Store-evoked affect, personalities, and consumer emotional attachments to brands

This research examines how store-evoked affect, human personality, and brand personality influence consumers' emotional attachments to brands. A field study (in wine tasting rooms) demonstrates that satisfaction mediates the effects of store-evoked pleasure and arousal on brand attachments, which further affects brand loyalty and willingness to pay a price premium. Attachment is consistently stronger in positive affective environments (i.e., when pleasure, arousal, and satisfaction are high) and when the brand possesses positive dimensions of brand personality. These effects are stronger for consumers scoring high (rather than low) on extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness and weaker for individuals scoring high on neuroticism. A follow-up experiment (in juice bars) supports the findings of the field study and provides further insight into the three-way interaction between store-evoked affect, brand personality, and consumer personality.     

The Big Five,happiness, and shopping

This study assessed the relationships between the Big Five dimensions of personality and individual happiness with three indicators of shopping and spending for non-grocery items using a sample of 660 U.S. adults. The data from an online survey showed that all five of the Big Five traits correlated positively with self-reported happiness, even controlling for the effects of age and gender. Regression analysis showed, however, that the positive relationships between happiness and Agreeableness and Openness to Experience were no longer significant, indicating that they are real, but redundant to the other traits. The correlations also showed that happiness, Openness to Experience, and Extraversion correlated positively with the three shopping indicators. Finally, happiness appears to have a direct effect with shopping and mediates the influence of Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Extraversion on happiness.     

The Relationship Between Consumers’ Tendencies to Buy Compulsively and Their Motivations to Shop and Buy on the Internet

This paper presents the results of a survey of customers of an Internet clothing retailer examining how consumers’ preferences to shop and buy on the Internet rather than at bricks-and-mortar stores differ depending on their compulsive buying tendencies. Using shopping motivations such as seeking product and information variety, the ability to buy unobserved, avoiding social interactions, and experiencing positive feelings during shopping and buying, we find a positive linear relationship between a tendency to buy compulsively and Internet shopping and buying motivations. The research demonstrates that the items used to measure these motivations can also be used to identify buyers who have a tendency to buy compulsively. The paper also offers important retailing, managerial and public policy implications of the findings.     

Coping with a natural disaster: Losses, emotions, and impulsive and compulsive buying

Using data collected from 427 US Gulf Coast residents who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina, a structural model based on life event theory is proposed and empirically tested. Results show that perceived lack of control and loss of possessions contribute directly to stress, and event-induced stress impacts depression. Depressive states, in turn, lead to impulsive and compulsive buying behaviors. Multi-group analysis reveals that income moderates the relationship between depression and compulsive buying, but age, gender, and insurance coverage do not. The depression–impulsive buying relationship is not moderated by any of these factors. Disaster victims engage in distinct purchasing behaviors to manage emotional states, recoup losses, and restore their sense of self. In the aftermath of a traumatic event, impulsive buying appears to be a rational and beneficial behavior; compulsive buying does not. The results heed valuable ethical and social responsibility implications to marketers and public policy makers.

Friends with benefits: Behavioral and fMRI studies on the effect of friendship reminders on self-control for compulsive and non-compulsive buyers

Does the real or imagined presence of friends invariantly drive consumers to engage in disinhibited behavior, and give in to the “urge to splurge” in the face of consumption temptations? Or might there be situations in which being with friends or even merely thinking of friends or the friendships we have with them can actually improve self-control?In five studies, using a unique combination of controlled experiments examining overt consumer behavior and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we propose and show that the extent to which consumers identify a goal conflict between giving in to buying temptations on the one hand and the perceived consequences for maintaining satisfactory relationships with close friends on the other is a critical mediator of whether friendship reminders decrease or increase self-control. We further show that such a goal conflict is most likely for consumers with a chronic, compulsive tendency for uncontrolled, disinhibited acquisition and consumption—for consumers classified as compulsive buyers. For their non-compulsive counterparts, in contrast, acts of acquisition and consumption, even incidental disinhibited ones, are perceived to be less problematic in light of their friendships and hence do not induce a goal conflict to the same extent. Our findings provide insights into social influences on self-control and identify the concept of friendship reminders as a way to reduce a common type of dysfunctional consumer behavior. In addition to enhancing consumer well-being, reducing compulsive buying will substantially reduce handling costs for organizations. Hence, the findings are of academic, societal and managerial relevance.     

Compulsive consumption behaviours: investigating relationships among binge eating,compulsive clothing buying and fashion orientation

Compulsive buying and binge eating are examples of compulsive consumption behaviours, and for individuals with these behavioural tendencies, appearance and appearance‐related products seem to be of paramount importance. The purpose of this research was to determine if bulimic behaviours, fashion interest and the importance of being well dressed had a causal relationship with compulsive clothing buying. Subjects completed a compulsive clothing buying scale, the binging/control subscale of the Bulimia Test‐Revised and a fashion orientation scale. A path analysis indicated that binging behaviours and fashion interest significantly predicted compulsive clothing buying, while binging behaviours were not significantly related to fashion interest or the importance of being well dressed. Such findings may suggest that female consumers compulsively buy clothing for different reasons and/or motivations.     

Who pays your debt? An important question for understanding compulsive buying among American college students

Compulsive buying, defined as the inability to control purchasing behaviour, is higher among college‐aged students than it is among the general public. The present study examined the factors related to compulsive buying among college students and how those factors differ as a function of who paid the majority of their debt: themselves or their parents. A total of 628 undergraduates from the US completed a questionnaire containing items to measure compulsive buying, personality and financial responsibility. Results revealed that variables predictive of compulsive buying varied depending on the amount of credit card debt that the student was personally responsible for paying. Findings have implications for reducing compulsive buying in college students.     

Credit Card Use and Compulsive Buying Behavior

ABSTRACT

Compulsive buying behavior is a negative form of behavior that leads to overspending. In the current study, the author examines the applicability of a compulsive buying behavior scale developed by Valence et al. (1988) with Indian consumers. Compulsive buyers are likely to relate money to power, success, and status. Compulsive buyers perceive their purchases as a way of overcoming negative self-esteem and anxiety. The influence of consumers’ attitude toward credit cards, demographic factors, and credit card use on compulsive buying was studied. The findings suggest the compulsive behavior scale should be modified in the Indian context. Age, income, education, and marital status influence compulsive buying. Consumers’ attitude toward credit cards did not affect compulsive buying.     

Consumers’ personality and compulsive buying behavior: The role of hedonistic shopping experiences and gender in mediating-moderating relationships

Although existing research suggests that personality plays an important role in explaining compulsive buying behavior, there is still potential space to diagnose the theoretical mediational mechanisms underlying these effects or the extent to which these relationships vary across different consumer demographic groups. Indeed, the role of specific personality traits on hedonistic shopping experiences and compulsive buying still awaits an in-depth examination and clarification. Thus, the present research contributes to existing knowledge by: (1) examining hedonistic shopping experiences (HSE) as a mediating mechanism on compulsive buying (CB); and (2) investigating the role of gender as a moderating variable. Using a sample of 363 adults and data derived from the US market, we confirmed the role of hedonistic shopping experiences, a central trait, in mediating the effects of cardinal traits (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness and agreeableness), on compulsive buying, a surface trait. Specifically, neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience exerted a more indirect and positive influence on compulsive buying, while conscientiousness and agreeableness showed a stronger direct and negative relationship with hedonistic shopping experiences and compulsive buying. In addition, neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience were a stronger driver of compulsive buying for women than for men, while conscientiousness and agreeableness jointly decreased the importance of hedonistic shopping experiences, and more strongly inhibited compulsive buying for women than for men. The research findings offer important theoretical, public policy and marketing implications.     

“I'll buy what she's #wearing”: The roles of envy toward and parasocial interaction with influencers in Instagram celebrity-based brand endorsement and social commerce

Companies increasingly leverage Instagram as a channel for brand management, consumer services, and social commerce. This study addresses the dynamics of interaction among brand-related user-generated contents (UGC) posted on Instagram, social media-based brand communication with Instagram celebrities (parasocial interaction [PSI] and envy), and consumers' characteristics (social comparison tendency, compulsive buying tendency, and materialistic envy). Three between-subjects experiments (Experiment 1: N = 121; Experiment 2: N = 106; Experiment 3: N = 377) were conducted to test the effects of Instagram influencers and their branded-UGC on consumer behavior outcomes. Experiment 1 employed a 3 (branded content type [Instagram influencer's photo type]: selfies vs. photos taken by others vs. group photos) x 2 (gender: female vs. male) factorial design. Experiment 2 employed a 2 (content generator type: Instagram celebrity vs. mainstream celebrity) x 2 (gender: female vs. male) factorial design. Experiment 3 deployed a 2 (branded content type: photos listing products vs. photos showing models) x 2 (content generator type: commercial brand [corporate] vs. Instagram celebrity [human]) factorial design. Experiment 1 indicates Instagram influencers' photo types and gender moderate the effects of envy toward and PSI with them on consumers' intention to buy the products Instagram influencers are wearing. Experiment 2 shows content generator types and gender moderate the effects of envy and PSI on source trustworthiness perception. Experiment 3 demonstrates branded content types and content generator types moderate the effects of consumers' physical appearance social comparison tendency, compulsive buying tendency, and materialistic envy on brand trust. This study makes theoretical contributions to the literature on retailing and consumer services as well as provides managerial implications for Instafamous-based influencer marketing and social commerce in Web 2.0 environments.     

基于《电子商务发展“十一五”规划》的电商发展新动向展望

日前,我国首部《电子商务发展"十一五"规划》出台,这是我国电子商务发展的最高指导性文件,本文从解读《电子商务发展"十一五"规划》入手,以当前我国电子商务发展态势为现实基础,以《电子商务发展"十一五"规划》为理论依据,从微观角度对未来我国电子商务发展方向作出试探性展望。