The conventional belief is that low self-esteem leads to materialistic tendencies in individuals and research has extensively looked at the association between low self-esteem and materialism. The existing literature is unable to explain the reasons for materialistic behavior prevalent among high self-esteem individuals. This study is formulated with the objective of understanding what causes materialistic tendencies in individuals with high self-esteem and it checks whether socialization factors such as Attitude to Television (ATV), Peer Pressure (PP), Social Comparison (SC) and Attitude to Debt (AD) act as contributors to Social Pressure (SP) to consume, leading to development of materialism. A quantitative survey was used to collect data from working executives in three major cities of South India based on which the social pressure model of materialism is developed by multiple regression techniques. To ascertain the moderating role played by social pressure, a partial correlation exercise is carried out wherein the researchers suppress the social pressure factor and generate correlations between the contributor factors and materialism. The results indicate that socialization factors ATV, PP, SC and AD play a major role in the development of SP, which in turn plays moderator role in the development of materialism. The findings show that alternate pathways of materialism de-linked from low self-esteem exist.

World over the established notion on materialism is that it is caused by low selfesteem in individuals. Prevalent beliefs hold two causative routes of low selfesteem- based materialism. The inadequacy route proposes that it is the feeling of inadequacy and insecurity, developed during the childhood that leads people into high consumption habits and materialism (Baumrind and Brown, 1967; Inglehart, 1971; Kasser et al., 1995; Cohen and Cohen, 1996; and Kasser, 2002). The alternate route, the socialization pathway of materialism, put forward by Kasser et al. (2004), states that materialism can be caused by the interactive effect of social factors such as media, especially the television, peer pressure and social comparisons. However, the authors of the socialization pathway were of the opinion that these two pathways interact and it is the ensuing low self-esteem generated that leads individuals to materialistic practices.

In contrast to such prevalent beliefs, the Indian environment shows the existence of materialism in people with high self-esteem. Recent studies from the Indian environment indicate the existence of materialism, especially among the urban middle-class population (Handa and Khare, 2011; and Mishra and Mishra, 2011). The paradoxical fact is the prevalence of materialism among high selfesteem individuals noticed in Indian environment (Thomas and Wilson, 2011). This study attempts to identify the antecedents that trigger materialism in high self-esteem individuals.

Management Research Journal, Attitude to Television (ATV), Peer Pressure (PP), Social Comparison (SC) and Attitude to Debt (AD), The Role of Social Pressure, Moderator of Materialism.