Compulsive buying behaviour : exploring the tourism product market

Maccarrone-Eaglen, A; Schofield, P

Abstract

Purpose - The study tests a screening tool to identify compulsive purchase tendency on the part of consumers. It also examines consumer proclivity to buy tourism products compulsively by tourism product type and purchase behaviour characteristics.


Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey using a screening tool was used to identify subjects who typically behave compulsively in their purchase behaviour and to examine compulsive purchasing within a tourism context in the Czech Republic. Exploratory factor analysis and logistic regression were employed to identify significant predictors of compulsive purchase tendency. The characteristics of compulsive purchase behaviour in a tourism context are then explored.


Findings – A core set of six compulsive purchase behaviour discriminator variables were identified together with two intrinsic and one extrinsic dimension: therapeutic pleasure, obsessive expenditure and credit card facilitation. The intrinsic dimensions were significant predictors of compulsive purchase tendency. The results also show that certain types of tourism products are purchased by subjects with compulsive purchase tendency.


Research limitations/implications – The study has the restriction of being limited to the Czech case, therefore the results relating to both the screening tool and compulsive purchase behaviour in tourism cannot be generalised. Moreover, the findings relating to tourism cannot be compared with previous studies because of the lack of research in this area. Nevertheless, the study has identified a new area for research in tourism.


Practical implications – The increasing incidence of compulsive purchase behaviour in both developed and developing economies may have serious implications for marketing practices, ethics and marketing policy.


Originality/value – The study contributes to our overall understanding of compulsive purchase behaviour by identifying significant discriminator variables and examines this phenomenon in the tourism market, which has hitherto been neglected in this respect.

Citation

Maccarrone-Eaglen, A., & Schofield, P. (2009, June). Compulsive buying behaviour : exploring the tourism product market. Presented at 6th CPTHL Symposium, MODUL University Vienna, Austria

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: 6th CPTHL Symposium
• Conference Location: MODUL University Vienna, Austria
• Start Date: Jun 1, 2009
• End Date: Jun 3, 2009
• Acceptance Date: Mar 19, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 18, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 18, 2017
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference