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Gender identity and material symbols: objects and decision considerations in impulse purchases

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 05:02 authored by Helga Dittmar, Jane Beattie, Susanne Friese
We present a new model of impulse buying, based on a social constructionist theory, which addresses some of the short-comings of previous models from economics, consumer behaviour, and psychology. Our model predicts that products are impulsively bought to reflect self-identity. Thus gender, as a major social category, should influence both the products bought impulsively and the buying considerations used. We investigate these aspects of impulse buying in a mature student population through individual interviews employing a mixture of quantitative and open-ended measures. As predicted, men tend to impulsively buy instrumental and leisure items projecting independence and activity, while women tend to buy symbolic and self-expressive goods concerned with appearance and emotional aspects of self. Finally, we consider the implications of our findings, and discuss possible extensions of the research to the area of compulsive buying.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Journal of Economic Psychology

ISSN

0167-4870

Publisher

Elsevier

Issue

3

Volume

16

Page range

491-511

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-02-06

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