Quick summary: Research published in the journal Internet Research reveals that engaging with luxury brands on social media significantly lowers self esteem and increases impulsive buying tendencies among men while women remain largely unaffected. This gender disparity suggests that constant exposure to idealised digital content triggers status related pressures for male users that can lead to addictive social media behaviours and a heightened focus on materialistic values. Marketing managers and public policy makers should prioritise responsible messaging and collaborate with mental health organisations to protect vulnerable consumers from the psychological strain and financial consequences of aspirational digital marketing.
A new study has revealed a striking gender difference in how luxury brand engagement on social media affects self-esteem and impulsive buying, with men showing heightened vulnerability while women do not.
Professor Matthew Gorton from Corvinus University and Newcastle University, alongside researchers from Yarmouk University and Audencia Business School, surveyed 1,076 luxury brand customers to investigate how engaging with brands on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok impacts self-esteem, social media addiction, and buying behaviour.
The results show that such engagement lowers self-esteem while increasing social media addiction and focus on materialistic values. Critically, self-esteem and materialism were found to significantly influence impulsive buying for men but not women.
“Highly engaged customers become more focused on material possessions and experience reductions in self-esteem as they are repeatedly exposed to idealised luxury goods and lifestyles that highlight gaps between their actual and ideal selves. For men in particular, luxury brand engagement on social media may activate status-related concerns and pressures to display material success, making self-esteem and materialistic values central drivers of unplanned purchases,” says Professor Gorton.
The researchers attribute the gender gap to societal expectations around status and success symbols, which appear to affect men more acutely. Women’s responses, they note, may be shaped by different social or cultural factors not captured as strongly in the impulsive buying pathway.
The study identified three compounding mechanisms driving impulsive purchases among men. Lower self-esteem, triggered by repeated exposure to aspirational luxury content, drives unplanned purchases in male participants. Heightened materialism further contributes to impulsive buying in men, a link that does not hold for women. Growing addiction to social media platforms intensifies exposure to curated luxury lifestyles, potentially worsening the cycle for vulnerable users.
The researchers urge marketing managers to recognise that customers with lower self-esteem or higher materialistic tendencies are more vulnerable to impulsive buying. They recommend that brands focus on campaigns emphasising value, quality, and long-term satisfaction rather than status alone. Luxury brands are also encouraged to explore partnerships with social media platforms and mental health organisations to promote responsible use, including clearer messaging around product durability and ethical sourcing.
The study draws on self-discrepancy theory, a psychological framework explaining how comparisons to idealised images can erode self-esteem, and forms part of broader academic efforts to unpack the “dark side” of customer engagement in digital environments.
The findings were published in the journal Internet Research.