trends of people with different religious inclinations and using social media for different purposes. As a result of this study, in which the online questionnaire was preferred as one of the quantitative data collection methods, it was concluded that the conspicuous consumption tendencies of individuals with internal and external religious inclinations differ, similarly, the purpose of social media use was effective on conspicuous consumption.