Elsevier

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume 103, February 2020, Pages 13-20
Computers in Human Behavior

Perceived stress and online compulsive buying among women: A moderated mediation model

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.09.012Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Perceived stress was positively associated with online compulsive buying (OCB).

  • Negative coping mediated the link between perceived stress and OCB.

  • The direct and indirect effects were moderated by self-esteem.

  • These effects were weaker for women with higher self-esteem.

Abstract

Although perceived stress has been shown to be related to online compulsive buying among women, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of this association. The present study examined the mediating role of negative coping and the moderating role of self-esteem in the association between perceived stress and online compulsive buying. A sample of 548 female consumers (M age = 21.41 years, SD = 4.40) completed questionnaire measures of perceived stress, self-esteem, negative coping, and online compulsive buying. Frequency of 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.

Introduction

With the development of information technology and logistics transportation, online buying has become more convenient and popular. 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 alternative 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 characteristics: (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 et al., 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 advantages to the consumer (Dittmar et al., 2007, Hausman, 2000, Kukar-Kinney et al., 2009, Kukar-Kinney et al., 2012, LaRose, 2001, Lyons and 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 tendencies.

In addition, online compulsive buying has been found to be associated with psychosocial problems (e.g., guilt, social conflict) and other harmful consequences, especially among female consumers (Díez et al., 2018, Dittmar, 2004, Duroy et al., 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 shopping 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 et al., 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 women at risk for online compulsive buying.

Section snippets

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). Efforts have been made to identify the causes of online compulsive buying. Research has found that psychological variables (e.g., personality traits, values, goals, self-concept) play essential roles in compulsive buying (Kellett and Bolton, 2009, Sharif and Khanekharab, 2017). Psychological distress, such as depression and anxiety, appear to be important triggers

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 consumers 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

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 compulsive 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 compulsive buying.

Testing for mediation

As shown in Table 2, after controlling for frequency of online buying and

Discussion

The overall model revealed perceived stress as a crucial predictor of online compulsive buying, which suggests that women with a higher level of perceived stress may be at higher risk for this type of compulsive 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 negative coping partially mediated the relationship between perceived stress and

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Major Program of National Social 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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