Abstract
The study of goal-oriented behaviour, because of its undeniable repercussions on physical and mental health, is one of the target topics of contemporary research. However, the content of life aspirations, emphasised from the self-determination theory, has received little attention from the field of compulsive buying although it plays an important role in the regulation of behaviour and well-being. Generativity, the personal construct that captures the intentions and/or the need to contribute (leave a legacy) to others, has never been analysed with respect to compulsive buying although it has been the source of interest of related fields (responsible consumption). Accordingly, this study seeks to shed light on the role of both constructs (life aspirations and generativity) in compulsive buying among university students. The sample consisted of 1093 Spanish university students classified either as non-compulsive buyers or compulsive buyers. Estimated prevalence of compulsive buying was 7.9%. The results of Student’s test confirm that, besides gender (women report greater propensity to the phenomenon), compulsive buyers score higher and show statistically significant differences with respect to non-compulsive buyers in all extrinsic goals (financial success, image, popularity and conformity) and hedonism. Non-compulsive buyers show significantly higher scores for the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance, affiliation and community feeling and also report a higher generative concern. The logistic regression analysis confirms that being female and the life aspirations of image, popularity and hedonism act as risk factors in compulsive buying in university students while generativity and the importance granted to the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance and affiliation are protective factors. Potential lines of action for this worrying phenomenon are discussed in the light of the findings.
Highlights
IntroductionSeveral studies have confirmed both a marked increase in compulsive buying [5,6], and a growing vulnerability of young adults to compulsive buying [7,8,9]
The predictive variables were all those in the univariate analysis of variance that made it possible to differentiate between compulsive buyers and non-compulsive buyers at significant levels
Results undoubtedly show that both the importance given to the different types of goals and the generative concern contribute to differentiating between compulsive buyers and non-compulsive buyers, and to predicting compulsive buying in university students
Summary
Several studies have confirmed both a marked increase in compulsive buying [5,6], and a growing vulnerability of young adults to compulsive buying [7,8,9]. These findings, given the urgent need to direct preventive and intervention efforts to reducing engagement in compulsive buying at the early stages or phases, has placed university students at the centre of attention of research
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