Compulsive shopping is a dysfunctional form of excessive and pervading buying (2–4). The consumer experiences an unstoppable, chronic, and repeated impulse to go shopping and spend money and loses control of this activity (5). The psychosocial consequences of compulsive buying (or shopping) behavior can be summarized as: a great amount of debts, inability to meet payments, legal and financial problems, self-criticism, guilt, and personal suffering [e.g., Ref. (6, 7)].

Results from a meta-analysis of 40 studies from 16 countries reported a prevalence of compulsive buying of 4.9% in the adult population (8) and the age of onset appears to be around 30 (1, 9).

Most clinical studies report that women are much more likely to become compulsive buyers than men [e.g., Ref. (10)] but, in the last decade, scholars have observed no significant differences based on gender (11–14).

Compulsive buying is primarily motivated by the relief of anxiety, stress, and unpleasant emotions (15–17).

Dysfunctional consumer behavior is often enacted for some perceived psychological advantages (18). In particular, the desire to improve emotions related to self-esteem is a prominent motivation that can predict this form of behavioral addiction (19, 20). Ertelt et al. (21) showed that compulsive buyers suffer from low self-esteem and seek approval from others to compensate it.

The “consumption of objects” may be a coping response to unpleasant emotions deriving from insecurity about individuals’ selves and identities and disappointing self-evaluations (16, 22). Some people may use shopping to improve their appearance, self-confidence, consideration by others, and social relationships (23). Material possessions respond illusorily to the inner security need to compensate feelings of low self-esteem and, at the same time, current consumer culture suggests that a sense of self-confidence and well-being can be purchased. Therefore, the “consumption of objects” may be both a symptom of insecurities and a “coping strategy” to offer relief from problems and to satisfy certain needs (24–26).

Some products play a peculiar role for compulsive buyers due to the emotional and social advantages they offer (27). By buying objects, compulsive shoppers try to address to an “ideal self,” improve their social image and express themselves (20), such that perceived self-esteem benefits represent a direct predictor of compulsive buying (18).

Preliminary results of our investigation into compulsive buying showed that the prevalence in our convenience sample agrees with data reported in the literature concerning Canada and European countries (5, 50, 53).

The time spent on shopping experiences is directly correlated to the CBS score. The result is consistent with McElroy et al. (1) who argued that the dimension of time spent on purchases is one of the proper diagnostic criteria of compulsive buying. Compulsive buyers spend more time on shopping trips than non-CB, but do not spend as much money; data support the hypothesis that it is the experience of browsing rather than purchasing itself that characterizes the disorder (41).

Moreover, in accordance with Maraz et al. (41), CB is not directly related to socioeconomic status or net income. In line with other studies [e.g., Ref. (5)], the findings did not reveal any relation between compulsive buying and credit card usage.

As regard the age influence, the findings reported that age is not related to compulsive shopping or to CSE while the FNE decrease with increased age. About this, Westenberg et al. (54) have argued that individual differences in social evaluation fear may be related to differential level of maturity.

As far as gender differences are concerned, our data partially confirmed the literature previously described suggesting that women scored higher on CSE and FNE scales than men (H1). In agreement with Mueller et al. (55), but nonetheless surprisingly, no significant difference was found between women and men in compulsive buying. Although the vast majority of people with compulsive buying problems have been estimated to be women [e.g., Ref. (56)], the gender differences reported by the literature may be artifactual and a bias could be due to the fact that women are more prone to admitting that they enjoy shopping than men (57).

Consistent with prior research [e.g., Ref. (6, 58, 59)], our findings suggest that appearance-based objects such as clothes and shoes are most frequently purchased by women. Such image-based objects strengthen feelings of self-worth by regulating emotions, gaining social approval, and expressing an idealized self (18).

However, men tend to buy electronic or hardware goods more than women and buying objects such as technological items could be a strategy to signal social status and to impress others also in men. Dittmar et al. (60) reported that men tend to impulsively buy instrumental and leisure items associated with independence and activity, while women tend to purchase symbolic items associated with appearance and emotional aspects of self (e.g., attractiveness) (61, 62). Choosing certain objects to buy can be gender-specific, but the motivation for purchases may be similar, for instance to impress others.

In addition, differently from the literature [e.g., Ref. (63)], we did not find any gender differences in the time spent on shopping trips. Instead, women spend less money and use credit cards less than men. It should be noted that in our sample, the men are on average older and have a higher annual income than women. Moreover, in accordance with the literature (64), male consumer characteristics are different from those of females and men are generally more willing “to take risks with money” than women. Some authors (65) argued that men who shop prefer to see themselves as fulfilling an instrumental need, rather than engaging in shopping per se. They bypass the female relational aspects of shopping experience, looking for bargains, and are more prone to spending in order to pursue business goals.

As hypothesized (H2), the survey findings revealed that CSE impacts on compulsive buying behavior in both genders. CSE proved to be a strong predictor of CB. Theories on self-esteem long held that the sense of self is largely built through social interaction with significant others. Indeed, feelings of self-esteem tend to result from the approval of others. For individuals who view approval as contingent to success, such as getting good grades, winning a game, or living up to standards of physical attractiveness, self-esteem becomes largely dependent on the others’ judgment (32). In agreement with Roberts et al. (28), our model suggested that individuals higher in CSE are more likely to become compulsive shoppers. Specifically, the mechanism underlying compulsive buying may be the process of “symbolic self-completion” (60). Some people need others to acknowledge that they possess a specific self-definition. To feel a sense of completion in his/her own self-definition, an individual must engage in behaviors related to symbols (e.g., possessing and wearing them) insofar as he/she convinces others, and consequently him/herself, which he/she owns the self-definition hoped for.

Some authors (66) have suggested that appearance-related items (e.g., clothes, shoes, and status symbol objects) are often used as symbols in the process of self-completion “because they show others who you are.” Some individuals may feel a chronic state of incompleteness in their self-definitions and may experience the urge to buy objects linked to their desired self-definitions despite the fact that they have purchased too much, resulting in serious problems for their life (60).

Instead, even if CSE predicts FNE in both genders, this variable appears to have no effect on compulsive buying for men. These data do not fully confirm the findings of Roberts et al. (28) and suggest that a certain level of CSE may lead women to consider compulsive shopping as an “antidote” for FNE whereas this is not true for men. Those high in CSE are more likely to buy compulsively, but this relationship is partially mediated by the FNE only in women (H3).

However, the absence of mediation between FNE and CB in men was unexpected. Men with high CSE are more likely to use shopping as a coping strategy but are less affected by the fear of external judgment, or are less prone to admitting it.

To explain this, in accordance with some authors [e.g., Ref. (67)], we assume that one of the most significant differences between men and women is the difference in their self-concept, compatible with gender stereotypes. In particular, males and females differ in regard to how much they define themselves as autonomous agents or they view themselves as connected with others (34). In Western societies, females can develop an “interdependent self-concept,” and conversely, males develop an “independent self-concept,” with reference to self-definitions of being “separated from others,” following “individualistic goals,” and being motivated “to show uniqueness by power over others” (68). Contrary to this, interdependent self-concept, more typical of females, refers to self-definitions such as “connection with others,” where “relationships are perceived as integral parts of one’s being” (34). Some authors argued that women who are more socially self-conscious suffer from greater self-discrepancies (49). Higgins (69) proposed that women who feel there are discrepancies between their actual attributes and their sense of how others think they ought to be also experience increased FNE and punishment, which may result in an unhealthy cycle of self-discrepancy and fear of evaluation (70). Conversely, males show a weaker sensitivity to the opinions of others (71).

One other explanation for the observed gender differences in the mediation role of FNE is the particular pressures faced by women to conform to societal standards. Women are held to more prescriptive and higher social standards compared to men (72), and violating these standards carries more threat of penalty and punishment for women than men (73). FNE may enhance the negative effects of failing to live up to one’s standards, particularly for women.

In summary, the models tested in the present study have contributed to the understanding of psychological processes underlying compulsive buying behavior; in specific, they explained how CSE and the fear of disapproval are involved in this behavioral addiction. The findings suggest that individuals who have a stable sense of worth, and do not depend on others’ evaluation, could theoretically have a barrier against the risk of developing such dysfunctional behavior. Conversely, CSE and FNE represent risk factors for problematic addictions, especially in women. Paradoxically, individuals who base their self-worth on contingencies continue to compare themselves with others, thus setting up a vicious circle of self-disapproval. Compulsive shopping can, therefore, appear as an illusory and counterproductive solution to these negative feelings.

APA ethical standards were followed in the conduct of the study.

The author designed the study, conducted the statistical analysis, and wrote the manuscript.

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer, MN, and handling editor declared their shared affiliation, and the handling editor states that the process nevertheless met the standards of a fair and objective review.