Compulsive buying behavior: Re-evaluating its dimensions and screening

Despite the significant research in the consumer behavior literature on compulsive buying behavior (CBB), there is still no general agreement about the dimensionality or diagnostic screening of the disorder. Previous studies have identified two principal dimensions: compulsivity and impulsivity, although more recent strands of theory characterize CBB with reference to loss of self-control and behavioral addiction. This study challenges the impulsive-compulsive paradigm by validating a new model with compulsive and self-control impaired spending dimensions. The model more closely reflects the disorder's ego-dystonic character, routed in an anxiety-based reactive mechanism with uncontrollable buying and an inability to rationalize the behavior and its consequences. The study also develops and cross-validates a new seven-item CBB screening tool, using a comparative analysis with three existing screeners and an independent sample. The findings indicate that compulsive buying results from both compulsive and self-control impaired impulsive elements, which are characteristic of behavioral addiction.