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 Order N u m b er 930 8 3 0 4

The m easurem ent and m odeling o f com pulsive consum er buying

behavior

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Edwards, Elizabeth Anne, Ph.D.
The University of Michigan, 1992
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Copyright © 1992 b y Edwards, E lizabeth A nne. All rights reserved.

UMI
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 THE MEASUREMENT AND MODELING

OF

COMPULSIVE CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

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by
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Elizabeth Anne Edwards
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A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of
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Doctor of Philosophy
(Business Administration)
in The University of Michigan
1992

Doctoral Committee:

Professor Wayne S. Desarbo, Chair

Professor Richard P. Bagozzi
Professor Anant M. Kshirsagar
Professor W. Allen Spivey

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 RULES REGARDING THE USE OF

MICROFILMED DISSERTATIONS

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be given to the author if any material from the dissertation is used in
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subsequent written or published work.

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^Elizabeth Anne Edwards 1992
All Rights Reserved
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To My Father and in Loving Memory of My Mother
With Great Respect and Deepest Gratitude
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Their unconditional love, support, and understanding
will forever be my greatest source of strength.
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ii

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank all the persons who responded to my survey, and those who
provided me with the sources for my data, particularly Jeremiah Johnson of the
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern Colorado. I thank all those who
provided comments on my work in its early stages, and I also thank my committee
members for their time, their encouragement, and their faith in my abilities.

Many thanks are due to Paula and Barbara, for remaining my very good friends
throughout the arduous process of writing this dissertation, and special thanks go to
Mary, for being there. I especially thank Melinda, my dear friend and colleague, for
sharing her own experiences in writing and surviving a doctoral dissertation.

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Most of all, I thank my father for his unwavering support of my efforts these last
few years. Thanks, Dad.
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION .................................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................ iii

LIST OF FIG U R E S........................................................................................... vi

LIST OF APPENDICES.................................................................................. vii

CHAPTER I

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INTRODUCTION, LITERATURE REVIEW, AND THEORETICAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPULSIVE BUYING PHENOMENON 1
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1.1 In tro d u ctio n ......................................................................................................1
1.2 Psychological Background on Compulsive B eh av io r.................................. 3
1.3 Psychological Inventories Evaluating
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Obsessive-Compulsive B eh a v io r.................................................................... 8
1.4 Psychological Object Relations Theory Applied
to Compulsive C onsum ption........................................................................10
1.5 Other Theories of Compulsive Consumption ............................................15
1.6 Compulsive Buying or Impulse Buying ? .................................................20
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1.7 Marketing Literature on Compulsive Buying ........................................... 25

1.8 The Addictive Personality and the
Process of Addiction .................................................................................. 40
1.9 Conclusions and Areas for Future R esearch ..............................................43

CHAPTER II

A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR

MODELING COMPULSIVE BUYING BEHAVIOR..................................49

2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 49

2.2 A Theory of Compulsive Buying Behavior:
The Conceptual Framework ....................................................................... 50
2.3 Hypothesis Tests ...........................................................................................54

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 CHAPTER m

METHODOLOGY..............................................................................................61

3.1 In tro d u c tio n .................................................................................................... 61

3.2 The S am p les.................................................................................................... 62
3.3 Variables Used for M odeling........................................................................65
3.4 The Structural Equation Model ..................................................................73
3.5 Probit and Logit Regression Models
for Polychotomous Ordinal V ariables..........................................................89

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS, RESULTS, AND CONCLUSIONS...................................... 101

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4.1 Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor
Analyses of Measurement Scales ......................................................... 101
4.2 Exploratory Multiple Regression Models ........................................... 122
4.3 Structural Equation M o d els..................................................................... 127
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4.4 Multi-Sample A nalysis.......................................................................... 158
4.5 A Structural Equation Model
for the Combined S am p le........................................................................ 162
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4.6 Ordinal Regression Models for Predicting
the Compulsive Buying T en d en cy......................................................... 164
4.7 C o n clu sio n s.................................................................................................. 170
4.8 Im p lica tio n s.................................................................................................. 173
4.9 Limitations and Directions for Future Research ................................ 174
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APPENDICES.................................................................................................... 179

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................321

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure

1.4.1 The Personality Continuum ...................................................................................11

2.2.1 Conceptual Framework for Compulsive Buying B e h a v io r................................ 51

3.4.1 A General LISREL M o d e l..................................................................................... 78

3.4.2 Example LISREL Model for Compulsive Buying B e h a v io r.............................79

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3.5.1 Compulsive Buying C ontin u u m ............................................................................ 90

4 .3 .1A Structural Equation Model A: "Core" C o n stru cts.................................. 130

4.3. IB Structural Equation Model B: "Core" C o n stru c ts.................................. 130

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4.3.2 Structural Equation Model Corresponding to
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Theory and Regression R e s u lts ......................................................................... 132

4.3.3 Single Indicator Structural Equation Model:

Compulsive Buying G ro u p ..................................................................................137
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4.3.4 Single Indicator Structural Equation Model:

General Population G r o u p ..................................................................................143

4.3.5A Multiple Indicator Structural Equation Model A for "Core" Constructs . . 150

4.3.5B Multiple Indicator Structural Equation Model B for "Core" Constructs . . 150

4.3.6 Multiple Indicator Structural Equation Model:

Compulsive Buying G ro u p ..................................................................................151

4.3.7 Multiple Indicator Structural Equation Model:

General Population G r o u p ..................................................................................157

4.5.1 Multiple Indicator Structural Equation Model:

Composite Group ................................................................................................163

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 LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix

A. Survey, Cover Letters, and Postcard Follow-Up ....................................................180

B. T a b le s ............................................................................................................................203

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION, LITERATURE REVIEW, AND THEORETICAL

DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPULSIVE BUYING PHENOMENON

1.1 Introduction

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Compulsive buying is a phenomenon that has been examined only recently by the
psychological community, economists, and consumer behavior researchers. Compulsive
buying is an abnormal form of shopping and spending in which the afflicted consumer
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has an overpowering, uncontrollable, chronic and repetitive urge to shop and spend as
a means of alleviating negative feelings of stress and anxiety. This need is both
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impulsive and compulsive in nature. The particular items purchased during an episode
of compulsive buying are of little importance to the buyer —it is the process of shopping
and spending as an escape from anxiety that motivates the compulsive buyer. Compulsive
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buying is generally viewed as a deviant or abnormal form of consumption, and at an

extreme, can be likened to an addiction, where the psychophysiological high produced
by shopping and spending is a pleasurable coping mechanism used to avoid physical or
psychological pressure, conflict, or stress. As opposed to impulsive buying, where a
consumer makes an unplanned purchase (usually of a relatively inexpensive nature),
compulsive buying typically leads to severe negative consequences, and at the extreme
point where buying becomes truly addictive, creates serious dysfunctions in the
consumer’s daily life.
Compulsive buyers share characteristics and motivations common to compulsive
eaters, compulsive gamblers, and substance abusers. Many of the commonalities are

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 typical of persons exhibiting any kind of compulsive behavior, where the fundamental
motivation is relief from anxiety. Prevalent personality characteristics o f individuals
afflicted by compulsive behaviors include low self-esteem, high levels of depression as
compared to the general population, denial, personal isolation, and a lack o f impulse
control. Compulsive buyers have appeared on many recent talk shows, describing
themselves as "shopaholics" or addicted to shopping and spending.
Literature specifically focusing on compulsive buying is sparse. The existing
literature and studies that have been conducted are mainly phenomenological in nature,
focusing on the distinctive characteristics o f compulsive spenders.
Chapter I summarizes the psychological literature related to general compulsive
behavior and current research concerning compulsive buying behavior, and provides the
basis for a comprehensive theory of compulsive buying.

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Chapter II develops a theory, constructs, and a structural model describing the
antecedent and/or concurrent variables related to compulsive buying behavior, and
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discusses assumptions and hypotheses used in developing the items for a survey of
consumers’ buying behavior. The survey is intended to provide support for the
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hypothesized theory of compulsive buying behavior and to predict low to high levels of
compulsiveness in buying as exhibited by respondents, arraying them along a continuum
with ranges designated as non-compulsive, recreational, borderline compulsive,
compulsive, and addicted buyers. Previous surveys have distinguished between
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compulsive and non-compulsive buyers only (Faber and O’Guinn, 1989; Valence et. al.
1988). It is important to make a distinction between varying degrees of compulsiveness
in buying behavior, as some consumers only occasionally exhibit symptoms of
compulsive buying, and do not experience serious negative consequences, while others
are addicted to shopping and spending to the near exclusion of all other activities, and
experience severe dysfunctions as a result. Reaching a point of addiction to spending is
a progressive process that may begin when a recreational buyer, who occasionally shops
and spends to relieve anxiety, finds the "high" experienced to be an easy, gratifying way
to deal with stress or negative emotions. This individual may then be triggered by a
crisis of anxiety to buy compulsively, experiences progressively less relief with each

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 spending spree, requires redosing, and comes to depend on shopping and spending as the
primary method of coping with anxiety. The compulsive buying continuum that was
developed is intended to distinguish between non-compulsive and compulsive or addicted
buyers who have fallen into an addictive cycle of spending, yet also classifies recreational
and borderline compulsive buyers. Previous studies may have misclassified these middle
levels of spenders as compulsive or addicted buyers. Most of the population should fall
into the first three categories, and so a reasonable estimate of the incidence of truly
compulsive and addictive buying in the population can be ascertained, based on a
prediction model that distinguishes between multiple levels of the compulsive buying
tendency.
The survey design, data collection, statistical models and methodology are
presented in Chapter III, and Chapter IV contains the analysis, results, and conclusions.

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1.2 Psychological Background on Compulsive Behavior
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In order to understand some of the personality characteristics common to
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compulsive buyers, a discussion of generally compulsive behavior from a psychological

perspective is necessary. The following history of psychological literature on obsessive-
compulsive behavior is intended to sort out the various definitions of generally
compulsive behavior and gain insight into the psychological symptoms and underlying
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personality traits that are common to persons demonstrating behaviors that have
traditionally been described as compulsive, obsessive, or obsessive-compulsive. Many
of these characteristics have been found present in compulsive buyers — their chosen
compulsion for relieving stress and anxiety, (which is the cardinal reason for most
persons who repetitively perform any compulsive behavior), is a more socially
acceptable, less obviously abnormal compulsive act than, for example, excessive hand
washing, yet still dysfunctional habit — excessive shopping and spending.
An examination of compulsive personality traits and symptoms will be helpful in
understanding the (addictive or compulsive) personalities of compulsive buyers, and many
of these traits and symptoms can be measured using proven self-assessment inventories

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 such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
General obsessive-compulsive behavior has been studied and defined in many
ways in the psychological literature. Freud (1907) believed that most behavior is related
to conflicts within the personality system. The personality, according to Freud, is made
up of three interacting forces, the id, the ego (conscience), and the superego, which
interact to produce behavior. The id is the source of all drives, the superego represents
the values and morality of the individual, and the ego guides the id, with the superego
accounting for personality, values, attitudes, and behavior. The personality is determined
by the degree of love, tension, and frustration experienced as the child passes through
Freud’s four stages of development: the oral, anal, phallic, and genital periods.
In forming symptoms of obsessive-compulsive behavior, a precipitating event
related to early childhood conflicts can trigger an instinctual drive (id), which the ego

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perceives, recognizing danger, and signals anxiety. The ego uses unconscious defenses
to deal with the drive. Obsessive-compulsive behavior results as a compromise in the
struggle between the unrestrained urge and the ego. Freud recognizes isolation, undoing,
and reaction formation as the three main psychological defenses against
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obsessive-compulsive symptoms and traits. Isolation is a protection or defense against

the affect and impulse of obsessive ideas. Undoing is a secondary response in the form
of another compulsive act that is performed to undo or prevent the consequences of an
obsessive thought or impulse. Reaction formation refers to the formation of character
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traits or behavior patterns that are the opposite of the underlying impulses.
Freud recognized two components of obsessive-compulsive behavior - the
obsessive-compulsive neurosis and the obsessive-compulsive personality. Ego-syntonic
traits (consonant with the immediate wish of the individual) are classified as obsessive,
as in excessive neatness, and are often considered worthwhile and acceptable
characteristics oy society. The conflicts creating such a character have been resolved by
the ego by performance of certain (obsessive-compulsive) behaviors. In the
obsessive-compulsive neurotic, a continuing conflict is present, with primarily
ego-dystonic symptoms (alien to the wishes of the individual and involuntary or
unwanted), as in compulsive hand washing. The neurotic’s symptoms are a substitute

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 for anxiety. The obsessive-compulsive character results from a person’s attempt to solve
particular developmental conflicts. Their obsessive-compulsive characteristics are a
permanent solution to these psychological conflicts, as opposed to the
obsessive-compulsive neurotic who is dealing with an ongoing, dynamic conflict. The
distinction between the obsessive-compulsive character and neurotic is mainly that the
former exhibits ego-syntonic personality traits, the later ego-dystonic symptoms.
However, most obsessive-compulsive neurotics have obsessive-compulsive personality
structures. The existence of the obsessive-compulsive personality may signal a tendency
toward obsessive-compulsive neurosis. The neurotic substitutes (unwanted) thoughts or
acts for anxiety, but the obsessive-compulsive personality does not necessarily experience
anxiety and views him- or herself as basically normal. Persons who demonstrate a
compulsive behavior (such as compulsive buying) may be assumed to have basically

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compulsive personalities, and substitute the act of buying for anxiety.
The obsessive-compulsive character typically possesses some or all of the
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following traits: excessive concern with order, cleanliness, reliability, punctuality, and
conscientiousness, stubbornness and parsimony. Such a person is a perfectionist with
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very high personal standards, worries excessively, is intolerant, indecisive, ambivalent,

isolated, inhibited, lacks spontaneity, and places a strong emphasis on control. Magical
thinking or feelings of grandiosity also may be present. Compulsive acts that are direct
expressions of underlying obsessive thoughts and impulses are unusual; the compulsive
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act actually performed is an attempt to control the primary obsession or compulsion.

According to Goldstein (1985), these character traits develop as resolutions to conflicts
between good and bad, right and wrong, conformity and rebellion.
The American Psychiatric Association has published three Diagnostic and
Statistical Manuals of Mental Disorders (DSM-I,II,and III) in 1952, 1968, and 1980.
The 1980 version defines obsessive-compulsive behavior in terms of an
obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is very similar to the neurosis already described,
and a compulsive personality disorder. The apparent purpose is to clearly define the two
disorders for diagnostic purposes.
According to DSM-III, obsessions are defined as involuntary, unwanted, recurrent

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 and persistent ego-dystonic thoughts, images, or impulses. Compulsions are involuntary,
unwanted, recurring ego-dystonic behaviors. The obsessions and compulsions must
create great anxiety or cause the individual to become seriously dysfunctional in order
to diagnose obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The compulsive personality disorder is diagnosed when certain personality traits
cause significant distress or dysfunctions at home or work. Historically, although an
obsessive-compulsive personality could include persons who are considered fairly normal,
but the diagnosis of a "disorder" is reserved only for severe cases. Although a DSM-III
diagnosis may be acrimonious, the traits may be common to persons who exhibit various
types of compulsive behavior.
There are five characteristics, of which DSM-III requires four for diagnosis of
compulsive personality disorder:

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1) Restricted ability to express warm and tender emotions.
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2) Perfectionism interfering with the ability to grasp "the big picture".

3) Insistence that others submit to his or her way of doing things, with a lack
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of awareness of the feeling produced in others.

4) Excessive devotion to work and productivity to the exclusion of pleasure

and the value of relationships.
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5) Indecisiveness and procrastination.

Depression is frequently common to persons with a compulsive personality

disorder, and they can be judgmental and moralistic, responding with anger at a failure
to control others. Compulsive personalities usually experience serious dysfunctions in
their lives due to the acting out of compulsive behaviors. DSM-III observes that this
disorder is more common among members of families than in the general population.
This may indicate that a person develops compulsive behavior as a learned response.
The obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by recurrent obsessions and/or
compulsions in DSM-III. Compulsions are perceived by the individual as unwanted and

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 are accompanied by a desire to resist. Attempts to resist produce tension and anxiety
which can only be relieved by performance of the compulsive act. Eventually, the
person cannot resist their compulsion, even while recognizing the senselessness o f their
behavior. Secondary depression and anxiety result, and social and occupational
functioning is impaired.
Throughout the literature, there are different schools of thought regarding
obsessive-compulsive characters, neurotics, or disorders. Whatever the label, certain
basic symptoms and characteristics are fairly constant across all theories. All definitions
indicate that an obsession is an unwanted, repetitive, and recurring thought, concerning
doubts, fears, desires, impulses, or warnings, and the person having the thoughts cannot
dispel them. A compulsion is generally described as an act which also is recurring and
unwanted, and usually antithetical to the person’s desires. Failure to act causes further

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anxiety, and performance of the act creates a temporary relief from tension and stress.
An obsession creates anxiety and a failure to act on a compulsion produces anxiety.
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Most importantly, the literature points to the presence of anxiety either as a cause of the
performance of an unwanted (compulsive) act, or as a result of an obsessive thought.
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Freud (1907) saw compulsive acts as a defensive reaction to obsessive thoughts.
Initially, the potential compulsive buyer finds that shopping and spending provides
relief from anxiety — at this point, the individual usually is not aware that the buying
activity is being used for this purpose. If the desire to shop and spend becomes an
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increasingly recurrent urge, and buying becomes the predominant method for coping with
anxiety, the buying behavior can be labeled compulsive, and the individual will
eventually recognize that their shopping and spending behavior is abnormal and
dysfunctional. Once this stage is reached, excessive buying behavior has become
ingrained, recurrent, and unwanted, and the buying compulsion creates increasing debt
and further stress.
Historically, the early distinction made by the psychological community between
obsessive-compulsive neurosis and personality is a matter of degree of
obsessive-compulsiveness. The neurosis is considered more severe and the obsessive-
compulsive personality is often exhibited in a socially acceptable manner. DSM-III

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 eliminates a discussion of the obsessive-compulsive personality, presumably because a
person with such a personality may not perform (socially) dysfunctional compulsive acts.
DSM-III’s obsessive-compulsive and compulsive personality disorders diagnoses are
reserved only for severely dysfunctional persons. Nevertheless, many traits and
symptoms are common to all persons who perform compulsive acts, regardless of
whether the act is socially acceptable or not, and such individuals have basically
compulsive personalities. Excessive buyers, ovcreaters, and excessive gamblers should
exhibit generally compulsive personality traits as well.

1.3 Psychological Inventories Evaluating

Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior

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Sandler and Hazari (1960) attack the definitional and "degree of
obsessive-compulsiveness" problems evident in the above discussion by classifying traits
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and symptoms that can be termed obsessive or compulsive in a manner that is meaningful
both psychologically and statistically. They studied the responses of a group of neurotic
individuals to a psychological self-assessment inventory that was designed to measure
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obsessive-compulsive traits and symptoms (Sandler, 1954). Respondents assessed 40

statements as to whether each statement was true or false about himself. The forty items
related to obsessive-compulsive traits and symptoms were found to factor into two
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common factors.
Factor A represents a person who is systematic, methodological, orderly, attentive
to detail, and is conscientious about cleanliness. This corresponds to the
obsessive-compulsive personality discussed previously. The B factor represents
symptoms of the obsessive neurotic, such as indecisiveness, procrastination, excessive
worry, and recurring unwanted thoughts. A-type people feel self-esteem and pride, and
do not always experience anxiety as a result of their behavior. B-type persons experience
anxiety due to dysfunctions in their daily lives resulting from the presence of unwanted
thoughts and compulsive acts. Sandler and Hazari conclude that the two types are similar
in that both experience conflicts but resolve them in different ways.

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 Other instruments have been developed to measure obsessive-compulsive
behavior. In a study using the Sandler-Hazari scale, Reed (1969), who questioned the
criterion validity of the Sandler and Hazari scale, found that the scale did not distinguish
between obsessive-compulsive traits and symptoms, or between obsessional and
non-obsessional patients. The Leyton Obsessional Inventory, developed by Cooper
(1970), was intended to distinguish between obsessive-compulsive personality traits and
symptoms. Although it successfully distinguished between obsessive-compulsive and
non-obsessive-compulsive patients, Evans and Kazarian (1977) felt that it contained too
many items related mainly to compulsive acts. They developed the Reaction Inventory-
Interference, which consists of rating scales for 50 obsessive-compulsive behaviors. This
instrument was administered to 172 students. Factor analysis identified nine factors
accounting for 66% of total variance:

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1) Concern about ability.
2) Concern about decision-making.
3) Concern about time-consuming behavior.
Repetitive acts.
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4)
5) Checking behavior (for example, repeatedly checking that the iron is
turned off).
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6) Global concerns about the world.

7) Concern about procrastination.
8) Concern about the future.
9) Concern about social acceptability.
The Leyton Inventory was factor analyzed by Cooper and Kelleher (1973),
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producing 3 components: Clean and Tidy, Incompleteness, and Checking. Evans and
Kazarian object to Cooper’s definition that obsessive thoughts enter a person’s mind
against his will and the person is incapable of resisting them, demonstrated by the 9
factors resulting from their analysis. However, factors 1,2,3,4,5 listed above seem to
be behaviors most people would wish to avoid.
The Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive questionnaire (MOCQ) was developed by
Hodgson and Rachman (1977). A principal components analysis o f the responses of 100
obsessive patients to 30 items was employed. Two major components, checking and
washing compulsions, and two minor components, slowness and doubting, were apparent,
along with a fifth component, ruminating (continuous thinking on a subject). Four

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 subscales were created: Checking, Cleaning, Slowness-Repetition, and
Doubting-Conscientiousness. However, another study conducted on 50 neurotics and 50
controls (Rachman and Hodgson, 1980) revealed all but the slowness component. The
three remaining components agreed with the factors obtained in the Leyton Obsessional
Inventory.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is the most popular
scale for measuring personality traits and is widely recognized as reliable and valid. The
MMPI contains a 48 item subscale which measures psychasthenia, popularly described
as obsessive-compulsive behavior, in which persons are characterized by excessive doubts
or fears, compulsions and obsessions. All or part of this scale could serve as a measure
of general compulsiveness.
Most of the aforementioned scales were designed to measure the degree of

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obsessive-compulsiveness in an individual’s personality in a general way, not specific
obsessions or compulsions. Psychometricians have identified specific personality
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characteristics, such as procrastination and indecision that are universally present in
persons who are generally obsessive or compulsive. Compulsive buyers, as well as
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compulsive hand washers, should exhibit high levels of general compulsiveness as
evidenced by certain personality traits.

1.4 Psychological Object Relations Theory

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Applied to Compulsive Consumption

A more recent school of thought in psychology applies psychoanalytic object

relations theory to economics (Albanese, 1987 and 1988), to establish a theoretical
relationship between personality and consumer behavior. Albanese arrays different
personality types along a continuum which ranges over normal, neurotic, primitive, and
psychotic personality types, and identifies the underlying personality organization o f each
type. He also places consumers along this continuum according to their personality
organizations, varying from stable and consistent consumer behavior ("the consistent
consumer"), to the consumer who exhibits compulsive, and at a further extreme,

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 FIGURE 1.4.1
The Personality Continuum

PATTERN OF CONSUMPTION PERSONALITY

BEHAVIOR ORGANIZATION

RANGES
Dynamic Optimally Adjusted

NORMAL
Normal

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NEUROTIC Neurotic Obsessive
Hysterical
Paranoid
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Borderline
Compulsive Narcissistic
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PRIMITIVE Infantile
Addictive Schizoid

Manic-Depressive
PSYCHOTIC Irrational
Schizophrenic

(Albanese, 1989)

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