With the arrival of the digital era, social media has evolved from being a communication medium—it has become a bazaar of lives, dreams, and identities. Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are just a few such sites that have turned into spaces where individuals not just connect with their friends but also live a life they have designed, where appearance and resources are most important.
Ongoing exposure to coveted commodities, worlds of luxury, and consumerism-facilitating trends has heightened materialism across generations, particularly among the identity and self-esteem-challenged youth in the visually oriented society. The “like” economy only supports the idea that material acquisition is tantamount to success, generating the constant desire, comparison, and consumption. This essay explores how social media fuels materialism, what external factors amplify its influence, the psychological and social effects of such a connection, and ways in which responsible use of social media can allow for healthier tendencies and internal values.
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Social Media and Materialism
Materialism in psychology is defined as a value system that places highly valued possessions and acquisitions high on the scale of happiness, success, and social standing. Consistently, empirical studies locate higher materialism with lower well-being, higher anxiety, and compulsive buying (Richins & Dawson, 1992; Kasser, 2002). Social media gives fertile ground to materialistic values since possessions are kept in the foreground in personal identity and social comparison.
Empirical evidence attests to this connection. Kircaburun et al. (2020) determined through a study that excessive use of Instagram indicates higher materialism and social comparison among teens. Similarly, Malik and Khan (2015) found that Facebook users who observed other people’s lifestyle shows had increased material wants and dissatisfaction with their lives. These findings reveal how social media leads individuals to compare themselves with others based on value through material possessions, increasing materialistic behaviours in everyday life.
Social Media as a Culture of Comparison
Social media lives literally on comparison. Feeds comprising travel, sponsored fashion, luxury cars, or unveiling package contents necessarily lead people to compare themselves to others’ “edited” selves. Comparison upwards—comparing oneself with others perceived as “better off” in some way—is a major source of materialism and envy (Krasnova et al., 2013). The comparison works because social media highlights the best from reality, generating an illusion of ongoing success and consumption.
For adolescents, who are in the process of establishing their identities, these types of comparisons can have powerful implications. A longitudinal study by Koutamanis et al. (2013) found that teens who visited image-based sites were subsequently found to report developing increasingly materialistic values. When material possessions are repeatedly framed as signs of popularity and social favour, individuals become accustomed to internalising consumption as a means to social success.
Outside Forces Driving Material Obsession Even Further
1. Economic Insecurity and Imbalance
Materialism flourishes where there is insecurity. Where economic imbalance is prevalent, people are more likely to acquire things as status symbols. Social media then goes ahead and aggravates the dynamic further by presenting the imbalance that exists within a normal feed, where lifestyle shows based on materialism run against normal experiences. Podoshen and Andrzejewski (2012) also argued that materialism is an adaptive response to discontent and safety, and thus, social media is a soil rich enough for economic discontent to be interpreted as consumer desire.
2. Commercialisation and Influencer Marketing
The influencer era has brought the line between marketing and private communication further apart. Intimacy and familiarity are employed by influencers to establish trust but simultaneously sell products and brands, placing consumption in the self. Academic evidence shows that influencer advertising does increase purchasing intent, particularly for individuals with already high levels of ratings on materialism (Audrezet et al., 2020). Teenagers are also especially vulnerable, as parasocial relationships with influencers enhance trust and decrease critical awareness, so advertisements feel more like a natural lifestyle choice than an advertisement.
3. Advertising and Algorithmic Amplification
Social media platforms profit from attention by selling attention-grabbing material. Those status posts that share a luxury lifestyle or coveted items are liked and shared more, which algorithms amplify to create an imbalanced perception of consumption norms. Based on a study conducted by Marwick (2015) it highlighted how aspirational posts over-market, leading to users perceiving conspicuous consumption as the ideal and supported by society. The effortless combination of advertising—through shoppable posts and directed ads—also minimises gaps between wanting and consuming, facilitating compulsive shopping habits.
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Psychological and Social Implications
1. Loss of Happiness
Excessive materialism, fueled by social media behaviour, is always an indicator of decreased life satisfaction, more stress, and worse interpersonal relationships. Kasser et al. (2014) discussed how materialism represses intrinsic autonomy, competence, and relatedness motives, making people less satisfied. Social media only exacerbates things because social approval is linked with material display—likes and comments as rewards that reinforce the possessions-as-worth presumption even further.
2. Compulsive and Impulsive Spending
Social media materialism tends to translate into life consumption. Compulsive shop-hopping was significantly predicted by social media intensity and materialism in research conducted by Dhandra (2020), where impulsive buying occurred more as products were related to hedonic pleasure. The cycle of exposure, desire, and purchase tends to make one discontented and hence look for more consumption to be satisfied—a syndrome known as the “hedonic treadmill.”
3. Vulnerability of Young Adults and Adolescents
Young adults and adolescents are more susceptible to materialism through social media because of their stage in life. Identity exploration, peer acceptance, and status are central issues during adolescence, and adolescents are less resistant to messages that associate popularity and possessions. Chaplin and John (2007) found in their study that materialism is highest during adolescence, especially when self-esteem is at risk. Social media, based on constructed lives and publicly consumed inputs, exaggerates these vulnerabilities, frequently creating long-term consumer values. Constructive Uses of Social Media itself can be used to antidote materialism and promote more constructive values when carefully managed.
4. Intentional Feed Curation
Studies show that exposure to consumerist content increases the feeling of dissatisfaction and envy, whereas exposure to creative, community-focused, or informative content has the opposite effect (Verduyn et al., 2017). Intentional feed curation via unfollowing envious influencers and accounts depicting intrinsic values prevents the potential for stimulating materialistic tendencies.
5. Active Engagement Instead of Passive Browsing
Research also differentiates between passive browsing (scrolling for noninteractive reasons) and active use (posting original content, commenting, messaging). Passive use is linked with higher envy and lower well-being, while active use builds relations and wipes out deleterious comparisons (Burke & Kraut, 2016). Encouraging the user towards shifting to active use can thus suppress the intensity of materialistic desires.
Media Literacy and Value-Based Interventions
Educational interventions are a strong instrument in granting individuals, and particularly teenagers, the authority to critically scrutinise material. Media literacy training that demonstrates how influencers earn money, how algorithms work, and how adverts influence feelings has been found to reduce the effectiveness of materialist advertisements (Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2005). Interventions that amplify inner values of community, development, and fantasy also reduce the salience of materialist consequences (Kasser et al., 2014).
Conclusion
Social media has reshaped the landscape of materialism, turning likes into indicators of value and goods into signs of identity. With boundless comparison, influencer marketing, and amplification by algorithms, materialistic values are confirmed and normalised, typically at the cost of well-being. Adolescents and young adults are especially susceptible to it with growth and social stress. Social media is not, however, a fait accompli.
By committing to deliberate habits—such as thinking through posting, active participation, and media literacy instruction—individuals and groups can perhaps counteract material compulsion. Similarly, platform design changes and education initiatives offer structural aid for the benefit of healthier engagement. The assignment is not to eliminate social media but to reclaim it as a space where success and identity are less dependent on labels and likes, and more on connection, imagination, and inner satisfaction.
Read More: Social comparison in the age of Social media
FAQS
1 How has material obsession evolved?
Material obsession has evolved from the fundamental human dependence on objects for survival and advancement, starting with early tools, into a complex modern cycle fueled by social pressures, advertising, and a desire for status and fulfilment.
2 Why do people often get motivated by social media trends?
People are motivated by social media trends due to innate psychological needs for connection and belonging, which social media fulfils by providing a sense of community and shared experiences.
3 What are the major factors contributing to an increased sense of social media modelling?
Over time, generations witnessed an increased indulgence in social media due to its wide range and interconnectivity, sharing commonalities and feelings, etc, which extensively contributed to enhanced social media development.
References +
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