Shopholism among Youth and College Students

More than a hobby: Shopping addiction can be a disorder

Addiction is a term that always denotes a negative outcome, and the addicted person has no control over his/her actions. Addiction to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, video games, technology, etc. are very common and known to everyone but in recent times new addictions which are specially affecting the youth are coming up; one such addiction is addiction to shopping and addiction to consumption.

A lot of research is going on to find the reasons for this new phenomenon called addiction to consumption. Research involves finding the indicators, reasons, or factors to leading to this phenomenon to control it, direct it, and predict it. Addictive consumption of clothing is one of these them that need to be studied in detail in order to understand the dealing methods. Many previous studies have discussed the reasons of shopping addiction and the factors that influence on this habit.

While there are some studies forecasting the addictive consumer behavior, and there are others which measured the factors affecting compulsive purchasing behavior. In addition, some of these studies focused on online shopping addiction (OSA) and purchasing decisions. In one such study done in Vietnam on cosmetic surgery concluded that there are several factors concerned to effect the addictive consumer behavior, including self-image, self-esteem, demography, and psychological aspects, but the most significant factors are self-image and self-esteem.

These results can be utilised for strategic implications for plastic surgery marketing for measuring factors that affect compulsive purchasing behavior. This is known as ‘Neuromarketing’ which involves reading the mind of the consumer and designing/planning marketing of the product accordingly.

In another study, the effect of fashion involvement on shopping behaviors on the Thai consumers showed that the fashion involvement was positively correlated to the enjoyment of mingling, browsing, bargaining, sensory stimulation, kinesthetic experience, and being pampered. Compulsive shoppers differ from general shoppers in: choice characteristics, emotional responses to overspending, budget- consciousness, searching behavior, credit card availability, and overspending.

Compulsive buying, like other behavioral addictions, develops due to the cognitive system under predicts the extent of post-addiction craving generated through emotional and visceral processes. Furthermore, perceived social image and materialism directly affect compulsive buying. There are continuous efforts paid by researchers to offer an integrated framework by adding together various conceptions/information gathered from previous research in different areas of psychiatry, sociology, marketing, and psychology to have an improved general understanding of the compulsive buying addictive disease.

It was found that compulsive shoppers might derive some positive outcomes from purchasing, such as reduction of stress, tension, temporary restoration of a positive self-concept, and enhanced interpersonal relations. However, it was indicated also, that these positive outcomes are ephemeral, and that long-term compulsive consumption has adverse consequences for most individuals in the forms of excessive personal debt, legal difficulties, as well as low self-esteem and guilt associated with these issues.

In a study done to have a deeper understanding of different factors which affect cloth buying behavior of young female students in Denmark, with an aim that this information can benefit fashion companies to understand young female student consumers and their lifestyle to gain success in the domestic market. This study found that the different outlook of design, price, and information medium are main factors that influence purchase of clothes among female students.

The advertising and more specific print advertising is one of the most important influential factors for the female. Price, comfort, good design, and good quality are four of the most important factors among the purchasing criteria, and the brand name was not the important factor when buying clothes.

Moreover, female tend to choose designs which showcase their personality and not so much their status, the uniqueness in design is a prime motivation for students. So, to conclude Shopping addiction is a major issue especially among the young and students in recent times that needs to be addressed and to carry out research to understand the factors leading to it is also very important.

Written By:
Dr. Rajeev Gupta,
Assistant Professor,
Neuroscience,
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences