From materialism to hedonistic shopping values and compulsive buying: A mediation model examining gender differences

Although prior research has extensively focused on explaining the direct mechanisms of the materialism-compulsive buying relationship or stressed selected indirect variables such as consumers' social status, money attitudes, well-being, emotions and identity, little research has examined how materialism impacts compulsive buying via hedonistic shopping values in a former communist economy that has transitioned to a democratic economy. Thus, we examined the materialism-compulsive buying relationship in term of a mediational model that includes the theoretical construct of hedonistic shopping values. Additionally, the model's postulated relationships are explained from the perspective of gender differences, through the agency of moderated effects. Data for study were obtained from the Polish Household Survey resulting in a nationally representative sample (N = 1245). Results imply that materialism is related to compulsive buying, but the strongest effect occurs indirectly via hedonistic shopping values. Compulsive buyers appear to shop obsessively not only out of their materialistic orientations, but also out of hedonic joy, pleasure, and the 'emotional euphoria' they obtain during shopping. An in-depth examination between female and male consumers revealed group differences such that the tendency to compulsively buy, which assumed a joint influence of materialism and hedonistic shopping values, is stronger in women than men. Results of this study are discussed in terms of gender and cross-cultural differences and their theoretical and practical importance to understanding compulsive buying.