Abstract

This study examines consumer buying motives to determine whether vanity is a direct or indirect antecedent of online compulsive buying. The present research samples university students with online shopping experience in Taiwan. Out of 520 distributed questionnaires, 331 proved useful. A structural equation modeling (SEM) procedure is employed to test the construct validity and hypotheses. Results indicate that vanity of appearance, emotional buying motives and identity buying motives influence online compulsive buying directly. It finds that (1) Identity buying motives mediate between the set “physical view and online compulsive buying” and “physical concern and online compulsive buying.” (2) Emotional buying motives mediate between physical concern and online compulsive buying. Understanding the cause and effect of physical vanity, buying motives, and online compulsive buying will help socialist, consumer educators and entrepreneurs study the cause of physical vanity in college students. The present findings suggest that increased awareness in the contexts of education, consumer advice, or therapy could help to prevent or reduce compulsive online buying through encouraging individuals, particularly young students, to develop a critical stance toward materialistic values and messages that online buying offers a psychological benefit in terms of enhancing emotions and identity.

Key words: Physical vanity, buying motives, online compulsive buying, SEM.