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Abstract

“Retail therapy” is often applied to the notion of trying to cheer oneself up through the purchase of self-treats. The negative moods that lead to retail therapy, however, have also been associated with greater impulsivity and a lack of behavioral control. Does this lead to mindless shopping when consumers are “down” and regret later? The current work documents that a bad mood does lead to greater purchase and consumption of unplanned treats for the self. However, it also provides evidence that the consumption of self-treats can be strategically motivated. Those individuals who do indulge can also exercise restraint if the goal of restraint also leads to improved mood. Finally, retail therapy has lasting positive impacts on mood. Feelings of regret and guilt are not associated with the unplanned purchases made to repair a bad mood. The implications of the research are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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... Retail therapy, or shopping with the intention of improving one's mood and alleviating emotional distress, is a popular approach for many people to find relief. Retail therapy is more than a worthless hobby; it is a worthwhile undertaking that provides psychological benefits to its users (Atalay & Meloy, 2011). ...
... A multi-country survey in Australia, United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia reveals that regional level factors and individual cultural difference factors significantly influence impulsive purchasing behavior (Kacen & Lee, 2002). Studi 2, Atalay & Meloy (2011) found that retail therapy can serve as an emotional regulation mechanism, helping individuals reduce negative feelings and increase positive feelings. Retail therapy, often associated with buying self-treats to boost mood, can be strategically motivated and can lead to mindless shopping. ...
... However, it can also be a form of restraint, improving mood. The research suggests that unplanned purchases can have lasting positive impacts on mood, without causing regret or guilt (Atalay & Meloy, 2011). ...
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The phenomenon of retail therapy, where shopping is used as a method to improve mood and alleviate stress, has gained significant attention across various disciplines such as psychology, marketing, and sociology. This literature review aims to explore the emotional dimensions of retail therapy and its function as a form of emotional communication. Research indicates that retail therapy is driven by emotional needs, where individuals use shopping to express, manage, and communicate their emotions. Key findings highlight that retail therapy provides immediate mood improvement and can aid in long-term emotional regulation. The act of shopping, influenced by internal emotional states and external stimuli like advertisements and social media, serves as a coping mechanism for dealing with stress and negative emotions. Social interactions during shopping, whether with friends or store staff, enhance the emotional benefits by providing support and a sense of connectedness. Moreover, digital communication and social media significantly shape retail therapy experiences, influencing consumer behavior through online reviews, social interactions, and marketing strategies. The scoping review methodology employed in this research allows for a comprehensive analysis of existing studies, identifying gaps and providing insights into the multifaceted role of retail therapy in emotional regulation and communication. Overall, retail therapy emerges as a complex, emotionally driven behavior that offers significant psychological benefits, emphasizing the need for further research to understand its impact on consumer well-being and behavior.
... "There is no faster way to feel rich than to spend lots of money on really nice things" (Mann, 2017). Many consumers engage in retail therapy (Atalay & Meloy, 2011). Spending makes them happy. ...
... Scholars have expressed interest in this topic across several disciplines, e.g., Nobel Laureates in behavioral economics (Kahneman, 2011;Thaler, 2015;Thaler & Benartzi, 2004), biology and evolutionary psychology (Metcalfe, 2001), economic psychology (Tatzel, 2014), money attitude (Chen et al., 2024a(Chen et al., , 2024b(Chen et al., , 2024cFurnham & Grover, 2022;Siğirct, 2020;Tang, 1992Tang, , 2021, and risk-taking decision-making (Ariely & Loewenstein, 2006;Chen et al., 2022;Weber et al., 2002). Researchers have studied materialism (Gentina et al., 2017(Gentina et al., , 2021Kasser, 2016;Lemrová et al., 2014), spending (Chancellor & Lyubomirsky, 2011;Lyubomirsky et al., 2005), giving money away (Dunn et al., 2008(Dunn et al., , 2011, retail therapy (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Rick et al., 2014), tax compliance (Kirchler et al., 2008), and experiential and material consumptions (Carter & Gilovich, 2012;Gilovich et al., 2015;Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003). ...
... Money is Power in the context of Materialism. Shopping or "retail therapy" (Atalay & Meloy, 2011) is cheaper than psychotherapy, yet avoidance coping leads to compulsive buying. Experiential purchases provide greater satisfaction and happiness than material purchases because the former enhances social relations and personal identity and reduces social comparison more than the latter (Gilovich et al., 2015;Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003). ...
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Squandering lottery winners spend their money, leading to bankruptcy, murder, and suicide—a lottery curse. With a fixed amount of money, saving and spending are mutually exclusive. To study ordinary citizens’ behavioral decision-making, we follow Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman’s advice, incorporate ardent monetary aspirations—Rich, Motivator, Budget, Make, and Success as yoked antecedents of the latent construct—Monetary Wisdom (MW), frame MW in the context of income (Time 1), and explore individuals’ 1millionresourceallocation(Time2).Amongfulltimemanagers,thinkingaboutMakingmoneyhelpsthemSpendmoreandSaveless.However,universitystudentshavelowerincomesandmoredifficultymakingmoneythanmanagers.Thisstudychallengestheexistingfindingsoffulltimemanagers.WetheorizethatthinkingaboutMakingmoneyhelpsstudentsSavemoreandSpendless.Weask443studentstoimaginethatafterfulfillingtaxobligations,theycouldfreelyallocate1 million resource allocation (Time 2). Among full-time managers, thinking about Making money helps them Spend more and Save less. However, university students have lower incomes and more difficulty making money than managers. This study challenges the existing findings of full-time managers. We theorize that thinking about Making money helps students Save more and Spend less. We ask 443 students to imagine that after fulfilling tax obligations, they could freely allocate 1 million lottery money to 20 options (sum = 100%). Our results support our theory. Men have significantly higher incomes than women. The Paths from Factors Rich and Budget to MW are significantly stronger for men than women. With higher income, thoughts on becoming Rich and Budgeting money cause men to Spend more and Save less. Vigorous Budgeting thoughts may cause the depletion of self-control power, leading to self-control failure and Spending. Wanting to become Rich incites Spending. With lower income, thinking about Making money causes women to Save more and Spend less. Interestingly, women spend significantly more money on experiential and material consumptions and family, and less on investments (business and education) than men. The differences in Saving and Donating money to charity are non-significant across genders. Monetary Wisdom is not significantly related to income. We help people make happy, healthy, wealthy, ethical decisions, and mental accounting and avoid the lottery curse. The life you save may be your own.
... Retail therapy refers to shopping activities aimed at enhancing mood. It is a deliberate effort by consumers to elevate their mood through shopping (Atalay and Meloy, 2011;Kang and Johnson, 2011). Specifically, retail therapy involves "consumption behaviors, including shopping and buying, that individuals partake in to alleviate their negative moods" (Kang andJohnson, 2011, 2011, p. 4). ...
... Retail therapy also includes situations where consumers experience negative post-purchase moods during both planned and unplanned purchases (Dholakia, 2000;Faber and Christenson, 1996). The concept revolves around selfindulgence to boost one's mood (Atalay and Meloy, 2011), often motivating both planned and/ or unplanned purchases (Kang and Johnson, 2011). Unplanned purchases, particularly impulse buys, represent a substantial portion of total purchases (Amos et al., 2014) and retail therapy can lead to impulse buying (Pieters and Zeelenberg, 2007). ...
... While unplanned purchases can lead consumers into a negative post-purchase mood, strategic shopping as part of retail therapy is effective in mitigating post-purchase guilt, worry and anxiety, even for unplanned purchases (Atalay and Meloy, 2011;Rick et al., 2014). Retail therapy, however, is more than just buying; it includes the entire process of browsing, selecting, acquiring and consuming (Pereira and Rick, 2011). ...
Article
Purpose – This paper aims to provide a comprehensive framework on how and when musical elements such as keys, complexity, tempo and volume influence consumers’ mood, attention, information recall, product evaluation and purchase decisions in the context of retail therapy. Design/methodology/approach – This paper builds on a critical literature review to develop a conceptual framework and formulate relevant propositions, leveraging self-regulation and self-control theories. Findings – Through our analysis of these studies, we found that in musical retail therapy, minor keys paired with high complexity can intensify negative moods and negative product evaluation. Conversely, major keys combined with low complexity can moderate negative and positive moods, leading to positive product evaluations. We argue that high tempo and high volume can invoke high arousal and low impulse control, leading to low attention and low recall. This subsequently moderates the negative mood, resulting in weak negative product evaluation. Low tempo and low volume, however, invoke low arousal and high impulse control, leading to high attention and high recall, which moderates negative mood and negative product evaluation. Originality/value – Reflecting on the limitations of the existing studies, this conceptual work proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding the significance of musical elements in retail therapy that can enhance consumers moods and experiences. Further, the current paper is different from the existing literature in that it helps academic researchers and marketers understand different ways to use musical elements that can positively affect consumer behavior in a complex situation like retail therapy.
... The first is due to a lack of self-control [129], which occurs when an individual has an inability to resist an urge to make a purchase and the second is a desire for pleasure [104], which occurs when an individual makes a purchase for the resultant pleasurable feelings that this may elicit. Both drivers have been found to be intricately linked with emotion, an aspect often cited as being closely linked to impulse behaviors [2,5,9,62,76,98,137,166]. Beyond the influence of emotion, it is possible that certain demographic variables impact the prevalence of impulse buying behavior, with gender being one such variable that has garnered multiple calls for future research in the context of VR technology use [35,43]. ...
... Research suggests that self-control can fluctuate based on one's circumstances with the rationale being that mental capability acts in a similar manner to a muscle, suggesting that the mental resources used for self-control can be expended resulting in an individual being susceptible to impulsive behaviors [153]. Vohs and Faber [168] support the notion that these mental resources are crucial for self-control and actions that deplete these resources (i.e., mitigating negative emotions) can result in a reduced capacity for self-control [5]. ...
... The literature further suggests that negative emotions can alter one's priorities in a manner that prioritizes shortterm goals that would allow for the repair of the negative emotional state, including behaviors that provide immediate gratification [156]. In short, this suggests that the more resources are used to negate negative emotions, the less resources are readily available to be used for self-control [5]. Past research tends to suggest that on average, males exhibit less self-control than females [23,47,48,158], regardless of the context [64,158]. ...
Article
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Virtual reality (VR), and the profound immersive experiences it generates, has the potential to revolutionize the digital retail landscape, providing numerous advantages for both consumers and retailers. While VR environments can provide consumers with an immersive environment, there is a scarcity of research that considers how certain consumer behaviors, in particular impulse buying behavior, will be impacted in a VR grocery retail environment. This research explored how the VR grocery retail environment impacts the impulse buying behavior of consumers through an experimental design. The research design allowed for an examination of the interaction between the level of immersion, gender identity, and emotional state. The findings suggest that a consumer’s emotional state and gender identity impact the drivers of impulse buying behavior in a high immersion setting (VR environment) but not in a low immersion setting (2D environment). The unique context provides theoretical implications by extending existing VR knowledge by offering insights into the mechanisms through which consumer behavior can be impacted in a high immersion environment. The findings provide valuable insights for marketing professionals looking to incorporate VR technology into their marketing strategies. In particular, the research provides insight into how emotional appeals could impact consumer behavior in a high immersion environment, highlighting safeguards to protect consumer well-being.
... Consumers often shop to escape from the reality and daydream about an imaginary world where they do not need to worry about an imminent problematic situation (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Kang & Johnson, 2011). Shopping could be a therapy and an alternate way to deal with (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Irwin, 2018;Kang & Johnson, 2011) and alleviate (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Rick et al., 2014) negative psychological states. ...
... Consumers often shop to escape from the reality and daydream about an imaginary world where they do not need to worry about an imminent problematic situation (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Kang & Johnson, 2011). Shopping could be a therapy and an alternate way to deal with (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Irwin, 2018;Kang & Johnson, 2011) and alleviate (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Rick et al., 2014) negative psychological states. Kang and Johnson (2011) operationalized retail therapy in terms of consumers' therapeutic shopping motivation, positive mood reinforcement and negative mood reduction due to shopping and therapeutic shopping outcomes (e.g., elevated positive mood). ...
... Consumers often shop to escape from the reality and daydream about an imaginary world where they do not need to worry about an imminent problematic situation (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Kang & Johnson, 2011). Shopping could be a therapy and an alternate way to deal with (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Irwin, 2018;Kang & Johnson, 2011) and alleviate (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Rick et al., 2014) negative psychological states. Kang and Johnson (2011) operationalized retail therapy in terms of consumers' therapeutic shopping motivation, positive mood reinforcement and negative mood reduction due to shopping and therapeutic shopping outcomes (e.g., elevated positive mood). ...
Article
Full-text available
Based on the cognitive dissonance theory and compensatory consumer behavior model, we tested a conceptual model on compensatory consumption during the Covid pandemic by conducting an online survey (n = 490) with the U.S. national population. Analyzing the data with structural equation modeling, we found that COVID-stress positively influenced panic buying and therapeutic shopping but did not influence need-based buying. Need-based buying negatively influenced panic buying and therapeutic shopping. MANCOVA test revealed that when both COVID-stress and perceived financial insecurity are high, panic buying and therapeutic shopping are higher as compared to when COVID-stress and perceived financial insecurity are low. Based on the findings of our study, we suggest that therapeutic shopping and panic buying could be strategies for coping with COVID-stress.
... Comfortable political circles, and a beautiful and clean shopping environment is ideal for consumers. In such a good environment, consumers will unconsciously be affected by the environment and become happy and emotional, so they will have more emotion and energy to choose suitable gifts for themselves [5][6]. However, if the store is messy, the goods are placed in disorder, the crowd is crowded, the air is dirty, and the store is full of harsh noise, it will greatly reduce the desire of consumers to buy, and almost have no mood to choose gifts for themselves, and even make their bad mood worse [6]. ...
... For store, the brightness of the store is very important in light creation. Some factories in France make full use of the influence of light on people's mood, so that their workers still maintain a positive working mood under such a huge pressure of the industrial revolution, so as to ensure high-quality labor efficiency and high-quality product output [5][6][7]. The bright but not dazzling light in the morning is like the light from the rising sun, which makes people full of hope and high spirits; At noon, the bright light turns into bright and warm light, which makes people improve their energy when they are tired; At the end of the day, the light turns into the color of the sunset, which is dim and lazy. ...
... Therefore, in the selection of interior wallpaper and ceiling colors, the store must pay attention to the selection and matching of colors, and select colors that can make consumers have good associations, so as to stimulate consumers' desire to buy and enjoy a good mood. Merchants can choose yellow and red paint to paint the walls [5][6][7][8][9]. This high saturation color can bring a strong visual impact to consumers. ...
Article
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Nowadays, consumer behavior is no longer just to meet the basic needs of life, but is seen as a way of dealing with emotions. Gifts are no longer just given to others, and more and more people are eager to buy gifts for themselves. Competition in society is increasingly stimulating, and fear or anxiety has become an indispensable part of life. To alleviate stress or provide self-motivation, and empower themselves to face the challenges of work and life, the frequency of self-giving is increasing. Merchants should pay attention to this changing consumption trend and actively change some controllable external factors, such as store decoration, lighting, music, etc., which subtly affect consumers' shopping. They should try to increase the frequency and frequency of consumers' self-gifts as much as possible, thereby winning over competitors in commercial competition.
... Retail therapy is the application of retail in the retail sector (Lee and Lee, 2019). It refers to the repair of negative conditions by purchasing unplanned self-treats (Atalay and Meloy, 2011). During the COVID-19, consumers experienced various psychological illness. ...
... Additionally, ANX (b = 0.442, p<0.001), ANX (b = 0.348, p<0.001), and ANX (b = 0.368, p<0.001) were identified as important antecedents of TSM, TSV, and TSR, supporting Hypotheses 7, 8, and 9. Anxious consumers may use shopping as a coping strategy to compensate for stress and to escape the stress of everyday life (Atalay and Meloy, 2011). Anxiety may lead consumers to feel a lack of personal control over the situation (Raghunathan and Pham, 1999), and shopping may serve as a means of regaining that control. ...
... Shopping motivations are rooted in consumer emotions, and in the pandemic, shopping can trigger positive emotions to lift up consumers' emotions. Therapeutic shopping can bring long-term benefits to strategic shopping (Atalay and Meloy, 2011). ...
Article
With the stabilizing of COVID-19 and the lessening of isolation measures, the consumption market is gradually recovering. Consumers exhibit a tendency to compensate for the previous pent-up demand, triggering the phenomenon of revenge spending. Nevertheless, research on revenge buying during the pandemic has been limited thus far. Moreover, the role of negative emotions and retail therapy has not been well explored. Therefore, drawing from retail therapy theory and the stimulus-organism-response framework, this study aims to investigate how negative emotions, physiological motivations, and self-seeking stimulate consumers to form positive perceptions that revenge buying can provide therapeutic utilities, and consequently choose revenge buying. Empirical data were collected from China. The structural equation modelling results reveal that anxiety, boredom, self-seeking, and psychological motivation have a positive influence on therapeutic shopping motivation , therapeutic shopping value and therapeutic shopping outcome, which subsequently influence revenge buying behavior. The theoretical model provides a novel perspective to research revenge buying. Additionally, the results provide managerial implications for consumer, retailers, and policymakers to make preparedness for revenge buying in future health crises.
... On the other hand, Kasser and Sheldon (2002) found that people who reported that spending was a relatively salient experience at Christmas, reported lower Christmas wellbeing and more negative affect. Related to this, Atalay and Meloy (2011) and Park et al. (2022) report a . ...
... At the third and fourth step of the UK survey, negative affect, but not positive affect, was significantly associated with both propensity to spend and propensity to borrow, whereas in same steps of the Norway survey, the only significant effect was that lower positive affect was associated with greater propensity to spend. These findings are not contradictory as they are all in the direction of previous research suggesting that more negative or less positive affect is associated with increased spending (Atalay and Meloy, 2011;Park et al., 2022), rather than with research indicating that positive mood leads to increased spending (Murray et al., 2010;Agarwal et al., 2020). Of particular practical importance is the UK finding that greater negative affect in the run up to Christmas is associated with greater propensity to borrow, which could result in post-Christmas debt concerns. ...
Article
In countries where Christmas is celebrated, people are under pressure in the pre-Christmas period to spend on gift giving and socializing. In two surveys we investigated the role of the meaning of Christmas and other psychological factors in predicting propensity to spend and to borrow at Christmas (UK, N = 190; Norway, N = 234). Factor analysis identified three components of the meaning of Christmas: financial concerns, indulgence, and social aspects. In both surveys: (1) experienced financial hardship predicted lower propensity to spend and greater propensity to borrow; (2) more proactive money management practices predicted lower propensity to borrow; (3) material values predicted both propensity to spend and propensity to borrow; and (4) seeing Christmas as a time for indulgence, experiencing more negative affect, or less positive affect, predicted greater propensity to spend. Additionally: (1) in the UK survey, participants who said that lately they had been feeling more negative (more angry, sad etc.) had a greater propensity to borrow; and (2) in the Norway survey, an obligation gift motivation predicted propensity to spend. The findings show that in addition to experienced financial hardship and proactive money management practices, the psychological factors of material values, affect, and gift motivation play significant roles in propensity to spend and/or borrow at this time of high pressure. We discuss implications for theory and financial interventions.
... Particularly when an infividual feels low, a self-treat can be an effective mood enhancer. 33 Furthermore, to provide for baby is to be a good mother, so publicly performing such provision can promote positive social perceptions. 34 When shopping for a reborn doll, the products are "for" the reborn, but they are primarily a self-treat for the doll owner. ...
Article
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The author considers adult doll play as therapeutic intervention by examining how the physical properties of reborn dolls and also sex dolls provide comfort and establish needs met through care giving. She discusses dolls providing a sense of personal identity through narrative play, community, and retail therapy, and she describes the companionship attained through imaginative perception and social connections, all benefits that accompany what she calls a synthetic relationship. Drawing from research related to doll therapy in dementia care and from studies on sex doll usage, she considers original research on reborn dolls. She proposes that doll ownership can therapeutically support personal development and good social and mental health, thus improving broader social relationships for many doll owners.
... When facing a discrepancy between the real self and the ideal self, choosing to purchase compensatory food can often be considered a form of avoidance and compensatory consumption behavior [15]. This method of consuming in response to negative emotions is also modernly referred to as retail therapy and emotional eating [41]. ...
Article
Full-text available
This research examines the correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and the desire to engage in compensatory consuming behaviors, specifically emphasizing emotional eating as a psychological coping strategy, particularly with respect to snacks and sweets. Conducting sentiment analysis by using a Natural Language Processing (NLP) method on posts from Sina Weibo, a leading Chinese social media platform, the research identifies three distinct phases of consumer behavior during the pandemic: anxiety, escapism, and compensatory periods. These stages are marked by varying degrees of emotional eating tendencies, illustrating a psychological trajectory from initial shock to seeking comfort through food as a means of regaining a sense of normalcy and control. The analysis reveals a notable increase in posts expressing a desire for compensatory consumption of snacks and sweets in 2020 compared to 2019, indicating a significant shift towards emotional eating amid the pandemic. This shift reflects the broader psychological impacts of the crisis, offering insights into consumer behavior and the role of digital platforms in capturing public sentiment during global crises. The findings have implications for policymakers, health professionals, and the food industry, suggesting the need for strategies to address the psychological and behavioral effects of natural disasters.
... As individuals continually monitor their emotional states, they strive to preserve positive feelings and alleviate negative ones 41) . To sustain good moods, refraining from engaging in risky activities may jeopardize positive feelings or result in negative outcomes 42) . ...
Article
While preceding research has focused on various aspects of the pandemic, there is still a need for further exploration of the relationship between preventive behavior against the pandemic and impulse buying. This study fills a gap by exploring how the fear of contracting COVID-19 and perceived financial losses from the pandemic interplay, and how they combine to drive impulse buying behavior, while considering the mediating role of preventive behavior. To investigate our hypothesis, we collected data from 760 respondents in South Korea through in-person survey. Using the PROCESS macro in SPSS model-58, we analyzed the data and found that the mediator role of preventive behavior and moderating role of perceived financial loss risk from COVID-19 significantly influence the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 infection and impulse buying. Specifically, when individuals perceive a higher risk of infection, they are more likely to engage in preventive behaviors. However, the negative relationship between preventive behavior and impulsive purchases weakens when there is a high perceived risk of financial loss.
... Shopping is considering as an effort to improve one's wellbeing sense is mainly called by Retail Therapy. (Tanase, 2014), (Atalay & Meloy, 2011) ...
Article
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Shopping is anintegral part of our regular day to day life. Many customers take part in shopping and buying as a way to repair their negative feelings, that notion normally referred to as retail therapy.Retail Therapy is a strategic effort to improve the mood or make the person feel better as a result of shopping. This study was conducted among 200 retail shoppers from Kerala. The study intends to assess the level of retail therapy undergone by retail shoppers. The overall retail therapy was assessed based on the level of therapeutic shopping motivations,the level of positive mood reinforcement as a result of therapeutic shopping, the level of negative mood reduction as a result of therapeutic shopping, and the level of the therapeutic shopping outcomes. The results of the study indicated an average level of retail therapy among Kerala retail shoppers. The level of different aspects of retail therapy has been measured and suggestions are put forward based on the findings.
... College students, in particular, face significant challenges [9] in managing stress, but developing effective coping mechanisms can help them navigate social and academic pressures leading to a better college experience [10]. People manage distress in various ways including rumination, overeating, alcohol consumption, and even unplanned purchases [11]. ...
Article
Stress is an inherent part of human experience, arising from different sources such as environmental pressures, academic challenges, and personal life events etc. It manifests as a physiological response to perceived threats, impacting individual’s daily lives and necessitating adaptive adjustments. Coping with stress is essential for an individual in maintaining mental and physical well-being. Coping strategies vary among individuals; one intriguing coping mechanism that has garnered attention is "Retail therapy". This study explores how shopping serves as a coping strategy and sheds some light on its role in stress management by female PG students of GBPUAT, Pantnagar as well as its impact on mental and emotional well-being. This study uses the Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, Carver’s Brief COPE Scale and for assessing shopping behavior, questions derived from Martinez-Lopez’s study in 2016. Correlation is the main data analysis technique used in this research. The results revealed that coping strategies play a key role in stress management, while stress levels are inversely related to shopping behavior.
... As the first attempt to understand compensatory consumption in non-Western countries, this creates new discussions about the cross-cultural differences in compensatory consumption. Highlighting the differences between individualistic and collectivistic countries in their therapeutic consumption efforts is paramount for future research (Atalay and Meloy, 2011). Compensatory consumption tendencies might be more evident in some cultures than others. ...
Article
Purpose This study aims to develop and validate a measure for conspicuous compensatory consumption. Compensatory consumption phenomenon is gaining increased significance in consumer behavior literature. In a symbolic-rich culture, the use of possessions creates a perfect venue for self-construction and self-repairing to make up for one’s psychological deficiencies and inadequacies. Design/methodology/approach A mixed research design of qualitative and quantitative methodologies is adopted by using elicitation techniques, interviews and survey data. Extensive development and validation procedures are used. A series of studies, encompassing a total sample of 1,782, are reported. Findings The current study offers a valid and reliable measure for conspicuous compensatory consumption by chronologically following the stages of the scale development process. Compensatory consumption had a negative influence on subjective happiness and a positive influence on negative affect and satisfaction with life. Respondents with high materialism scores had significantly higher compensatory tendencies than the low materialism group. The low self-compassionate group had significantly higher compensatory tendencies than the high self-compassionate group. Originality/value The current study provides theoretical contributions to consumer behavior research by providing a valid and reliable measure for conspicuous compensatory consumption. Contrary to past scales that followed a mood-alleviation perspective where therapeutic shopping is used to regulate negative emotions, this scale is novel in adopting a self-completion approach where products are pursued for a tactical effort to offset threatened self-concepts.
... Although individuals can occasionally make impulse purchases to promote a positive spirit, compulsive buying frequently is associated with other underlying conditions such as anxiety, depression, and trauma. Atalay and Meloy (2011) pointed out that sometimes people buy more things than they can afford to make them feel better. This practice is sometimes called "retail therapy. ...
Article
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This study highlights the importance of incorporating subjective measures of identifiable problematic money issues in financial education workshops conducted by extension specialists. Addressing problematic money behaviors such as overspending, financial infidelity, and financial enabling empowers individuals to overcome harmful financial habits and improve basic money management practices such as paying bills on time and saving. The distinction between problematic money issues and money disorders, as well as overspending and compulsive buying, is clarified. The study uses empirical testing on problematic money behaviors and their association with fundamental money management practices to inform the development of comprehensive financial training and counseling programs.
... Specifically, as the severity of COVID-19 eased, consumption patterns of goods and services such as tourism, shopping malls, theaters and visits to Sustainability 2024, 16, 6577 2 of 11 offline retail stores-which were limited by the pandemic-experienced an instantaneous surge [6], a phenomenon known as "revenge consumption". This manifested as a consumption behavior aimed at compensating for or treating the psychological depression experienced during the pandemic by purchasing products [7]. In general, individuals tended to prefer playful products or services as targets for revenge consumption, while at the end of the COVID-19 era consumption activities related to the tourism and hospitality industry increased significantly [8]. ...
Article
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This study aimed to demonstrate the effect of negative emotions elicited by COVID-19 on the revenge consumption of international travel through both rational and irrational buying intentions. The theory of planned behavior and heuristic cues were used to explain revenge consumption in terms of rational and irrational buying intentions, respectively. A survey was conducted using MTURK from 31 May 2023 to 2 June 2023 among adults who experienced COVID-19. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses, and the Hayes PROCESS macro was used to test the mediation effect. The results revealed that negative emotions due to COVID-19 affected irrational buying intentions, but not rational buying intentions, and that both irrational and rational buying intentions significantly affected revenge consumption intentions for international travel. In addition, irrational buying intentions affected rational buying intentions. These results indicate that when making an international travel decision due to negative emotions caused by COVID-19, an irrational decision process was employed, whereas later, at the travel reservation and planning stage, individuals consumed and planned travel based on rational intentions. The significance of this study lies in the fact that it illuminates the phenomenon of revenge consumption following disasters such as pandemics.
... Choosing to regulate one's negative emotions over exerting inhibitory self-control would be consistent with the phenomena of "emotional eating" (e.g., Frayn & Knäuper, 2018) and "retail therapy" according to which people are more likely to eat and to purchase and consume unplanned treats for themselves when they are in a bad mood (Atalay & Meloy, 2011), respectively, and data showing that stress or negative affect can lead to alcohol consumption (e.g., Anthenelli, 2012;Vasse et al., 1998) and gambling behavior (e.g., Blaszczynski & Nower, 2002;Stewart et al., 2008). The combination of Hypotheses 1 and 2 further implies that self-control may cause negative affect and that, ironically, this negative affect may then cause subsequent self-control failure. ...
Article
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Objective We explore the idea that inhibitory self‐control and prohedonic emotion regulation may be incompatible concerns. Background Specifically, we propose that because some forms of self‐control involve denying oneself hedonic pleasures, it may lead to negative affect. Because people may then prioritize emotion regulation over self‐control, negative affect may in turn lead to emotion regulation efforts, specifically the use of emotion regulation strategies, and an increased likelihood of self‐control failure. Method To explore the relationship between emotion regulation and self‐control in daily life, we conducted a secondary analysis of a 6‐week, 6‐signal‐per‐day ambulatory assessment data set ( N = 125 participants with a total of 22,845 completed measurement occasions). Results Consistent with our predictions, we found that self‐control efforts of resisting a pleasurable desire led to significantly increased subsequent negative affect, which, in turn, led to significantly increased emotion regulation efforts and to significantly more likely self‐control failures. Conclusions We found evidence for the notion that inhibitory self‐control and prohedonic emotion regulation are, on average, somewhat incompatible concerns. We discuss our findings in the context of other phenomena in which emotion regulation concerns may conflict with the pursuit of other goals.
... Perceived lack of control can impact stress levels, leading individuals to engage in various consumer behaviors to cope with emotional discomfort (Sneath et al., 2009). Panic buying initially aimed to address potential product scarcity, while later in the pandemic, revenge buying emerged as a coping mechanism and a way to elevate mood and well-being (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Islam et al., 2021). ...
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The shift from traditional to online shopping is happening at an exponential rate. Numerous terms have emerged recently in the field, such as “impulsive purchasing,” “compulsive buying,” “compulsive consumption,” “impulsive spending patterns,” “revenge buying”, “panic buying,” and “shopping addiction”. The objective of this study is to understand the psychological perspectives associated with online buying. Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was the source of obtaining publication records from the year 1989 till 2024. Latest version of CiteSpace 6.3.R1 (64-bit) W software was used for mapping and bibliometric analysis. Document co-citation analysis (DCA), author co-citation analysis (ACA), and dual map overlay was analysed by using 813 records. Publication records indicate that a greater number of articles were published during the Covid-19 pandemic. Country network mapping found USA (252) with highest number of publications in the concerned domain. However, in institutional based analysis, it was found that the University of London (22) contributed the maximum number of publications. Author Muller, A (8) had contributed highest number of publications which are mainly focussed on shopping disorder. The largest five clusters, Cluster #1 online compulsive buying, Cluster #2 trust convenience, Cluster #3 state anxiety, Cluster #5 covid-19 pandemic, Cluster #6 Hong Kong were identified by DCA analysis. Keywords with strongest burst were mental health (5.81), community (5.59), purchase intention (4.44), disability (3.88), validation (3.82), risk (3.77), responses (3.74), performance (3.70), internet (3.64) and abuse (3.48), which were the indicators of emerging trend.
... Eating comfort foods and drinking alcohol are two activities that some consumers turn to when they feel bad (Evers et al., 2010;Rousseau et al., 2011). Shopping, for many, is an enjoyable distraction (Babin et al., 1994), and people in a bad mood are more likely to purchase an unplanned treat for themselves (Atalay & Meloy, 2011;Rook & Gardner, 1993) or give themselves a purchased self-gift when shopping (McKeage et al., 1993). Evidence for the use of this tactic comes from Mittal (2015), who found that low SCC consumers are more likely than others to engage in shopping as a means of escape. ...
... Furthermore, due to the positive feelings it generates in the consumer (Japutra et al., 2022), people who experience negative emotions may also consume or buy impulsively with the purpose of restoring or "undoing" negative emotions, in other words, to achieve greater emotional regulation (Kemp et al., 2021). Atalay and Meloy (2011) point out that consumers often use unplanned hedonic purchases to mitigate bad moods or strengthen good moods. Verplanken and Sato (2011) suggest that impulse buying is often linked with positive and negative emotions of psychological states, particularly as an instrumental self-regulatory mechanism. ...
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Purpose Academic literature calls for research on the impact of psychological states derived from mental illness on detrimental consumer behaviour. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of anxiety on the consumer’s buying processes (compulsive and impulsive) and emotional regulation. Design/methodology/approach To carry out the statistical analysis, the data were obtained through an online survey ( n = 726) of supermarket consumers. The treatment of the data was using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings The results obtained show that anxiety influences the generation of harmful behaviour, as it has a positive impact on compulsive and impulsive buying. In addition, compulsive and impulsive buying generate higher levels of consumers’ emotional regulation. Originality/value This study contributes to the management of anxiety as a priority element to reduce harmful behaviour. Therefore, it provides useful information for marketing managers and professionals in psychological and healthy consumer processes.
... The concept of self-gifting (SG) encompasses a multifaceted process wherein individuals engage in the acquisition of services or commodities, with consumption being intrinsically attributed to the self. This behavior is characterized by its distinctively personal and pleasure-oriented nature, devoid of an immediate utilitarian necessity (Atalay & Meloy, 2011). Notably, Heath et al. (2011) underscore that self-gifting behavior is stimulated by factors such as heightened frequency of purchase during clearance sales, alongside the persuasive allure of shopping appeals and communication platforms, collectively shaping an environment conducive to self-gifting practices. ...
Article
In Myanmar, the demand for gold ornaments has been increasing after the global economic crisis had less impact on gold prices. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors influencing customers' purchasing intention of gold ornaments. Data collected from 385 respondents in Myanmar was analyzed by non-probability sampling methods to collect data from online questionnaires conducting quantitative research methodologies including multiple linear regression and descriptive data analysis. The results revealed that there are nine major factors that are significantly influenced customers' intention to purchase gold ornaments. These factors are buyer's preference, buying on occasions, self-gift, gift-giving, expected future value, future value increasing, one type of investment, secure for future need and perceived value. These results can help gold retailers to develop appropriate marketing strategies and enhance business success in changing environments. Purpose The purpose of this study is to study the influence of buyer's preference, buying on occasions, self-gift, gift-giving, expected future value, future value increasing, one type of investment, secure for future need and perceived value on gold purchase intention in gold industries in Myanmar. Design/Methodology/Approach-this research is to determine the factors that influence gold purchase intention by using quantitative analysis to conduct a research based on online questionnaires. In the construction of the conceptual framework for this investigation, ten discrete independent variables are considered, encompassing buyer's preferences, buying on occasions, self-gift, gift-giving, expected future value, future value increasing, one type of investment, secure for the future need, perceived value, in conjunction with a sole dependent variable-gold purchase intention. Furthermore, the research employs statistical analysis tools such as JAMOVI to evaluate the research hypotheses. Moreover, tools such as JAMOVI would be applied to test the hypotheses of the research. Findings-The results from the hypotheses testing result illustrated the most important factors influencing gold purchase intention in Myanmar, which is gift-giving with the greatest beta value .286, followed by secure for future need, one type of investment, expected future value, buyers' preference, and lastly perceived value, with the number of .232, .197, .117, .075 and .025 respectively. Research Limitations/Implications-There are several limitations in investigating the influencing factors on gold purchase intention in Myanmar in gold industries such as the target location is in Myanmar and meeting personally with the customers was impossible then need to conduct with difficulty online surveys. Originality/value-This research is focused on analyzing the variables that influence customer purchase intention in gold industries in Myanmar. Download fullText from -- http://www.assumptionjournal.au.edu/index.php/aumitjournal/article/view/7597 or http://www.assumptionjournal.au.edu/index.php/aumitjournal/article/view/7597/3879
... Previous publications had already established that when people are sad, they are more inclined to spend money to acquire an object(Lerner et al. 2004, Atalay & Meloy 2011. ...
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Background: Shopping is a reality for all of us; it can also be a pleasure or a source of problem, depending on the psychology behind it and our decision making. Furthermore, our spending patterns were seriously shaken and impacted by the COVID pandemic; restrictions, safety measures and lockdown generated changes in the way we buy. So, what has changed and why? Subjects and methods: Between January 2023 and May 2023, a literature search based on electronic bibliographic databases as well as other sources of information (grey literature) was conducted in order to investigate the most recent data on shopping habits and especially how they were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Various shopping behaviors observed post COVID, such as the urge to splurge, emotional spending, revenge buying and problematic shopping behavior, can be read and explained via psychology. Customers's socio-demographic characteristics play considerable roles in new buying patterns, but some general changes show that online shopping and contactless payment have certainly increased, consumers are more aware of their spending habits, looking for value first and not remaining loyal to brand, homebody economy has risen and money is rather spent on domestic tourism instead of foreign holidays. Conclusions: A lot of buying habits have changed during COVID-19 and many of these modifications will remain in a post pandemic world. If many consumers gained some insight in their spending behaviors and are looking for durability and sustainability as preferred choices, luxury products will always attract clients. Shopping being emotionally driven, money should rather been spent on experiences (rather than things) and on others (rather than ourselves) in order to make happy.
... Some forms of consumption such as gift-giving are obvious candidates for authentic manifestations of care for others: Being kind to others and showing appreciation through gifts are likely to be strongly associated with many consumers' vision of the good life (Chan and Mogilner, 2016;Park, 1998;Wolfinbarger and Yale, 1993). By contrast, retail therapywhich is often conceptualised as a form of self-care for managing negative mood and anxietyis less clear cut: while research demonstrates that retail therapy does have positive effects on the individual consumer, the therapeutic value decreases quickly (Atalay and Meloy, 2011;Kang and Johnson, 2010;Mouakhar-Klouz et al., 2016;Rick et al., 2014). There is, thus, a clear need for future research to explore what forms of consumption are authentic expressions of care and, by inference, when caring for others and self through consumption is meaningful. ...
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It is controversial whether consumption can constitute genuine, existential meaning for the individual. Building on philosophical explorations of subjective meaning, this study suggests a dynamic relationship between existential and teleological consumption. On the one hand, consumers demonstrate deep-level engagement with entities in the marketing eco-system (such as brand narratives and certain service encounters) to explore their own potentiality and develop an authentic vision of the good life. This is existential consumption. On the other, consumers adopt teleological modes of consumption where products and services are used more instrumentally to enact their vision of the good life. It is proposed that consumer choice is existentially meaningful insofar as it is conducive to the development or realisation of the individual vision of the good life. The theory and its implications are discussed in the context of recent deterministic and pessimistic/nihilistic challenges to marketing theory.
... Hedonic shopping is mostly associated with entertainment or enjoyment; however, it is also known to be a coping mechanism against stress (Atalay and Meloy, 2011;Tauber, 1972). The choices a person has while shopping is known to be helpful in decreasing one's troubles and creating a sense of control over their environment again (Rick, Pereira and Burson, 2014). ...
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The aim of the research is to determine how the death anxiety felt by individuals during the Covid-19 process affects hedonic consumption and utilitarian consumption.. The original aspect of this research is that it covers the period of the Covid-19 epidemic processively and includes psychology,socioalology,religion and marketing of sciences. Death anxiety, which has been widely reported to have an effect on consumer behavior in the literature, has generally been interpreted later or examined retrospectively in disaster studies. This research was carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic process. Although there are many studies in the literature affecting utilitarian and hedonic consumption, it is thought that its contribution to the literature is to focus on the effect of death anxiety. E-survey with Google forms was used as the research method. Three different measurement tools were used for the data, namely “Hedonistic Consumption Scale”, “Utilitarian Consumption Scale”, and “Death Anxiety Scale” with demographic variables. In the research, an electronic questionnaire was applied to 403 people in the 18-64 age group residing in Istanbul using the "Snowball Sampling Method" and the data obtained were analyzed and interpreted with licensed SPSS 24 and AMOS 27 statistical programs. According to the results of the structural equation modeling used in the research, the 1st dimension of death anxiety affects (Uncertainty of Death) the 5 dimensions of hedonic consumption( hedonic effect, hedonic adaptation, passiveness, impulsive tendency and the reflection of identity) negatively, and the 2nd dimension affects(Thinking of and Witnessing Death) the 5 dimensions of hedonic consumption (hedonic effect, hedonic adaptation, passiveness, impulsive tendency and the reflection of identity) in a positive way. On the other hand, while the 1st dimension of death anxiety (Uncertainty of Death) is ineffective in 2 dimensions of utilitarian consumption(goal orientation and control orientation), the 2nd dimension( Thinking of and Witnessing Death) negatively affects 2 dimensions of utilitarian consumption (goal orientation and control orientation).
Chapter
This comprehensive handbook delves into the intricate relationship between artificial intelligence, law, and government regulations in society and business. With a particular focus on consumer-centric issues, chapters analyze the benefits and challenges of the expanding influence of AI systems on consumers, while shedding light on the psychological impact and potential harm posed by AI. Readers will navigate the complexities of tort law and its application to harm caused by AI, explore the legal conundrums arising from consumers utilizing digital delegates as agents, and uncover the innovative ways AI can be harnessed to enforce consumer law. This work is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the implications of AI on the legal landscape, the future of the consumer marketplace, and the role of consumer law.
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Prior research has shown that anger can predispose consumers to exert poor self-control by making them want to feel better (i.e., increasing a hedonic need for mood repair), less likely to consider risks of gratifying, and more likely to seek rewards (i.e., increasing approach motivation). However, anger also activates a need to be dominant. Consequently, across five experiments, the authors show that policy makers can motivate angry consumers to exert more self-control by emphasizing the dominance benefits of the more virtuous option in a self-control dilemma. For instance, angry consumers are more likely to exercise or eat healthily when these behaviors are associated with becoming physically stronger rather than preventing illness. The authors test these effects across various domains of self-control, such as eating healthily, exercising, saving money, and studying, and with both binary choices between virtuous and gratifying options and choices on a spectrum in which consumers choose virtuous and gratifying options in varying proportions. However, the authors find these effects occur only when angry consumers expect dominance benefits to accrue in the near but not distant future.
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Shopping to alleviate negative moods, to please self and to compensate your emotions-works as a therapy to make you feel better. The greatest and most precious things in the world cannot be seen and perhaps even touched but can feel only are "Emotions" and we need to compensate those emotions in the way of self-pleasing. The objective of the paper is to gain an insight into the emotional self-perspective of female consumer while shopping and how they treat shopping for self-pleasing. This paper also identifies and categorizes the factors of Self-pleasing affecting female consumer behavior. The data of 200 respondents (females) was collected with the help of structured questionnaire (from the metro and non-metro city) and analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics and ANOVA. So, this paper is investigating the feminist buying behavior in terms of emotions and self-pleasing while shopping.
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While previous tourism studies have examined mental health, additional research is necessary. Drawing on Rogers' theory of person‐centered therapy and self‐determination theory, this study explores shopping tourism as an adjunct therapy to improve mental health. 309 residents from Hong Kong who had shopping tourism experiences were surveyed. Partial Least Squares‐Structural Equation Modeling (PLS‐SEM) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) were adopted. The results showed that shopping hedonism, consisting of memorable and fashion shopping, and tourism escapism had specific effects on tourists' self‐congruence and eventually enhanced mental health. While tourism escapism was shown through PLS‐SEM to be non‐significant in driving shopping tourists' self‐congruence, it proved to be a necessary condition of such self‐congruence in NCA. This study recommends that government agencies promote shopping tourism as a non‐conventional way of enhancing people's mental health. Destinations can also attract shopping tourists from the perspective of promoting their mental health.
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Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has brought dramatic life changes to consumers. From the perspective of fashion shopping, this study aims to provide an understanding of how consumers have coped with the pandemic to maintain their physical and mental well-being. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing an observational research method, this study extracted and analyzed text data from Twitter, focusing on fashion consumption-related tweets posted by consumers in May 2020. Content analysis was employed to reveal consumers' coping strategies during the pandemic. Findings Through fashion shopping, consumers have employed various strategies to cope with the problems incurred during the pandemic as well as the associated emotional stress. Specifically, problem-focused strategies included both active coping and restraint coping. Emotion-focused strategies included positive reinterpretation, acceptance, mental disengagement and seeking social support. Originality/value Theoretically, this study provides empirical evidence for the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) Inventory in the context of using fashion shopping as a venue to cope with a pandemic. Managerial implications are also provided for the fashion industry as well as human service providers to better prepare for future public health crises.
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Throughout the past few thousand years, historical accounts, philosophical treatises, and works of fiction and poetry have often depicted humans as having a need to perceive themselves as good, and their actions as moral and justified. Within the last hundred years, a number of important figures in the development of modern psychology have also embraced this notion that people need self-esteem (e.g., Adler, 1930; Allport, 1937; Homey, 1937; James, 1890; Maslow, 1970; Murphy, 1947; Rank, 1959; Rogers, 1959; Sullivan, 1953). Of these, Karen Homey most thoroughly discussed the ways people try to attain and maintain a favorable self-image. The clinical writings of Horney, and other psychotherapists as well, document the ways in which people attempt to defend and enhance self-esteem; they also suggest that difficulty maintaining self-esteem, and maladaptive efforts to do so, may be central to a variety of mental health problems. In this chapter, we will first review the research supporting the existence of a need for self-esteem. Then we will present a theory that accounts for this need and specifies the role it plays in a variety of phenomena including self-presentation.
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For researchers studying how people cope with job stress, a major empirical concern is the development of coping measures. This article presents construct validity evidence for three measures of coping behavior related to job stress: control, escape, and symptom management. The psychometric properties of the scales as well as preliminary evidence for construct validity support further use and evaluation of these coping scales. Measurement issues are identified, particularly the time-dependent nature of coping and the dilemma of multimethod assessment. Suggestions are offered for future coping scale development.
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Each scale is prefaced by the same information. Details are provided of construct, description, development, samples, validity, scores, sources, references, and other evidence. The book includes a number of measures that have been used in several studies. The volume serves as a guide to the literature and may spur further refinement of existing measures in terms of item reduction, dimensionality, reliability, and validity. This Handbook also aims to help identify areas where measures are needed, thus encouraging further development of valid measures of consumer behavior and marketing constructs.
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This field study examined the role of procedural justice on escapist coping at work, affective outcomes, and intentions to quit. Results indicated that even after controlling for problem-solving coping, escapist coping mediated the effects of procedural justice on job satisfaction. Further, lower job satisfaction and higher strain mediated the effects of escapist coping on intentions to turnover. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are offered.
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Two hundred and twenty-six females and 104 young adult males indicated the extent to which 80 comments concerning chocolate applied to them. Factor analysis indicated that three factors accounted for these data. The first factor was weighted on questions that indicated a craving for chocolate and the tendency to seek comfort from chocolate under emotionally stressful conditions: it was labelled craving. The second factor was weighted with comments that reported that negative feelings were associated with eating chocolate and dissatisfaction with weight and body image: it was labelled guilt. A third factor reflected a functional approach, for example chocolate was used to give energy when taking exercise or if a meal was missed. Craving but not guilt was associated with the eating of chocolate bars. A high guilt score was associated with a tendency to report symptoms such as bingeing and vomiting.
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Self-control is a promising concept for consumer research, and self-control failure may be an important cause of impulsive purchasing. Three causes of self-control failure are described. First, conflicting goals and standards undermine control, such as when the goal of feeling better immediately conflicts with the goal of saving money. Second, failure to keep track of (monitor) one's own behavior renders control difficult. Third, self-control depends on a resource that operates like strength or energy, and depletion of this resource makes self-control less effective. Trait differences in self-control predict many behaviors. Implications for theory and research in consumer behavior are discussed.
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The major patterns of self-regulatory failure are reviewed. Underregulation occurs because of deficient standards, inadequate monitoring, or inadequate strength. Misregulation occurs because of false assumptions or misdirected efforts, especially an unwarranted emphasis on emotion. The evidence supports a strength (limited resource) model of self-regulation and suggests that people often acquiesce in losing control. Loss of control of attention, failure of transcendence, and various lapse-activated causes all contribute to regulatory failure.
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We examined the impact of anticipating poor economic conditions on financial risk-taking. In Experiment 1, the salience of poor future economic prospects was manipulated among young adults. Those who were reminded of their poor future economic prospects were more likely to take the opportunity to gamble with their money than those in the control condition. In Experiment 2, we once again manipulated the salience of poor economic prospects. Extending the results of Experiment 1, participants who were reminded of their poor economic prospects bet more money on a spin of a roulette wheel than those in a control condition. Importantly, we show that the relationship between poor economic prospects and gambling is mediated by belief in the necessity of taking financial risks to make money. Implications of economic downturns for gambling and other forms of risk-taking are discussed.
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Mood is distinguished from emotion, and mood regulation is distinguished from coping. A model of mood regulation is presented which draws on principles of control theory, which distinguishes between maximizing pleasure and minimizing psychic pain, and which emphasizes individual differences in several component subprocesses. A preliminary taxonomy of strategies and behaviors for remediating unpleasant affect is presented. Important topics for future research are discussed, including the assessment of successfulness of mood-regulation strategies, affective specificity in strategies (e.g., what works for anger might not work so well for sadness), and person specificity in strategies (e.g., socializing or helping others may be more effective strategies for extraverts than introverts). The relationship of mood regulation to overall life satisfaction and global happiness is discussed.
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Understanding how emotion regulation is similar to and different from other self-control tasks can advance the understanding of emotion regulation. Emotion regulation has many similarities to other regulatory tasks such as dieting, and abstaining from smoking, drugs, alcohol, ill-advised sexual encounters, gambling, and procrastination, but it differs in a few important respects. Emotion regulation is similar to other kinds of self-regulation in that it consists of three components: standards, monitoring, and strength. Emotion regulation involves overriding one set responses with another, incompatible set, just like with other types of self-control. And like other regulatory tasks, emotion regulation can fail either because of underregulation or because of misregulation. Although emotion regulation is similar in many respects to other regulatory tasks, it is a special case of self-regulation in that it can often undermine attempts at other kinds of self- control. Specifically, focusing on regulating moods and feeling states can lead to a failure of self-control in other areas.
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Introduces the concept of self-gifts (SGs) to retailing research. 15 female consumers (aged 18–55 yrs) were intercepted at a retail site and completed a TAT-like projective test regarding their motivations and meanings for buying SGs. Personal situations related to significant life transitions, work-related matters, and disrupted interpersonal relations provoked Ss' SG behaviors, and they established a variety of motivations and symbolic meanings that pervaded the SG retail experience. Factors in the retail setting that affected the process and realization of SG behavior included the novelty or predetermination of the brand, the brand's price, and the sales person's empathy for the buyer's personal situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Examined whether the emergence of automated retailing systems is associated with a perceived depersonalization of the retail transaction and the consumer's evaluation of the shopping experience. The authors address the role that retailing establishments play as a source of social contact, especially for those individuals categorized as lonely. The issue of loneliness is discussed, and the role of store personnel as a preventive or mitigator resource is assessed. Questionnaires were administered to 327 adults (aged 20–91 yrs) via personal contacts. Lonely and nonlonely Ss had different perceptions and were differentially affected by automated new technologies. In view of the importance of retail contact to some consumers, retailers need to be sensitive to the possible adverse effects of automation on their clientele. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Research in consumer behavior points to a relationship between self-regulation and buying behavior. This chapter addresses how three types of buying behaviors--self-gifting, impulse buying and compulsive buying--result from self-regulatory efforts or failures. Existing literature on self-gifting suggests that it can serve to reward self-control efforts as well as be an outcome of self-regulatory failure. Impulsive and compulsive buying most often result from failed efforts at self-control. Impulse buying is often the result of a single violation stemming from underregulation caused by resource depletion. Compulsive buying, conversely, is best be described as chronic inability to self-regulate resulting from misregulation due to conflicting goals and ineffective monitoring. Findings regarding compulsive buying closely match expectations derived from escape theory. This chapter suggests that future research on self-regulation and consumption can serve to further our knowledge regarding both disciplines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
We use this opportunity to respond to the issues raised by Inman (2007), and Roese, Summerville, and Fessel (2007) by addressing four broad topics that embrace the most important comments on our regret regulation theory. These topics are the feeling-is-for-doing approach on which regret regulation theory rests, the importance of emotion specificity, factors that modulate the intensity of regret, and the focus on action, inaction and choice in the elicitation of regret. Together this results in a first update, version 1.1.
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In this article definitions of mood and the behavioral effects of negative moods are reviewed and scrutinized. This is an important task for two reasons. First, in prior studies, consumer researchers have treated concepts such as affect, mood, feeling, and emotion vaguely and arbitrarily. This has resulted in confusion regarding the substance of mood. In an attempt to dispel a part of this confusion, this article offers a conceptual analysis of mood. Second, a large part of prior consumer behavior- and advertising-related mood research has addressed the relation between mood and mental constructs. The relation between mood and actual consumer behaviors is a more neglected research area. The behavioral effects of negative moods are an especially interesting phenomenon, because past studies have produced mixed and contradictory results. Thus, to offer novel insights, the key conclusion of the conceptual analysis of mood is harnessed to explain the inconsistent findings regarding the negative mood–(consumer) behavior relation. Another theoretical contribution is the provision of starting points for conceptualizing mood-alleviative consumer behavior. Suggestions for future research are also briefly outlined in the concluding section of this article. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Article
Research pertaining to the consumption impulse is sparse in the literature. To address this lacuna, the author presents and validates a detailed theoretical framework explicating the consumption impulse formation process, and examining the role played by cognitive and volitional processes in its resistance or enactment. The model makes the distinction between consonant (harmonious) impulses and dissonant (conflicting) impulses and elaborates on the role of the impulsivity trait, situational variables, and constraining factors in enactment or resistance of the consumption impulse. The results of two studies provide support to the general working of this theoretical framework. This research has the potential to inform many critical issues surrounding consumer behavior, such as regulating consumption impulses in retail and on-line shopping environments, and developing interventions for prevention of harmful consumer behaviors such as addictions. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Article
This article proposes and tests a model of regret minimization in the consumer decision-making context of sales promotions. The work examines how regret is minimized in a risk-avoiding planned purchase by conducting information search and primarily rejoicing afterwards. For risk-seeking impulse purchases, the model proposes a one-or two-pronged strategy for minimizing the regret over lost opportunities to experience immediate pleasures of an impulse purchase. The one-pronged strategy is characterized by a rapid impulse purchase without prior intent, and the two-pronged strategy involves moseying around and deliberate placement in harm's way of an impulse purchase followed by the rapid conclusion of the impulsepurchase transaction. Results from three studies indicate that regret is minimized before and after planned and impulsive purchases in different ways. The results also indicate that, consistent with the idea of defending self-image by emulating a master plan where there was none, consumers will confess to moseying around and deliberate placement in the presence of a potential impulse purchase more readily when they actually conclude the purchase as opposed to walk away from the impulsive purchase. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Chapter
Self-regulatory models of personality emphasize the system of goals that make up the self, the relationships among goals at different levels of abstraction, and the processes by which people try to move toward goals and away from threats. Our view is that actions are managed by one set of feedback processes, and that feelings arise from a different set of feedback processes. Another element in this view is that when people encounter obstacles to goal attainment, their expectancies of success help determine whether they continue to try, or disengage from further effort. Disengaging can create problems for people, but giving up the unattainable is an important part of life. The view discussed here also assumes that people's aspirations tend to recalibrate over experience, such that successes tend to promote higher goals and failures tend to promote lowering of goals. Sometimes goals conflict, so that trying to attain one means suppressing another. This effort sometimes backfires, though, bringing the suppressed desire even more into awareness. Efforts to suppress also sometimes fail, producing a loss of self-control. Finally, the self-regulatory models discussed here continue to grow. One direction for growth is provided by ideas in recently emerging bodies of thought known as dynamic systems theory and connectionism. Keywords: attractors; connectionism; disengagement; dynamic systems; expectancies; feedback; goals; self-regulation
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Mental accounts are often characterized as self-control devices that consumers employ to prevent excess spending and consumption. However, under certain conditions of ambiguity, the mental accounting process is malleable; that is, consumers have flexibility in assigning expenses to different mental accounts. We demonstrate how consumers flexibly classify expenses, or construct accounts, to justify spending. An expense that can be assigned to more than one account (i.e., an ambiguous expense) is more likely to be incurred than an unambiguous expense that is constrained either by existing budgets or by previously constructed accounts. We explore the justification processes that underlie these results and their implications for mental accounts as self-control devices.
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The study implemented 419 mall-intercept interviews with people who are 55 or older in large malls in three metropolitan cities in the United States. The five subdimensions of mall-shopping motivation of older consumers were identified under two dimensions: Consumption-oriented mall-shopping motivation (service consumption, value consumption, and eating) and experiential mall-shopping motivation (diversion and aesthetic appreciation). The structural model revealed significant effects of social interaction, loneliness, and mall-shopping motivations on mall spending. Outcomes suggest that a mall can be a place to reduce older consumers' loneliness and that retailers in the mall can attract and make older consumers spend more by emphasizing value consumption and service consumption. Results also provide the implication for mall developers that providing more experiential features and events in malls may attract more older consumers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Article
Volitional behaviors can be construed as “work” (extrinsically motivated) or as “fun” (intrinsically motivated). When volitional behaviors are construed as an obligation to work, completing the behavior depletes a consumer, and subsequent self-control becomes more difficult. When volitional behaviors are construed as an opportunity to have fun, completing the behavior vitalizes a consumer, and subsequent self-control becomes easier. Six studies show how individual differences and contextual factors influence the construal of a task, the motivation for completing it, and subsequent regulatory behavior.
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Across six studies, we demonstrate that consumers have beliefs pertaining to the transience of emotion, which, along with their current feelings, determine the extent to which they regulate their immediate affect. If consumers believe that emotion is fleeting, those feeling happy (vs. unhappy) engage in affect regulation because they infer that they need to take actions to maintain their positive feelings. In contrast, if consumers believe that emotion is lasting, those feeling unhappy (vs. happy) engage in affect regulation because they infer that the negative feelings will persist unless they take actions to repair them. These effects are obtained with measured and with manipulated beliefs, and they occur only when the theories pertain specifically to emotion. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.
Article
A new task goal elicits a feeling of pride in individuals with a subjective history of success, and this achievment pride produces anticipatory goal reactions that energize and direct behavior to approach the task goal. By distinguishing between promotion pride and prevention pride, the present paper extends this classic model of achievement motivation. Regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) distinguishes between a promotion focus on hopes and accomplishments (gains) and a prevention focus on safety and responsibilities (non-losses). We propose that a subjective history of success with promotion-related eagerness (promotion pride) orients individuals toward using eagerness means to approach a new task goal, whereas a subjective history of success with prevention-related vigilance (prevention pride) orients individuals toward using vigilance means to approach a new task goal. Studies 1–3 tested this proposal by examining the relations between a new measure of participants' subjective histories of promotion success and prevention success (the Regulatory Focus Questionnaire (RFQ)) and their achievement strategies in different tasks. Study 4 examined the relation between participants' RFQ responses and their reported frequency of feeling eager or vigilant in past task engagements. Study 5 used an experimental priming technique to make participants temporarily experience either a subjective history of promotion success or a subjective history of prevention success. For both chronic and situationally induced achievement pride, these studies found that when approaching task goals individuals with promotion pride use eagerness means whereas individuals with prevention pride use vigilance means. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Article
Anew model of consumer behavior is developed using a hybrid of cognitive psychology and microeconomics. The development of the model starts with the mental coding of combinations of gains and losses using the prospect theory value function. Then the evaluation of purchases is modeled using the new concept of “transaction utility.” The household budgeting process is also incorporated to complete the characterization of mental accounting. Several implications to marketing, particularly in the area of pricing, are developed. This article was originally published in Marketing Science, Volume 4, Issue 3, pages 199–214, in 1985.
Article
Moods, defined as diffuse or global feeling states, may lead us to take self-regulatory action designed to maintain them (good moods) or eliminate them (bad moods). This paper first surveys theories that help explain the origin and nature of such feeling states and then goes on to review and evaluate evidence purporting to demonstrate that self-regulation of mood occurs. Some support was found for the idea that people in bad moods will engage in various self-gratifying or self-indulgent acts as therapy. Other techniques that appear to be used are alcohol consumption and self-serving cognitive processes. The evidence regarding other sorts of self-regulation is fragmentary and/or anecdotal. It is argued that research on the self-regulation of mood would profit from better theoretical development, and some ideas along these lines are offered.
Article
Why do consumers sometimes act against their own better judgment, engaging in behavior that is often regretted after the fact and that would have been rejected with adequate forethought? More generally, how do consumers attempt to maintain self-control in the face of time-inconsistent preferences? This article addresses consumer impatience by developing a decision-theoretic model based on reference points. The model explains how and why consumers experience sudden increases in desire for a product, increases that can result in the temporary overriding of long-term preferences. Tactics that consumers use to control their own behavior are also discussed. Consumer self-control is framed as a struggle between two psychological forces, desire and willpower. Finally, two general classes of self-control strategies are described: those that directly reduce desire, and those that overcome desire through willpower. Copyright 1991 by the University of Chicago.
Article
The proposed model integrates two streams of research on affect by specifying how evaluative and regulatory mechanisms interact to guide behavior. Two experiments demonstrate that when no mood changes are expected, the affective evaluation mechanism guides behavior, leading to a monotonic increase in behavioral intentions as affect conditions shift from negative to positive. When participants expect the behavioral activity to change their current affective states, a combination of affect regulation and affective evaluation produces a U-shape pattern when a mood-lifting cue is present (experiment 1) and an inverted U-shape pattern when a mood-threatening cue is present (experiment 2). (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
Article
The experience of a mood consists of more than emotional states such as happiness, anger, sadness, or fear. It also includes mood management processes that can facilitate or inhibit the experience of the mood reaction. A multidomain framework is described for organizing such experience, and 2 studies are reported that analyzed separately emotion-related and emotion-management-related mood experiences. In both studies, emotion-related experience, including physical, emotional, and cognitive subdomains, could be characterized by Pleasant-Unpleasant and Arousal-Calm dimensions. Also, both studies yielded evidence for the emotion-management dimensions of Plans of Action, Suppression, and Denial. These broader dimensions of mood experience predicted criterion variables such as empathy better than Pleasant-Unpleasant and Arousal-Calm dimensions alone.
Article
In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented.