Balancing the Basket: The Role of Shopping Basket Composition in Embarrassment

Abstract

When consumers anticipate feeling embarrassed by a purchase, they often purchase additional products to mitigate the threat. The current research demonstrates that nonembarrassing additional purchases do not necessarily attenuate anticipated embarrassment but may, paradoxically, exacerbate it instead. Results further show that when additional purchases do attenuate anticipated embarrassment, they can do so independently of their effect on the salience of the embarrassing product. Five experiments provide converging evidence that additional purchases attenuate (vs. exacerbate) anticipated embarrassment to the extent that they are perceived to counterbalance (vs. complement) the undesired identity communicated during purchase. These results contrast with the traditional explanation for this strategy, which holds that additional purchases mitigate embarrassment because they compete with the embarrassing product for observers' attention. This research contributes to a more precise understanding of consumer coping and impression management by identifying shopping basket composition as an important factor in purchase embarrassment.

Construction and validation of the in-store privacy preference scale

“…Indeed, a growing body of research suggests that consumers disguise purchases that cause embarrassment or pose risks to their desired public identity (Blair and Roese, 2013;Brackett, 2004;Dahl et al, 2001;Nichols et al, 2014;Picca and Joos, 2009). For example, men buying pornographic magazines at a convenience store request a bag more often than men purchasing other types of magazines (Lewittes and Simmons, 1975).…”

“…However, numerous studies suggest that shopping experiences can be daunting because they spur unwanted real or imagined normative scrutiny (Dahl et al, 2001;Parrot and Smith 1991;Picca and Joos, 2009), during which times privacy may be desirable. Several of these studies suggest that consumers prefer and are motivated to control these shopping experience in a manner that helps them preserve their self-esteem, avoid negative judgments from others, and achieve a degree of anonymity (e.g., Blair and Roese, 2013;Brackett 2004;Dahl et al, 2001;George and Murcott, 1992;Goodwin, 1991;McGrath and Otnes, 1995). Thus the notion of a preference for shopping privacy seems well recognized.…”

A Influência do Constrangimento do Consumidor no Processo de Compra

“…Essas fases incluem a identificação da necessidade (por exemplo, de preservativos), a busca de informações (perguntar ao balconista), as situações de compra (de revistas pornográficas em banca), pagamento (quando o cartão de crédito é recusado), uso de produtos e serviços (serviço de depilação ou de motel) e descarte (dispositivo de teste de gravidez) (Blair & Roese, 2013;Brackett, 2004;Lau-Gesk & Drolet, 2008;Nichols et al, 2012;Picca & Joos, 2009). …”

“…Neste caso, comprar um produto que contradiz a imagem que o consumidor quer passar aos outros pode gerar constrangimento quando a compra é observável (Dahl et al, 2001;Keltner & Buswell, 1997;Lau-Gesk & Drolet, 2008). Por exemplo, o consumidor se sente constrangido ao usar cupons ao antecipar o que o caixa pode pensar (Brumbaugh & Rosa, 2009) ou quando tem que comprar produtos como preservativos, pensando que os outros podem avaliá-lo como promíscuo (Dahl et al, 2001;Lupton, 1994), ou quando o produto evidencia uma situação inconveniente, como por exemplo, diarreia (Blair & Roese, 2013).…”

“…Grande parte da literatura sobre constrangimento pode ser dividida em três temas: (a) situações de compra e consumo que antecedem o constrangimento (Blair & Roese, 2013;Brumbaugh & Rosa, 2009;Dahl et al, 2001;Picca & Joos, 2009), (b) situações em que o consumidor age para evitar experimentar esta emoção no futuro (Bell, 2009;Grace, 2007;Miller, 2001) e (c) como o consumidor se comporta no momento em que está constrangido (Brackett, 2004;Ekebas & Arndt, 2015;Picca & Joos, 2009). …”