Research reveals link between fear of death and expensive funerals

A recently published study Psychological reports shows that fear of death significantly influences people’s propensity to spend lavishly on funerals, which is referred to as death-related status consumption. This study also found that avoiding thoughts of death partially mediates this relationship and that materialism strengthens the link between death anxiety and status-related funeral expenses.

The reason for this study is the observed growth of the funeral industry, which was valued at $18 billion in the United States in 2022. Despite the growth of the industry and the significant costs associated with funerals, little is known about what motivates people to spend large amounts of money on funeral products and services.

Previous research has largely ignored the reasons behind individuals’ preferences for death-related products, focusing more on life-related consumption. This study aimed to fill this gap by examining how people’s attitudes toward death influence their consumption of high-value funeral products and services.

To examine these relationships, researchers conducted a survey with 346 participants over the age of 18. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, which ensured a diverse sample. The majority of participants were between the ages of 35 and 54, with the gender of participants almost evenly distributed. Participants’ educational backgrounds varied, with the largest group having completed an undergraduate degree.

The survey measured four main constructs: fear of death, death avoidance, materialism, and death-related status consumption. Fear of death was measured with statements such as “I am very afraid of death,” while death avoidance was measured with items such as “I avoid thinking about death.” Materialism was measured by statements reflecting admiration for expensive possessions. Death-related status consumption included items such as “The atmosphere at funerals should be great.”

The researchers found that there was a strong positive relationship between fear of death and consumption of death-related status symbols. Individuals who reported higher fear of death were more likely to spend money on high-value funeral products and services. This suggests that fear of death leads people to invest in luxurious funerals to cope with their anxiety.

Death avoidance was found to partially mediate the relationship between death anxiety and status consumption. That is, people who avoid thinking about death are likely to spend more on status-related funeral products, but this avoidance only partially explains overall spending behavior. The direct influence of death anxiety on status consumption remained significant even after accounting for death avoidance.

Materialism was found to strengthen the relationship between death anxiety and status consumption. People with high materialistic scores were more willing to make status-related expenditures on funerals when they were afraid of death. However, materialism did not significantly influence the relationship between death avoidance and status consumption.

“In general, research findings suggest that people view death-related status consumption as an escape from thoughts of death,” the researchers concluded. “However, how this form of consumption contributes to the subjective well-being of the bereaved has not yet been investigated.”

“Given this research gap, future studies should focus on whether death-related consumption is a positive, therapeutic coping mechanism for the fear and anxiety surrounding death or a factor that simply leads grieving families to maladaptive consumption behavior. Since concepts such as subjective well-being and happiness are familiar to both consumption researchers and death researchers, these research findings should contribute to connecting the two disciplines.”

The study “Status consumption as a coping mechanism for the fear of death: The mediating role of death avoidance and the moderating role of materialism” was authored by Hakan Cengiz and Joanne Cacciatore.