The Compulsive Buying Behaviour Tendency in Clothing Industry in Sri Lanka

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.