Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage

To investigate money attitudes and credit card usage between compulsive and non-compulsive buyers of young Australians. It also serves to validate the MAS scale using an Australian sample. Data were collected using a mall intercept method in a major shopping complex in Perth, Western Australia. A se...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Phau, Ian, Woo, Charise
Format: Journal Article
Published: Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21865
_version_ 1848750710097707008
author Phau, Ian
Woo, Charise
author_facet Phau, Ian
Woo, Charise
author_sort Phau, Ian
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description To investigate money attitudes and credit card usage between compulsive and non-compulsive buyers of young Australians. It also serves to validate the MAS scale using an Australian sample. Data were collected using a mall intercept method in a major shopping complex in Perth, Western Australia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed and recorded a response rate of 18%. Compulsive buyers are more likely to perceive money as a source of power and prestige. They are also more frequent users of credit cards and are more likely to bargain hunt. There are no differences between compulsive and non-compulsive buyers for the dimensions of time retention, distrust, and anxiety of the MAS scale. The study has only captured young adult Australians and should not be generalised across other demographics and national consumers. Studies on compulsive behaviour of online shopping and a comparison between fashion and non-fashion related variables could also be explored. Firms should consider using advertising campaigns that portray images of status and prestige in order to appeal to young adults. They could utilize aggressive in-store promotion and selling techniques and highlight the discount or best buy slogans. For the credit card companies and banks, word-of-mouth through family and friends are better promotional tools to attract users. Marketers and policy makers are recommended to incorporate consumer education programs for young adults to build skills to counter financial problems. This is the first Australian study that examined money attitudes, credit card usage and compulsive behaviour. Further the MAS scale is validated with the addition of the 'bargain hunting' variable.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:41:09Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-21865
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:41:09Z
publishDate 2008
publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-218652017-09-13T15:58:58Z Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage Phau, Ian Woo, Charise Money attitudes Credit card usage Australians Compulsive buying To investigate money attitudes and credit card usage between compulsive and non-compulsive buyers of young Australians. It also serves to validate the MAS scale using an Australian sample. Data were collected using a mall intercept method in a major shopping complex in Perth, Western Australia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed and recorded a response rate of 18%. Compulsive buyers are more likely to perceive money as a source of power and prestige. They are also more frequent users of credit cards and are more likely to bargain hunt. There are no differences between compulsive and non-compulsive buyers for the dimensions of time retention, distrust, and anxiety of the MAS scale. The study has only captured young adult Australians and should not be generalised across other demographics and national consumers. Studies on compulsive behaviour of online shopping and a comparison between fashion and non-fashion related variables could also be explored. Firms should consider using advertising campaigns that portray images of status and prestige in order to appeal to young adults. They could utilize aggressive in-store promotion and selling techniques and highlight the discount or best buy slogans. For the credit card companies and banks, word-of-mouth through family and friends are better promotional tools to attract users. Marketers and policy makers are recommended to incorporate consumer education programs for young adults to build skills to counter financial problems. This is the first Australian study that examined money attitudes, credit card usage and compulsive behaviour. Further the MAS scale is validated with the addition of the 'bargain hunting' variable. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21865 10.1108/02634500810894307 Emerald Group Publishing Limited fulltext
spellingShingle Money attitudes
Credit card usage
Australians
Compulsive buying
Phau, Ian
Woo, Charise
Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage
title Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage
title_full Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage
title_fullStr Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage
title_full_unstemmed Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage
title_short Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage
title_sort understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young australians: the roles of money attitudes and credit card usage
topic Money attitudes
Credit card usage
Australians
Compulsive buying
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21865