Shopaholics in Denmark?

Professor Lucia Reisch and Assistant Professor Wencke Gwozdz, both affiliated with CBS Centre for CSR, have recently concluded a study of Danish consumers on compulsive buying, co-authored by Professor Gerhard Raab, University of Applied Sciences Ludwigshafen, Germany.

The report has just been published and can be downloaded here

The study It draws on a representative sample of 1,015 Danish consumers (aged between 15 and 84 years) and extends prior research undertaken in other countries (such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Canada, the US). It is the first study to shed light on the situation in a Scandinavian context and is designed to allow for a comparison with the situation in other countries.

Compulsive or addictive buying is defined by the following characteristics (Scherhorn 1990):

• There exists an urge to buy which is irresistible

• A dependency on shopping, in the extreme leading to the loss of self-control

• A tendency to increase the dosage despite adverse consequences such as debts, personal or social losses

• Withdrawal syndromes ranging from uneasiness to psychosomatic indisposition

The study showed that in Denmark:

- 9.75% of the respondents show compensatory buying behavior

- 5.81% show compulsive buying tendencies.

These percentages are similar to those found in Germany and slightly lower than in Austria. They are also within the range of preferences in other countries.

Regarding socio-demographics, the study finds that age and sex play a decisive role while marital status, education and income cannot be associated with compulsive buying.

If there is such a thing like "a typical shopaholic", it would be a women aged between 25 and 44 years, disregarding whether she is a single or not, has a low or high education and income. This does not mean that other age groups and men are not showing tendencies for compulsive buying.

For more information, please contact Professor Lucia Reisch lr.ikl@cbs.dk.