In the era of Web 2.0, consumer behaviour has largely shifted to digital media. Today, social media platforms have become central spaces for more than just communication. They support identity expression, peer interaction, and consumer decision-making. Millennials are active participants in these spaces, where exposure and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) potentially influence conspicuous consumption practices. This study investigates how socialmedia intensity (SMI) affects Nepalese millennials' conspicuous consumption directly, withe WOM 2.0 serving as a mediator. Quantitative analysis (correlation, regression and mediation modeling) suggested that SMI had a positive correlation with conspicuous consumption, though the direct effect on conspicuous consumption was non-significant when eWOM was included. These findings suggest that it is the intensive use of social media that drives status-oriented consumption mainly through peer endorsements and social proof, as opposed to direct consumption exposure. By validating these relationships in Nepal, an example of a collectivist, mobile-first economy, this study extends prior findings within an under-studied context and setting, highlighting that cultural dynamics may heighten the importance of communication inrelation to purchase behaviour and also contribute to the debate in the current literature as to what drives CC, SMI alone or eWOM.