A study of interrelation of psychological factors and demographic variables and its impact on compulsive buying behavior: A Marketing Perspective.

Abstract

Garnering insights into the relation between the general demographic variables such as age, gender, occupation status and psychological imbalances of anxiety, depression, self-esteem levels and loneliness and their subsequent influence on compulsive buying levels in an individual from the marketing perspective was the impetus and main motivation behind undertaking this study. Study was conducted over a 7-month period with a balanced homogeneous mix of randomly chosen respondents belonging to various occupations, ranging from an age band of 20 to 35 years. They were then administered a 5-Point Likert Scale questionnaire that incorporated demographic as well as psychological variables of loneliness, self-esteem, depression and anxiety. Responses were analyzed using frequency Analysis, principal component analysis, linear regression and cross tabulation to derive insights. The study revealed that along with loneliness, which was a major constituent, occupation type and marital status also significantly contributed in determining whether or not an individual would be compulsive in his or her purchase behavior. The study is significant as it discusses Compulsive Buying Behavior from a marketing perspective in a developing young economy such as India and discusses the implications of the findings as well.