Compulsive and compensative buying among online shoppers: An empirical study

Abstract

The present study examines the phenomenon of compensative and compulsive buying among online shoppers. Firstly, the obtained empirical data make it possible to estimate the prevalence of compensative and compulsive buying among the general population of Poles aged 15 years old and over, with the sample split into users and non-users of the e-commerce market offer. Secondly, the conducted analysis shows to what extent the prevalence of compulsive and compensative buying is differentiated by the frequency of online shopping, by the extent of the expenditures on online shopping compared with offline shopping, by attitudes towards online shopping, and by sociodemographic conditions (gender, age, monthly net income of household). The findings come from a survey conducted in 2019 based on a nationwide statistically representative sample of 1,000 Poles aged 15 years old and over. Drawing on this survey based on the German Compulsive Buying Indicator (GCBI), the prevalence of compulsive buying is observed at about 3% and compensative buying at about 12%. Dividing the general population into online and offline shoppers, one can see serious differences between both target groups; the share of compulsive and compensative buyers in the segment of online shoppers amounts to 3.6% and 16.9%, while among non-online shoppers– 3.3% and 10.1%. The strongest susceptibility to compulsive buying is characteristic of female online shoppers having very positive attitudes towards online shopping and doing online shopping very frequently.