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Materialism
Materialism and compulsive and
buying behaviour compulsive
buying
The role of consumer credit card use and
impulse buying 1239
Debasis Pradhan, D. Israel and Amit Kumar Jena Received 1 September 2017
Department of Marketing, XLRI, Jamshedpur, India Revised 17 January 2018
27 March 2018
4 June 2018
Accepted 16 July 2018
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of materialism on credit card (CC) use and
impulsive buying (IB) and compulsive buying (CB) behaviour. Furthermore, it assesses whether CC use and
IB behaviour mediate the relationship between materialism and CB behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from adult consumers with CCs via an online
survey. For model assessment, a two-step approach was followed. First, a measurement model was created
and tested using maximum likelihood estimation and validity of the study constructs was assessed. This was
followed by structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses.
Findings – Materialism influences CC use and increases the propensity for IB (IB), which then precipitates
CB habits. Reduction in CC use can decrease both IB and CB. Out of the six hypotheses assessed, only the one
linking CC use to CB was not supported, requiring further investigation. Mediation relationships were
identified, where CC use and IB act as mediators between materialism and CB.
Research limitations/implications – The paper captured responses from adult consumers of India.
Hence, the findings may not be generalised across geographies and age groups. The study contributes to the
debate on the impulsive–CB paradigm by showing that impulsive and CB are not distinct constructs. In fact,
the former could lead to the latter.
Practical implications – CC use in itself need not necessarily lead to CB. The only way CC could cause
CB is through IB. Hence, firms must promote responsible buying habits, as there has been an increase in
IB, which, if not controlled, could lead to debt trap resulting from CB. The findings of this paper will help
both retailers and CC institutions to better understand the spending pattern of consumers. Those will
also help the policymakers to chalk out ways to the curb indiscriminate issuance of CCs without
educating users.
Originality/value – The findings confirm that IB and CB exist on two ends of a continuum, and not as two
distinct theoretical constructs. IB acts as a mediator between CC use and CB as well as between materialism
and CB.
Keywords India, Mediation, Materialism, Compulsive buying, Credit card use, Impulsive buying
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Cashless transactions facilitated by credit cards (CCs), a boon for the current consumerist
and materialistic society, have been gradually becoming popular. Originating in
developed countries, CCs have gained rapid popularity and acceptability in emerging
markets such as India and China. With $1.3 trillion GDP, India, the fastest growing
economy in the world today, is set to become the fifth largest economy (Bruce, 2017).
The number of CC holders in India stood at 30.86m as of May 2017 (Sandeep, 2017).
The potential penetration of this product is very high in the future. “Materialism has been
viewed as the importance one attaches to worldly possessions” (Belk, 1984, p. 291), and
has been reported to influence consumer spending and CC consumption (Pinto et al., 2000;
Watson, 2003). It is a fact that we all live in a consumer culture where consumption is
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing
viewed as a way to express and create self-identity or social status (Phau and Woo, 2008). and Logistics
CCs arguably represent a type of possession, which, apart from being status symbols in Vol. 30 No. 5, 2018
pp. 1239-1258
themselves, have the additional power to gratify one’s desire to possess more, even in the © Emerald Publishing Limited
1355-5855
absence of cash. DOI 10.1108/APJML-08-2017-0164
APJML CC payments are painless compared to the cash equivalent, and therefore weaken
30,5 impulse control, thus leading to impulsive buying (IB) (Thomas et al., 2011), which has been
defined as unintended, immediate and unreflective purchases ( Jones et al., 2007).
This unplanned behaviour, if not checked, can eventually precipitate compulsive buying
(CB), a phenomenon that has been described as harmful to society (Palan et al., 2011).
Consumption in pursuit of higher status in society and more happiness has tremendously
1240 increased CC usage (Dickler, 2008).
Several studies have examined the ways in which materialism affects CC usage
patterns (Roberts and Jones, 2001), CB (d’Astous, 1990) and IB (Podoshen and
Andrzejewski, 2012). In addition, numerous studies have examined the impact of CC use
on IB (Pirog and Roberts, 2007; Thomas et al., 2011), as well as on CB (Phau and
Woo, 2008; Palan et al., 2011; Khare, 2013, 2016). However, a review of the literature
reveals that there is no consensus among researchers regarding the relationships between
materialism, CC use, IB and CB.
Additionally, past studies (Gupta, 2011; Chaudhuri and Haldar, 2005; Cleveland et al.,
2009) have shed light on the relationship between materialism and culture, as well as
between materialism and regional differences in the purchasing habits of consumers.
Liberalisation and globalisation have changed the economic landscape of India
(Durvasula and Lysonski, 2008) as well as culture (Gupta, 2011) rapidly. Such economic
prosperity and cultural transformation, in turn, have reportedly affected CC use
(Chibber, 2010), impulse buying (Kacen and Lee, 2002) filled with multi-sensory
stimulation and enjoyment (Hirshman and Holbrook, 1982). However, the results evince a
lack of unanimity, thus warranting further studies with the cardinal focus on theoretical
contribution. The current size of the Indian economy and the pace of development will
have far-reaching implications for researchers, CC institutions and policymakers.
Moreover, the mediating roles of CC use and IB in materialism and CB have not been
adequately studied, in spite of their importance.
Therefore, the main objective of the paper is to construct a conceptual model and
empirically examine the relationships among materialism, CC use, and IB and CB.
The inclusion of both IB and CB behaviours in the same study enables exploration not only
of the relationship, but also the distinction, between the two. This paper investigates the
mediating role of CC use on the relationship between materialism and CB, and of IB on
the relationship between CC use and CB. Additionally, this study has been undertaken in the
context of India because it is an emerging market in which increased income and modernity
have influenced the consumers’ buying behaviour.
The next section comprises a literature review on materialism, CC use, IB, CB and the
relationships amongst them. Subsequently, a conceptual framework and a set of hypotheses
that examine the mediating role of IB and CC use are provided. This is followed by a
description of the research methods used, a discussion of the results including some findings
that are counter-intuitive and their implications are described. Limitations of this study and
future research directions are provided in the concluding section.

Literature review and hypotheses development

Impact of materialism on CC use
“Materialism has been defined as the importance one attaches to worldly possessions”
(Belk, 1984, p. 291). While treating materialism as a trait, Belk (1984) proposes three
measures such as possessiveness, non-generosity and envy. Materialism has
alternatively been conceptualised as a value and subsequently described as a set of
beliefs that indicate that possessions are central to an individual’s happiness (Richins
and Dawson, 1992). More recently, interrelationship among social stratification,
materialism, post-materialism and consumption has been examined (Wang, 2016).
Acquisition as the pursuit of happiness, possession-defined success and acquisition Materialism
centrality has been described as the three dimensions of materialism (Richins and and
Dawson, 1992). Materialistic lifestyle appears to be the way of modern living in compulsive
developed countries. An orientation towards materialistic values is viewed as central to
the current consumer culture (Kasser and Kanner, 2004). However, factors that influence buying
consumers’ materialism vary across cultures (Kassim et al., 2016).
In the twenty-first century, when spending is a virtue CC is an important instrument that 1241
could further the current global possession obsession (Pinto et al., 2000). It has been
previously reported (Pinto et al., 2000), and later confirmed (Pirog and Roberts, 2007), that
materialism increased CC usage. Shopping habit of materialistic college students was
generally influenced by the possession of CCs (Roberts and Jones, 2001), who were found to
spend more compared to those using other means of payment (Soman, 2001).
On the basis of the foregoing discussion, this paper argues that CCs represent
possessions in themselves, which are used by individuals for self-expression and
self-identity, and that this also applies in emerging markets such as India where a
minority possess CCs. In addition, CCs are seen as the natural extension of one’s self
(Belk, 1985) and as instruments for furthering one’s goals and obtaining materialistic
objects. Most studies related to materialism and CCs have been conducted on regular
college students and in western settings. Moreover, materialism is likely to vary across
cultures (Ogden and Cheng, 2011). There is also a lack of agreement among various
researchers on the relationship between materialism and CC usage across segments based
on characteristics such as income, educational qualifications, gender and place of
residence. Thus, the following hypothesis is posited in a culturally and demographically
different context from the west:
H1. Materialism increases CC usage.

Impact of CC use on IB
Initially, IB was viewed as an unplanned activity (West, 1951) that is carried out without
being linked to any pre-recognised problem (Cobb and Hoyer, 1986). It has been argued
that not all unplanned purchases are necessarily made based on impulse (Hoch and
Loewenstein, 1991). IB could also arise due to certain in-store stimuli that impacts buying
behaviour (Youn and Faber, 2000). Evidence has shown that in some cases, habitual
purchases, which involve little deliberation, can also be considered unplanned
(Verplanken and Herabadi, 2001). At the same time, some purchase situations may
involve a higher degree of planning, and therefore, low impulse intensity (Shapiro, 1992).
Overall, there has been general agreement that all IB purchases are unplanned, but not all
unplanned buying is impulsive (Iyer, 1989). Rook and Hoch (1985) describe IB as a
complex and extraordinary phenomenon that is more emotional than rational. A divergent
view presented both planned and unplanned purchases as activities accompanied by
emotional and cognitive reactions, but not necessarily as the determinants of IB behaviour
(Piron, 1993).
While Beatty and Ferrell (1998) report that the availability of money directly impacts IB,
Feinberg (1986) contends that CCs facilitate spending by their mere presence. However,
Hunt et al. (1990) failed to replicate this finding. Thus, further studies need to examine the
relationship between CC use and IB.
Impulsive buyers are more likely to be receptive to unexpected and sudden ideas while
shopping and hence, respond to spontaneous stimuli pertaining to buying (Bearden and
Netemeyer, 1999). The use of CCs generally makes it easier to spend beyond one’s means,
thereby activating IB that may not have occurred if only cash was available. The increase in
IB may be related to a socio-cultural transformation taking place within a country such as
APJML India, especially after opening up of the economy. This is manifested in the changing role of
30,5 women, increased consumer spending and a burgeoning middle class (Venkatesh, 1994). In
this regard, those with easy access to CCs are likely to have a proclivity towards acquiring
high-value goods on impulse and hence the following hypothesis is advanced:
H2. CC use increases IB.

1242
Impact of materialism on CB
Studies on materialism and CB have gained importance as far as researchers and
policymakers are concerned, because it has been observed that both influence the behaviour
and well-being of consumers (Roberts et al., 2003). CB is defined as spending beyond one’s
needs and means (Mittal et al., 2008). It has also been defined as a psychiatric disorder in
which individuals lose control over their buying behaviour and experience an irresistible
desire for excessive buying to provide relief from mental disquiet despite adverse
consequences (Dittmar, 2004). “Those who endorse materialistic values have been reported to
have more financial worries and a greater tendency towards CB” (Garðarsdóttir and Dittmar,
2012, p. 471), as compared to others. Belk (1995) argues that materialists are addicted to
spending, and feels envious when others display greater possessions, a postulate corroborated
by Watson (2003). Therefore, an increase in both consumption and personal possessions is
linked to each other, and this relationship in turn signals their higher status in society and
thereby increases their happiness. Today’s consumer culture embraces materialism and is one
of the primary factors contributing to CB behaviour (Belk, 1985). It is further argued that
materialism is expected to drive the buying behaviour of individuals to enhance their
self-esteem and fulfil their desires. Thus, materialists equipped with CCs are likely to exhibit
CB irrespective of their income. Indian consumers have been described as possessing high
materialistic tendencies (Gupta, 2011) which could impact their predisposition towards global
brands (Khare et al., 2012). Hence, the following hypothesis is posited:
H3. Materialism increases CB.

Impact of materialism on IB
Individuals who value material objects are presumed to obtain a variety of possessions to
enhance and display their position, status and power in society. They tend to exhibit a
positive attitude towards impulsive purchases (Tatzel, 2002) because such possessions
make them happy and goods purchased impulsively reflect self-identity (Featherstone, 1991;
Dittmar et al., 1995). Impulsive spending may be driven by a consumer’s situational factors
(Vohs and Faber, 2007) or temporary psychological state (Rook and Fisher, 1995), and is
associated with materialism (Richins and Dawson, 1992). The pleasure-seeking impulse
buyers tend to value gratification (utility) from an immediate impulse purchase more than
the disutility from the long-term downsides ( Ramanathan and Menon, 2006; Ubel, 2009).
Thus, it is surmised that highly materialistic individuals take a “buy now, pay later”
approach to consuming on impulse in order to maintain their social status and foster
hedonic goals. Additionally, both materialism and IB may vary with culture and economy
(Pradipto et al., 2016; Kassim et al., 2016). Hence, the following hypothesis is posited:
H4. Materialism increases IB.

Impact of CC use on CB
CCs represent ready retail loans for individuals across the globe. The growth of CC use is
parallel to the growth of other types of consumer credit, such as bank overdrafts, personal
loans, etc. Although CCs fuel consumer spending (Warwick and Mansfield, 2000) and offer
flexibility in terms of purchasing power, they also have negative impacts. The development Materialism
of financial services globally has increased the availability and use of CCs. Therefore, in the and
pursuance of short-term gains (purchasing an item now), individuals tend to ignore the compulsive
long-term cost (the payment must be made later) (Brougham et al., 2011).
Unplanned usage of CC can be instrumental in providing consumers with the pleasure of buying
material possessions, thus encouraging conspicuous consumption. This may drive the
formation of a strong and compelling desire to buy, leading to debt formation due to CC 1243
misuse and thus to emotional distress and weakening of self-control, which eventually leads
to CB (Eaglen and Schofield, 2017). Several previous studies (d’Astous, 1990; Phau and Woo,
2008; Pirog and Roberts, 2007; Wang and Xiao, 2009) have agreed that CC use affects
compulsive behaviour. One study (Khare, 2013), however, differed on the influence of CC use
on compulsive behaviour among Indian consumers. Due to this lack of unanimity, further
study on the relationship between CC use and CB is warranted. Thus, the following
hypothesis is advanced:
H5. CC use increases CB.

CB: a consequence of IB
It has been previously argued that the acute loss of control over one’s desire acts as
an impetus for impulsive buyers during shopping (O’Guinn and Faber, 1989). IB occurs
when one is exposed to certain stimuli – that is, the shopping environment; however, one can
control this behaviour by staying away from such stimuli (Parboteeah, 2005). On the
contrary, CB is an abnormal form of consumer behaviour that is characterised by chronic
buying habits and loss of control over buying (O’Guinn and Faber, 1989). Consumers engage
in CB in order to escape demands, cope with stress and overcome unpleasant situations or
emotions (Darrat et al., 2016). While some studies have suggested that CB behaviour
exhibits both impulsive and compulsive traits (Schlosser et al., 1994), and impulsiveness in
CB is related to the initial momentum of arousal (Hollander and Allen, 2006), others have
stated that CB is an extreme form of IB (Edwards, 1993). Elsewhere, CB has been described
as continuous and chronic failure in self-regulation, and as more harmful than IB (Faber and
O’Guinn, 1989). Thus, IB increases anxiety in consumers and this, in turn, is linked to CB,
which is a behavioural addiction (Darrat et al., 2016). Based on the above discussion, a
distinction is made between these two types of behaviour that lies in the “inability to control
the urge” (Faber et al., 1995, p. 297), whereby IB is placed at the lower and CB at the higher
end of a continuum (Thompson and Prendergast, 2015). Based on the above, the following
hypothesis is advanced:
H6. IB leads to CB.

Mediating relationships
Materialists are more involved with status consumption – i.e., consumption of luxury goods
and objects that have more public than private visibility (Tatzel, 2002). Thus, materialists,
who pursue conspicuous consumption in order to display social status, often use CCs.
Compared to cash payments, CCs represent a less vivid and emotionally more inert payment
form, and hence are less painful (Thomas et al., 2011). They act as lifestyle facilitators and
enable purchases that could have been difficult otherwise (Bernthal et al., 2005).
For materialists, the availability of a greater amount of money in the form of CC results in
the weakening of impulse that finally culminates in IB (Beatty and Ferrell, 1998). Thus,
materialism is an important contributor to the rising phenomenon of IB in modern-day
culture. Though CCs encourage IB, their overuse can lead to misuse, which, if not checked,
can make IB precipitate into CB (Palan et al., 2011). Compulsive buyers are viewed as having
APJML lower self-esteem and being more highly prone to fantasy compared to normal consumers
30,5 (Faber and O’Guinn, 1989). Materialism could in a similar vein have an indirect effect on CB
through IB, in addition to a direct effect. In some cases, it is also possible that materialistic
people, who use CCs liberally without any control, will be more prone to CB. This could be
due to maladaptive behaviour as an outcome of either deficiencies or disease caused by the
lack of development of the cognitive system (Moschis, 2017). It is argued that materialism
1244 directly affects IB and indirectly affects CC use. Hence, there is a need to examine the roles of
CC use and IB behaviour as mediators.

Method
Data collection and sampling
A sample of 422 adult respondents owning at least one CC was requested to complete an
online survey to which they agreed. At the time of the survey, the respondents were
undergoing an executive education programme in a business school of India. An online
survey is user friendly, cost effective, paperless and convenient. Besides, the response rate is
higher than that of traditional paper-and-pencil surveys (Kaplowitz et al., 2004). Excluding
one incomplete response, usable survey data were obtained from 421respondents, which
consisted of 292 males (69.35 per cent) and 129 females (30.65 per cent). All respondents were
above 18 years of age; 211 (50.11 per cent) were aged 18–29; 127 (30.16 per cent) were 30–35;
46 (10.92 per cent) were 36–40; and 37 (8.81 per cent) were 40 years or older.

Measures
Materialism was measured using the 18-itemmaterialvaluescale (Richins and Dawson,
1992). The 18-item scale uses a five-point Likert scale ranging from “1 ¼ strongly
disagree” to “5 ¼ strongly agree”. Materialism scale being reflective first order and
reflective second order comprised six items of success, seven items of centrality and five
items of happiness. The Cronbach’s α values reported were: success ¼ 0.712,
centrality ¼ 0.745 and happiness ¼ 0.702, indicating reliability of the scale.
The respondents’ CC use was measured using a 12-item scale developed by Roberts
and Jones (2001) that focused on the ways in which respondents used their CCs. The scale
used a five-point Likert scale ranging from “1 ¼ strongly disagree” to “5 ¼ strongly
agree”. The Cronbach’s α for CC use scale was 0.842, showing reliability of the same. CB
behaviour was measured using a scale proposed by Sneath et al. (2009), which is a five-
item, five-point Likert scale ranging from “1 ¼ strongly disagree” to “5 ¼ strongly agree”.
Similarly, IB was measured using a four-item, five-point Likert scale (Sneath et al., 2009)
ranging from “1 ¼ strongly disagree” to “5 ¼ strongly agree”. For the scale items used in
the study, please see the Appendix.

Common method bias (CMB)

CMB is observed in research based on self-reported measures, since multiple constructs are
measured using common methods (e.g. multiple-item scales in the same survey), which leads
to spurious effects due to the measurement items rather than the construct itself. Harman’s
single factor test and the marker variable process were followed to assess CMB.
Harman’s single factor test. In Harman’s single factor method, all study items were
submitted to an exploratory factor analysis to examine whether a single factor had emerged
to indicate the existence of CMB in the collected responses. No factor explained more than
34 per cent of the variance, ruling out the presence of CMB (Podsakoff et al., 2003).
Marker variable. In addition, a marker variable, theoretically unrelated to the core
variables of the study, was added to the model to see whether it was empirically related to
the key study variables. Green purchasing behaviour of respondents was used in this regard
to detect common method variance (Lindell and Whitney, 2001), using a five-point Likert Materialism
scale ranging from “1 ¼ strongly disagree” to “5 ¼ strongly agree”. The correlation between and
the marker variable and any of the retained items of the study constructs was found to be compulsive
meagre, ranging from 0.014 to 0.108, all non-significant. This suggests that CMB is not an
issue in the current study. In addition, a common latent factor test with a marker variable buying
was performed. The value found was 7.04 per cent, which is far below the threshold value of
50 per cent (Eichhorn, 2014), thus evincing no threat of CMB influencing the study results. 1245

Analysis
Model
The model was assessed following the suggested two-step approach to structural equation
modelling (SEM), which separates the measurement model from the structural model
(Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). The relationship between the observed variables and their
unobserved latent constructs is defined by the measurement model, while the relationship
between the latent constructs is represented by SEM (Byrne, 2010). Multiple fit indices were
used to assess the overall fit of the model (Gallagher et al., 2008). The measurement model
was carried out using AMOS (version 20, maximum likelihood fitting), and yielded adequate
fit properties.

Measurement model
The measurement model was created in order to verify the validity measures. It was tested
using the maximum likelihood estimation model. To purify the measurement model and to
assess the convergent and discriminant validity, confirmatory factor analysis was carried
out. In accordance with the recommendations of Hair et al. (2009), fit indices were used for
the confirmatory factor analysis of all 39 items. The fit indices were: χ 2/associated degrees
of freedom ( χ 2/df ) ¼ 3.81, p ¼ 0.00; goodness-of-fit index (GFI) ¼ 0.61; comparative fit index
(CFI) ¼ 0.68 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) ¼ 0.08.
The measurement model required modification as the indices obtained were below the
acceptable range recommended by Hair et al. (2009). Hence, items whose loadings were less
than 0.5 were deleted, provided this did not affect the meaning of the construct. Two items
were deleted from success, three from centrality, two from the happiness components of the
materialism construct, one from CB and four from CC. This ensured the new model fit within
the acceptable range: χ 2 ¼ 685.324, df ¼ 284, χ 2/df ¼ 2.413, NFI ¼ 0.865, CFI ¼ 0.915,
IFI ¼ 0.916, GFI ¼ 0.883 and RMSEA ¼ 0.058. The CFI and IFI values indicated excellent fit
and were above the cut-off value of 0.9. The NFI value was also very close to the acceptable
range of 0.9, indicating a good fit (Hair et al., 2009). The GFI value of 0.88 can be used as an
indicator of good fit for practical purposes (Etezadi-Amoli and Farhoomand, 1996). The
RMSEA value of 0.058 also indicated an acceptable level of fit for the model, in accordance
with Browne and Cudeck (1993).

Reliability and validity

Further examination of the measurement model was performed to scrutinise the properties
associated with the reliability and validity of the individual measures. All constructs
obtained in the purified 26-item model yielded Cronbach’s α values well above the
recommended value of 0.7. The value corrected to total correlation for each item was found
to be greater than 0.3 for each of the study constructs, while Cronbach’s α for
success ¼ 0.712, centrality ¼ 0.702, happiness ¼ 0.745, CC use ¼ 0.842, IB ¼ 0.863 and
CB ¼ 0.822 – all above the minimum recommended value of 0.7. Similarly, convergent
validity was established, as the average variance extracted (AVE) was greater than 0.5
APJML (Fornell and Larcker, 1981; Bagozzi and Yi, 1988) and the composite reliability was greater
30,5 than 0.7 for all constructs (Hair et al., 2009, p. 801), as shown in Table I.
Additionally, the discriminant validity between the two constructs was established
based on the fact that the AVE for each construct exceeded its squared correlation value
with each of the other constructs (Fornell and Larcker, 1981).

1246 Test of model and hypotheses

Structural model
SEM is a specialized technique used to test the impact of one or more independent
variables on one or more dependent variables, and is widely used in consumer and

Loadings std AVE CR

2nd order materialsm

Success
sc1: I admire people, who own expensive homes, cars and clothes 0.595 0.503 0.801
sc2: some of the most important achievements in life include acquiring
material possessions 0.611
sc4: the things I own say a lot about how well I am doing in life 0.575
sc5: I like to own things that impress people 0.696
Centrality
ce4: I enjoy spending money on things that are not practical 0.64 0.561 0.793
ce5: buying things gives me a lot of pleasure 0.637
ce6: I like a lot of luxury in my life 0.707
Happiness
hp2: my life would be better if I owned certain things I do not have 0.65 0.6.33 0.837
hp4: I had be happier if I could afford to buy more things 0.795
hp5: it sometimes bothers me quite a bit that I cannot afford to buy all the
things I like 0.678
1st order
Materialsim
Success 0.982 0.83 0.935
Centralist 0.856
Happiness 0.71
Credit card use
cr1: I am less concerned with the price of a product when I use a credit card 0.672 0.519 0.895
cr4: I am more impulsive when I shop with credit cards 0.633
cr5: I have too many credit cards 0.635
cr6: I worry how I will pay off my credit card debt 0.556
cr8: I spend more when I use a credit card 0.674
cr9: I often make only the minimum payment on my credit card bills 0.523
cr10: my credit cards are usually at their maximum credit limit 0.647
cr11: I frequently use available credit on one credit card to make a payment on
another credit card 0.697
Impulsive buying
im1: I buy things that I don’t really need 0.856 0.743 0.92
im2: I buy things I normally would not buy 0.749
im3: I buy things and later on do not know why I bought them 0.863
im4: I buy things I had not planned on purchasing 0.671
Compulsive buying
cb1: I just want to buy things and do not care what I buy 0.734 0.665 0.888
Table I. cb3: I buy things that I cannot afford 0.694
Confirmatory cb4: I go shopping to take my mind off things 0.699
factor analysis cb5: I buy things and put them away without ever using them 0.794
marketing research. The fit of the overall model was assessed using the χ 2/df of the model, Materialism
along with the NFI, CFI, IFI and RMSEA. The model fit indices of the structural model were and
within the acceptable range: χ 2 ¼ 729.619, df ¼ 291 and χ 2/df ¼ 2.507; NFI ¼ 0.856, compulsive
CFI ¼ 0.908, IFI ¼ 0.908, GFI ¼ 0.874 and RMSEA ¼ 0.060.
The SEM results revealed support at po0.001, for H1–H4 and H6 in the expected direction. buying
The significance level, along with the past estimates, is presented in Table II. H5 was not
supported, indicating that CC use did not significantly affect CB, as presented in Figure 1. 1247
Mediation analysis
In addition to testing the direct effects of CC and IB on CB, as described earlier, the roles of CC
and IB as mediating variables between materialism and CB were also tested. The first and
second mediating relationships involved CC use as a mediator between materialism and CB,
and between materialism and IB, respectively. The third and fourth relationships involved IB
as a mediator between materialism and CB, and between CC use and CB, respectively. Sobel
test (Sobel, 1982, 1986) was used to statistically verify the significance of the mediation effects,
in line with the procedures advocated by Preacher and Hayes (2008). To assess the indirect
effects, the bootstrapping bias-corrected confidence interval procedure was applied to the
mediation model (Preacher and Hayes, 2008). The bootstrapping method enables the
evaluation of the significance, and thus a comparison, of the different mediators in the model.
The main advantages of the bootstrap method lie in its accuracy of confidence intervals and in
the lack of normality assumptions (Preacher and Hayes, 2008).

Path loadings t-values Hypotheses

Materialism → CC 0.620 7.737 H1 (supported)

CC → IB 0.662 8.403 H2 (supported)
Materialism → CB 0.190 3.741 H3 (supported)
Materialism → IB 0.144 2.290 H4 (supported)
CC → CB 0.010 0.153 H5 (not supported) Table II.
IB → CB 0.835 10.292 H6 (supported) Structural equation
Notes: CB, compulsive buying; CC, credit card use; IB, impulsive buying. p o0.001 model (SEM) results

Credit card
use H5
=0
. 62 .0
=0 1
H2 = 0.66

H1

Compulsive
Materialism
H3 = 0.19 buying

H4
=0 3
.1 0 .8
4
H 6=
Impulsive Figure 1.
buying Hypothesised model
APJML Direct and indirect effects
30,5 CC use and IB as mediating variables between materialism and CB. The total indirect effect of
materialism on CB with both mediating variables, CC use and IB, was significant at 0.05
level. The indirect effect of materialism on CB with CC use as the mediating variable was not
significant. Similarly, the indirect effects of materialism on CB with IB as the mediating
variable was also not significant. However, the specific direct and indirect effects of
1248 materialism on CB through both the mediating variables, CC use ( β ¼ 0.551, p o0.05) and IB
( β ¼ 0.551, p o0.05), were significant, indicating the existence of partial mediation.
CC use as a mediating variable between materialism and IB. The total indirect effect of
materialism on IB, with CC use as the mediator, was significant at 0.05 level. Although the
specific direct effect of materialism on IB with CC use as the mediating variable was not
significant, the specific indirect effect was significant, indicating the existence of full
mediation ( β ¼ 0.440, p o0.05).
IB as a mediating variable between CC use and CB. The specific direct effect of CC use on
CB, with IB as the mediator, was not significant. However, the total indirect effect of CC use
on CB, with IB as the mediator, was found to be significant, indicating the existence of full
mediation ( β ¼ 0.468, p o0.05) (Table III).

Discussion
The paper tests the direct association between materialism, CC use, IB and CB. It also
examines the mediating role of CC use and IB. The novelty of the study lies in its
findings regarding the mediation effects of CC use and IB, which either act as full or
partial mediators.
The findings of the study suggest that consumers tend to spend impulsively and usually
make extra purchases when they use cards, similar to the findings reported in previous
studies (Soman, 2001; Thomas et al., 2011). A positive relationship has been found between
CC use and IB, in line with the findings of Thomas et al. (2011). Another positive relationship
has been identified between materialism and IB. Materialists persistently compete and
compare themselves with reference group members, and, in their quest for more material
possessions, may increasingly purchase on impulse. Divergent views have been expressed,
and variants of findings reported, on the materialism of Indians. While Indians have been
described as non-materialistic (Pettys and Balagopal, 1998), and relatively less materialistic
than their USA counterparts (Ger and Belk, 1996), some studies have ruled out such
differences (Durvasala and Lysonski, 2006). However, there is evidence of rising materialism
among Indian consumers due to the advent of modern media (mediascapes), which
encourage them to spend more on global brands (Kinra, 2006). This study finds that
materialism impacts CC use, IB and CB, similar to the findings reported earlier (Tatzel, 2002;
Garðarsdóttir and Dittmar, 2012; Pinto et al., 2000; Pirog and Roberts, 2007).
Further, the findings of this study are in line with extant research indications that the
desire to attain social status through material possession increases lavish spending and use
of CCs (Pirog and Roberts, 2007). However, no previous studies, except that of Watson

Paths Mediated by Path coefficients t-values Results

Materialism → CB CC 0.551 5.45*** Partial mediation

Materialism → IB CC 0.440 5.00*** Full mediation
Table III. Materialism → CB IB 0.551 5.45*** Partial mediation
Mediation (indirect) CC → CB IB 0.468 6.41*** Full mediation
effects Notes: **p o0.05; ***p o0.001
(2003), have found any link between materialism and amount of debt. This calls for more Materialism
work in the area focusing on the materialism and use of cards. Such work assumes and
significance in the wake of reports associating CB with CC debt (Roberts and Jones, 2001). compulsive
Since most of the respondents in the present study are less than 40 years old, the results are
consistent with the findings of Dittmar (2005) and Garðarsdóttir and Dittmar (2012), who buying
report that materialism contributes to increases in CB behaviour, especially among younger
consumers. Extant literature has highlighted the relationship between CC use and 1249
indebtedness, which explains the rise in consumer spending and debt (Griffiths, 2000).
The findings of this study show that consumers who exhibit IB, materialistic could be
driven towards CB. The findings of the present study are also in line with those of Park and
Burns (2005), who demonstrated a significant positive relationship between IB and CB.
Regarding the distinction between IB and CB, this study conforms with the views of Billieux
et al. (2008) and d’Astous (1990) that describe these as separate points on a consumer-buying
continuum. However, the present study disagrees with some earlier studies (Flight et al.,
2012; Tett et al., 2013) that have shown the two to be different theoretical constructs.
The empirical findings of the present study differ from with the application of trait-
activation theory (Tett et al., 2013), as well as Flight et al. (2012) description using
consumer’s sense of affect. It also disagrees with the view that IB could influence CB only
indirectly (Maccarrone-Eaglen and Schofield, 2017). The present study empirically shows
that IB is related to CB not only during the initial stage of arousal, as indicated in previous
studies, (Hollander and Allen, 2006), but it could also be an extreme form of IB, as argued by
Edwards (1993).
The relationship between CC use and CB (H5) is surprisingly, not found to be significant.
Interestingly, mediation test results indicate that IB is a full mediator between CC use and CB.
This reveals that if CC use leads to IB, it could in turn lead to CB. Supporting evidence from
Darrat et al. (2016) has shown that IB could result in CC user anxiety, ultimately precipitating
CB. Hence, it is important to understand the root cause of compulsive consumption.

Practical implications
This study focuses on the important issue of rising materialism in a society celebrating
conspicuous consumption, along with its obsession with CCs and the resulting impulsive
and compulsive purchase behaviours. Materialists tend to use the power of money to
enhance their social status and consume luxury/branded items, which symbolizes their
desired position in social groups (Tuu et al., 2016). This study also addresses the question: is
CC spending really a problem for society that abets CB, or does it simply pertain to a set of
harmless behaviours that should be embraced by marketers, and perhaps also be
encouraged (Sneath et al., 2009)? With the increased availability of CCs, rising competition
among companies and their ever-increasing target for a larger consumer base, materialism
seems to increase CC adoption and use, as evidenced in this research. The present study
indicates that use of CCs by Indian consumers does not affect CB – a finding akin to that of
Khare (2013), but different from results obtained in studies conducted in western settings.
Therefore, firms should not be wary of issuing CCs to interested consumers, as there is no
credible evidence that this could result in CB.
However, IB is found to act as a mediator between CC use and CB. This is in consonance
with findings that suggest that IB increases anxiety in consumers, which in turn is linked to
CB (Darrat et al., 2016). Marketers should bear in mind that CCs generate more sales,
particularly for items that are purchased based on impulse. Thus, it is important for
financial institutions to be cautious while targeting CC users who may start as impulse
buyers but gradually turn into compulsive buyers by exhibiting a stronger urgency to buy.
Consequently, these consumers may overspend and be unable to repay the debt, which may
have negative impacts on the consumers and the society. It is important for policymakers,
APJML economists and the government to devise appropriate measures to curtail the misuse of CCs,
30,5 as CC debt in India hit an all-time record in May 2016 (The Financial Express, 2016).
The full mediation noted for CC use between materialism and IB suggests that
materialistic shoppers with access to CCs are more likely to buy on impulse, and far beyond
their capacity. This might encourage retail stores to collaborate with CC companies to allow
consumers to instantly buy their products. With the high rate of digital transformation
1250 taking place in India, where the number of internet users is expected to rise from 373m
(28 per cent of the population) in 2016 to 829m (59 per cent of the population) in 2021 (Press
Trust of India, 2017a, b), India is expected to become the second largest smart phone market
overtaking the USA (The Hindu, 2017). Similarly, China, another major emerging economy,
with an increase in internet penetration and growth of high-quality websites, is witnessing
an increase in online impulse buying that is influenced by CC use (Akram et al., 2018). CB
tendencies are also linked to the indebtedness of students in China (Wang and Xiao, 2009) as
well as in the USA, as discussed in preceding sections. This could mostly be caused by their
materialistic tendencies and CC misuse.
Consumers also have an increasing tendency to make compulsive purchases (Neuner
et al., 2005). Marketers must promote responsible buying habits and should rethink
marketing strategies that stimulate the variables that increase the propensity towards
misuse of CCs. CC companies must focus on building long-term relationships with
customers, as well as concentrating on customer welfare, thus contributing to the growth of
the CC market. Furthermore, this study has empirically demonstrated that CC use is directly
related to both IB and CB behaviour. The current study found that IB could lead to CB,
which implies that marketers could focus on brand loyalty programmes, which may reduce
IB (Seinauskiene et al., 2015), and, in turn, attenuate CB behaviour.
In terms of the relationship between materialism and IB, the results of this study provide
further support to marketers in their examination of the impact of consumer values such as
materialism on variables related to self-control, such as IB and CB. CC companies should not
only aim to increase the consumers’ CC knowledge, but also profile consumers to
appropriately gauge their vulnerability to unplanned and harmful consumption.

Limitations and future research opportunities

This study is subject to several limitations, which could be addressed in future studies.
First, like any cross-sectional study, this study was unable to definitively demonstrate
causal inferences; therefore, longitudinal assessment is needed to examine the ways in
which CCs influence debt formation and CB (Palan et al., 2011).
Future research could consider CC use as a moderator between materialism, IB and CB.
With the rapid development taking place in emerging markets such as India, it would be
interesting to explore how the younger generations view materialism compared to those
who are older (Wang, 2016), and its impact on CC use and IB. Consumers in emerging
markets are described as price-sensitive and known to focus on cheaper local brands for
personal consumption. However, the same set of consumers demonstrate their proclivity for
expensive imported brands – based on equity, quality and image – for public consumption
(Hu et al., 2008). Contrary to the findings reported by Palan et al. (2011), the current study
indicates the existence of a significant positive relationship between CC use and CB.
This relationship could be studied in new settings to see whether any similar results are
obtained. Future research may consider how the relationship between the study variables
differs by various other attributes such as family life stage, family structure (joint vs
nuclear), age, gender, cultural values in unravelling additional insights. The role of cultural
adherence and regional differences within India (Chaudhuri and Haldar, 2005; Cleveland
et al., 2009) could be examined as possible moderators between materialism and other
outcome variables, such as CC use, IB and CB. Future research may also involve
comparative studies between different countries with diverse cultural backgrounds and at Materialism
different stages of economic development in order to understand the various elements that and
may affect IB and CB behaviours. compulsive
The role of self-control with respect to CC use and its relationship with IB and CB could
be studied by researchers in future, as could the role of self-esteem as a moderator of the buying
relationship between materialism and CC use. Finally, future research may investigate CB
specifically in the context of online shopping using CCs. 1251
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Appendix. Materialism scale items

Success

(1) I admire people who own expensive homes, cars and clothes.
(2) Some of the most important achievements in life include acquiring material possessions.
(3) I do not place much emphasis on the amount of material objects people own as a sign of success®.
(4) The things I own say a lot about how well I am doing in life.
(5) I like to own things that impress people.
(6) I do not pay much attention to the material objects other people own®.

Centrality

(1) I usually buy only the things I need®.

(2) I try to keep my life simple as far as possessions are concerned®.
(3) The things I own are not all that important to me®.
(4) I enjoy spending money on things that are not practical.
(5) Buying things gives me a lot of pleasure.
(6) I like a lot of luxury in my life.
(7) I put less emphasis on material things than most people I know®.
Happiness Materialism
and
(1) I have all the things I really need to enjoy life®.
compulsive
(2) My life would be better if I owned certain things I do not have. buying
(3) I would not be any happier if I owned nicer things®.
(4) I had be happier if I could afford to buy more things. 1257
(5) It sometimes bothers me quite a bit that I cannot afford to buy all the things I like.
Notes: Five-point Likert scale: 1 ¼ strongly disagree; 5 ¼ strongly agree. Items 3 and 6 of
success, items 1, 2, 3 and 7 of centrality and items 1 and 3 of happiness are reverse coded (indicated
with a sign “®”).

Credit card usage scale items

(1) I am less concerned with the price of a product when I use a credit card.
(2) I rarely go over my available credit limit®.
(3) I always pay off my credit cards at the end of each month®.
(4) I am more impulsive when I shop with credit cards.
(5) I have too many credit cards.
(6) I worry how I will pay off my credit card debt.
(7) I seldom take cash advances on my credit cards®.
(8) I spend more when I use a credit card.
(9) I often make only the minimum payment on my credit card bills.
(10) My credit cards are usually at their maximum credit limit.
(11) I frequently use available credit on one credit card to make a payment on another credit card.
(12) I am seldom delinquent in making payments on my credit cards®.
Notes: Five-point Likert scale: 1 ¼ strongly disagree; 5 ¼ strongly agree. Items 2, 3, 7 and 12 are
reverse coded and indicated with a sign “®”.

Compulsive buying scale items

(1) I just want to buy things and do not care what I buy.
(2) I buy things to make myself feel better.
(3) I buy things that I cannot afford.
(4) I go shopping to take my mind off things.
(5) I buy things and put them away without ever using them.
Note: Five-point Likert scale: 1 ¼ strongly disagree; 5 ¼ strongly agree.

Green purchasing behaviour scale items (marker variable)

(1) When I want to buy a product, I look at the ingredients label to see if it contains things that are
environmentally damaging.
(2) I prefer green products over non-green products when their qualities are similar.
APJML (3) I choose to buy products that are environmentally friendly.
30,5 (4) I buy green products even if they are more expensive than non-green ones.
Notes: Five-point Likert scale: 1 ¼ strongly disagree; 5 ¼ strongly agree.

IB scale items

1258 (1) I buy things that I do not really need.

(2) I buy things I normally would not need.
(3) I buy things and later on do not know why I bought them.
(4) I buy things I had not planned on purchasing.
Notes: Five-point Likert scale: 1 ¼ strongly disagree; 5 ¼ strongly agree.
®indicates reverse-coded items.

About the authors

Debasis Pradhan is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Xavier School of Management, XLRI,
Jamshedpur, India. His academic interests include congruence research in celebrity endorsement, social
media, retail brand equity measurement, anti-consumption research and impulse buying. His papers
have been published/accepted in Journal of Marketing Communications, Marketing Intelligence and
Planning, Asian Case Research Journal, International Journal of Rural Management, South Asian
Journal of Management, among others. Two of his award-winning business cases have been published
by London Business School. He has authored an Asia-centric Casebook published by Cengage
Learning Pvt Ltd. He has also presented papers at various INFORMS Marketing Science Conferences.
Debasis Pradhan is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: debasis@xlri.ac.in
D. Israel is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Xavier School of Management, XLRI,
Jamshedpur, India. He teaches research methods, consumer behaviour and marketing research for the
postgraduate and doctoral programme students. He has authored/co-authored the following books:
Data Analysis in Business Research (Sage: New Delhi, 2008) and Marketing Research: A South Asian
Perspective (Cengage: New Delhi, 2009). He has presented papers in the international conferences. His
research papers are published in Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Marketing Communications,
International Journal of Mobile Marketing, The Learning Organization, among others.
Amit Kumar Jena is Doctoral Student in the Marketing Department of Xavier School of
Management, XLRI. His main interests of research are in areas of impulse buying, materialism and
retail branding.

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