How Self-Construal Drives Intention for Status Consumption : A Moderated Mediated Mechanism

•Individuals' interpretation of the world (i.e., self-construal) influences their consumption decisions including status consumption; however, it is under researched.•This study investigates the effects of self-construal on the intention for status consumption through a moderated mediation mechanism including social comparison as mediator and materialism as moderator.•The findings showed independent self-construal directly enhances intention for status consumption but interdependent self-construal enhances it via social comparison.•Social comparison drives intention for status consumption among interdependent self-construal people at low materialistic levels but not at high materialistic levels.•This study provides several implications for theory and practice