Abstract Self-threat refers to the disgusting psychological state that individuals perceive when some information or specific situations from the outside implies that the individual is deficient in certain spects. In order to get rid of this negative state of self-threat, indi viduals will make various efforts and attempts, among which the important discovery is that individuals can cope with the self-threat they suffer through the consumption of specific commodities. As an external representation of individual status, status product is the embodiment of individual ability and self-worth, which can effec tively compensate for the lack of important self-concept and self worth caused by self-threat. Therefore, based on the compensation control theory, this paper explores the influence mechanism of self threat on consumers’ status consumption through four studies. Study 1 examines the main effect of self-threat on status consump tion. Study 2 explores the mediating role of sense of control through measurement. Study 3 reverifies the underlining mechanism of the influence of self-threat on status consumption through experimental manipulation. Study 4 verifies the moderating role of implicit the ories of personality. The results show that when consumers suffer self-threat, their preference for status products will increase signifi cantly, but the effect on non-status products is not significant. More over, the sense of control plays a mediating role in the relationship between self-threat and status consumption. When an individual’s important self-concept is threatened, the individual’s internal con trol over himself and the surrounding environment is reduced, and the status representation meaning of status products can restore the control resources of individuals, thus leading to the improvement of status consumption tendency. In addition, the implicit theories of personality have moderating effects on the mediation of sense of control. Specifically, in the context of self-threat, compared with incremental theorists, entity theorists are more likely to restore per sonal control through status consumption. The conclusions of this research not only enrich the explanation mechanism in the field of self-threat and status consumption, but also reveal the applicable boundary of the relationship between self-threat and status con sumption. In practice, business operators of status commodities can make use of the situations of self-threat and aim at specific consum er groups to formulate effective marketing strategies.