The "Hyper-Real" Trap: How Interactive Marketing Fuels Materialistic Impulsivity in Malaysian Youth Homebuyers
Authors
Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perak Branch, Tapah Campus, Perak, Malaysia (Malaysia)
Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Johor Branch, Segamat Campus, Johor, Malaysia (Malaysia)
Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Johor Branch, Segamat Campus, Johor, Malaysia (Malaysia)
Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Johor Branch, Segamat Campus, Johor, Malaysia (Malaysia)
Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Johor Branch, Segamat Campus, Johor, Malaysia (Malaysia)
Article Information
DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS.2026.100801178
Subject Category: Marketing
Volume/Issue: 10/8 | Page No: 17234-17242
Publication Timeline
Submitted: 2026-09-09
Accepted: 2026-09-14
Published: 2026-09-26
Abstract
Widening gaps among salaries, property prices, and digitally curated lifestyles complicate homeownership decisions among Malaysian youth. This conceptual paper contributes an integrative extension of the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework by combining digital marketing exposure and housing-affordability pressure within a single explanation of youth homeownership. It positions interactive digital interfaces and affordability pressure as external stimuli, materialistic and financial evaluations as organismic mechanisms, and homeownership decision-making as the response. The framework further distinguishes financial socialisation as an antecedent and demographic background as a moderator, thereby clarifying direct, indirect, and conditional relationships that remain fragmented in existing literature. Drawing on secondary literature, the paper advances theoretically derived propositions rather than empirically tested effects. Its principal contribution is a parsimonious framework that connects digital, economic, and psychological explanations of Malaysian youth homeownership while informing provisional approaches to financial capability, ethical property marketing, and housing-policy communication.
Keywords
Interactive Marketing, Materialism, Homeownership Decisions, Young Malaysian Homebuyers
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