Unpacking the relationship between materialism, status consumption and attitude to debt : The role of Islamic religiosity

Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate how religiosity affects these relationships in Turkey where consumption is de-stigmatized among a new economic elite with strong ties to Islamism. The literature commonly associates religion and ideology with anti-capitalism and anti-consumption. Although consumer researchers have studied both topics, examination of whether materialistic values translate into status consumption and whether religiosity has an effect on the relationship between status consumption and consumer attitude to debt remains scant. Design/methodology/approach This paper investigates the relationship of materialism to status consumption and the mediating role of Islamic religiosity on the relationship between status consumption and attitude to debt. Structural equations modeling was used on a judgmental sample of 267. Findings The results showed that the materialistic values positively affect status consumption for the Islamists. This paper concludes that Islamic religiosity, not only does not reject consumption but also augments the relationship between status consumption and consumer attitude to debt. Originality/value The findings have shown that previous studies that identify Islam as a threat to consumerism have overseen the class struggles and the role of status consumption. This paper successfully provided empirical evidence that the religiosity not only does not reject consuming but intensifies the relationship between status consumption and attitude to debt for those with Islamist dispositions.