Drawing on the theoretical foundation of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, this article develops an expanded conceptualization and new measure of consumers' proclivity to buy compulsively. Compulsive buying is defined as a consumer's tendency to be preoccupied with buying that is revealed through repetitive buying and a lack of impulse control over buying. This measure includes dimensions of both obsessive-compulsive and impulse-control disorders. By measuring income-dependent items or consequences of compulsive buying separately from the compulsive-buying scale, we develop a measure that has a strong theoretical foundation, well-documented psychometric properties, and an ability to be applied to general consumer populations. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

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Despite placing items in virtual shopping carts, online shoppers frequently abandon them -an issue that perplexes online retailers and has yet to be explained by scholars. Here, we identify key drivers to online cart abandonment and suggest cognitive and behavioral reasons for this non-buyer behavior. We show that the factors influencing consumer online search, consideration, and evaluation play a larger role in cart abandonment than factors at the purchase decision stage. In particular, many customers use online carts for entertainment or as a shopping research and organizational tool, which may induce them to buy at a later session or via another channel. Our framework extends theories of online buyer and non-buyer behavior while revealing new inhibitors to buying in the Internet era. The findings offer scholars a broad explanation of consumer motivations for cart abandonment. For retailers, the authors provide suggestions to improve purchase conversion rates and multi-channel management.Keywords Online shopping cart abandonment . Online buyer behavior theory . E-tail . E-commerce To more fully understand buyer behavior, it is crucial to also examine consumer "non-buying" behavior. Nonbuying behavior is especially apparent in an online retailing context, where many shoppers place items in their virtual shopping carts yet do not complete the purchase-thereby abandoning their cart. Known as virtual or online shopping cart abandonment, we define this behavior as consumers' placement of item(s) in their online shopping cart without making a purchase of any item(s) during that online shopping session.Industry studies report that 88% of online shoppers have abandoned their electronic cart in the past (Forrester Research 2005). As an ongoing "non-buyer" behavior, online shoppers abandon their carts approximately a quarter of the time. Specifically, Andersen Consulting and Forrester Research each show abandonment rates of 25%, and Jupiter Communications triangulates this finding by documenting a shopping cart abandonment rate of 27% (Tarasofsky 2008).