Social Comparison and Impulsive Buying Intention Among Young Social Media Users: The Serial Mediating Roles of Benign Envy and Materialism

Background: Social media exposes users to highly curated information about other people's lifestyles and possessions, creating frequent opportunities for upward social comparison. Although social comparison has been associated with problematic consumption, the psychological processes linking comparison with impulsive buying intention remain incompletely specified. This study examined whether benign envy and materialism statistically mediate this association in sequence. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among Chinese social media users aged 18–35. Of 350 submitted questionnaires, 327 met prespecified quality criteria and were retained. Social comparison, benign envy, materialism, and impulsive buying intention were assessed using adapted established measures. The measurement model was evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis. Direct associations were examined with structural equation modeling, and indirect effects were estimated using PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. Results: The four-factor measurement model showed acceptable fit (χ²/df = 1.68, comparative fit index = 0.953, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.946, root mean square error of approximation = 0.046, and standardized root mean square residual = 0.042). Social comparison was positively associated with impulsive buying intention (β = 0.19), benign envy (β = 0.43), and materialism through the modeled paths. The indirect effects through benign envy (effect = 0.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.065–0.168), materialism (effect = 0.07, 95% CI 0.032–0.118), and the proposed serial pathway (effect = 0.04, 95% CI 0.019–0.071) were statistically significant. The direct effect remained significant, indicating partial statistical mediation. Conclusions: The findings are consistent with a model in which social comparison is associated with impulsive buying intention both directly and indirectly through benign envy and materialism. Because the data are cross-sectional and self-reported, temporal and causal ordering cannot be established. Longitudinal and experimental studies are needed before the serial pathway can be interpreted causally.