The Relationship Between Materialism and Environmental Consciousness: A Multilevel Analysis

Based on the assumption that materialistic values may be an important cause for overconsumption and thus contribute to the depletion of natural resources, this research investigates the relationship between materialism and environmental consciousness using a publically-available, large-scale sample of 63,077 consumers in 49 countries. Results of a multilevel analysis suggest that there is a significant amount of heterogeneity in the relationship between materialistic values and consumers’ willingness to give part of their income for the environment. Specifically, we find a statistically significant influence of materialistic values on willingness to give money for the environment in countries with a high GDP per capita, individualistic countries, and countries with a low level of power distance (e.g., β = .256 for Switzerland, β = .243 for New Zealand, β = .214 for Australia, β = .208 for Sweden, and β = .204 for Germany). On the other hand, this relationship is non-significant for countries with a lower GDP per capita, less individualistic countries, and countries with a high level of power distance (e.g. China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mexico, and Thailand). The implications of these findings are discussed and avenues for future research are suggested.