The effects of feelings of awe on the relationship between consumers' narcissism and impulsive consumption behaviors: A mediated moderation model

The feeling of awe is a complicated, mixed emotion that integrates confusion, astonishment, admiration and submission. Researchers have found beneficial effects of awe on individuals' social lives. This work aims to explore the impeding effect of awe on the relationship between narcissism and irrational consumption by performing 4 studies. After study 1 verified that narcissism was positively related to impulsive consumption, study 2 activated participants' feelings of awe through video clips and proved that awe reduced the effect of narcissism on impulsive consumption. Study 3 showed that the reduction in impulsive tendency was caused by awe rather than priming materials, and eliciting awe did not change an individual's sense of control. Study 4 involved an online experiment among office workers and revealed that the moderating effect of awe was fully mediated by self-focused attention. Overall, the mediated moderation model is verified. This study enriches the theoretical research of awe in the Chinese cultural context and provides practical meanings.