The Impact Of Subjective Socioeconomic Status On Conspicuous Consumption Of Virtual Products:A Moderated Mediation Model

Individuals with different socioeconomic status have different cognitive characteristics.Individuals with low subjective socioeconomic status are more restricted in their lives,have a lower sense of control,and have higher threat sensitivity.Conspicuous consumption can help individuals cope with self-threats and compensate for their lack of control.Therefore,individuals with low subjective socioeconomic status may be more inclined to engage in conspicuous consumption and compensate for their lack of control.Perceived economic mobility can make individuals feel the possibility of gaining higher economic status through their own efforts.At this time,individuals with low subjective socioeconomic status may not lack a sense of control over their lives when they perceive high economic mobility,thereby avoiding conspicuous consumption.In reality,conspicuous consumption often exists in the form of physical objects,but is there similar conspicuous consumption in game virtual products.Therefore,this study mainly focuses on the impact of college students’ subjective socioeconomic status on conspicuous consumption in the field of game virtual products,regulated by perceived economic mobility,and explores the mediating role of sense of control.It is a moderated mediating model.In Study 1,a questionnaire survey was used to select 127 college students to explore whether they believe there are different conspicuous degrees between different virtual products in the game.The results show that college students believe that there are different degrees of conspicuous between different virtual products in games.In Study 2,an inter subject experimental design was used to select 116 college students,manipulating their subjective socioeconomic status(high/low subjective socioeconomic status),and measuring their conspicuous consumption tendency for virtual products in games.The results show that the subjective socioeconomic status of college students has a negative impact on the conspicuous consumption of virtual products in games,and individuals with low subjective socioeconomic status have a higher tendency to conspicuous consumption of virtual products in games than individuals with high subjective socioeconomic status.In study 3,an inter subject experimental design was used to select 133 college students,manipulating their subjective socioeconomic status(high/low subjective socioeconomic status),and measuring their sense of control and the conspicuous consumption tendency of virtual products in games.The results show that the negative impact of college students’ subjective socioeconomic factors on the conspicuous consumption of virtual products in games is mediated by sense of control.In Study 5,an two factors inter-test subject experiment design(high/low subjective socioeconomic status)×(High/Low Perceived Economic Mobility)was used to select 150 college students,manipulating their subjective socioeconomic status and perceived economic mobility,measuring their sense of control and the conspicuous consumption tendency of virtual products in games.The results show that perceived economic mobility moderates the impact of college students’ subjective socioeconomic status on the conspicuous consumption of virtual products in games through sense of control mediator.This study has certain theoretical and practical significance,proving that in the field of game virtual products,subjective socioeconomic status and perceived economic mobility have an impact on conspicuous consumption through sense of control,which can help individuals with low subjective socioeconomic status understand the psychological mechanism behind conspicuous consumption behavior,and society can also reduce the conspicuous consumption behavior of individuals with low socioeconomic status by promoting economic mobility...