The causal relation between children’s life satisfaction and materialism and the role of advertising exposure

This longitudinal survey study was designed to determine the causal direction of the relation between materialism and life satisfaction among children. We tested the hypothesis that life satisfaction negatively affects materialism. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that this effect would be moderated by exposure to television advertising. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that life satisfaction had a negative causal effect on materialism. The moderating effect of advertising exposure was not significant, but there was a clear pattern notable in which the relation between life satisfaction and materialism only held for children who were exposed to television advertising relatively often.