Compulsive buying: a field study of mood variability during acquisition episodes

Abstract

Abstract Empirical investigations of mood variability during actual and ‘real time’ shopping episodes are absent from the compulsive-buying (CB) literature. A field experiment was therefore conducted with a participant meeting desired clinical and research requirements for identifying CB and a control subject for comparison purposes. Each participant went on four shopping trips and rated various parameters of mood and self-perception prior to, during and after each shopping trip. Each phase (i.e. pre-shop, shop and post-shop) lasted for 1.5 h, with ratings of mood and self-evaluation taken every 10 min. Results indicate that, although shopping was a guilty pleasure for the CB participant, there were more similarities than differences apparent in terms of mood and self-evaluation between the CB and control participant. The CB participant experienced significant levels of self-dislike during the shopping episodes. In terms of the comparisons between the pre-, during and post-shopping phases, the first 40 minutes of actual shopping seemed to be particularly arousing/exciting for the CB participant. The study is discussed in terms of key methodological requirements for increased validity and reliability in studying CB phenomena and the range of indicated possible cognitive and behavioural interventions.

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