Computers in Human Behavior 103 (2020) 13–20

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Computers in Human Behavior

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh

Perceived stress and online compulsive buying among women: A moderated T

mediation model
Yueli Zhenga,b, Xiujuan Yanga,b, Qingqi Liua,b, Xiaowei Chua,b, Qitong Huanga,b,
Zongkui Zhoua,b,∗
a
Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, 430079, China
b
School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Although perceived stress has been shown to be related to online compulsive buying among women, little is
Perceived stress known about the underlying mechanisms of this association. The present study examined the mediating role of
Online compulsive buying negative coping and the moderating role of self-esteem in the association between perceived stress and online
Negative coping compulsive buying. A sample of 548 female consumers (M age = 21.41 years, SD = 4.40) completed ques-
Self-esteem
tionnaire measures of perceived stress, self-esteem, negative coping, and online compulsive buying. Frequency of
Women
online buying and amount of money spent online per month were used as covariates. Results indicated that
perceived stress was positively associated with online compulsive buying. Negative coping partially mediated
this association. In addition, the direct effect of perceived stress on online compulsive buying, and the mediating
effect of negative coping, were moderated by self-esteem. Specifically, these effects were weaker for women with
higher self-esteem. These findings advance our understanding of how and when perceived stress is related to
online compulsive buying among women. Limitations and implications are discussed.

1. Introduction
With the development of information technology and logistics
transportation, online buying has become more convenient and pop-
ular. The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC, 2019)
reported that as of December 2018 the population of online buyers in
China had reached 610 million. Online buying is a fast-growing alter-
native to conventional buying (Dittmar, Long, & Bond, 2007). Some
Internet users shop online so frequently that they seem “compulsive” in
their buying habits (Dittmar, 2005; Dittmar et al., 2007). However,
previous studies have been concerned more with offline compulsive
buying than online compulsive buying.
Offline and online compulsive buying have similar core character-
istics: (1) uncontrollable impulse to buy; (2) loss of control over buying
behaviors; and (3) continued overbuying despite negative effects on
personal, social, or professional activities (Dittmar, 2004; McElroy,
Keck, Pope, Smith, & Strakowski, 1994). However, the two types of
compulsive buying occur in very different contexts. Online compulsive
buying occurs in the context of the Internet, which provides many ad-
vantages to the consumer (Dittmar et al., 2007; Hausman, 2000; Kukar-
Kinney, Ridgway, & Monroe, 2009; Kukar-Kinney, Ridgway, & Monroe,
2012; LaRose, 2001; Lyons & Henderson, 2000). Firstly, people can buy
things online 24 h a day. Secondly, they can pick out and buy goods
without being observed. Thirdly, online shops provide large quantities
of goods, and people can make purchases more quickly. These factors
that have been confirmed to facilitate consumers’ compulsive tenden-
cies.
In addition, online compulsive buying has been found to be asso-
ciated with psychosocial problems (e.g., guilt, social conflict) and other
harmful consequences, especially among female consumers (Díez,
Aragay, Soms, Prat, Bonet, & Casas, 2018; Dittmar, 2004; Duroy, Gorse,
& Lejoyeux, 2014). With improvements in Chinese women's social and
economic status, the scale of Chinese women's consumption market is
constantly expanding. These consumers, mainly composed of young
and middle-aged women, have become the main force of online shop-
ping in China (Gao, 2018). Compared to men, women have a stronger
purchase intention in the cyber context (Davis, Smith, & Lang, 2017).
Women are also more likely to engage in compulsive buying than men
are (He, Kukar-Kinney, & Ridgway, 2018; McElroy et al., 1994; Norum,
2008). Clinical trials have indicated that 80–95% of people seeking
treatment for compulsive buying were women (Black, 2007). Therefore,
it is important to examine the risk factors and mechanisms that place

∗
Corresponding author. Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, 430079, China.
E-mail address: zhouzk@mail.ccnu.edu.cn (Z. Zhou).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.09.012
Received 26 January 2019; Received in revised form 10 September 2019; Accepted 17 September 2019
Available online 18 September 2019
0747-5632/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Zheng, et al.
women at risk for online compulsive buying.
2. Literature review
2.1. Perceived stress and online compulsive buying
Online compulsive buying is defined as the consumer's tendency to
engage in online buying without impulse control (He et al., 2018). Ef-
forts have been made to identify the causes of online compulsive
buying. Research has found that psychological variables (e.g., person-
ality traits, values, goals, self-concept) play essential roles in compul-
sive buying (Kellett & Bolton, 2009; Sharif & Khanekharab, 2017).
Psychological distress, such as depression and anxiety, appear to be
important triggers for compulsive buying (Darrat, Darrat, & Amyx,
2016; Müller, Mitchell, Crosby, Cao, Johnson, Claes, & de Zwaan, 2012;
Otero-López & Villardefrancos, 2013; Williams & Grisham, 2012). In
addition to depression and anxiety, other negative moods have been
documented as risk factors for compulsive buying (Faber & Christenson,
1996). Of these, perceived stress has been the most commonly studied,
and has been found to result in numerous other negative emotions
(Constantine, Okazaki, & Utsey, 2004; Spada, Nikčević, Moneta, &
Wells, 2008). Perceived stress is a state reflecting the global evaluation
of the significance of personal and environmental challenges and how
difficult they are to deal with (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983)
that may be related to an array of compulsive behaviors (Ciarma &
Mathew, 2017; Ye & Zheng, 2016) such as compulsive buying (Faber &
Christenson, 1996; Müller et al., 2012).
The term retail therapy is used to describe the use of shopping to
alleviate negative emotions, which may lead to compulsive buying
(Atalay & Meloy, 2011; Ko, Chun, Song, & Mattila, 2015; Rick, Pereira,
& Burson, 2014). Specifically, women with high perceived stress may
use retail therapy as an effective way to find relief from negative
emotions. As a result, the likelihood of engaging in online compulsive
buying would increase. Consistent with the idea of retail therapy,
previous studies have shown that women are more likely to engage in
compulsive buying in order to regulate negative emotions, or in order
to find positive experiences to alleviate negative ones (Kukar-Kinney
et al., 2009; Mueller, Claes, Mitchell, Faber, Fischer, & de Zwaan,
2011).
A substantive body of work has established that perceived stress is
an important risk factor for compulsive buying (Aboujaoude, Gamel, &
Koran, 2003; Gallagher, Watt, Weaver, & Murphy, 2017; He et al.,
2018; Ko et al., 2015). For example, Roberts and Roberts (2012) found
that perceived stress caused by an academic examination was positively
correlated with women's compulsive buying. Vogt, Hunger, Türpe,
Pietrowsky, and Gerlach (2014) found in an experimental study that
compared to women without compulsive buying, women with com-
pulsive buying were more strongly influenced by negative emotions due
to perceived stress. These findings suggest that perceived stress plays an
important role in online compulsive buying among women.
Nonetheless, existing research has focused primarily on the re-
lationship between perceived stress and compulsive buying in brick and
mortar stores, rather than in the online marketplace (Aboujaoude et al.,
2003; Gallagher et al., 2017). With the growing market of material
goods on the Internet, it becomes equally important to investigate
factors that influence compulsive buying online and in conventional
retail settings. In addition, the mediating and moderating effects in-
volved in the association between perceived stress and online com-
pulsive buying remain unexplored. Identifying mechanisms by which
perceived stress is associated with online compulsive buying has im-
portant implications for developing interventions to reduce compulsive
buying. Moreover, women's online compulsive buying is not the pri-
mary focus of past research, while there are some differences in male
and female Internet use behaviors (Hetzel-Riggin & Pritchard, 2011),
women are at higher risk of online compulsive buying (He et al., 2018;
Norum, 2008). Thus, the present study examined the mediating role of
14
Computers in Human Behavior 103 (2020) 13–20
negative coping and the moderating role of self-esteem in the associa-
tion between perceived stress and online compulsive buying among
female consumers.
2.2. The mediating role of negative coping
Negative coping refers to coping strategies that allow the person to
avoid stress by using denial, self-criticism, and social withdrawal to
alleviate negative emotions (Li, Cao, Hu, & Guo, 2016; Zheng, Fan, Liu,
& Mo, 2012). Women who suffer from higher levels of stress have been
shown to be more prone to use negative coping strategies (Anshel,
Kang, & Miesner, 2010; Liu & Tao, 2005; Matud, 2004; Roberts &
Roberts, 2012). Specifically, in a stressful situation, they are more likely
to protect instead of consume their residual resources, and thus adopt
more stress-avoiding or situation-denying behavior. Previous research
has demonstrated that perceived stress is positively correlated with
negative coping (Anderson, 1976; Eisenbarth, 2012; Sami, Hassan,
Hussain, Saeed, Ali, Ayoob, & Khan, 2018; Xia & Ye, 2014). For in-
stance, a study of female college students showed that stress from fi-
nancial problems was associated with negative coping strategies (Liu &
Tao, 2005).
Moreover, the use of negative coping strategies might be a sus-
ceptibility factor for online compulsive buying. Some researchers have
argued that short-term preference for negative coping may turn into
long-term addictive behaviors (Eccles, 2002; Lee, Chung, Song, Lee,
Kim, Shin, Yoon, & Kim, 2018; Li, Zhang, Li, Zhou, Zhao, & Wang,
2016). Consistent with this view, when people prefer negative coping,
they have a higher tendency to shop compulsively (Otero-López &
Villardefrancos, 2014; Roberts & Roberts, 2012). In other words, when
individuals can shop online at all times and places to relieve stress and
negative emotion immediately, those who prefer negative coping may
shop online more compulsively.
Despite previous research evidence of the relationship among ne-
gative coping, perceived stress and compulsive buying, it remains un-
clear whether negative coping serves as the mechanism by which per-
ceived stress may be associated with online compulsive buying. The
theory of conservation of resources (COR) (Hobfoll, 1989) hypothesizes
that individuals protect their residual resources and avoid stressful si-
tuations that might consume personal resources. Meanwhile, people try
to replenish their lost resources through some risky activities. From this
perspective, individuals with high perceived stress tend to separate
themselves from stressful situations using a variety of negative coping
strategies, such as trying to forget the whole thing, relying on other
people to solve problems, and being eager to take a rest or vacation (Liu
& Tao, 2005; Xie, 1999). More importantly, according to COR, people
who temporarily detach from stressful situations seek ways to replenish
resources (Hobfoll, 1989). Online shopping not only increases the
chances of acquiring new material resources, but also helps to block
negative emotions or replace them with more positive emotional ex-
periences. The convenience and function of online shopping instantly
satisfy material and psychological needs. As a consequence, some on-
line shoppers may continually engage in online buying after perceived
stress, potentially leading to online compulsive buying. In other words,
negative coping is not only a preferred coping strategy of compulsive
online buyers, it might also be a predictor of compulsive buying.
In line with COR, evidence has suggested that female consumers
perceive more uncontrollability under stress and adopt more negative
coping strategies to escape reality (Anshel et al., 2010; Kausar &
Farooqi, 2015; Matud, 2004; Renk & Creasey, 2003). However, nega-
tive coping may in turn trigger compulsive behavior, such as online
compulsive buying, that can alleviate negative emotions only for a short
time; negative coping thus provides relief from negative emotions, and
may even produce positive emotion, with little resource consumption
(Dittmar et al., 2007; He et al., 2018). Many studies have shown that
negative coping is an important internal factor linking perceived stress
and compulsive behavior (Bell & D'Zurilla, 2009; Dreier, Wölfling,
Y. Zheng, et al. Computers in Human Behavior 103 (2020) 13–20

Duven, Giralt, Beutel, & Müller, 2017; Lee, Park, & Lee, 2016; Tang
et al., 2014; Xia & Ye, 2014; Ye & Zheng, 2016). Based on this body of
research, it is reasonable to assume that perceived stress can trigger
negative coping, and negative coping could lead to online compulsive
buying.
To date, no research has directly examined the mediating role of
negative coping in the relationship between perceived stress and online
compulsive buying. Drawing from the theoretical literature and em-
pirical studies, we posed.
Hypothesis 1. Negative coping will mediate the relationship between Fig. 1. Hypothesized conceptual model.
perceived stress and online compulsive buying among female
consumers. 2.4. The present study

The present study constructed a moderated mediation model (see

2.3. The moderating role of self-esteem
Although perceived stress may have a catalytic effect on online
compulsive buying in general, it does not affect all women equally.
Personal characteristics such as self-esteem may moderate the relation
between perceived stress and online compulsive buying. Self-esteem
refers to a positive or negative assessment of oneself (Harter, 2006).
High self-esteem means that the individual has a higher clarity and
certainty of self-concept (Heimpel, Wood, Marshall, & Brown, 2002),
and individuals with high self-esteem are less likely to engage in ne-
gative coping or risk behaviors (Cieślak & Golusiński, 2018; West,
2018). By contrast, low self-esteem means a more negative self-eva-
luation and self-identification, and individuals with low self-esteem are
more likely to engage in negative coping and risk behaviors
(Baumeister, 1993; Zhao, Zhang, Jin, Zhu, Jia, & Li, 2019). Moreover,
people with low self-esteem tend to use consumer goods as psycholo-
gical compensation for identity to maintain ideal self (Dittmar et al.,
2007). A great number of previous studies indicated that self-esteem
may affect individuals’ negative coping strategies as well as online
compulsive buying (Dittmar, 2005; Dittmar et al., 2007; Hu, Yu, Liu, &
Zhang, 2019; Maraz, Urbán, & Demetrovics, 2016; Roberts, Manolis, &
Pullig, 2014; Servidio, Gentile, & Boca, 2018). For instance, Servidio
et al. (2018) found that low self-esteem was associated with negative
coping. Dittmar (2005) found that women who were ordinary buyers
had self-evaluations that were more positive overall than women who
were compulsive buyers.
Moreover, self-esteem may moderate the direct and/or indirect re-
lationships between perceived stress and online compulsive buying.
According to COR theory, self-esteem is a stable personal resource that
can buffer the relation between perceived stress and unhealthy beha-
viors (Hobfoll, 1989). In line with COR theory, previous studies sug-
gested that self-esteem regulates the relationship between perceived
stress and internal (e.g., sadness, anxiety) and external (e.g., tobacco
and alcohol use) negative behaviors (Carter, 2018; Jiang, Liang, Yang,
& Ke, 2015; Wei, Ku, Russell, Mallinckrodt, & Liao, 2008; Wei & Luo,
2017). For example, Kim, Hogge, and Salvisberg (2014) suggested that
self-esteem acted as a protective factor that alleviated the negative ef-
fects of high stress on psychological functioning. A longitudinal study
found that women with lower self-esteem and more stressors were more
likely to maintain their bulimic symptoms over time (Vohs, Bardone,
Joiner Jr, & Abramson, 1999).
As far as we know, no studies have examined whether self-esteem
has a moderating effect on the direct and/or indirect relationship be-
tween perceived stress and online compulsive buying. Based on the
conservation of resources theory and empirical grounds, we posed.
Hypothesis 2. : The direct effect of perceived stress on online
compulsive buying, and the mediating effect of negative coping, will
be moderated by self-esteem, with these effects being stronger for
female consumers with lower levels of self-esteem.
Fig. 1) to test whether negative coping is a mediator in the relationship
between perceived stress and online compulsive buying, and to test
whether the direct effect of perceived stress on online compulsive
buying and the mediation effect via negative coping would be moder-
ated by self-esteem. The sample was made up of women, as women are
at higher risk of online compulsive buying than men (He et al., 2018;
Norum, 2008; Trotzke, Starcke, Müller, & Brand, 2015).
3. Method
3.1. Participants
An online survey of female consumers was conducted using Sojump,
a popular online consumer panel survey company in China (similar to
Survey Monkey in the U.S.). Sojump has developed a database of over
43.07 million consumers from different cities in China. Female con-
sumers voluntarily filled out the questionnaire through the link on the
website. After completing the questionnaire, they received a monetary
reward of a random amount (¥ 1–5). Previous research on Chinese
consumers’ online shopping has also used Sojump as a data collection
tool (He et al., 2018). Using Sojump, we obtained valid data from 548
female consumers. Their ages ranged from 16 to 45 years, with an
average age of 21.41 (SD = 4.40). Of the participants, 56 had less than
1 year of online shopping experience, 262 had 1–3 years of experience,
125 had 3–5 years, and 105 had 5 years or more.
3.2. Measurements
3.2.1. Perceived stress
The stress subscale of the Chinese Short Version of the Depression
Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-C21; Gong, Xie, Xu, & Luo, 2010) was used
to measure perceived stress. The DASS-C21 is a reliable and valid in-
strument, and it is suitable for use with Chinese adults (Gong et al.,
2010). The stress subscale included 7 items (e.g., “I found it difficult to
relax”). Participants responded on a 4-point Likert scale with values
ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Higher scores
indicated higher perceived stress. In our study, Cronbach's α for this
scale was 0.82.
3.2.2. Negative coping
The negative coping subscale of the Simplified Coping Style
Questionnaire (SCSQ; Xie, 1999) was used to measure negative coping.
This negative coping subscale has been widely used in research on
Chinese adults and has revealed good reliability and validity (Hu &
Chen, 2018; Liu, Hu, & Sun, 2018). The subscale included 8 items de-
scribing individuals' attitudes and actions when encountering setbacks
and difficulties (e.g., “Trying to forget the whole thing”). Participants
responded on a 4-point Likert scale with values ranging from 1
(strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicated higher
negative coping. In our study, Cronbach's α for this scale was 0.70.

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Table 1
Descriptive statistics and correlations between variables.
Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Frequency of online buying 3.01 1.22 –

2. Amount of money spent online per month 2.10 1.06 0.46∗∗ –
3. Perceived stress 2.04 0.59 0.13∗∗ 0.04 –
4. Negative coping 2.27 0.50 0.14∗∗ 0.06 0.41∗∗ –
5. Self-esteem 2.99 0.47 −0.04 −0.02 −0.35∗∗ −0.28∗∗ –
6. Online compulsive buying 2.68 0.79 0.42∗∗ 0.33∗∗ 0.37∗∗ 0.38∗∗ −0.21∗∗ –

Note. N = 548. ∗∗
p < .01.

3.2.3. Self-esteem
The 10-item Chinese version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale
(Rosenberg, 1965) was used to measure self-esteem. Based on cultural
differences, many researchers believe that the 8th question in the ori-
ginal English version of the scale (i.e., “I wish I could earn more respect
for myself ”) should be removed for use in a Chinese context because of
cultural differences (Liu, Niu, Fan, & Zhou, 2017; Tian, 2006), therefore
we also removed the 8th question. Participants responded to items on a
4-point Likert scale with values ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4
(strongly agree). Higher scores indicated higher self-esteem. A typical
item was “I feel I have many good qualities.” In our study, Cronbach's α
for this scale was 0.87.
3.2.4. Online compulsive buying
We used the Online Compulsive Buying scale (Dittmar et al., 2007;
Li, et al., 2016), which included 11 items (e.g., “When I have money, I
can't help spending some or all of it on online shopping”). Participants
responded on a 5-point Likert scale with values ranging from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicated more
frequent online compulsive buying behavior. This questionnaire has
been used with Chinese adults and has shown good reliability and va-
lidity (Li, et al., 2016). In our study, Cronbach's α for this scale was
0.90.
3.2.5. Covariates
Given that prior research suggested that compulsive buying was
correlated with the frequency of online buying and amount of money
spent online per month of Chinese consumers (He et al., 2018), we
included these variables as covariates in the statistical analyses. Wo-
men's frequency of online buying was assessed by self-report using a
1–6 scale, with 1 = less than once a month, 2 = about once a month,
3 = about once in 2 weeks, 4 = about once a week, 5 = once every 2–3
days, 6 = everyday. Amount of money spent online per month was
assessed by self-report using a 1–5 scale, with 1 = below ¥ 200, 2 = ¥
201 – ¥ 500, 3 = ¥ 501 – ¥ 800, 4 = ¥ 801 – ¥ 1100, 5 = ¥ 1101 or
more.
perceived stress and online compulsive buying. We used model 4 of the
PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013) to test this hypothesis. For Hypothesis
2, we used model 8 of the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013) to test
moderated mediation. This approach has been extensively used to test
complex models including moderated mediation models (e.g., Chu, Fan,
Liu, & Zhou, 2018; Liu et al., 2017). Bias-corrected bootstrap con-
fidence intervals (CIs) derived from 5000 bootstrap resamples were
estimated to test the significance of conditional direct and indirect ef-
fects. An effect was considered significant if the CI did not include zero.
4. Results
4.1. Preliminary analyses
Table 1 provides descriptive statistics. The correlations among
variables were consistent with our expectations. Specifically, perceived
stress was positively correlated with negative coping and online com-
pulsive buying, and negatively associated with self-esteem. Self-esteem
was negatively associated with negative coping and online compulsive
buying. Negative coping was positively associated with online com-
pulsive buying.
4.2. Testing for mediation
As shown in Table 2, after controlling for frequency of online buying
and amount of money spent online per month, perceived stress was
positively associated with negative coping (β = 0.40, p < .001), which
in turn was positively associated with online compulsive buying
(β = 0.24, p < .001). The direct relationship between perceived stress
and online compulsive buying was also significant (β = .23, p < .001),
which suggested that negative coping partially mediated the link be-
tween perceived stress and online compulsive buying (indirect ef-
fect = 0.10, SE = 0.02, 95% CI = 0.06–0.14). This indirect effect
Table 2
Testing the mediation effect of perceived stress on online compulsive buying.

3.3. Procedure Outcome Predictors R2 F β LLCI ULCI t value

OCB Frequency 0.30 79.45 .24 0.17 0.30 7.13∗∗∗

This research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Spent online .18 0.10 0.25 4.65∗∗∗
the corresponding author's institution. The study consisted of a self- PS .33 0.26 0.40 9.10∗∗∗
report data collection instrument, which included instructions on how NC Frequency 0.18 39.51 .07 0.01 0.14 2.04∗
to complete the survey and assurances of anonymity. The data were Spent online .01 −0.07 0.09 0.04
PS .40 0.32 0.48 10.24∗∗∗
collected in 2017. All of the participants completed our survey vo-
OCB Frequency 0.35 73.27 .22 0.16 0.28 6.80∗∗∗
luntarily, and they could quit at any time. The average time it took to Spent online .17 0.10 0.25 4.76∗∗∗
complete our survey was about 15 min. PS .23 0.16 0.31 6.12∗∗∗
NC .24 0.16 0.31 6.19∗∗∗
3.4. Statistical analyses
Note: N = 548, OCB = online compulsive buying, NC = negative coping,
PS = perceived stress, Frequency = frequency of online buying, Spent on-
All of the statistical analyses were conducted with the SPSS 22.0 line = amount of money spent online per month. Bootstrap sample
software package. Pearson's correlation analyses were adopted to ex- size = 5000. LL = low limit, CI = confidence interval, UL = upper limit. The
plore the potential relationships among perceived stress, negative research variables (excluding frequency of online buying and amount of money
coping, self-esteem, and online compulsive buying. For Hypothesis 1, spent online per month) in regression models were standardized. ∗p < .05,
we anticipated that negative coping mediated the relationship between ∗∗
p < .01, ∗∗∗p < .001.

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Y. Zheng, et al. Computers in Human Behavior 103 (2020) 13–20

Table 3
Testing the moderated mediation effect of perceived stress and online compulsive buying.
Outcome Predictors R2 F value β LLCI ULCI t value

OCB Frequency 0.36 51.58 .21 0.15 0.27 6.47∗∗∗

Spent online .17 0.10 0.25 4.81∗∗∗
PS .21 0.13 0.29 5.46∗∗∗
NC .22 0.14 0.29 5.63∗∗∗
Self-esteem -.03 −0.10 0.04 −0.81
PS × Self-esteem -.10 −0.17 −0.04 −3.03∗∗
NC Frequency 0.21 28.15 .06 −0.01 0.14 1.81
Spent online .01 −0.07 0.09 0.14
PS .34 0.26 0.42 8.31∗∗∗
Self-esteem -.13 −0.21 −0.05 −3.14∗∗
PS × Self-esteem -.08 −0.16 −0.01 −2.18∗
Conditional direct effect analysis at moderator values = M ± SD β Boot SE BootLLCI BootULCI
M – 1 SD (2.52) .41 0.05 0.31 0.51
M (2.99) .29 0.04 0.21 0.36
M + 1 SD (3.46) .17 0.05 0.06 0.27
Conditional indirect effect analysis at moderator values = M ± SD β Boot SE BootLLCI BootULCI
M – 1 SD (2.52) .43 0.05 0.32 0.53
M (2.99) .34 0.04 0.26 0.42
M + 1 SD (3.46) .26 0.06 0.14 0.37

Note: N = 548, OCB = online compulsive buying, NC = negative coping, PS = perceived stress, Frequency = frequency of online buying, Spent online = amount of
money spent online per month. Bootstrap sample size = 5000. LL = low limit, CI = confidence interval, UL = upper limit. The research variables (excluding
frequency of online buying and amount of money spent online per month) in regression models were standardized. ∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01, ∗∗∗p < .001.

accounted for 30.03% of the variance in participants’ online compulsive

buying. Thus, Hypothesis 1 was supported.

4.3. Testing for moderated mediation

Hypothesis 2 predicted that self-esteem would buffer the direct and/

or indirect relationship between perceived stress and online compulsive
buying. As shown in Table 3, after controlling for frequency of online
buying and amount of money spent online per month, a significant
direct effect of perceived stress on online compulsive buying was ob-
served (β = 0.21, p < .001), and this effect was moderated by self-
esteem, p < .001. Fig. 2 depicts the results of the conditional direct
effect analysis. The plot shows the relation between perceived stress
and online compulsive buying, separately for low and high levels of
self-esteem (1 SD below the mean and 1 SD above the mean, respec-
tively). Simple slope tests showed that the association between per-
ceived stress and online compulsive buying was stronger for women
Fig. 3. Self-esteem moderated the relation between perceived stress and ne-
with low self-esteem (βsimple = .41, p < .001) than for women with
gative coping.
high self-esteem (βsimple = .17, p < .05).
In addition, the direct effect of perceived stress on negative coping
was significant (β = 0.34, p < .001), and this effect was also moder-
ated by self-esteem, p < .05. Fig. 3 shows the plot of the relation be-
tween perceived stress and negative coping, separately for low and high
levels of self-esteem (1 SD below the mean and 1 SD above the mean,
respectively; see Fig. 3). Simple slope tests showed that the association
between perceived stress and negative coping was stronger for women
with low self-esteem (βsimple = .43, p < .001) than for women with
high self-esteem (βsimple = .26, p < .001). That is, the positive direct
effect of perceived stress on online compulsive buying and the positive
indirect effect of perceived stress on online compulsive buying through
negative coping were weaker when self-esteem was high. Therefore,
Hypothesis 2 was supported.

5. Discussion

The overall model revealed perceived stress as a crucial predictor of

Fig. 2. Self-esteem moderated the relation between perceived stress and online
compulsive buying.
online compulsive buying, which suggests that women with a higher
level of perceived stress may be at higher risk for this type of com-
pulsive behavior. This result is consistent with the results of other
empirical studies (Dreier et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2016; Vogt et al.,
2014). Moreover, this study extends the prior literature by showing that

17
Y. Zheng, et al.
negative coping partially mediated the relationship between perceived
stress and online compulsive buying. In addition, both the direct effect
of perceived stress on online compulsive buying, and the mediation
effect of negative coping, were moderated by self-esteem. Specifically,
these effects were weaker for female consumers with high self-esteem.
The current research deepens our understanding of how and when
perceived stress is associated with online compulsive buying.
The hypothesis that negative coping mediated the relation between
perceived stress and online compulsive buying was supported. In other
words, negative coping is a possible reason that some women engage in
online compulsive buying in response to stress. Our results support the
stress-coping theory (Carver & Vargas, 2011; Lazarus & Folkman,
1984), which posits that perceived stress affects coping negatively, and
further leads to maladaptive outcomes. Moreover, our findings are
consistent with previous studies (Otero-López & Villardefrancos, 2014;
Xia & Ye, 2014; Ye & Zheng, 2016) showing that negative coping was
associated with perceived stress and avoidance behavior. Online buying
was utilized as resources for temporarily escape and avoidance of stress
(Dittmar et al., 2007; He et al., 2018). Female consumers who rely more
on negative coping strategies may be more likely to compulsively
buying online. Our finding adds to the literature in supporting the view
that the negative coping is one of the major reasons of compulsive
behaviors in online (Eccles, 2002; Lee et al., 2018; Li et al., 2016). That
is, short-term preference for negative coping may turn into long-term
addictive behaviors.
Although the mediating effect of negative coping was significant,
there was still a residual direct effect of perceived stress on online
compulsive buying. One possible reason is that online shopping can
directly alleviate negative emotions caused by perceived stress. Some
women tend to cope with negative emotion through compulsive buying
(Faber & Christenson, 1996; Gallagher et al., 2017) because online
shopping can provide immediate emotional relief at anytime and any-
where (Atalay & Meloy, 2011; He et al., 2018; Ko et al., 2015; Rick
et al., 2014). Furthermore, daydreaming about the goods they bought
allows an escape from reality in the short term (He et al., 2018; O'Guinn
& Faber, 1989). Therefore, perceived stress is closely related to online
compulsive buying, and women with a high level of perceived stress
may try to reduce stress directly through online buying.
In line with our hypothesis, self-esteem buffered the relation be-
tween perceived stress and online compulsive buying, as well as the
indirect effect of negative coping. These results suggest that women
with lower self-esteem are more likely to engage in online compulsive
buying, and they may also prefer negative coping strategies after ex-
periencing high perceived stress. Our results coincide with the stress-
buffering hypothesis (Carver & Vargas, 2011), which suggests that self-
esteem buffered the effect of perceived stress on maladaptive behaviors
(Carter, 2018). Both online compulsive buying and negative coping
could be considered maladjustment patterns that low self-esteem
women may adopt when they perceive stress.
According to social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954), people
make self-evaluations through social comparison. Those who consider
themselves “better off” than others would generally develop a positive
self-evaluation. In line with this perspective, women with low self-es-
teem might spend more money online to improve their self-evaluation
through the value of goods, and eventually develop online compulsive
buying (Chang, Lu, Su, Lin, & Chang, 2011). Thus, low self-esteem is a
risk factor exacerbating online compulsive buying among women. In
addition, high self-esteem helps sustain self-control resources such as
positive emotion (Hao & Cui, 2014; Lee et al., 2016). Women with
higher self-esteem appear to be less likely to suffer from insufficient
self-control resources (Grodzinsky et al., 2015), which might otherwise
exacerbate the relationship between perceived stress and negative
coping.
The present study revealed for the first time that negative coping
plays a mediating role in the association between perceived stress and
online compulsive buying. Both negative coping and online compulsive
18
Computers in Human Behavior 103 (2020) 13–20
buying are stress-avoiding coping strategies. In a word, the present
study outlined a model of stress avoidance among women, particularly
women with low self-esteem. Evolutionary psychology holds that
avoidance is a strategy adopted by individuals to ensure their survival
(Elliot, 2008). Our results were consistent with this perspective. Under
the circumstance of high perceived stress, the women in our sample
tended to use negative coping strategies as well as engage in online
compulsive buying. These behaviors may help to protect their residual
resources, or to gain new resources, in order to ensure survival. How-
ever, the tendency for stress-avoidance varied based on the woman's
self-esteem. Women with high self-esteem are more likely to overcome
stressful events, and therefore may not need to rely on avoidance be-
haviors to cope with perceived stress.
The results of our study have important practical implications.
Firstly, interventions should prioritize reducing perceived stress.
Mindfulness meditation (Manotas, Segura, Eraso, Oggins, & McGovern,
2014) and learning positive emotional regulation strategies (e.g., lis-
tening to music) (Koelsch & Stefan, 2014) could be helpful to regulate
negative emotions in response to perceived stress. Secondly, given that
negative coping is a crucial mechanism linking perceived stress to on-
line compulsive buying, we should enhance women's motivation to seek
help and support and increase personal psychological resources (e.g.,
hope) that could reduce negative coping (Afzal, Malik, & Atta, 2014).
Moreover, online compulsive buyers could be taught to use problem-
focused coping and other constructive strategies that are effective in the
face of stress (Nicholls & Polman, 2007). Thirdly, the moderating effect
of self-esteem demonstrates that we can increase females' psychological
resources (i.e., self-esteem) allows them to have more resources to deal
with the challenges of life stress and effectively alleviate the direct and/
or indirect relationships between perceived stress and online compul-
sive buying. Female consumers could learn some self-reference tasks
(Maricuțoiu, Payne, & Iliescu, 2019), compassionate action (e.g.,
“simply being more loving to those around you”) (Mongrain, Chin, &
Shapira, 2011) and participate in group interventions (Wu & Wang,
2014; Yan, Fan, & Yang, 2018), as they have all been shown to promote
self-esteem.
Several limitations must be considered. Firstly, this was a cross-
sectional survey study, so we cannot make causal inferences about the
observed associations. Future research may use longitudinal data or
experimental research to better confirm the causal relationships in the
theoretical model. Secondly, although the self-report method has been
widely used in the literature to assess online compulsive buying, future
research should collect data from multi-method and multi-informant
methods (e.g., parent, or peer). Thirdly, one should be caution when
generalizing our conclusions based on female consumer to other sample
groups. Finally, although negative coping was a focus of this study,
other categories of coping strategies (e.g., emotion-focused, problem-
focused and avoidance coping) (Nicholls & Polman, 2007) are also of
significance and may have different mediating roles in the link between
perceived stress and online compulsive buying.
In summary, the present study extends our knowledge of the me-
chanisms linking perceived stress to online compulsive buying among
female consumers. We examined negative coping as a mediator and
self-esteem as a moderator to account for how and when perceived
stress is related to online compulsive buying. Results indicated that
negative coping partially mediated the relationship between perceived
stress and online compulsive buying. The direct effect of perceived
stress on online compulsive buying, and the mediation effect via ne-
gative coping, were moderated by self-esteem, with these effects being
stronger for women with lower self-esteem. Our findings highlight the
importance of targeting negative coping and low self-esteem in inter-
ventions designed to assist women who compulsively buy online.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Major Program of National Social
Y. Zheng, et al.
Science Foundation of China [Project No. 11&ZD151], Fundamental
Research Funds of Central China Normal University [Project No.
CCNU18CXTD03], and the Research Program Funds of the
Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education
Quality at Beijing Normal University (grant numbers 2019-04-003-
BZPK01). No competing financial interests existed.
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