Dimensions of Possession Satisfaction: A Preliminary Analysis

Abstract

Free market systems thrive on acquisitiveness. This is the essence of Adam Smith's "invisible hand," and the engine that drives any exchange system beyond the satisfaction of the most basic human needs. Yet there has been little investigation of this construct, and virtually no assessment of consumer satisfaction with the results of such a system. That is, the level and worth of what the free market system provides for each individual within the society needs to be addressed. There is recent evidence that many American consumers are becoming increasingly unsatisfied with the level of material comfort delivered by the U.S. economic system. "After decades of rising living standards, many in the middle [class] now find they're clambering up a descending economic escalator," states a U.S. News and World Report (Brophy, 1986, p. 36). This situation may continue to deteriorate. In a discussion of the national economic picture, Fortune (Allyn 1989, p. 25) observes that "spending on life's little amenities must continue to slow." The purpose of the current paper is to investigate consumers' views of the role material possessions play in their lives - what does material accumulation mean to them? The objective is to uncover those dimensions of meaning which are bound up in the store of worldly goods. This will, in tum, serve as the theoretical foundation for subsequent investigation of overall satisfaction with material possessions.