Compulsive Buying

Clinical Foundations and Treatment

Astrid Müller, James E. Mitchell, Astrid Müller, James E. Mitchell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781136895265
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Abnormal Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Rooted in research and clinical practice, Compulsive Buying examines the drive that compels people to compulsively purchase and hoard their acquisitions. The authors and contributors cover the entire scope of this behavior and discuss whatclinicians need to know in order to better understand and treat their clients. Among the key subjects examined are case reports, correct diagnosis, assessment and instruments, comorbidity, treatment, research, and directions for future research. The book ends with a useful guide for therapists, which includes data and research; and a treatment manual, which includes questionnaires and exercises for clinician and client alike.

PART 1

Clinical Foundations

CHAPTER 1

Diagnosis and Epidemiology of Compulsive Buying

RONALD J. FABER, PHD

Contents

Introduction

Diagnosis

Excessive versus Compulsive Buying

Classification of Compulsive Buying as a Disorder

Epidemiology

Onset

Who is at Risk?

Conclusion

References

Introduction

Compulsive buying (CB) is an often misunderstood disorder. Many people confuse it with impulse buying, excessive buying, and other more normal behaviors. While CB may share a number of behavioral characteristics with these other forms of purchasing, its causes, triggers, and outcomes differ in important ways.

Impulse buying is a common situation that almost everyone experiences at one time or another. It has been defined as occurring when our desire for a specific item outweighs our willpower to resist it (Hoch & Loewenstein, 1991). This may involve grabbing a candy bar or magazine while standing on the checkout line of the supermarket or seeing a beautiful coat and just “having to have it.” Generally, impulse buying is triggered by external stimuli such as the item or the store environment.

CB, however, is typically more about the desire or need to buy than wanting a particular item (O’Guinn & Faber, 1989). Those with CB often report experiencing an urge or tension to buy. This frequently occurs well before the individual is even in a buying environment. In overly simplified terms, CB is about the act of buying, while impulse buying is about the item being bought.

Studies that have interviewed those with CB have reported that they do not seem to have a great desire for products. Several studies that looked at materialism among those with CB (Edwards, 1992; O’Guinn & Faber, 1989; Scherhorn, Reisch, & Raab, 1990) found that while some relationship exists, it is not due to possessiveness or a desire for objects, but rather due more to the envy dimension of materialism (particularly in regard to envy of relationships rather than goods). O’Guinn and Faber (1989) further found that those with CB were actually lower on a measure of object attachment than were other consumers. This lack of interest in the item purchased helps to explain why many researchers have reported that those with CB frequently never use the items they buy and that these items often remain unopened in the bags they were bought in or hang in closets with tags still on them (Black, 1996; Faber & O’Guinn, 2008; Lejoyeux, Haberman, Solomon, & Ades, 1999).

The consequences of impulse buying tend to be far less severe than those of CB. Many people only engage in impulse purchasing occasionally and such purchases generally have little consequence in their lives. Some people may habitually engage in impulse buying, and this may create some financial or interpersonal difficulties, but these are generally mild. Those with CB, however, tend to consistently engage in buying either daily or whenever they experience negative affect. As a result, they eventually reach a point where their buying creates major conflicts in their lives.

Finally, both impulsive buying and CB can be linked to failures in self-regulation (Faber & Vohs, 2004). However, they involve different types of failure. Impulse buying typically represents individual instances of self-regulatory failure. A specific failure is frequently due to a depletion of regulatory resources that leads to underregulation of the behavior. Following this temporary lapse, however, the person is able to re-establish control over his purchasing behavior (at least for a while).

On the other hand, CB is seen as a chronic and more profound breakdown of the self-regulatory process. This generally occurs because one experiences conflicting self-regulatory goals. Typically this involves a need for emotional or affective relief versus the need to maintain spending goals. Research in self-regulation has shown that affective needs are given priority over behavioral ones when a trade-off must be made (Tice, Bratslavsky, & Baumeister,2001). In this situation, CB can be said to be due more to misregulation rather than underregulation (Baumeister, Heatherton, & Tice, 1994).

Diagnosis

As early as 1915, CB was identified in psychiatric textbooks under the term oniomania (Kraepelin, 1915). It was listed as being one of a number of monomanias or impulse disorders along with kleptomania and pyromania. Oniomania was initially defined as impulsively driven buying that resulted in a senseless amount of debt (Kraepelin, 1915). Patients with oniomania were said to be unable to control their behavior or even to recognize the senseless consequences of their actions (Bleuler, 1924).

Very little discussion of CB or oniomania appeared again until the mid-1980s when media attention was given to self-help groups that were trying to treat this problem (Holmstrom, 1985; Mundis, 1986), and a few academic articles in the fields of addiction (Glatt & Cook, 1987), psychotherapy (Krueger, 1988; Winestine, 1985), and consumer behavior (Faber, O’Guinn, & Krych, 1987; O’Guinn & Faber, 1989) began to be published. Research in consumer behavior tried to describe the phenomenon of CB and distinguished it from more normal types of excessive buying. O’Guinn and Faber (1989), for example, stated that CB is “chronic, repetitive purchasing that occurs in response to negative events and feelings” (O’Guinn & Faber, 1989, p. 149). They went on to state that the alleviation of these negative feelings is the primary motivation for CB and that ultimately the behavior leads to detrimental effects.

The chronic nature of this behavior is an important element in distinguishing CB from isolated buying sprees. Some people may engage in what might be viewed as excessive purchasing if they suddenly came into a lot of money, around certain events such as Christmas, as a reward for some achievement, or just to cheer themselves up. However, for those with CB the behavior is highly repetitive. Some with CB report shopping almost every day and feeling anxious on days they don’t go shopping (O’Guinn & Faber, 1989). Many report experiencing uncontrollable urges and a mounting tension that can only be relieved by buying (Christenson, Faber, de Zwaan, Raymond, Specker, Eckert, et al., 1994; DeSarbo & Edwards, 1996; McElroy, Keck, Pope, Smith, & Strakowski, 1994). The behavior of others with CB appears to be more episodic. For these individuals, buying becomes a repetitive, almost automatic, response to a specific set of negative feelings or circumstances. On average, it appears that those with CB report experiencing this behavior two to three times per week, although reports of the frequency of binge buying range from once a month to multiple times per day (Christenson et al., 1994; Schlosser, Black, Repertinger, & Freet, 1994). Edwards (1992) provides a somewhat similar definition to that of O’Guinn and Faber. She defined CB as:

… an abnormal form of shopping and spending in which the afflicted consumer has an overpowering, uncontrollable, chronic and repetitive urge to shop and spend, compulsive spending characteristically functions as a means of alleviating negative feelings of stress and anxiety. (p. 67)

As with the prior definition, there is a focus on the problem being repetitive and alleviating negative feelings (at least in the short term). However, Edwards’ definition expands this disorder to including shopping as well as purchasing and emphasizes that the sense of an uncontrollable urge to buy that is experienced as intrusive.

Probably the most widely accepted definition in the clinical literature is that proposed by McElroy and her colleagues (Goldsmith & McElroy, 2000; McElroy, Keck, Pope, Smith, & Strakowski, 1994). They have proposed three criteria:

1. Maladaptive preoccupation with buying or shopping, or maladaptive buying or shopping impulses or behavior, as indicated by at least one of the following:
   1. Frequent preoccupation with buying or impulses to buy that are experienced as irresistible, intrusive, or senseless.
   2. Frequent buying of more than can be afforded, frequent buying of items that are not needed, or shopping for longer periods of time than intended.
2. The buying preoccupations, impulses, or behaviors cause marked distress, are time-consuming, significantly interfere with social or occupational functioning, or result in serious financial problems (e.g., indebtedness or bankruptcy).
3. The excessive buying or shopping behavior does not only occur exclusively during periods of hypomania or mania. (Goldsmith & McElroy, 2000, p. 218)

This definition combines elements of both of the previous definitions and articulates them in terms that can be easily used in determining indicators for a diagnosis in a clinical setting. Evidence of excessive behavior can be seen in the number of shopping trips, the time spent shopping or buying, the total amount spent on purchases, purchasing multiples of the same item, and the amount of debt amassed. Studies have reported that, on average, those with CB devote almost 50 percent of their take-home pay toward payment of nonmortgage-related debt compared to a little more than 20 percent for other consumers (Christenson et al., 1994; O’Guinn & Faber, 1989).

Negative consequences from shopping and buying can range from distress caused by taking time away from more important events and the amount of debt incurred, as well as more serious consequences such as major family disputes and divorce, stealing, embezzling, and writing bad checks to pay for more purchases, and even suicide attempts (Christenson et al., 1994; Faber, O’Guinn, & Krych, 1987; O’Guinn & Faber, 1989). Typically it is not until these serious consequences emerge that compulsive buyers actually admit that they have a problem.

Excessive versus Compulsive Buying

Another area of potential confusion exists between CB and other people who may buy excessively. While those with CB buy excessively, not all excessive buyers have CB. Excessive buying can occur on the basis of amount of things purchased or the amount of money spent. For some people, their purchasing may appear to be excessively high simply because they can afford to spend almost limitless amounts. Others may spend far beyond their means because of a high level of materialism or desire for things, poor financial skills, or for other reasons. Therefore to identify people who truly have CB, it is important to examine the motivations for buying, the situations in which excessive buying occurs, and the use or enjoyment from the items purchased, in addition to the frequency and amount of buying and the consequences of this behavior.

The potential to confuse those with excessive buying for those with CB and the importance of distinguishing these two groups can be seen in a study done by DeSarbo and Edwards (1996). They examined a sample of those with CB in order to determine the degree of homogeneity in their behavior and the underlying motivations for this behavior. They found those with CB formed two separate clusters. The first cluster seemed to be more motivated by internal feelings such as low self-esteem, greater anxiety, and having a short-term sense of power or control. This group appeared most similar to those with pathological CB. People in the second cluster seemed to be driven more by materialism and a desire for objects. They also tended to be more impulsive and have poor coping skills. The buying behavior of this second cluster appears to be motivated more by environmental factors and a high level of avoidance as a coping strategy for dealing with stress. This cluster seems to represent excessive rather than truly CB.

Classification of Compulsive Buying as a Disorder

Differences exist in how to best classify CB as a psychiatric disorder. Some authors have labeled it as an addiction (Goldman, 2000; Glatt & Cook, 1987). However, most tend to classify it as either a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (Frost, Kim, Bloss,...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Contributors
• Part 1
• Part 2