Balancing the balance: Self-control mechanisms and compulsive buying

Horváth, Csilla; Büttner, Oliver B.; Belei, Nina; Adıgüzel, Feray

doi:10.1016/j.joep.2015.05.004

Cited by 28 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…A possible explanation was that even though males in the present sample reported greater psychological distress, Chinese males might still exhibit a preference to engage in other more gender-stereotypical avoidance coping activities like pathological gambling or substance use ( Cheung, 2014 ; Shek, Ma, & Tang, 2012 ), compared with buying. On the other hand, buying in order to avoid having to deal directly with stress and mood disturbances ( Horváth et al., 2015 ; Otero-López & Villardefrancos, 2014 ) might be more applicable to females, given social perceptions of “retail therapy” as a largely female activity. Nonetheless, more research is needed to understand the gender discrepancy in this pathway.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, compulsive buyers tend to attach emotional concepts to consumption-related items (e.g., see Kyrios, McQueen, & Moulding, 2013 ). In this perspective, compulsive buying is viewed as an avoidance coping strategy ( Horváth, Büttner, Belei, & Adıgüzel, 2015 ; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984 ; Otero-López & Villardefrancos, 2014 ) that provides only temporary relief from negative affectivity and stress ( Rodríguez-Villarino, González-Lorenzo, Fernández-González, Lameiras-Fernández, & Foltz, 2006 ; Williams, 2012a ). The transient stress-relieving and mood-repairing effects are, however, strongly reinforcing, prompting increasingly addictive compulsive buying whenever emotional distress arises ( Dittmar, Long, & Bond, 2007 ; Grant, Potenza, Weinstein, & Gorelick, 2010 ; Potenza, 2009 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender Differences in Pathways to Compulsive Buying in Chinese College Students in Hong Kong and Macau

Ching¹,

Tang²,

Wu³

et al. 2016

J Behav Addict

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Background and aimsThe addictive nature of compulsive buying implies that mood disturbances, stress, and cognitive biases that underlie compulsive buying might operate in ways similar in both genders. In the current study, we aimed to test hypothetical pathways of mood compensation and irrational cognitions, which may explain compulsive buying tendencies. We also examined potential gender differences in these pathways.MethodsTwo-hundred and thirty-two male (age: M = 20.30, SD = 1.74) and 373 female Chinese college students (age: M = 19.97, SD = 1.74) in Hong Kong and Macau completed measures assessing compulsive buying, psychological distress, avoidance coping, materialism, and buying-related cognitions. Mediation analyses via a structural equation modeling approach explained by Cheung (2007, 2009) were conducted, with gender as a grouping variable.ResultsThere was a gender difference in the mood compensation pathway; avoidance coping partially mediated the link between psychological distress and compulsive buying severity in females only. On the other hand, the irrational cognitive pathway, in which irrational buying-related cognitions fully mediated the link between materialism and compulsive buying severity, was supported for both genders. There was no gender difference in the extent of mediation within the irrational cognitive pathway, and the mediation effect within the irrational cognitive pathway was larger than that within the mood compensation pathway for both genders.ConclusionsMood compensation processes in compulsive buying might be female specific, and secondary to irrational cognitions, which were gender invariant. Gender-dependent mechanisms and irrational cognitions should be emphasized in compulsive buying treatment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Differences in Pathways to Compulsive Buying in Chinese College Students in Hong Kong and Macau

Ching¹,

Tang²,

Wu³

et al. 2016

J Behav Addict

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“…Similarly to other addictive behaviors, this phenomenon may be caused by deficits in top-down control, particularly by diminished ventral striatal activity during anticipatory phases of reward processing (Potenza, 2014) that hints to a neurobiological component of PB. Recent research by Horváth, Büttner, Belei, and Adigüzel (2015) considering diminished self-control in PB supports this idea. Individuals with PB possess the goal to control their buying behavior, but they are not able to manage their impulses for longer periods (Horváth et al., 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Recent research by Horváth, Büttner, Belei, and Adigüzel (2015) considering diminished self-control in PB supports this idea. Individuals with PB possess the goal to control their buying behavior, but they are not able to manage their impulses for longer periods (Horváth et al., 2015). For them, the urges to buy are much stronger and occur more frequently than in prudent consumers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Impulsive Behaviors in Patients With Pathological Buying

Zander¹,

Claes²,

Voth³

et al. 2016

J Behav Addict

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AimTo investigate impulsive behaviors in pathological buying (PB).MethodsThe study included three groups matched for age and gender: treatment seeking outpatients with PB (PB+), treatment seeking psychiatric inpatients without PB (PB−), and a healthy control group (HC). PB was assessed by means of the Compulsive Buying Scale and by the impulse control disorder (ICD) module of the research version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-ICD). All participants answered questionnaires concerning symptoms of borderline personality disorder, self-harming behaviors, binge eating and symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In addition, comorbid ICDs were assessed using the SCID-ICD.ResultsThe PB+ and PB− groups did not differ with regard to borderline personality disorder or ADHD symptoms, but both groups reported significantly more symptoms than the HC group. Frequencies of self-harming behaviors did not differ between the three groups. Patients with PB were more often diagnosed with any current ICD (excluding PB) compared to those without PB and the HC group (38.7% vs. 12.9% vs. 12.9%, respectively, p=.017).DiscussionOur findings confirm prior research suggesting more impulsive behaviors in patients with and without PB compared to healthy controls. The results of the questionnaire-based assessment indicate that outpatients with PB perceive themselves equally impulsive and self-harm as frequently as inpatients without PB; but they seem to suffer more often from an ICD as assessed by means of an interview.

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“…Consumers are sometimes aware of their lack of self‐control (Horváth, Büttner, Belei, & Adıgüzel, ; Thompson, Locander, & Pollio, ), and willing to act against it. According to Hoch and Loewenstein (, p. 493), “Consumers talk about being driven to buy something against their own better judgment, and, as a result, we commonly observe attempts by consumers to control their own behaviour (…).” For example, Lades () discusses different strategies to overcome impulsive consumption, one of which is avoiding critical situations.…”

Section: Nudging and The Concept Of Self‐nudgingmentioning

confidence: 99%

I nudge myself: Exploring ‘self‐nudging’ strategies to drive sustainable consumption behaviour

Torma

Aschemann‐Witzel

Thøgersen

2017

Int J Consumer Studies

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Failure to translate intentions into actual behaviour is known in many areas of human action. The intention to consume more sustainable is no exception and often fails to be translated into behaviour. Behavioural research emphasized the use of nudges as one of the remedies to ensure that most of the people's daily choices on what to buy or what to eat end up being in their best interest. The behavioural economics literature usually focusses on interventions supporting automatic and unconscious processes, mostly being the result of cognitive shortcuts produced by System 1 (e.g., by setting better default options or making existing contexts more intuitive and easy to handle). However, this begs the question, what consumers themselves can do to ensure a consumption behaviour that is more in line with their pro-environmental intentions? This article explores a possible 'self-nudging' strategy of consumers signing up for an organic box scheme subscription, whereby they change a large number of small daily choices to a larger decision on exclusively getting organic groceries delivered to their doorstep. It does so based on qualitative indepth interviews with 10 customers of such an organic box scheme. The analysis reveals that signing up for the subscription scheme indeed means that low-involvement decisions in regular supermarkets are replaced by a high-involvement decision on subscribing to an organic box scheme. In this context of the organic box scheme, the self-nudging phenomenon is in fact the active choice of consumers to set their default consumption option to 'organic' in the long run. K E Y W O R D Sconsumer decision making, intention-behaviour gap, organic, qualitative, self-nudging, sustainable food choice

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Balancing the balance: Self-control mechanisms and compulsive buying

Cited by 28 publications

References 40 publications

Gender Differences in Pathways to Compulsive Buying in Chinese College Students in Hong Kong and Macau

Gender Differences in Pathways to Compulsive Buying in Chinese College Students in Hong Kong and Macau

Impulsive Behaviors in Patients With Pathological Buying

I nudge myself: Exploring ‘self‐nudging’ strategies to drive sustainable consumption behaviour

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