Compulsive Buying Tendency as a Predictor of Attitudes and Perceptions

Allison Magee, Arizona State University

ABSTRACT
Compulsive buying is aphenomenon with serious societal and
pjersonal consequences. An exploratory study using scenarios of
consumer's pnirchasing behavior tested whether compulsive buying tendency influences identification and perceptions of others'
bdiavior. Empirical findings show ie compulsive buying tendency predicted identification with others' buying behavior. The
findings also supypxjrt the greater the compulsive buying tendency,
the more likely one would pjermit the use of credit cards for
purchases. However, the greater the compulsive buying tendency,
the more likely one is to view dysfunctional behavior as apjpropriate
was not supported by the findings. The discussion highlights
implications.

Whileflieliterature recognizes the presence and impjortance of

the socio-cultural environment in compulsive buying, none of the
literature focuses on how its characteristics shape pjeople's attitudes
towards buying behavior. If social nomis play an impxjrtant part in
encouraging compnilsive buying, it stands to reason that the creation
of compjulsive buyers will influence society and individuals' attitudes and norms. This paper repxrts a study which explores the
degree to which compjulsive buying tendency influences attitudes
toward buying/purchasing behavior. The pwpjer is divided into three
parts: the first part deals with the literature on compulsive buying
and what has been found about the phenomenon, the second part
details the study and its results, and in the thirdpart, implications are
discussed.

INTRODUCTION

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

I can't be out of money, I still have checks,
r d rather be at the mall.
Bom to shop.
Shop until you drop.
The bumpier stickers and slogans abound. It is commonplace
in our society to make light of pjeople who frequently shop and buy.
However, for many Americans the process of shopjping and buying
has caused their lives to go out of control. Much like substance
abusers, they get a "high" by buying items and are unable to control
their behavior. These p>eople are called compulsive buyers and it is
estimated that fifteen million Americans suffo- from this phenomenon (Arthur 1992).
Consumer researchers have been exploring this phenomenon
in an effort to describe, explain, and identify i t Psychology has
given us answers concerning the origins of the phenomenon. We
now know that compjulsive buying is a behavioral disorder that
causes an individual to continually make purchases regardless of
financial, social, or psychological consequences (Damon 1988;
Faber 1992; Krueger 1988; Faber and O'Guinn 1992; Scherhom
1990, Valence et al. 1988). Compulsive buying is the result of
dysfunction in any or all of the following pjrocesses: heredity,
family of origin, psychological, and society (Damon 1988, Faber
1992, Hirschman 1992; Scherhom 1990; Valence et al. 1988).
Compulsive buying is distinguished from functional buying by the
following characteristics: theitems arnotboughtfor theirintrinsic
value, there is denial to the negative consequences of the actions, it
is disruptive to the individual's Ufe, repjeated failures in attanpts to
control the behavior, and a urge or drive to buy (Faber, O'Guimi,
and Krych 1987; Krueger 1988; O'Guinn andFaber 1989; Valence
et al. 1988).
It has been proposed that the socio-cultural environmait is one
of the many factors in the creation of compulsive buyers (Damon
1988; Faber 1992; Hirschman 1992; Valence etal. 1988). People's
pierceptions of what is ap>propriate and inappropriate behavior are
based on societal, cultural, and individual norms. During the
socialization process, consumers learn what is acceptable and
unacceptable. If one's socialization process has been dysfunctional, that is, dysfunctional behavior has been modeled to the
individual, that pjerson will "grow up" believing the dysfunctional
behavior is "normal." Furthwmore, if the socio-cultural environment is conducive to this typje of dysfunctional behavior, the
individual's norm becomes reinforced.

Compulsive buying had been recorded in the early 1900's by

psychiatrists. However, it was not imtil the late 198O's that
compulsive buying began to receive much attention. All of the
compNilsive buying research has centered on defining and explaining the phenomenon. Faber and O'Guinn (1988) derived their
definition from the much broader category of compulsive consumption. They defined compulsiveconsumption "as arespjonse to
an uncontrollable drive or desire to obtain, use, or experience a
feeling, substance or activity that leads an individual to repetitively
engage in a behavior that will ultimately cause harm to the individual and/or to others."
That led to the description of compulsive buying as "chronic,
repetitive purchasing that becomes a primary response to negative
events or feelings (O'Guinn and Faber 1989)." d'Astous (1990)
provides a less extreme definition of compulsive buying "as a
generalized urge t buy in the consumer population and that
individuals who are extremely high on this factor may be called
compulsive buyers." d'Astous suggested that by dichotomizing
consumers into two categories, compjulsive or not compjulsive, that
we were missing much of the phenomenon. By ignoring what lies
between compulsive and functional, we may be overlooking information that would help us to better understand the phenomena and
its origins. First there is much evidence to supjpjort d'Astous's idea
of a generalized urge. For example, a barrage of advertising
messages constantly and strongly encourage consumers to buy and
to use credit Our country's burgeoning federal deficit pjorCrays our
culture's receptiveness to debt and overspending. The increase in
credit card debt often incurred by compulsive buyers, over the last
20 years is associated with the growth in the federal deficit Second,
this definition pxjrtrays buying or purchasing behavior on a continuum witli compulsive buying occupying one end and functional
purchasing at the other.
Nataraajan and Goff (1991) also view purchasing behavior on
a continuum. They described a continuum as based on motive and
control. Tlius, compulsive buyers are those who are high on motive
and low on control. Our cultural norms that encourage purchasing
behaviors affect the motivational component.
Several empirical studies have yielded interesting findings
about factors related to compulsive buyers. Consistent with the
work of Moschis and Churchill (1978), O'Guinn and Faber (1989,
1992) found that compulsive buyers tend to be younger. However,
Scherhom et al. (1990) did not find age to be a significant factor.
O'Cimnn and Faber (1989,1992)havealso found that women tend
to score higlier as compulsive buyers. This is supported by

590

Advances in Consumer Research

Volume 21, 1994

Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 21) 1591

d'Astous (1990) and Scherhom et al. (1990). Compnilsive buyers
have also been foundtohave lower self-esteem (O 'Guinn and Fber
1989).
Not much has been written in otir literature about the various
components thatmakeupthesocio-cultural environment factor that
contributes to compulsive buying. Valence et al. (1988) suggests
thatithasthreecomponents: culture, commercial environment, and
advertising. Probably the best treatment of this comes from the
pxjpular press. inabookbytheristJanetDamontitledSfcjpaAoiics
(1988). In it. Damon looks are tiiree aspects that have contributed
to Ihe creation of compulsive buyers in our society. She cites the
breakdown of family and community, advertising messages, and
that spiding has become a form of worship in our society. These
all combine to create an environment that reinforces one's beliefs,
attitudes, and personal norms that overspending and excess buying
is acceptable.
O'Guiim and Faber (1989) suggest that how society views
compulsive behavior will have impHcations for society's perception of the consequences, the amount of self-control a person is
expected to have with respect to purchasing, and the appropriate
treatment of the compulsive behavior.

METHODOLOGY
Instrument

A questionnaire was devised composed of three parts. Only

minimal information was provided to the subjects. Subjects were
informed that their help was needed in providing answers and
opinions for a study being done on purchasing and spending habits.
Conditions of anonymity and confidentiality were stated in addition
to being expressed on the cover sheets of the questionnaire. The
terms "compulsive" as well as "compulsive buying" were never
mentioned, as it was thought that this might sensitize the subjects.
The firstpart solicited pxarsonal and demographic information.
This information was used to describe the sample andtoanalyze for
differences due to age or sex.
The second part of the survey contained the Faber and O'Guinn
(1992) clinical screener for compulsive buying. The scale measures a p)erson's capacity foi' compulsive bu}ng on seven itiems.
Items are scored using afivepoint Likert scale. Faber and O'Gtiinn
(1992) report an alpha of .95 and the scale to be unidimensional.
In the third part of the questionnaire, the respondent was
presented with one of two scenarios, as a projective device to elicit
respondent's perceptions of certain purchasing behaviors. The two
Perceptions of Appropriate Behavior
conditions, labeled Consumer A and Consumer B, were randomly
Based on these findings, people differ in their degree of assigned to subjects. Forty-nme subjects received the Consumer B
compulsive buying tendency. Thes<; differences are derived from scenario and 45 received Consimier A.
socialization experiences, all within the context of a culture that is
In the two conditions, the subject read about a "recent gradup)ermissive about buying and spending behaviors.
ate" who had not yet found a job. fii both cases, the protagonist
Compulsive buyers are those who have animcontrollable urge received a credit card through themail. Neither the sex, age, marital
to repetitively engage in the act of buying and have been taught status, nor race of the coriisumer was mentioned to allow the
dysfunctional norms. They leam that this dysfunctional behavior respondent to project his/hisr self into the scaiario. The two
is "normal" and perceive their own and other's behavior accord- conditions were manipulated with respect to credit card usage.
ingly. Theiefore, compulsive buyers may view certain purchasing Scenario A portrays relatively dysfimctional purchasing behavior.
behaviors differently than people who are less compulsive. They Consumer A uses a credit card heavily and does nothave the income
may be more apt to view dysfunctional purchasing behaviors topayoff thepurchases. In the other condition, ConsumerB is more
"normal" and identify with those exhibiting this behavior. The responsible. He or she makes, similar purch.ases but uses cash from
forms the basis for the first hypothesis.
savings and demonstrates the activities of budgeting and comparison shopping.
H1 : The greater the tendencytov/ard compulsive buying, the
Following the scenario, the subject wsis asked how much they
more likely one will identify with the dysfunctional
identified with the consumer in the scenario. The item was a 7 point
purchasing behavior of othirs.
Likert scale ranging from stnmgly identify to do not identify at all.
Next, the subject was asked to rate the consumer on a ten-item
It also stands to reason that if a person views their own behavior as bii|x>lar adjective "responsibility" scale. These ten items were
apvpropriate even though it may not be, that they will tend to judge designed to capture the subject's projection of how responsible they
others exhitting the same purchasing behavior as behaving appro- viewed the actions of the consumer. The ten items were comprised
priately. Tliis yielded the second h>pothesis:
of various synonyms for the word responsibility. All ten items used
a 7 point Likert scale. As an additional indicator of p)ercq>tions,
subjects were also asked to what extent they agreed with the various
H2: The greater aperson' s compulsive buying tendency, the
behaviors exhibited by the consumer in the scenario. To
more likely the person is to view the dysfunctional
operationalize permissiveness concerning credit card usage, one
pu;:chasing behavior of others as appropriate.
question asked the respondent to indicate how much the consumer
Past research has shown a correlation between compulsive buyers should use the credit card. Tlie item was based on a 7 point Likert
and ^rational credit card usage (d'Astous 1990) as well as the fact scale anchored at one end by ilie credit card's limit and at the other
that compulsive buyers are likely to own more credit cards than end by none at all.
normal conuimiers (O'Guinn & Faber 1989). These results tend to
Two open-ended questions completed the questionnaire. These
indicate that compulsive buyers are more likely to condone the use questions prompted the subjan to describe ihe consumer as well as
of credit caids for purchases whethei" it is apjpropriate or not. This to relate their thoughts on what happened next in the scenario.
formed the third hypothesis:
Pretesting
H3 : The greater the compulsive f)uying tendency, the more
A pretest showed that the questions were understandable.
likely a pserson would be nlre permissive in the use of
Upon debriefing, none of the pretest subjects indicated that they
credit cards.
were aware of what the researchers were trying to accomplish.

592 / Compulsive Buying Tendency As A Predictor Of Attitudes And Perceptions

TABLE 1
Regression Analysis Results

Hypothesis
Tested

Equation

Standardized
Regression
Coefficient

r2

Hypothesis One: Identification

Entire sample
Scenario A
Scenario B

2.97-.46(CBT)
2.26-.55(CBT)
3.60-.38(CBT)

17.64
18.24
6.25

p<.001
p<.001
p<.05

-0.403
-0.55
-0.342

.162
.303
.117

0.35
0.06
0.73

p=.557
p=.814
p=.397

-0.061
0.036
-0.123

.004
.001
.015

Hypothesis Two: Responsibility

Entire Sample
Scenario A
Scenario B

33.63-.53(CBT)
25.15+. 19(CBT)
41.4-1.03(CBT)

Hypofliesis Three: Use of Credit Card

Entire Sample
Scenario A
Scenario B

2.76-.26(CBT)
2.69-.41(CBT)
2.83-.14(CBT)

9.53
16.15
1.13

p<.05
p<.001
p=.29

-0.306
-0.522
-0.153

.094
.273
.024

Age predicting CBT

Entire Sample

-1.41+.06(age)

11.09

p<.01

0.329

.109

Note: CBT=compulsive buying score

Sample
The questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample
of 95 respondents. Of the 95, 94 questionnaires were retumed,
yielding a retum rate of 98.8%. The sample was comprised of
college students from five upiper level marketing classes at a large
Southwestem university and various respondents from the community. Fifty-two or 55.3% were male and 44.7% or 42 were female.
The mean age of the sample was 26.75. Seventy-nine point eight
percent of the sample was under the age of thirty.

On the compulsive buying scale, the mean score was .142.

The scores ranged from -4.19 to 330. Faber and O'Guinn (1992)
classify compulsive buyers as those who score less than or equal to
-1.34. Fifteen or 16% of the respondents fell into this range.
A factor analysis was piormsd on the ten item respxmsibity
scale. All items loaded cm one factor with values of .70 or higher
and were retained for anal3^is. Coefficient alpha was an acceptable
.94 for the ten items.

the responsibility scale. Regression analysis did not confirm this

hj^pwthesis. See Table 1 for results. Furthermore, it was found to
be non-significant in an analysis by condition. Compulsive buying
score did not predict the perceived responsibility of the scenarios'
consumers. However, Consumer B was p>erceived as more responsible than A, thus affirming that the manipulation was effective.
See Table 2 for results.
The third hypothesis proposed that compulsive buying tendency would predict llow much the respondent would allow the
consumer to charge onfliecredit card. The regression equation was
significant and the results are reported in Table 1. Compulsive
buying tendency predicted how much flie respondents allowed the
consumer to use the credit card. An analysis by condition yielded
slightly different results. For the more dysfunctional scenario,
compnilsive buying tendency predicted how much the respondent
would allow the consumer to use the credit card. However, for the
more "appropriate" consumer, compulsive buying tendency did not
predict how much the respondent would allow the consumer to use
the credit card. Results are reported in Table 1.

Hypothesis Testing
Regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis of whether
compjulsive buyers identified more withflieconsumers than people
who were not as compnilsive. The compulsive buying score was
used to predict to what extent the respondent identified with the
consumer in the scenario. The analysis was conducted first for the
entire sample and then by condition. The regression equation was
significant. Table 1 summarizes the results of this analysis. Compulsive buying tendency does predict the respondent's identification with the consumer portrayed in flie scenario.
Analyzing by condition, flie compulsive buying tendency
predicted the respondent's identification with the consumer for
each scenario. Results are reported in Table 1.
The second hypofliesis proposed fliat compulsive buying
tendency would predict the respondent's rating of the scenario on

Open Ended Responses

Two open-ended questions asked the respxridents to describe
what happ)ened next in the scenario and to describe the consumer.
The answers were coded by the researcher and several themes
identified. Three categories describing the endings to the scenario
were determined: positive consequences (e.g. got a good job, paid
off bills), negative consequences (e.g. went bankrupt, credit rating
declined, took a job beneath standards), and neutral consequences.
Two main categories described the consumers: irresponsible (e.g.
doesn't think about consequences, immature, spontaneous) and
responsible (e.g. plans ahead, reliable, careful). Two judges were
flien asked to recode the data using the new categories. The
interjudge reliability rating was an acceptable 86.4%. An anova
analysis showed the endings proposed for consumer A were significanfly different from consumer B. Table 2 reports the results. Thus,

RESULTS

Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 21) 1593

TABLE 2
Anova Analysis Results
Anova

Means
Dependent
Variable

Scenario Ending

1.28

1.75

9.02

p<.01

91

Consumer Description

1.10

1.36

8.62

p<.01

86

25.27

41.65

46.91

p<.001

89

Responsibility

Note: For scenario raiding. Negative consequences=l. Positive consequences=2, Neutral=3; For (consumer description,
Irresponsible=l, Responsible=2.

respondents viewed Consumer A's behavior as having more negative consequences than Consumer B 's behavior. An anova analysis
also showed that the descriptions for Consumer A were significantly different from Consumer B. These results are reported in
Table 2. However, looking at each consumer separately, it was
found that descriptions of Consumer B revealed a responsible/
irresponsible dichotomy.
Additional Findings
Past research has found that age and sex may be important
factors in determining one's compulsiveness (d'Astous and
Tremblay 1988; Moschis and Churchill 1978; O'Guinn and Faber
1989,1992; Scherhom et al. 1990). Through regression analysis,
age was found to be a significant factor in predicting one's compulsiveness. See Table 1 forresults. Consistent withpreviousresearch
(d'Astous and Tremblay 1988; O'Guinn and Faber 1989), the
younger a respondent, the higher his or her compulsive buying
score. There may be some limits to this finding. Sampling
procedures yielded a relatively young sample. Since age can be a
predictor of compulsiveness, future research may want to utilize
purposeful sampling procedures to avoid imbalances in the age
factor. An analysis was performed to check for a interaction
between age and the the manipulation of low/high responsibility.
The results were non-signficant indicating there was no interaction
present
With regards to sex, an anova was performed. For this sample,
there is no significant difference between genders for the compulsive buying score. The F value (1,92) was 2.28 for p=.135. An
analysis was performed to check for a interaction between sex and
the the manipulation of low/high responsibility. The results were
non-signficant indicating there was no interaction present. These
results do not support the previous findings of d'Astous and
Tremblay (1988), O'Guinn and Faber (1989), and Scherhom et al.
(1990). One explanation may be that this study's sample was not
self-selected unlike previous research. O'Guinn and Faber (1989)
suggest that women are more likely to seek help conceming
personal issues and would be more aware of compulsive buying.
They attribute their finding that women score higher as compulsive
buyers to methodological artifact.
Summary
The onpirical findings showed that compulsive buyers are
more likely to identify with the dysfunctional purchasing behavior
of others. ITie study also found that the greater a person's compulsive buying tendency, the more they condone the use of a credit card
for purchases. The study did not support the hypothesis that the

greater a person's compulsive buying tendency, the more likely the

Ijerson is to view dysfunctional purchasing behavior as appropriate.
Supporting previous work, age was found to be apredictor of one's
compulsive buying tendency. However, the study did not confirm
that sex was a predictor of one's compulsive buying tendency.

DISCUSSION
This study was concemed with to what degree one's compulsiveness influence's one's p^ceptions of what is appropriate and
inappropriate behavior. While the study showed that a relationship
exists between one's compulsiveness and how one identifies with
and perceives others' behavior, there are several limitations to it
The use of such arelatively young sample when age has been shown
to be a pjredictor of compulsiveness may have biased the results.
Second, different results may be obtained if different scenarios are
utilized. Finally, a univariatei analysis may provide only part of the
picture. Future research should include multivariate analysis to
draw a more complex picture.
The results of the study support the use of the scenarios as
stimuli to elicit respondents' attitudes and pwceptions toward
ccanpulsive buying. As a projective device, the scenarios provide
a way to portray compulsive buying without having to label it as
such and thus, biasing responses. Other types of dependent measures might be used to determine the different types of attitudes that
people hold.
In contrast to previous research, sex was not found to be a
significant factor in determining compulsive buying score. More
work should be conducted to investigate this relationship.
Based on the study's findings, it would appear that a person's
compulsive buying tendency is related to his/her identification
with, and attitudes towards, dysfunctional bu)ring behavior. Additionally, the study suggests that the greater a person* s compulsive
buying tendency, the more permissive their attitude toward dysfunctional buying behavior. This has many implications for society. First of all, if society is helping to create an environment that
enables compulsive buying, and since it has been shown that
compulsive buyers have more permissive attitudes towards dysfunctional behavior, societal norins and attitudes may be modified
over time to reflect this dysfunctional orientation. Thus, societal
attitudes and norms could become more permissive over time, thus
creating even a more friendly environment for this phenomenon.
The study did not confirm the hypothesis that the greater a
person's compulsive buying tendency, the more likely they are to
view others' dysfunctional purchasing behavior as appropriate.
However, this is consistent with the idea that compulsive buyijig is
a compulsion and riot a permanent inability to distinguish between

594 / Compulsive Buying Tendency As A Predictor Of Attitudes And Perceptions

apjpropriate and inapjpropriate pjurchasing behavior. Ulis is especiaUy saUent for those developing treatment programs for compulsive buyers as it indicates that rehabilitatian is possible.
The lighthearted vein in which saciety treats the phenomenon
of campulsive buying may reinfarce the attimdes held by those
afflicted. The humotous manner in which the town drunk was
portrayed in the fifties and sixties (e.g. Otis on the Andy Griffith
Show) is an excellent example af saciety reinfarcing denial. If we
are laughing at i t mast likdy there are thase wha wiU feel they da
nat have a problem.
This smdy explared the influence af campulsive buying tendency an identificatian with and pjerceptians af athers' buying
behaviars. By stadying these implications, we wiU gain much
needed knawledge. The time is ripe far research in this area as
cancem aver the federal deficit has pjeaple questianing aur cultural
values. Compulsive buying is a phenomenon that has and will
cantinue to seriously affect our society.

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