Abstract:
Compulsive buying is one of the negative and dark aspects of consumer behaviour which is a growing trend
in many countries with the expansion of the shopping trends. Compulsive buying is defined “chronic,
repetitive purchasing that becomes a primary response to negative events or feelings. This abnormal form of
consumer behaviour is characterized by chronic buying episodes of a somewhat stereotyped fashion in
which the consumer feels unable to stop or significantly moderate the behaviour (O'Guinn and Faber 1989,
p. 155). The purpose of this study is to investigate the degree of compulsive buying tendency among
consumers in clothing industry in Sri Lanka. The significance of this study is due to the fact that consumers
in Sri Lanka trend in shopping have increased and the use of credit cards, discounts, promotional
campaigns and other marketing practices encourage customers to fill their carts. The research design is a
conclusive, single cross sectional descriptive one and data were collected from 250 individuals using
convenience sampling technique. The hypothesis on self esteem is positively associated with compulsive
buying behaviour, the fantasy is positively related with compulsive buying behaviour, need for emotional
uplift positively related to compulsivity, sales people interaction is positively related with compulsive buying
were tested using mean, standard deviation, T - test, ANOVA and correlation analysis. The analysis
involved statistical methods such as reliability and validity tests. The results indicated that Sri Lankan
consumers are moderately compulsive and it’s growing with the increase in level of income. Further,
Consumers with low self esteem tend to shop more. Emotional up lift, social relationship and sales people
influences positively affect for increase the shopping tendency. The use of cards instead of cash, positively
affect to become more compulsivity.
