Abstract
The study aimed to investigate different factors of vulnerability for pathological buying in the online context and to determine whether online pathological buying has parallels to a specific Internet addiction. According to a model of specific Internet addiction by Brand and colleagues, potential vulnerability factors may consist of a predisposing excitability from shopping and as mediating variable, specific Internet use expectancies. Additionally, in line with models on addiction behavior, cue-induced craving should also constitute an important factor for online pathological buying. The theoretical model was tested in this study by investigating 240 female participants with a cue-reactivity paradigm, which was composed of online shopping pictures, to assess excitability from shopping. Craving (before and after the cue-reactivity paradigm) and online shopping expectancies were measured. The tendency for pathological buying and online pathological buying were screened with the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS) and the Short Internet Addiction Test modified for shopping (s-IATshopping). The results demonstrated that the relationship between individual’s excitability from shopping and online pathological buying tendency was partially mediated by specific Internet use expectancies for online shopping (model’s R² = .742, p < .001). Furthermore, craving and online pathological buying tendencies were correlated (r = .556, p < .001), and an increase in craving after the cue presentation was observed solely in individuals scoring high for online pathological buying (t(28) = 2.98, p < .01, d = 0.44). Both screening instruments were correlated (r = .517, p < .001), and diagnostic concordances as well as divergences were indicated by applying the proposed cut-off criteria. In line with the model for specific Internet addiction, the study identified potential vulnerability factors for online pathological buying and suggests potential parallels. The presence of craving in individuals with a propensity for online pathological buying emphasizes that this behavior merits potential consideration within the non-substance/behavioral addictions.
Highlights
Pathological buying (PB), compulsive buying, buying addiction, and oniomania are different terminologies describing the same phenomenon in which individuals are preoccupied with shopping, suffer from recurrent buying impulses or episodes, and lose control over their buying behavior [1,2]
The objectives of the current study were as follows: First, we aimed to determine whether online PB can be conceptualized as specific Internet addiction (SIA) because previous research gives reason to assume that online PB is associated with vulnerability factors similar to SIA, such as a higher shopping excitability and specific online shopping expectancies [23,30,32,33,45,46]
The results demonstrated that Internet use expectancies were associated with online PB and partially mediated the relationship between shopping excitability and online PB tendencies, which increases the probability of using online shopping sites excessively
Summary
Pathological buying (PB), compulsive buying, buying addiction, and oniomania are different terminologies describing the same phenomenon in which individuals are preoccupied with shopping, suffer from recurrent buying impulses or episodes, and lose control over their buying behavior [1,2]. This behavioral excess is related to severe negative consequences such as marked distress, social and occupational problems, delinquency, or financial bankruptcy. The parallels between gambling disorder and substance-use disorders, especially with respect to cue-reactivity and craving, led to reclassification of gambling disorder to the new diagnostic category of non-substance addictions within the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) [17]
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