Raysha I.P. Sutopo S2528282 Master Thesis by Grand versus Mundane Nature: The Elicited Feeling of Awe and its Effect on the Decrease of Materialism Aspiration

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Grand versus Mundane Nature:

The Elicited Feeling of Awe and its Effect on the Decrease of

Materialism Aspiration

Master Thesis

by

Raysha I.P. Sutopo

S2528282

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Grand versus Mundane Nature:

The Elicited Feeling of Awe and its Effect on the Decrease of

Materialism Aspiration

Raysha I.P. Sutopo

University of Groningen

Faculty of Economics and Business

MSc Marketing Management

Master Thesis

June 26

th

, 2017

Aweg 11A-23 9718 CT Groningen The Netherlands

+31627550401

Supervisors

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1

ABSTRACT

Past research papers have emphasized on the drivers, causes and consequences of materialism. For instance, materialism is associated with a decrease in life satisfaction. However, little research has yet to investigate the knowledge to change materialism aspiration. The aim of this study is to elicit the feeling of awe by exposing participants to nature imageries (grand and mundane nature) which will lead to a decrease of materialism aspiration. One hundred and thirty participants completed the survey with measures regarding emotions, materialism, the small-self and goal aspiration. It is revealed that individuals are more in awe when grand nature pictures are presented in comparison to mundane nature. Moreover, the awe-evoking grand nature pictures led the participant to feel small and thus reduce their materialism aspiration. It is also evident from this study that goal aspirations have an influence on the relationship between the elicited feeling of awe towards the decrease in materialism aspiration, even though the effect goal aspiration was not very strong.

Keywords: awe, materialism aspiration, grand nature, mundane nature, small-self, goal

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2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ... 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ... 2 I. INTRODUCTION ... 3 II.THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Materialism Aspiration ... 5

The Elicited Feeling of Awe ... 6

The Small-Self... 7

Goal Aspiration ... 8

III. CONCEPTUAL MODEL ... 10

IV. METHODOLOGY ... 11 Participants ... 11 Design ... 11 Materials ... 11 Manipulation of awe ... 11 Emotion measurement ... 12

The small-self measurement ... 12

Pre-materialism and materialism measurement ... 12

Goal aspiration measurement ... 13

Procedure ... 13

V. RESULTS ... 13

Effects of Environmental Conditions towards Emotions ... 14

Effects of Environmental Conditions towards Materialism Aspiration ... 15

Mediation Analysis (The Small-Self) ... 17

Moderation Analysis (Goal Aspiration) ... 18

VI. GENERAL DISCUSSION ... 20

VII. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ... 22

VIII. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS ... 23

IX. CONCLUSION ... 23

X. REFERENCES ... 25

XI. APPENDIX A ... 30

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3

I. INTRODUCTION

In these modern days, advertisements and media have emphasized that people are happy, worthy and successful when they have money, possessions and the right image (Dittmar, 2008; Kasser & Kanner, 2004). Belk (1984, p. 291) defines this as materialism; “the importance consumer attaches to worldly possession”. At the highest level of materialism, possession can become the central point of an individual‟s life and the individual believe that possessions are a source of fulfilment (Belk, 1984). Materialism has been associated with envy, non-generosity and egoism (Belk, 1984; Yankelovich, 1981). In fact, several philosophic and religious reviews across culture and time have proposed that positioning material of an individual‟s life around the acquirement of money and status can undermine a person‟s quality of life (Belk, 1984; Elgin, 1993). Materialistic aspiration is related to self-enhancement which consists of values that places the individual interests above anything else (Schwartz, 1992).

Materialism has become an important subject among researchers, yet materialism is generally associated with several critiques (Inglehart, 1990; Kasser and Ryan, 1993; Scitovsky, 1976). Despite the need to attain material goals, a materialistic lifestyle will lead to negative outcomes for both society and an individual (Lichtenberg, 1996). For instance, social commentators connect materialism with exploitation of scarce resources and failure in upholding social responsibility (Lichtenberg; Schudson, 1991). Moreover, social scientists discovered that placing possessions as a central core of an individual‟s life will lead to lower satisfaction and a decrease in happiness (Richins and Dawson, 1992; Belk, 1985). For these reasons, materialism has been affiliated with the negative side of individuals (Hirschman, 1991).

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4 panoramic nature views or music. Interestingly, the participants exposed to this stimulus in the study had positive results. Shiota & Keltner (2007) also stated that the accompanying feeling of awe experiences should be self-diminishing, which stresses on the importance of vastness outside the self. This in contrary with self-enhancement related to materialism. The feeling of self-diminished is connected to self-transcendence where an individual seeks a purpose beyond the self and to seek a sense of community outside of the self through peak experience (Koltko-Rivera, 2006).

Consequently, the question arise: Will the elicited feeling of awe decrease materialism aspiration? Numerous researches have found drivers and outcomes of materialism (Vohs et al., 2006; Dittmar et al., 2014), however there are only little research regarding approaches to changing materialistic aspirations of an individual (Burroughs, et al., 2013). This study aims to analyse the impact of the elicited feeling of awe towards materialistic aspiration and whether it will decrease an individual‟s materialistic aspiration. In addressing this matter, the current study will test whether the exposure of nature scenes will stimulate the emotion of awe. Hence, this emotion will make the self seem less important and therefore temporarily decreasing the individual‟s interest towards material objects.

The interest of using environmental conditions or nature as a stimulus of the emotion awe can be seen from results of different studies. The benefits of nature and the portrayal of nature in images and videos have been recognized in various researches in environmental psychology literatures (Howell et al., 2011; Kaplan, 1995; Ulrich, 1979) which conveyed that nature experiences decrease fear and anger and increase positive emotions such as affection. Moreover, nature is associated with positive effect on well-being (Howell et al., 2011), established positive emotions and increased ability to reflect on life problems (Mayer et al., 2009). Experiences with grand nature also create a closer bond with others (Weisntein, Przybylski, and Ryan, 2009) and encourage pro-sociality (Joye and Bolderdijk, 2015; Zhang et al., 2014).

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5 Apaloaza-Ibanez, 2010). Furthermore, nature images also increase brand recall and recognition (Hartmann, Apaloaza, and Alija, 2013). Through awe, it is expected that customers will have a pleasant mood which can create loyalty and sense of community between organization and customers. Therefore, this new insight might be a noteworthy addition in the research field to not only use awe as a way for marketers to attract customers, but also to change individuals perception and behaviour towards a more positive outlook on life.

II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Materialism Aspiration

Materialism is perceived as “the extent to which consumers attempt to engage in the construction and maintenance of the self through acquisition and use of products, services, experiences, or relationships that are perceived to provide desirable symbolic value” (Shrum et al., 2013, p. 1180). Individuals that use their wealth mainly for obtaining material goods are usually under the impression that additional belongings will improve their life for the better (Sirgy, 1998). However, a research by Richins (2011) discovered materialistic consumers have a higher possibility to perform financial risky behaviour such as gambling and taking loans. Because materialistic individuals spend more time on obtaining material possessions, they are more likely to care less about activities surrounding their own well-being (Aknin et al., 2013; Van Boven, 2005) which will lead to less satisfaction with their lives in comparison to less materialistic individuals (Kasser & Ryan, 1993; Dittmar et al., 2014).

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self-6 enhancement consider power as a central goal to have control and power over people and resources (authority, wealth, social power, preserving public image and social recognition) (Schwartz, 1992). Moreover, personal achievement is also important as an individual will pursue one‟s own success and dominance over others (Schwartz, 1992).

Based on various researches, it is apparent that there is a close connection between material possessions and the self. Individuals acquire material possessions to achieve their own personal needs, yet materialistic individuals tend to obtain material goods for status or power (Richins, 1994; Schwartz, 1992). Therefore, materialism can lead to several negative long-term consequences such as reduced life satisfaction (Richins & Dawson, 1992), reduced levels of happiness (Belk, 1985) and elevated levels of depression (Kasser & Ryan, 1993). To avoid the negative effect of materialism, the need to decrease materialism is imperative. Research has confirmed that consumers who emphasized on other-focused goals (e.g. social relations) over self-focused goals (e.g. obtaining reputation) are less focused on material objects (Kasser, 2009). Since there is a close relation between materialism and the self, making the self seems less important could make individuals look at material possessions as something unimportant and reduce their materialistic aspiration.

The Elicited Feeling of Awe

Awe is defined as “emotional response to perceptually vast stimuli that transcend current frames of reference” (Piff et al., 2015, p.883) which can cause individuals to change their current mental structures (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Keltner & Haidt (2001) created the cognitive model of awe which comprises of two essential components: perceived vastness and accommodation. Awe is triggered by stimuli or events that are “vast”. These stimuli or events are explained as much larger than the self, or the self‟s ordinary level experience or frame reference. Vastness can be seen as a matter of size, nevertheless it can be seen as authority or prestige. According to Keltner & Haidt (2001), a prototypical awe experience indicates challenges for an individual‟s mind when they fail to accept the experience of something vast. This feeling can cause fear or disorientation as they feel small or powerless; however it can also give a sense of enlightenment when one‟s mind is able to unveil unknown truths that are undiscovered.

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7 by participants when they are experiencing the beauty of a nature view (Shiota, Keltner & Mossmann, 2007). Awe has been found to shift focus from the present and expand it, which lead to changes in an individual‟s decision and life fulfilment (Rudd, Vohs, and Aaker, 2012). In addition, awe increases religiosity and spirituality (Van Cappelen and Saroglou, 2012), make individuals more pro-social (Piff et al., 2015) and has also been associated with health improvement (Stellar et al., 2015).

One of the emotions that are obtained from experiencing awe is diminished focus on the self. The elicitors of awe such as novel art and music, remarkable life-changing religious or supernatural events, and nature experiences can steer attention away from the self (Keltner and Haidt, 2003; Shiota, Keltner and Mossmann, 2007). Maslow (1962) believes that individuals that have gone through the peak experience will go beyond the importance of one‟s self and reach self-transcendence. The individuals pursue a benefit that is beyond their personal needs and instead seek communications through something transcendent, for instance through mystical experiences where they identify with something larger than the self and connecting with others (Maslow, 1961).

A number of research conveyed that the feeling of awe or positive emotions can encourage people to forgo their own self-interest and put others above oneself. In this case, self-enhancement values, such as achievement and power, of an individual can transcend to self-transcendence values. Because materialism is strongly related to self-enhancement values, it could be believed when an individual is exposed to an object or condition when they are in awe, they will go through a peak experience and realized that materialistic needs are not so important anymore. In this case, the individual will feel small in comparison to some vast entity such as grand nature or large man-made objects such as cathedral. Therefore, the first hypothesis is:

H1: Grand nature will evoke more awe in comparison to mundane nature.

H2: The elicited feeling of awe will decrease an individual’s materialism aspiration.

The Small-Self

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one-8 self. In this case, the individual is a part of larger groups such as community, a culture or nature (Shiota, et al. 2007). A study by Van Cappellen and Saroglou (2012) found that individuals will feel more connected with people in general when they are elicited by awe through seeing videos of nature. In other research, most individuals who recollected a past personal experience of awe were more likely to feel small, less significant and they are less concern on personal day-to-day concerns (Shiota et al., 2007). Therefore, when individuals feel small, it decreases the consequence of an individual attachment towards personal concerns and goals (Piff, et al., 2015).

Awe and the feeling of smallness are clearly associated. It indicates that awe can change the self-concept of an individual. In a sense, awe alters attention towards larger entities and diminishment of the individual self. With the feeling of smallness, individuals can come to realize that they are relatively insignificant in the grander scheme of events (Campos et al., 2013; Piff et al., 2015). Hence, individuals are less inclined to think about themselves and more about being part of a society or something grand (Shiota, et al., 2007). A sense of smallness will make individuals care less about personal belongings as the diminished self transcend one‟ self (Keltner and Haidt, 2003; Maslow, 1962). Thus, the third hypothesis is:

H3a & H3b: The elicited feeling of awe will evoke the sense of small self and decrease an individual’s materialism aspiration.

Goal Aspiration

Numerous contemporary theories of motivation adopt the idea that individuals introduce and preserve specific behaviours with the belief that these behaviours will lead to desired goals or outcomes. Lewin (1936) and Tolman (1932) led researchers to discover psychological values related to goals (Kasser and Ryan, 1996; Vroom, 1964), people‟s expectations of obtaining goals (Bandura, 1989; Rotter, 1966) and the motivations that keep people moving towards the designated goals (Carver and Scheier, 1998). However, one of the most notable researches regarding goal aspiration is by Ryan et al., (1996) which is about associating goal contents with well-being.

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9 related to attaining basic need satisfaction such as affiliation, personal growth, and community contribution. On the other hand, extrinsic aspirations are goals related to realizing confirmation of approval from others through attaining wealth, fame, and image. Due to these explanations, Kasser and Ryan believed that the search and fulfilment of intrinsic aspirations would be more strongly associated with well-being than extrinsic aspiration. In their research, participants were asked to rate the importance of different life goals according to them and their beliefs about obtaining these life goals. Interestingly, based on the first of the three studies by Kasser and Ryan (1993), the aspiration indexes for the three intrinsic aspiration indexes (personal growth, relationships and community involvement) were significantly positive related to self-actualization (Jones and Crandall, 1986) and vitality (Ryan and Frederick, 1997). On the other hand, the aspiration index for financial success (the only extrinsic aspiration in the study) was negatively related to those signs of well-being. This result is also supported by a short-term longitudinal study by Sheldon and Kasser (1998) where well-being improves with the attainment of intrinsic motivation goals. Moreover, when the participants attain extrinsic aspiration, they will have less than optimal well-being.

Individuals who place the intrinsic aspirations importantly seem to be more content with their life since they tend to look at personal growth, relationships and community involvement as their goal objectives (Kasser and Ryan, 1993). The goal aspirations of an individual may influence their perception of material objects as something unimportant because they have a positive relation to well-being. Therefore, individuals with intrinsic aspiration can explain the tendency of decreasing materialism aspiration as their central goal in life is not related to material possessions or status. Thus, the fourth hypothesis is:

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III. CONCEPTUAL MODEL

Based on the literature review and hypothesis previously mentioned in this research, this conceptual model is composed as a starting point to conduct further research (see figure 1).

Figure 1. Conceptual Model

Elicited Feeling of Awe Materialism Aspiration

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IV. METHODOLOGY

In the previous section, this study provided an overview of the literatures that derived the hypotheses for this research. In this section, the methodology which consists of the participants, design, data measurement and procedure of the research will be discussed.

Participants

One hundred and thirty participants (48 males and 82 females; age: M = 27.65, SD = 9.86) participated in the survey. The survey1 was distributed via internet, mainly through social media. Moreover, the participants who have filled in the survey were asked to spread the survey thus creating a snowball effect. Initially, there were one hundred and sixty two participants, however thirty two participants were excluded because they were not able to complete the survey due to an error in the survey or they chose to stop doing the survey mid-way. The participants consist of various nationalities with 60% of Indonesian nationality, 15% of other nationalities (German, Italy, Taiwan, Lithuania, Poland, Australia, Philippines) and 25% of Dutch nationality.

Design

The study has a between-subjects design and was programmed with the online study platform Qualtrics. The independent variable is the elicited feeling of awe through “environmental condition” (grand vs. mundane nature) and the dependent variable is the “materialism aspiration” of an individual. The mediator is the “the small self” and the moderator is the “goal aspiration”.

Materials

Manipulation of awe. Participants had to watch one of two possible slideshows, each

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12 phenomena (e.g., a mountain range or a waterfall), whereas the mundane nature condition (N = 10) consisted of photos of non-spectacular, everyday nature (e.g., a pond or a forest setting).

Emotion measurement. After participants observed the nature pictures , they were

asked to rank statements on a 7-point Likert scale regarding their emotion towards the grand or mundane nature pictures, namely “awe”, “amusement”, “disgust”, “anger”, “fear”, “sadness”, “happiness”. Moreover, statements related to the diminished-self is also included to measure awe such as “I felt small or insignificant”, “I felt the presence of something greater than myself”, “I felt part of some greater entity”, and “I was in the presence of something great” (scale ranging from: 1 = “strongly disagree” to 7 = “strongly agree”) (Cronbach‟s α= 0.82).

The small-self measurement. Participants were also asked to rank statements regarding smallness and humility in the presence of nature (Cronbach‟s α= 0.80). The samples of statements were: After looking at the images I feel, “the presence of something greater than myself”, “like I was part of a greater whole”, “like was in the presence of something grand”, “the presence of something greater than myself”, “the presence of something grand”, and “like my day-to-day concerns are not so important (1 = “strongly disagree” to 7 = “strongly agree”). These statements were constructed based on individual items from several literatures on awe (Huta and Ryan, 2010; Shiota et al., 2007).

Pre-materialism and materialism measurement. To measure the participant‟s

pre-materialistic tendencies before they observed the nature pictures, this study uses the six items scales of the Materialistic Values Scale (MVS) developed by Richins and Dawson (1992). The MVS is a well-established and reliable measure of people‟s materialist inclinations (Richins and Dawson, 1992; Pandelaere, 2016) with Cronbach‟s α = 0.75. Since the purpose of the study is to analyse whether there is a decrease of materialism aspiration, four out of the six items scale with statements such as “I admire people who own expensive homes or cars” and “The things I own say a lot about how I‟m doing in life” are reversed (1= “strongly agree” to 7=“strongly disagree”).

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13 1

The complete questions of the questionnaire and picture of nature sceneries are provided in Appendix A.

“I like to own things that impress people”, “Buying things give me a lot of pleasure” and “My life would be better if I owned certain things that I don‟t have” that are reversed (1 = “strongly agree” to 7 = “strongly disagree”). On the other hand, seven items from the scale with statements such as “I usually only buy the things I need” and “I have all the things I need to really enjoy life” remained the same (1 = “strongly disagree” to 7 = “strongly agree”).

Goal aspiration measurement. Goal aspiration was measured by the Aspiration Index

(Kasser and Ryan, 1993) (Cronbach‟s α = 0.80). The participants were presented with 20 aspirations on two dimensions: (a) personal importance and (b) the chances of obtaining them in the future. Participants were asked to ranked statements regarding personal importance such as “You will be the one in charge of your life” and statements regarding the chances of obtaining them in the future “You will work for the betterment of society” (1 = “strongly disagree” to 7 = “strongly agree”).

Procedure

The study began with a general briefing about the purpose of study, and the participants were asked for their age, gender, nationality and income. Following this procedure, the participant‟s pre-materialistic values were measured. Then, the participants were randomly exposed to either the grand nature condition (N=65) or the mundane nature condition (N=65), consisting of free viewing of pictures during 10 seconds for each photograph. They were asked to imagine that they were in the environment depicted. Afterwards, the participant‟s emotions (including awe) were measured followed by their feeling of being small. Furthermore, the materialistic values of the participants were measured on a larger scale and their goal life aspirations were also measured. Finally, the purpose of the study was explained and the researcher thanked them for participating in the survey.

V. RESULTS

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2

The complete results of the manipulation check for environmental condition towards the emotions (N=130) is

provided in Appendix B. 14

Effects of Environmental Conditions towards Emotions

A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)2 with the environmental conditions (grand and mundane nature) as the between-subject variable and the dependent variable which consist of the listed emotions (awe, amusement, disgust, anger, fear, sadness, happiness) was conducted. Before analyzing the significance of the results, the Levene‟s test was done to see the homogeneity of variance. Almost all of the emotions, including awe, showed a significant result which indicates that the homogeneity of variance does not hold (p<0.05). The only emotion that holds the homogeneity of variance is amusement (p = 0.58) and awe (p = 0.23) as the result is not significant.

All of the emotions exhibited significant differences between conditions with the significance level of p≤0.05. From the results, the effect of the environmental conditions towards awe is statistically significant, F (1,128) = 16.32, p <0. 001 (the full results are included in Table 1). In accordance with the previous prediction, participants in the grand nature condition (M = 5.25, SD = 4.11) felt more in awe compare to participants in mundane nature condition (M = 4.11, SD = 1.69)

Based on Figure 2, it is evident that positive emotions (awe, amusement, happiness) were ranked higher in the grand nature condition than in the mundane nature condition. However, the opposite occurred for negative emotions (disgust, anger, fear) as these emotions are ranked higher in the mundane nature condition. Hence, it is evident that Hypothesis 1 is

supported.

Table 1. Means (standard deviations) per condition for scores on the emotion items and environmental conditions, and overall F-statistic

Grand Nature Mundane Nature Levene’s

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Figure 2. Mean ratings of each emotion in each condition (grand and mundane nature)

Effects of Environmental Condition towards Materialism Aspiration

A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)3 with the difference between materialism value scale and the pre-materialism value scale as the dependent variable and environmental condition as the between-subjects variable was conducted. The difference between materialism and the pre-materialism scale are taken into account as the dependent variable, to see the increase of the materialism aspirations of the participants after the manipulation of the environmental conditions occurred. Before further analyses, the Levene‟s test was conducted to measure the homogeneity of variance for materialism aspiration and each of the sub-scales for materialism. The Levene‟s test provided the results that the homogeneity of variance holds for the overall materialism measurement along with each of three sub-scales due to the insignificant result (see Table 2).

To further analyze the effect of environmental conditions towards materialism aspiration, the one-way ANOVA test3 was performed for each of the three sub-scales of the Materials Value Scale (MVS). Each of these sub-scales was also tested by taking the difference between the materialism and pre-materialism scale of each sub-scale respectively. The first sub-scale of materialism for success is shown to be significant, F(1,128) = 5.76, p < 0.05. However, for the dependent variable of the sub-scale of materialism for centrality and happiness along with environmental condition as the between-subjects variable, indicated that environmental condition does not have a significant effect for both sub-scales, F(1,128) =

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16 3.67, p = 0.06 and F(1,128) = 1.56, p = 0.21. Overall, the different results of each sub-scales of materialism aspiration led to a significant result for the materialism aspiration, F(1,128) = 6.29, p < 0.05.

From the result, it is evident that participants in the grand nature condition are less materialistic than participants in the mundane nature condition. On the other hand, when the environmental condition effect towards materialism is measured into three different sub-scales, it showed different results. Participants in the grand nature condition are less materialistic compared to participants in the mundane nature condition from the first indicator of materialism, success, which shows that participants do not believe that possessions are indicators of success (Richins and Dawson, 1992). Yet, there were no statistically significant results for centrality and happiness (see Table 2 for means and standard deviations). It can be seen that participants in the grand nature condition are still inclined to the acquisitions and possessions in general. Furthermore, the grand nature condition does not change the perception of participants that possessions are important for happiness (Richins and Dawson, 1992).

Although two out of three materialism sub-scales demonstrates an insignificant result, this further proves that the overall result is significant, an individual that possess the feeling of awe from grand nature conditions are indeed inclined to less materialism aspiration than an individual that are exposed to mundane nature conditions. Thus, it can be said that Hypothesis

2 is supported. Grand Nature Mundane Nature Levene’s Test (sig) F p Success 0.47 (0.97) 0.06 (0.91) 0.93 5.76 0.01 Centrality 0.92 (1.01) 0.57 (1.09) 0.75 3.67 0.06 Happiness 0.57 (1.07) 0.33 (1.07) 0.70 1.56 0.21 Materialism Aspiration 0.71 (0.71) 0.37 (0. 82) 0.25 6.28 0.01

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4 _{The complete results for the mediation analysis (N=130) is provided in Appendix B.}

Mediation Analyses (The Small-Self)

Studies by Emerson (1982) and Keltner and Haidt (2003) indicated that an encounter with nature can lead to a wonderful experience where an individual feel small in the presence of something great. With said, another prediction is established to see whether the feeling of “being dwarfed” through the feeling of awe from the environmental condition will then reduce materialistic aspiration of the participants.

The Haye‟s bootstrap method for testing mediation4 through the SPSS macro PROCESS (Model 4) developed by Hayes (2013) was conducted. The results revealed a significant effect of the environmental condition on the mediator, the small- self, B = -0.74,

t(130) = - 3.67, p < 0.05 and a significant effect of the mediator on the materialism aspiration, B = 0.16, t(130) = 2.87, p < 0.05 (see Figure 3 for a graphical explanation). However, when

integrating the effect of environmental condition towards the small-self on materialism aspiration, the environmental condition became non-significant, B = -0.22, t(130) = -1.57, p = 0.12. Yet, with bootstrap analysis, it can be seen that 95% bias-corrected confidence interval for the total indirect effect does not include zero (CI= -0.60 to -0.07), which indicates a significant indirect effect. The findings from this test implied that the small-self completely mediated the elicited feeling of awe from the environmental condition towards materialism aspiration. Hence, it is safe to say that Hypothesis 3a and 3b is supported.

Figure 3. Mediation Analysis; total mediation effect -0.3377** CI 95 %( -0. 6044 to -0.0710). ** shows significance p<0.05 The Small-Self -0.7415** Environmental Conditions (Grand & Mundane Nature) 0.1644** -0. 2158 with the interaction of

Small-self

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5

The complete results for the moderation analysis (N=130) is provided in Appendix B. 18

Moderation Analyses (Goal Aspiration)

Based on research by Ryan et al. (1996), an individual with a greater sense of purpose

of life achievement through goal aspiration will lead to a greater well-being. It is predicted that when an individual have goal aspiration with intrinsic motivation, it will then strengthen the sense of awe from the environmental condition which will lead to a decrease of materialism aspiration.

Hayne‟s bootstrap method was conducted to test moderation5

through SPSS macro PROCESS (Model 1) developed by Hayes (2013). The goal aspiration was tested as the moderator towards the relationship between environmental conditions towards materialism aspiration. It is evident from the result that goal aspiration is a suitable moderator; however there might not be a strong moderation effect towards the relationship between the environmental condition and materialism aspiration (see Table 3 for results). This can be seen from the marginally significant result of the interaction between goal aspiration towards the relationship of the environmental condition to materialism aspiration, B = 0.39, t (130) = 1.76,

p < 0.10. However, the analysis showed that the bias-corrected 95% confidence interval (1000

bootstrap samples) for the interaction of the moderator included zero (-0.05 to 0.84). It is evident that there is a marginally significant moderation based on the p-value below 0.10; however the bias-corrected 95% confidence interval proved otherwise. This can be seen from the direction of the moderation which is not in line with the assumption that grand nature will decrease materialism aspiration. Based on Figure 4, the mundane nature along with a higher goal aspiration created a stronger moderation effect towards the relationship between elicited feeling of awe and materialism aspiration. On the other hand, grand nature showed a weaker moderation effect as there is a decreasing trend when there is a higher goal aspiration. In spite of the insignificance result from the confidence interval, the graph also shows that there is an opposing direction between the grand and mundane nature. This confirms that there is an interaction between the goal aspiration and the environmental conditions which will lead to a moderation effect. Nevertheless, the result does not fully support the predicted hypothesis. Goal aspiration does moderate the effect on the elicited feeling awe towards materialism aspiration; however it is not very strong.Hence, it is concluded that Hypothesis 4 of this study

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19 b SEB T p Constant 4.01 (-0.04; 8.06) 2.05 1.96 0.053 Goal Aspiration -0.52 (-1.23; 0.18) 0.36 -1.47 0.144 Environmental Conditions -2.56 (-5.09; -0.04) 1.28 -2.01 0.047 Environmental Conditions x Goal Aspiration 0.39 (-0.05; 0.84) 0.22 1.76 0.080 Note: R2_{= 0.05}

Table 3. Overview of moderation results

Figure 4. Interaction of the Moderation (Environmental Conditions x Goal Aspiration)

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20 VI. GENERAL DISCUSSION

Although various researches have focused on the drivers and outcomes of materialism aspiration, literature on the topic on how to change an individual‟s materialism aspiration is rare. This study analyzed the emotion of awe as a reaction to nature experience and its effect on individuals, particularly their materialism aspiration. This current study tested whether the elicited feeling of awe from environmental conditions (grand and mundane nature) influenced the decrease of individual‟s materialism aspiration.

The initial presumption that experiences evoked from grand nature, for instance overlooking a panoramic view (Keltner and Haidt, 2003) would stimulate the feeling of awe was tested by asking participants to ranked several emotions by looking at pictures of grand and mundane nature. The results confirmed that grand nature, such as vast mountains or a waterfall, elicits the feeling of awe (Keltner and Haidt, 2003; Shiota, Keltner, and Mossmann, 2007). It is also confirmed that grand nature elicited positive emotions, for instance happiness and emotions whereas mundane nature conjured negative emotions such as disgust, sadness and fear.

Following the provided evidence that grand nature is an elicitor of awe, the effect of this emotion towards materialism aspiration was examined. It is predicted that the elicited feeling of awe will decrease materialism aspiration. Further analysis supported the hypothesis; however the result varies when the elicited feeling of awe is tested towards the three different indicators of materialism. The first indicator of materialism, success, showed a significant result whereas the second and third indicator of materialism, centrality and happiness, showed an insignificant result. Interestingly, grand nature still evoked more awe for both materialism indicators of centrality and happiness; however it does not change the participant‟s perception regarding materialism in terms of centrality and happiness. This implies that the participants do not measure personal possessions as a sign of success, but they do believe that acquiring possessions are central for their life which will lead to happiness (Richins and Dawson, 1992). Although participants considers material possessions central for their life and that it makes individuals happy, their perception that material possessions are not indicators of success have such as strong effect that it lowers their overall materialism aspiration.

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21 al. (2015), when an individual feel small, it will decrease the consequence of an individual attachment towards personal concerns and goals. Thus, it was confirmed through this study that participants exposed to pictures of grand nature felt small. Hence, they believe that material possessions are not particularly important which will lead to a decrease in materialism aspiration.

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VII. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH

There are several limitations with this current study. Firstly, the grand and mundane nature conditions comprise of different kinds of awe and non-awe evoking pictures. With different scenes of pictures come difficulties of finding out which picture of grand nature sceneries have the strongest effect towards the decrease of materialism aspiration. Moreover, the pictures for mundane nature seem to surprisingly elicit the feeling of awe for some participants. This can be seen by not a relatively large difference between the mean of the environmental conditions towards the elicited feeling of awe. This is something to avoid for future research by using similar types of sceneries (only mountains for grand nature and ponds for mundane nature). It is also suggested to use more mundane scenery so that participants are less in awe when they are exposed to it. For example, avoid green coloured parks or large ponds as it seems to evoke awe.

Secondly, the exposure to the pictures was relatively long. With the duration of ten seconds for each of the ten pictures, some participants complain about the duration and gets impatient. Although there was no significant proof, this can change the mood of the participants and make them feel less in awe when they are answering the questions regarding their mood. Future research should therefore investigate the different clicking times of each picture and see whether more clicks caused an individual to become less in awe based on the repeated exposure to grand versus mundane nature.

Thirdly, there is a significant effect of the elicited feeling of awe towards the decrease in materialism aspiration. However, the result varies when the materialism value scale are measured into three different sub-scales. Due to limited evidence on the possibilities for the different significance of the results, it is recommended for future research to do an in-depth analysis on the elicited feeling of awe towards each sub-scale of materialism. Perhaps grand nature can cause individuals to think less of material possessions as a sign of success, but this does not apply to centrality or happiness. Therefore, it might also be best to use different elicitors for awe besides grand nature to see whether it does decrease materialism aspiration for centrality and happiness.

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23 nature along with high goal aspiration will create a strong moderation effect. In contrast, the strong moderation effect originated from mundane nature and high goal aspiration. Thus, it is also interesting for future research to analyze further the reason behind why mundane nature and participants with high goal aspiration have a stronger effect to decrease materialism aspiration.

Lastly, by having a majority of Indonesian participants, the participant sample was narrow. Although the result is significant, perhaps it is interesting to research this study with participants from a wider range of difference in culture.

VIII. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

Since the result of the study support the assumptions made after the literature review, an implication for marketers can be obtained from this study. The predicted statement that grand nature condition can evoke the elicited feeling of awe is in line with previous research that awe can evoke positive emotions. Therefore, marketers can take this into consideration as a long-term marketing technique to attract and retain customers. It has been proven that advertising with the content of pleasant image sceneries will enhance an individual‟s memory cognition and increase recognition and recall towards the brand or product (Hartmann and Apaolaza, 2013). Moreover, positive emotions that are derived from grand nature will create a positive response towards the advertisement which will lead to a positive remark towards the brand or the product (Hartmann & Apaolaza-Ibáñez 2008). Marketers could make use of grand nature images to trigger a positive emotion or experiences from the customers. When customers are in a positive mood, it can lead to a positive perception towards the brand or product and create customer loyalty.

IX. CONCLUSION

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24 to the feeling of “small” when the participants are in the presence of something grand. Hence, the feeling of being small will make participants forget about material possessions and reduce their materialism aspiration. On the other hand, goal aspiration is not a particularly strong moderator for the relationship between the environmental conditions and materialism aspiration. However, it is evident that goal aspiration to some extent creates an effect towards the environmental conditions and the decrease in materialism aspiration.

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25

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XI. Appendix A – Questionnaire

Dear Participant,

My name is Raysha Sutopo and you are invited to participate in my research survey as a part of my Master Thesis in Marketing at the University of Groningen. This survey consists of observing images and answering several questions, which altogether will take about 10 minutes. I would greatly appreciate it, if you take these minutes to fully concentrate on this task to guarantee valid and reliable results for my thesis.

Your involvement in this study is voluntary and you can withdraw at all times. The use of all data will be confidential and anonymous. By continuing, your consent to participate in this survey is given. Thank you very much for your participation.

What is your gender?

 Male

 Female

What is your age?

What is your nationality?

What is your annual income?

 Under €25,000 / Under Rp. 50,000,000

 €25,000-€50,000 / Rp. 50,000,000-75,000,000

 €50,000-€75,000 / Rp.75,000,000-90,000,000

 €75,000-€100,000/ Rp. 90,000,000-115,000,000

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31 Please indicate to what extent you agree with the following statements (1 = strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree).

I admire people who own expensive homes, cars and clothes. The things I own say a lot about how well I‟m doing in life. Buying things give me a lot of pleasure.

I like a lot of luxury in my life.

My life would be better if I owned certain things I don‟t have. I‟d be happier if I could afford to buy more things.

I now ask you to look at several images of an environment. Each image will displayed for about 10 seconds, after which a new image will be automatically displayed.

Imagine yourself in the environment displayed and take the time to look. Notice the colours and textures. Imagine yourself being in the environment, breathing in the air and soaking up the view.

The participants will be shown the grand nature pictures

https://www.flickr.com/photos/yogendrarathod https://www.flickr.com/photos/vismratgaur

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33

https://www.flickr.com/photos/theextremeinfo https://www.flickr.com/photos/marioprisciandoro

To what extent have you experienced any of the following emotions while watching these images? (1 = strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree)

I felt amusement. I felt awe. I felt disgust. I felt anger. I felt fear. I felt sadness. I felt happiness.

I felt small or insignificant.

I felt the presence of something greater than myself. I felt part of some greater entity.

I was in the presence of something great.

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35

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sharon https://www.flickr.com/photos/wimederveen

https://www.flickr.com/photos/katienixon https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewgreen

After looking at the images, I feel.... (1 = strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree)

small or insignificant

the presence of something greater than myself like I was part of a greater whole

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36 like my day-to-day concerns are not so important

Please indicate to what extent you agree with the following statements (1 = strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree).

I admire people who own expensive homes, cars and clothes.

Some of the most important achievements in life include acquiring material possessions. I don‟t place much emphasis on the amount of material objects people own as a sign of success. The things I own say a lot about how well I‟m doing in life.

I like to own things that impress people.

I don‟t pay much attention to the material objects that other people own. I usually buy only the things I need.

I try to keep my life simple as far as possessions are concerned. The things I own aren‟t all that important to me.

I enjoy spending money on things that aren‟t practical. Buying things gives me a lot of pleasure.

I like a lot of luxury in my life.

I put less emphasis on material things than most people I know. I have all the things I really need to enjoy life.

My life would be better if I owned certain things I don‟t have. I wouldn‟t be any happier if I owned certain things.

I‟d be happier if I can afford to buy more things.

It sometimes bothers me quite a bit that I can‟t afford to buy all the things I‟d like.

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37 You will be the one in charge of your life.

At the end of your life you will look back on your life as meaningful and complete. You will deal effectively with problems that come up in your life.

You will know and accept who you really are.

You will have people who care about you and are supportive. You will share your life with someone you love.

You will be married to one person for life. You will have children.

You will work to make the world a better place. You will donate your money and time to charity. You will work for the betterment of the society. You will teach other things that you know.

You will participate in social and political movements. You will be financially successful.

You will be your own boss.

You will have a job with high social status. You will have a job that pays well.

You will be well-known/famous. You will be admired by many people.

You will uphold your image in terms of body, clothing and fashion.

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38 Such environments 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 such environments are extremely familiar to me are not at all familiar to me

This is the end of the survey. This research is about whether the elicited feeling of awe based on the images of grand/mundane nature of an individual will decrease materialism aspiration. If you‟d have further questions, please contact r.i.p.sutopo@student.rug.nl. Thank you so much for your participation!

XII. Appendix B - Results

1. One-Way ANOVA Manipulation Check Environmental Condition towards Awe (N=130)

Test of Homogeneity of Variances

To what extent have you experienced any of the following emotions while watching these images? (1 = strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree) - I felt awe.

Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig.

1,450 1 128 ,231

Descriptives

Awe

N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error

95% Confidence Interval for Mean

Minimum Maximum Lower Bound Upper Bound

Grand Nature 65 5,25 1,521 ,189 4,87 5,62 1 7

Mundane Nature 65 4,11 1,687 ,209 3,69 4,53 1 7

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39 ANOVA

Awe

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 42,123 1 42,123 16,323 ,000

Within Groups 330,308 128 2,581

Total 372,431 129

2. One-Way ANOVA Manipulation Check Environmental Condition towards Amusement (N=130)

Amusement.

,309 1 128 ,579

Descriptives

Amusement

Grand Nature 65 4,80 1,603 ,199 4,40 5,20 1 7

Mundane Nature 65 4,26 1,584 ,196 3,87 4,65 1 7

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40 ANOVA

Amusement

Between Groups 9,423 1 9,423 3,712 ,056

Within Groups 324,954 128 2,539

Total 334,377 129

3. One-Way ANOVA Manipulation Check Environmental Condition towards Disgust (N=130)

Disgust

29,076 1 127 ,000

Descriptives

Disgust

Grand Nature 65 1,40 ,787 ,098 1,21 1,59 1 5

Mundane Nature 64 2,38 1,507 ,188 2,00 2,75 1 7

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41 ANOVA

Disgust

Between Groups 30,656 1 30,656 21,321 ,000

Within Groups 182,600 127 1,438

Total 213,256 128

4. One-Way ANOVA Manipulation Check Environmental Condition towards Anger (N=130)

Descriptives

Anger

Grand Nature 65 1,51 ,812 ,101 1,31 1,71 1 6

Mundane Nature 65 2,14 1,310 ,162 1,81 2,46 1 7

Total 130 1,82 1,131 ,099 1,63 2,02 1 7

ANOVA

Anger

Between Groups 12,931 1 12,931 10,889 ,001

Within Groups 152,000 128 1,188

Total 164,931 129

Anger

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42 5. One-Way ANOVA Manipulation Check Environmental Condition towards Fear

(N=130)

Descriptives

Fear

Grand Nature 65 1,89 1,134 ,141 1,61 2,17 1 6

Mundane Nature 65 2,51 1,437 ,178 2,15 2,86 1 7

Total 130 2,20 1,326 ,116 1,97 2,43 1 7

ANOVA

Fear

Between Groups 12,308 1 12,308 7,345 ,008

Within Groups 214,492 128 1,676

Total 226,800 129

6. One-Way ANOVA Manipulation Check Environmental Condition towards Sadness (N=130)

Sadness

5,912 1 128 ,016

Fear

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43 Descriptives

Sadness

Grand Nature 65 2,14 1,435 ,178 1,78 2,49 1 6

Mundane Nature 65 2,83 1,682 ,209 2,41 3,25 1 7

Total 130 2,48 1,596 ,140 2,21 2,76 1 7

ANOVA

Sadness

Between Groups 15,577 1 15,577 6,372 ,013

Within Groups 312,892 128 2,444

Total 328,469 129

7. One-Way ANOVA Manipulation Check Environmental Condition towards Happiness (N=130)

Happiness

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44 Descriptives

Happiness

Grand Nature 65 5,74 1,136 ,141 5,46 6,02 2 7

Mundane Nature 65 4,72 1,526 ,189 4,34 5,10 1 7

Total 130 5,23 1,433 ,126 4,98 5,48 1 7

ANOVA

Happiness

Between Groups 33,508 1 33,508 18,521 ,000

Within Groups 231,569 128 1,809

Total 265,077 129

8. One-Way ANOVA Effect of Environmental Condition towards Materialism

Aspiration (N=130)

Materialism

1,329 1 128 ,251

Descriptives

Materialism

Minimum

Maximu m Lower Bound Upper Bound

Grand Nature 65 ,7056 ,71215 ,08833 ,5291 ,8820 -,72 3,47

Mundane Nature 65 ,3679 ,82078 ,10181 ,1645 ,5713 -1,94 2,16

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45 ANOVA

Materialism

Between Groups 3,707 1 3,707 6,278 ,013

Within Groups 75,574 128 ,590

Total 79,280 129

One-Way ANOVA for Sub-Scale Success of Materialism

Materialism Success

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46 One-Way ANOVA for Sub-Scale Centrality of Materialism

One-Way ANOVA for Sub-Scale Happiness of Materialism

Materialism Happiness

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47 Descriptives Materialism Happiness N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error

Grand Nature 65 ,5654 1,07463 ,13329 ,2991 ,8317 -2,00 3,50

Mundane Nature 65 ,3308 1,06627 ,13225 ,0666 ,5950 -2,25 2,75

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48 9. Mediation Test with PROCESS (N=130)

Run MATRIX procedure:

************** PROCESS Procedure for SPSS Release 2.15 ******************* Written by Andrew F. Hayes, Ph.D. www.afhayes.com

Documentation available in Hayes (2013). www.guilford.com/p/hayes3 ************************************************************************** Model = 4 Y = Materialism X = EnvCon M = Small Sample size 130 ************************************************************************** Outcome: Small Model Summary R R-sq MSE F df1 df2 p ,3083 ,0951 1,3292 13,4451 1,0000 128,0000 ,0004 Model

coeff se t p LLCI ULCI constant 5,6738 ,3198 17,7442 ,0000 5,0411 6,3065 EnvCon -,7415 ,2022 -3,6668 ,0004 -1,1417 -,3414 ************************************************************************** Outcome: Materialism Model Summary R R-sq MSE F df1 df2 p ,3236 ,1047 ,5589 7,4295 2,0000 127,0000 ,0009 Model

coeff se t p LLCI ULCI constant ,1106 ,3857 ,2867 ,7748 -,6526 ,8737 Small ,1644 ,0573 2,8682 ,0048 ,0510 ,2778 EnvCon -,2158 ,1378 -1,5655 ,1199 -,4886 ,0570 ************************** TOTAL EFFECT MODEL **************************** Outcome: Materialism

Model Summary

R R-sq MSE F df1 df2 p ,2162 ,0468 ,5904 6,2777 1,0000 128,0000 ,0135 Model