COMPULSIVE BUYING BEHAVIOUR IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Presented By: Anuradha 040505051710 BBA 6TH SEMESTER 9th May 2013

PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY:

The purpose of this research was to determine the buying behaviors towards fashion apparel & accessories and the importance of being well dressed. Consumer Market has been changing rapidly as its doors open to the global economy which seeming a profitable opportunity, moreover developed a new plan in this sectors and entering with a idea in the Delhi regions which most suitable environment for that market or executed there idea or implementing a new strategies resulting in students embrace western-style material lifestyle. This study shows a correlation indicated that compulsive buying has significantly related to the various factors such as Public Self Consciousness, Materialism, Power-prestige, Peer Communication, Stress & anxiety. Compulsive buying and binge shopping and eating are examples of compulsive consumption behaviors, and for individuals with these behavioral tendencies of the college students, appearance and appearance-related products seem to be of paramount importance. Such findings may suggest that for college students consumers indulged in compulsively buying for different reasons.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The objective of conducting this research is to study and analyze the compulsive buying behavior in college students and further to examine the factors affecting the compulsive buying of student towards apparels & accessories.The purpose of this research was to determine if, fashion interest and the importance of being well dressed had a causal relationship with compulsive clothing buying through the various variables. Firstly, the research has covered the details of major variables which affect the compulsive buying behavior such as Public self-consciousness, Materialism, Power prestigious, peercommunication, stress & Anxiety. Secondly, The result shows that compulsive buying is influenced by public self consciousness, materialism, power, prestige, peer communication, stress & anxiety. The research has analyzed the student buying behavior towards purchase anything before thinking or take advice to her friends. It also analysis buying thing to impress others or not. Consumer behavior as it relates to the apparels & accessories shopping for and purchasing of clothing as well as other appearance products such as jewelry, shoes, and cosmetics. An abnormal form of consumer behavior, known as compulsive buying, has captured the interest of scholars for approximately two decades. The research contributes to academic literature and gives an Indian context to the compulsive buying phenomenon.

To analyze the data with SPSS 20 was used. Reliability analysis was employed to assess the internal consistency of each variable. Cronbach Alpha for the 5 variables ranged from .668 too .757. The findings indicate the public-self consciousness, materialism, power-prestige, peer communication, stress &anxiety are related to compulsive buying behavior.

To measure the impact of age and gender on compulsive buying behavior, ANOVA technique was used. It exhibited that they do not significantly impact the compulsive buying behavior. This indicates that both the genders equally indulge themselves in compulsive buying behavior. To analyze the data descriptive statistics and correlation was also used.

PLAN OF THE RESEARCH

1. INTRODUCTION 2. ABOUT THE PROJECT 3. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 4. LITERATURE REVIEW

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy the needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the decision-making processes of buyers, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions. Also consumer buying behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers (individual & household) who buy goods and services for personal consumption.

1. INTRODUCTION

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR MODEL

Figure 1: CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR MODEL

Rational Decision Making Model

Figure 2: Decision Making Model

Influences on Consumer Buying Behavior

Figure 3: Influences on Consumer Buying Behavior

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Figure 4: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

BUYING DECISION PROCESS

PROBLEM RECOGNITION

INFORMATION SEARCH
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES PURCHASE DECISION POST PURCHASE BEHAVIOR POST PURCHASE SATISFACTION POST PURCHASE ACTIONS POST PURCHASE USE AND DISPOSAL Figure 5: BUYING DECISION PROCESS

2. ABOUT THE PROJECT

COMPUSIVE BUYING BEHAVIOUR
Compulsive buying behavior, in which a college students increasingly utilize consumption as an alternative way to express their feeling and create a self-identity, or social status and also show their Power prestige, public self consciousness. As a result, consumption has become the social standard and lifestyle that is essential for life and encouraged by society. Individuals attitude towards money is driven by the active consumer culture and usage that is becoming increasingly widespread in many countries. Compulsive buying (CB) has only relatively recently. In the current study, five distinct factors affecting compulsive buying behavior have been taken under consideration. They are : (1) Public self consciousness (2) materialism (3) Power prestige (4) peer communication (5) Stress & Anxiety. From hitting the mall on a Saturday afternoon, to holiday spending on gifts that go under the tree, shopping could be called one of the favorite pastimes. For most people, it means some new clothes for work or a small trinket for a friend. For others, however, shopping is much more than an enjoyable pastime. COMPULSIVE BUYING: When a person with a shopping addiction goes shopping, they often compulsively buy, meaning they go for one pair of shoes and come out with 10. Some people will take their purchases back because they feel guilty. That guilt can trigger another shopping spree, so it's a vicious circle. And in these people, debt may not be an issue because they're consistently returning clothes out of guilt but a problem still exists.

Peer Comunciation

Stres & Anxiety Compulsive Buying

Power prestige

Public self Consciounes

Materialism

Figure 5: Compulsive Buying Behavior

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are :

Objective 1: To examine the relationship between compulsive buying behavior and Public self consciousness, Power prestige, Materialism, Peer communication, Stress & Anxiety and compulsive buying

Objective 2: To study the impact of age of compulsive buying and variables affecting compulsive buying.

Objective 3: To study the impact of Gender on compulsive buying and variables affecting compulsive buying

4. LITERATURE REVIEW
The consumer culture has evolved into the most powerful forces shaping individuals and societies Roberts and Sepulveda (1999 a, b). The desire to become a member of the consumer culture appears to be universal Droge and Mackoy (1995). Changing attitudes toward money are an important catalyst behind the spread of the consumer culture. The money attitudes towards power prestige, distrust, and anxiety, Yamauchi and Templer (1982) are closely related to compulsive buying and that credit card use often moderates these relationships. Study results have important public policy, marketing, and research implications.
Research has found that demographics, such as gender and age, have an influence on consumers compulsive buying. The research suggested that females are more involved in compulsive buying than males OGuinn and Fabe (1989) Dittmar, ( 2005b). A negative relationship between age and compulsive buying has also been found OGuinnand Faber (1989) Robert (1998) Dittmar (2005b). Young consumers exhibit a higher level of Compulsive buying than the older population. Dittmar (2005a) started a research on compulsive buying that markedly increased personal disposable incomes and mushrooming credit card facilities have enabled individuals spend more of their current and future earnings on consumer goods, and spend it easily. Also contributing to the compulsive buying behavior is the increasing drive toward materialism in the developed western countries. Consumer goods not only help people gain social status, but they can and do function as materialism symbols of who a person is and who they would like to be.

COMPULSIVE BUYING BEHAVIOUR

Compulsive buying behavior distinct from compulsive shopping Nataraajan and Goff (1992) is medically defined as an impulse control disorder, a mental disorder characterized by irresistible impulses to engage in harmful or senseless behaviors Black (2007) McElroy, Phillips, and Keck (1994) in order to counteract negative emotional situations such as depression and loneliness Krueger (1988). Consistent with the medical definition, early conceptualizations of compulsive buying within the field of marketing defined it as chronic, repetitive purchasing that becomes a primary response to negative events or feelings OGuinn and Faber (1989, p. 155). Using this definition, a relatively small percentage of the population is classified as being compulsive; recent estimates range from 6 to 12.2 percent of young adults of college students. Hassay and Smith (1996) Roberts (1998) Roberts and Jones (2001) concluded the research indicate that adopt this perspective of compulsive buying tend to compare consumers classified as compulsive with normal consumers. The current study, adopts an alternative conceptualization of compulsive buying, consistent with more recent marketing research that considers compulsive buying to be a behavior in which a much larger proportion of the population engages Neuner, Raab, and Reisch (2005); Norum (2008) Ridgway, Kukar-Kinney, and Monroe (2008). Several different variables have been associated with compulsive behavior, including obsessivenesscompulsiveness, self-esteem, fantasy, materialism, envy, object attachment, emotional lift, risky behaviors, remorse.

Roberts and Jones (2001) examined the relationship of three dimensions of the money attitude scale Yamauchi and Templar (1982) power-prestige, distrust, and anxietyon compulsive buying among a sample of college students. They found that both power-prestige and anxiety were significantly positively related to compulsive buying, whereas distrust was significantly negatively related to compulsive buying. Norum (2008) also recently found that power-prestige and anxiety were positively associated with compulsive buying. Desarbo and Edwards (1996) found that different sets of variables were associated with compulsive buying, depending on respondents motivations to be compulsive. Those they labeled as internally motivated were driven by low self-esteem, dependence, and anxiety. In contrast, externally motivated respondents were driven by materialism, coping, isolation, denial, and impulsiveness. Desarbo and Edwards (1996) concluded that there may be different paths to compulsive buying behaviors, which has implications for how compulsive buying is prevented and treated. Roberts and Tanner (2000) reported significant correlations between the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and illegal drugs with adolescents compulsive buying behaviors, and Norum (2008) found similar relations between the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and engaging in unprotected sex and compulsive buying among college students.

1. PBLIC SELF CONSCIOUSNESS

The psychological factor likely to be related to the attention of individuals to social comparison information is public self-consciousness (PSC). Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (1975) define public self-consciousness the consistent tendency of persons direct their attention toward themselves as social objects. Thus, like those high in ATSCI, individuals high in the PSC are also aware of the perspectives of others and the reactions of others to their public behavior. In study of the Burnkrant and Page (1982, p. 454) used Fenigstein measure of PSC and predicted that "people who are high in public self-consciousness should be more sensitive to the type of impression called for in social situations and more inclined to act in accord with these impressions than people who are low in public self-consciousness." However, Burnkrant and Page concluded their data that persons high in PSC "are not more inclined to act in accord with the reward contingencies inherent in social situations." Contrary to this conclusion, Miller and Cox (1982) found that student who scored higher on the PSC scale tended to use more make up than those with a lower score. Solomon and Schopler (1982) found that both the gender have a significant correlation between their attitudes toward conformity in fashion and their public self-consciousness. In other words, student higher in PSC tended to evaluate clothing fashions more favorably.

Thus, the evidence concerning the relationship between PSC and conformity in a consumer setting is mixed. Public self-consciousness appears to capture a perceptual dimension of social sensitivity, but perhaps, not a motivational one. Apparently, individuals high in public self-consciousness are aware that people around them form impressions of them based on their product choice and usage behavior.

2. MATERIALISM
Materialism is a possible predictor of compulsive buying. It is suggested from the level of purchases made by compulsive buyers that they have an in ordinate desire for things, and are thus expected to score highly on measures of materialism. However, if their behavior is performed for the primary purpose of alleviating anxiety and negative effect, then desire for products among compulsive buyers may not actually differ from that of other consumers OGuinn and Faber, (1989). As with demographic variables, the relationship between compulsive buying and materialism has been mixed. Materialism has been described as a set of centrally held beliefs about the importance of possessions in ones life, RindFleisch, Burroughs, and Denton (1997, p. 313). This research partially supported this causal linkage, finding that the relationship between family structure and compulsive consumption is mediated by both the amount of resources available

within the family and the degree of family stress Rindfleisch, Burroughs, and Denton, (1997). Dittmar (2005) also found support that materialistic value endorsement is the strongest predictor of compulsive buying. In each of these studies, the authors linked family stress characteristics to youth development of materialism.
Materialism has also been linked to low self-esteem, dissatisfaction with ones life and an insatiable desire for higher income Richins and Dawson, (1992). It has been suggested that material possessions serve as surrogates for inadequate or nonsatisfying interpersonal relationships; individuals who are more materialistic placing a higher emphasis on possessions than on interpersonal relationships Dittmar, (2005) Belk, (1985). Thus, the research supports that the motivation for compulsive purchasing appears to originate from desires to reach self created interpersonal and self-esteem goals, rather than from desires to actually possess the goods. More recent studies, however, have evidenced a strong link to the endorsement of materialistic values among younger compulsive buyers Xu, 2008; Frost et al., (2007) Rose, (2007) Dittmar, (2005).

3. POWER- PRESTIGE
Power-prestige is one of the dimensions of the money attitude scale developed by Yamauchi and Templer (1982) and represents the use of money to influence and impress others and to symbolize success. Money, of course, is generally necessary to obtain goods and services, serving in an instrumental capacity. But for some people, money is equivalent to power and to status Roberts and Jones (2001) Rubenstein (1981). Money enables consumers to engage in status consumption, a form of power that consists of respect, consideration, and envy from others and represents the goals of a culture Csikszentmihalyi (1981, p. 39). Thus, consumers demonstrate their social power to others by engaging in conspicuous consumption and display of status products Bell (1998) Eastman et al. (1997). Both male and female gender of college student closely link money with esteem and power Prince (1993), and, particularly relevant to this study, education has been significantly positively correlated with status-seeking behaviors Chao and Schor (1998). Importantly, Tokunaga (1993) found that individuals were likely to be irresponsible credit users when they viewed money as a source of power and prestige. As in the research power-prestige has been found to a significantly positively related to compulsive buying behaviors among college students. Moreover, this relationship has been found to be significantly moderated by credit card behavior. Specifically, power-prestige was significantly related to compulsive buying when college students were irresponsible with respect to their credit card use; when credit cards were used responsibly, the relationship between power-prestige and compulsive buying was not significant Roberts and Jones (2001).

4. PEER COMMUCIATION
Peer communication is a strong influence among adolescents and college students. DAstous et al. (1990) found that friends play a significant role in adolescents consumption experiences. Compulsive buyers are typically guided by the responses of others or by other external points of reference Krueger (1998). Reliance on others for feeling of self-worth and acceptance leads compulsive buyers to depend on appearance or possessions to positively influence others. Peers are seen as potential deviant socialization agents Moschis and Cox (1989). Reliance on peers also may be a function of the amount of time spent with parents. Baby busters generally grew up with little parental supervision in comparison to previous generations, as single head households or two-wage earner parents had limited time for parents-child interaction Dunn (1993). In the absence of regular parents-child interaction, youths trended to gravitate toward peer groups. Baby busters often went to malls with friends for hours at a time with little or no adult supervision, thus creating a focus on the mall as a socialization center. In homes where one or both parents are frequently absent, the child is likely to become more dependent on peers Moschis and Cox (1989).

5. STRESS
The stress perspective views short-term and long-term changes in patterns of thought and action as outcomes of the persons responses to stress. Life events, negative as well as appositive and neutral ones, are treated as stressors that create a generalized demand for readjustment by the individual because they create psychological disequilibrium de Jong Gierveld and Dykstra (1993). The person builds a unique set of strategies (mental and behavioral responses) to cope with unacceptable and painful feelings produced by such events and restore control over life outcomes Rothbaumet al. (1982) Heckhausen and Schulz (1995). Thoughts and behaviors that help reduce the stress are originally effortful and reflect coping, but over time they may be reinforced and become conditioned responses that result in the development of habitual forms of behavior, such as hobbies and a wide variety of compulsive disorders. Stress theory posits change in family life that affects children. Key aspects of family life for this theory are parental marital events, such as divorce or (re) marriage, which are viewed as stressful, leading to problem behavior due to weakening of emotional security and bonds (Hill et al., 2001). While family disruptions tend to deplete family resources, their impact is expected to vary by level of family support. Tots (1995) reviews studies that show the different have family support to help combat stressful experiences of the college students. Thus, while the Rindfleischet al. (1997) study treated family support also mediating variable, stress theory and research suggest that family.

5. ANXIETY
The anxiety dimension of the MAS describes a person scoring high in this dimension to be very worried and anxious about money and views money as a source of protection from anxiety Roberts and Jones, (2001) Lim and Teo (1997) Yamauchi and Templer (1982). Lim and Teo (1997) suggest that individuals who have experienced hardship will tend to experience more financial anxiety. However, their research did not indicate any significant differences in the tendency of such individuals to save and reduce spending. Roberts and Jones (2001) clarified that compulsive buying is viewed as a resolution of anxiety and that compulsive buyers react to stress with higher levels of anxiety than do non-compulsive buyers. This could indicate that though consumers may experience financial anxiety, they still tend to spend indiscriminately. Hirschmans (1980) theory of experiential consumerism states that sensory and imaginary processes may motivate shopping as a means of maintaining a high state of arousal and individuality. Furthermore, Valence et al. (1988) described that anxiety provokes spontaneous action and pushes the consumer to reduce tension, which leads to excessive consumption. Thus, it can be assume that the prime motivation for buyers to engage in compulsive buying behavior is to escape from anxiety, to relieve stress, and to make them feel happy, a notion supported by Roberts and Jones (2001) study. Unfortunately, these attempts to escape from problems tend to be temporary and will most likely result in even higher level of anxiety and guilt over the money spent earlier Desarbo and Edwards (1996).

REASEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. UNIVERSE & SOURCES OF DATA RESEARCH DESIGN:Research design is used was descriptive. Descriptive research describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how. Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research cannot describe what caused a situation. Thus, Descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words, descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement for internal validity.

Descriptive research can be either quantitative or qualitative. It can involve collections of quantitative information that can be tabulated along a continuum in numerical form, such as scores on a test or the number of times a person chooses to use a-certain feature of a multimedia program, or it can describe categories of information such as gender or patterns of interaction when using technology in a group situation. It often uses visual aids such as graphs and charts to aid the reader in understanding the data distribution.

2. SAMPLE SIZE
Sampling method is a method of choosing a group of peoples from the entire target population in order to obtain the required information. Basically, there are two types of sampling designs: probability and non-probability. It is impossible to use the probability sampling method for this research due to the difficulty in identifying the target populations as it is too large for research. The sample is selected to estimate the gross results because less cost and time required and the sample is easily obtained while compared with the probability sampling technique. This research has adopted the non probability sampling technique which is most suitable for a widely dispersed population. Snowball sampling is a non-probability sampling technique where subjects are selected because of their convenient accessibility and proximity to the researcher. It gives the target population that was sampled. The target population for this research is college students and the sample is limited to students from the age group 18 to 25 years. This sample is chosen because these groups of person are more frequent for doing impulsive purchase behavior than other demographic profile. This research was carried in New Delhi and there were 130 respondents.

3. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTED:Data collected included both primary and secondary data. PRIMARY DATA:Primary data is that kind of data which is collected by the investigat or himself for the purpose of the specific study. The data such collected is original in character. The advantage of this method of collection is the authenticity. Primary data was collected by means of structured questionnaire.

SECONDARY DATA:When an investigator uses the data that has been already collected by others is called secondary data. The secondary data could be collected from Journals, Reports and Various Publications. The advantages of secondary data can be economical, both in the term of money and time spent. The researcher of the reporter also did the same and collected secondary from various internet sites like Google.com. Altavista.com and many more. The researchers of the reporter also visited various libraries for collection of the introduction part. Secondary data was collected with the help of books, magazine, internet and company brochures.

Demographics
Age 18-20 18-21 18-22 Total Male Female Total Graduation Post- Graduation Ph.D Total

No: of Respondents
63 65 2 130 61 69 130 96 5 29 130

Percentage
48.46 50 1.54 100 46.92 53.08 100 73.85 3.85 22.3 100

Gender

Income

TABLE 1: Sample Profile

4. INSTRUMENT USED
The questionnaire is used as a research instrument for this study. The questionnaires are prepared according to the objectives which set up at the beginning. In order to obtain a better response from the sample, the questionnaires are designed to be simple and easy to be understood. If the length of the questionnaires is long, it will affect the rate of response. There are five factors are determined on the basis of review of literature, namely as, Public self-consciousness, Materialism, Power prestigious, peer-communication, stress & Anxiety. The questionnaire consists of two sections. The first section is about the demographic profile of the respondent. The objective is to know the respondents' background. The second section is about their various variables.

SCALE: For the questionnaire, every question has its own response options such as open-ended response and close-ended response. Open-ended questions require the opinions of the college students regarding there several factors. Close-ended questions are more efficient and quantifiable because it consists of numeric scales which used by the customers to express their feelings in a simple way. The scale is known as Likert Scale. The 5-point numerical scale is adopted which ranging from 1 to 5, 1 represents not strongly disagree, 2 represents somewhat disagree, 3 represents neither agree nor disagree, 4 represents somewhat agree and 5 represents strongly agree. The scale helps the respondents to make a clear decision based on there several factors.

5. TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS

SPSS 20 was used to analyse the collected primary data. ANOVA, Correlationa and dscriptive statistics has been used to draw significant findings. Various tools are used for the analysis of the data collected through survey method using questionnaire. Cronbach alpha test was done to measure the various variables which related to compulsive buying.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

It is important to address the limitations of the present study. The area of study was New Delhi so it cannot be generalized to other cities. The time frame was from January to April i.e. 120 days so in further researches the results may differ. A different composition of sample may skew the results. Results may also vary in event specific situations. For e.g. shopping behavior in festival season may vary.

The current study only focused on individuals exhibiting in compulsive behavior of college students. Similar results may not necessarily be found among individuals with other forms of buying behaviors. Future studies should use APPAREL & ACCESSIOES to further understand the relationship between compulsive clothing buying and with the similar accessories. In addition, this study only focused on college-age students. Results may not be generalized to students at the age of the sample who are not in college, college-age or adults older than 25 years of age. Ethnic differences may also affect results, as many consumers from cultures or countries that do not have a long history with a market-based economy. Follow-up studies should further examine the relationship among compulsive clothing buying, disordered accessory behaviors, fashion interest and also apparel & accessories.

DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis of the study was designed to confirm the reliability and validity of the sample. ANOVA Technique is used to measure and determine whether age and gender have an impact on factors affecting compulsive buying. Reliability Statistics Variables Cronbach's Alpha Public Self Consciousness .757 Materialsim .723 Power-Prestige .719 Peer Communciation .668 Stress & Anxiety .715 Compulsive Buying .751 Table 2: Cronbach's Alpha Test of reliability is required to estimate the consistency of the sampling. The purpose of this reliability testing is to discover the potential problems with the design questionnaire so as, provide confidence about the data that meets its reliability or Sampling Adequacy. The Cronbach's Alpha is above 0.7 that means the data would reliably for sampling or if lower than 0.7 it means the data would not be reliable for sampling. Cronbach Alpha for the 5 variables and the compulsive buying items ranged from .668 to .757. The findings indicate the public-self consciousness, materialism, power-prestige, peer communication, stress & anxiety are related to compulsive buying behavior.

DESCRIPTIVES STATSTICS

VARIABLE Although I should judge the success of people by their deeds.

MEAN 3.93

Std. Deviation .974

I place too much emphasis on the amount of money a person has as a sign of success.
I seem to find that I show more respect to people with more money than I have. I use money to inuence other people to do things for me. I am more influenced by the amount of money they have It is important to me to have really nice things. I would like to be rich enough to buy anything I want I would be happier if I could afford to buy more things. I often buy something I see in a store without planning, just because I have got to have it. I do excessive shopping to stand impressive in ones eyes Too much and costly shopping improves my self-image Shopping makes me confident and update. I buy things because I want people to have a good opinion about me.

3.27
2.58 2.27 2.35 4.03 3.92 3.65 2.88 2.81 2.68 3.12 2.81

1.062
1.147 1.077 1.106 .787 .841 1.062 1.245 1.169 1.073 1.064 1.175

I like to spend money.

I nd that I show more respect to people with more money than I have. Imust admit that I purchase things because I know they will impress others. I put money aside on a regular basis for the future or I follow a careful financial budget. I am very prudent with money

2.97
2.02 2.49 3.42 3.70

.956
1.049 1.122 1.120 1.083

I ask my friends for advice about buying things I will try to impress my friends When your friends tell you about what thing you should or should not buy.

3.76 3.08 3.25

.938 1.035 .965

You and your friends talks about buying things

You wonder what your friends would think when you were buying things for yourself. When I have money, I cannot help but spend part or all of it. Shopping is a way of relaxing and forgetting my problems. I spend money to make myself feel better. I am bothered when I have to pass up a sale. Its hard for me to pass up a bargain Ive felt anxious or nervous on days I didn't go shopping. Felt otherswould be horrified if they knew of my spending habits Bought things even through I could't afford them. Bought myself something in order to make myself feel better Valid N (listwise)

3.61
2.96 3.08 2.71 2.79 3.01 2.76 1.86 4.05 3.98 3.74

.960
1.015 1.118 1.229 1.166 1.124 1.025 1.017 .800 .797 1.023

Table 3: Mean & Standard Deviation of items

Descriptive statistical analysis was used in order to know the impact of compulsive buying behavior in college students towards Apparel & Accessories. Table 3 shows all the number of respondents, mean, standard deviations are as follows:
N = sample size is 130. Mean = According to respondents opinions the rating on dependent variable compulsive buying was highest with a mean of 4.05. In the sample contains a large proportion of compulsive buyers. The rating on materialism was second highest with a mean of (4.03) and lowest on Stress & Anxiety (1.86).

Standard Deviation = The standard deviation of respondents opinions on Materialism was the least (0.787), as compared to the other dimensions. This indicates that there is less polarization in the respondents opinions on this Materialism dimension. The standard deviation of respondents opinion on Stress & Anxiety was the highest (1.229), as compared to other dimensions. This indicates that there is a high polarization of respondents opinions on the Stress & Anxiety dimension.

Objective 1: To examine the relationship between compulsive buying behavior and Public self consciouness, Power prestige, Materialism, Peer communciation, Stress & Anxiety and compulsive buying
Public Self Consciousness Compulsive Buying Pearson Correlation .412** Materialism .478** Power Prestige .561** Peer Communciation .511** Stress & Anxeity .429** .000 130

Sigh. (2-tailed)
N **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

.000
130

.000
130

.000
130

.000
130

Table 4: Correlation between compulsive buying behavior and Public self consciouness, Power prestige, Materialism, Peer communciation, Stress & Anxiety and compulsive buying. Correlational analyses was used to test the objective in the present study of compulsive buying behaviour in college student. The results of the analyses are summarized in Table 4. Correlation was applied to check the relationship between variables. The compulsive buying is correlated with Public self consciousness (0.412) at significance value of .000. The Second was compulsive buying correlated with Materialism (0.478) at significance value of .000. The third compulsive buying correlated with Power prestige (0.561) at significance value of .000. Fourth compulsive buying correlated with Stress & Anxiety (0.511) at significance value of .000.

A significant correlation was found between the compulsive buying with other variables. There is positive relationship between Public self consciousness, Materialism, Power prestige, Peer communciation, Stress & Anxiety and compulsive buying behavior in college students. This study supports the research done by Burnkrant and Page (1982) which stated that public self-consciousness affect compulsive buying behaviour. The study also supports the resaerch done by OGuinn and Faber, (1989) which took materialism as a predictor of compulsive buying behavior. The research also supports the study of Solomon and Schopler (1982) in which it is mentioned that both the gender has a significant correlation between their attitudes toward conformity in fashion and apparel & accessories with related to public self-consciousness. Also the research study favors the research of Tokunaga (1993) which stated that powerprestige is significantly positively related to compulsive buying behaviors among college students. The findings also suggested that consumers use their consumption activity to reduce their tensions and feel happy. The literature review also supports this finding Peer communication is also positively related to compulsive buying behavior. This can be attributed to the fact that respondents give due importance to their peers opinion. The literature review also supports the statement. DAstous et al. (1990) found that friends play a significant role in students' consumption experiences towards apparel & accessories. Reliance on others for feeling of self-worth and acceptance leads compulsive buyers to depend on appearance or possessions to positively influence others.

Objective 2: To study the impact of age on Compulsive Buying and variables affecting Compulsive Buying.
VARIABLES Public Self Consciousness Materalism Power Prestige Peer Communciation Stress & Anxiety Compulsive buying F .239 .838 .182 .570 .150 .232 Sig. .788 .435 .834 .567 .861 .794

Table 5: ANOVA

The ANOVA table shows that there is no significant impact of Age on variables affecting compulsive buying and compulsive buying behaviour. It indicates that this age group i.e. between 18 to 25 of college student is indulged in compulsive buying. It also exhibits that age has no impact on public self consciousness, materialism, powerprestige, peer communication, stress & anxiety. However, it should not be generalized to other age groups. Thus, the study supports the previous literature and research which showed that compulsive buyers generally tend to be younger student and demographics age has an influence on consumers compulsive buying tendencies. Young consumers exhibit a higher level of compulsive buying than the older population. (OGuinnand Faber,1989; Robert,1998 and Dittmar 2005b).

Objective 3: To study the impact of Gender on Compulsive buying and variables affecting Compulsive Buying.
VARIABLES Public Self Consciousness Materialism Power Prestige Peer Communciation Stress & Anxiety Compulsive buying F .961 .152 .147 .006 .275 .627 Sig. .329 .698 .702 .940 .601 .430

Table 6: ANOVA
The ANOVA table shows that there is no significant impact of gender on variables affecting compulsive buying and compulsive buying behaviour. It indicates that this both the gender equally indluge themselves in compulsive buying. The study supports the study Prince (1993) which mentioned that the students of both the genders relate materialism with esteem and power and indulge themselves in acquiring expensive possessions. Solomon and Schopler (1982) found that both the gender have a significant correlation between their attitudes toward conformity in fashion and their public self-consciousness and power prestige and peer communciation, materialism .

FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS

FINDINGS
The objective of the study was to ascertain the determinants of compulsive buying behavior in college student and their relationship with the dependent variables. Compulsive buying behavior was the dependent variable for this study. The variables for the study were (a) Public self consciousness (b) Materialism (c) Power- prestige (d) Peer communication (e) Stress & Anxiety (f) compulsive buying . Correlation was applied to check the relationship between variables with the compulsive buying. The compulsive buying is correlated with Public self consciousness (0.412) at significance value of .000. The Second was compulsive buying correlated with Materialism (0.478) at significance value of .000. The third compulsive buying correlated with Power prestige (0.561) at significance value of .000. Fourth compulsive buying correlated with Stress & Anxiety (0.511) at significance value of .000 The compulsive buyers generally tend to be younger student and demographics age and gender has an influence on consumers compulsive buying tendencies.This research supports both the gender has a significant correlation between their attitudes toward conformity in fashion and apparel & accessories with related to public self-consciousness and Power prestige, materialism.

The compulsive buyers sometimes have a feels of post purchase guilty or after purchasing items of the apparel & accessories that they do not need, and often suffer negative emotional and economic consequences as a result of their purchasing behavior. Predisposition factors like being public self consciousness, materialism, Power prestige, peer communication, stress & anxiety particularly common in compulsive buyers. Post purchase guilt is also common in the compulsive buying behavior in college students. Particularly in an era of social responsibility, marketers should focus on the differential strategies and individual needs of compulsive buyers. It is only through increased research in the future that may come to better understand the compulsive buying in college students and made a effectively market for students and also growing number of consumers. In an era of consumerism and influenza, future research investigating compulsive buying.

CONCULSION
The current study has offered an integrated framework by bringing together diverse data themes from previous research from the fields of and marketing. The framework will serve a useful purpose toward an improved general understanding of the compulsive-buying, addictive apparel & accessories future research. There is a positive relationship between compulsive buying behavior with the independent variables it indicate that the college students indulged in compulsive buying. Whereas there is relationship of college students towards Apparel &Accessories. The forecaster variables were study on such as age, gender, public self consciousness, materialism, Power prestige, peer communication, stress & anxiety and compulsive buying. Compulsive buyers frequently purchase items to relieve stress or anxiety, often feel dissonance after purchasing items that they do not need, and often suffer negative emotional and economic consequences as a result of their purchasing behavior. This may imply that neurotic people worry generally desire to go shopping for and purchase clothing makes feel happy and to distract there mind towards other things. However, the recreational buyers differ from borderline compulsive buyers as the former may not feel post purchase guilt but the later may feel the guilt after purchasing items that they do not need.

This study provides for marketers to understanding the compulsive buying in college student and also identifying those variables which have a value for their power and prestige and public self consciousness, Materialism. The obsession of young students with money as a tool of power and prestige is reflective of the underlying need to bolster their self. When the students are under pressure to make an excessive desire for things among compulsive buyers is due to their emotional need for self-worth. It will provide an indication to new markets segment based on lifestyle attributes that consumers ideally want and pursue. For instance, advertising campaigns should portray images of status and prestige in order to appeal to young adults. Further more, it was found that compulsive buyers often use shopping as a means of mood elevation.

RECOMMENDATION

Since compulsivebuying is phenomenon in a modern society, expended research with various demographical and geographical groups. Because the compulsive buying behavior was strongly related to emotional/affective reactions and behavior despite of the possible fact that it might have been more likely influenced by different factors.
The college students learn that they are valued for their appearance, gaining praise and attention from others. Compulsive buying for appearance-related products may also be a way to obtain approval and recognition. College students enrolled in apparel-accessories related majors that focus on appearance may also be at greater opportunity for marketer for doing a compulsive buying behavior. This study provide several implications for marketing managers and their organizations to better segment and target consumers, especially college students based on usage status money belief power and prestige, and search for bargains as well as other instore display and advertisement content. Several other environmental factors that may also contribute to compulsive buying such as family structure, gender, and other psychological factors also have to be taken into consideration by marketing managers in developing their strategies.

Marketers may an advertisement campaign for the college students related to apparel & accessory products and also other products which effects compulsive buying tendencies. Future studies not only should adopt more accurate and specific measures of media use and commercial avoidance behavior, but also should be employ more reliable measures of brand recall of apparel & accessories.

As the compulsive buying has gained attention from marketers and researchers all over the world, efforts may be made to identify the underlying determinants of the behavior from diverse cultures. Future marketers has to explore whether all these measures and scales are transferable to different cultures, such as European cultures and Asian cultures (e.g., Japan, India, South Korea, and China) because the market for the new apparel & accessories products and services was provided in the markets. Because cultural and generational differences influence the consumers concept of compulsive buying future studies to be examined more categories of the apparel & accessory products. For example, stylish products are probably considered the status symbols for young college students.
It is also suggested that more cross-comparison studies between countries with different cultural backgrounds and economic development are needed in order to understand and compare the many different elements that may affect consumers behavior, namely the tendency to indulge in compulsive buying.

In addition, marketers should utilize aggressive in-store promotion and selling techniques, i.e. highlight the discount or best buy slogans. However, these marketers need to be socially responsible in their attempt to gain a share of the young college students market. It also suggested that the internet would be contribute to compulsive buying as conventional stores do as consumers can shop worldwide in the convenience of their own home with limitless access for 24 hours, seven days a week. This research shows that ccompulsive buying is having a very bright future in India. Perception towards apparel & accessories is getting better way to present in India. The consequences of this could be complicated as they need to adjust to a different lifestyle where expenditure and cost is bound to incur. Marketers are facing a challenge in getting individuals to use more credit cards. Therefore, consumer policy makers should develop programs that are aimed at educating young college students on how to properly and carefully manage their finances as well as how to tackle other underlying psychological weaknesses that may contribute to excessive and compulsive buying. Therefore, consumer education programs could concentrate more on providing skills rather than information.

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