Abstract
Subsequent to a previous article in JCP (Scherhorn, 1990) outlining a theoretical approach to addictive buying, the authors report on the results of their empirical study of addictive buyers in West Germany. The study indicates that addictive buying is clearly one kind of addiction which may be substituted by other addictions, may take the place of another addiction, or even alternate with other forms of addiction. At the same time, there is substantial evidence that there are special key experiences to which the propensity to addictive buying can be traced. Addictive buyers have been subjected to a specific form of distortion of autonomy: They have felt that for parents, relatives, or neighbours, material goods (money, property, consumer goods) seemed to be more relevant and more important than they themselves. Thus, they have acquired a strong predisposition for using consumer goods as a favourite means of compensating for the lack of self-esteem from which they suffer. This predisposition, however, is reinforced by the fact that consumption and buying increasingly take on the role of a socially favoured means of compensation.
Zusammenfassung
Die theoretischen Grundlagen der Studie sind in einem früheren Artikel in JCP dargelegt worden (Scherhorn, 1990). Durchgeführt wurden Tiefeninterviews mit Kaufsüchtigen sowie die schriftliche Befragung einer zufallsgesteuerten Kontrollstichprobe von “normalen” Konsumenten. Wichtigste Ergebnisse: Validierung eines Kaufsucht-Indikators; Bestätigung, Modifikation und Ergänzung von Befunden nordamerikanischer Untersuchungen, Erprobung einer aus dem Konzept der Autonomiestörung (Shapiro, 1981) abgeleiteten Theorie der Kaufsucht. Der erste Teil des Berichts enthält die Untersuchungsverfahren und Meßinstrumente, der zweite Teil gibt eine Übersicht über die Befunde zur Suchttheorie, im dritten Teil werden Ergebnisse zu deskriptiven Hypothesen über die demographische Charakteristik, das Kaufverhalten und die psychische Disposition Kaufsüchtiger mitgeteilt. Kaufsucht erweist sich als eine spezifische Abhängigkeit von Ersatzbedürfnissen, die als eine Steigerung der gesellschaftlich verbreiteten Tendenz zu kompensatorischem Kaufen aufgefaßt werden kann. Diese Tendenz stellt eine neue Herausforderung für die Verbraucherpolitik dar.
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Additional information
Gerhard Scherhorn is Professor of Consumer Economics at the University of Hohenheim, Institute of Home and Consumer Economics, P.O. Box 700562, D-7000 Stuttgart 70, FRG. Lucia A. Reisch and Gerhard Raab are research assistants at the same institute.
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Scherhorn, G., Reisch, L.A. & Raab, G. Addictive buying in West Germany: An empirical study. J Consum Policy 13, 355–387 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00412336
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00412336