Examining the relationship between self-esteem and materialism with a tendency towards impulsive buying

Impulzivna kupovina je univerzalan psihološki fenomen koji se definira kao psihološki iznenadan, trajan i snažan poriv za trenutnom kupnjom. Ovaj poprilično kompleksan fenomen se može proučavati iz različitih psiholoških perspektiva, a smatra se da je u njegovoj osnovi samoregulirajuća funkcija koja može biti promovirajuća ili prevenirajuća. Prema tome, sklonost impulzivnom kupovanju se u vezu može dovesti sa samopoštovanjem osobe jer istraživanja pokazuju kako je upravo nisko samopoštovanje posebno snažan izvor negativnog psihološkog stanja koje u konačnici rezultira impulzivnom kupovinom s funkcijom psihološkog olakšanja. Također s ova se sklonost impulzivnoj kupovini dovodi u vezu s materijalizmom jer se smatra da što su osobe više materijalisti to su sklonije vlastiti identitet graditi posjedovanjem, pa su stoga podložne impulzivnom kupovanju različitih proizvoda. S obzirom na kompleksnost ovog široko rasprostranjenog fenomena i njegovu relativno nedovoljnu istraženost na hrvatskom uzorku, cilj ovog istraživanja je bio ispitati povezanost samopoštovanja i materijalizma sa sklonošću ka impulzivnoj kupovini. Istraživanje je provedeno na izvanrednim diplomskim studentima Sveučilišta u Zadru tehnikom papir-olovka pri čemu su sudionici rješavali upitnik koji je sadržavao tri skale, skalu sklonosti impulzivnoj kupovni, skalu samopoštovanja i skalu materijalizma. U provedenom istraživanju nije utvrđeno postojanje povezanosti između samopoštovanja i sklonosti ka impulzivnoj kupovini, ali je utvrđena pozitivna povezanost između materijalizma i sklonosti impulzivnoj kupovini te negativna povezanost između varijabli samopoštovanja i materijalizma.Impulsive buying is a universal psychological phenomenon that is defined as a psychologically sudden, lasting and strong urgue to make an immediate purchase. This quite complex phenomenon can be understood from different psychological perspectives, and it is considered to be based on self-regulating function that can be preventative or promotional. Therefore, tendency of impulsive buying can be linked to a person’s self-esteem because research show that low self-esteem is particularly strong source of negative psychological state that ultimately results in impulsive buying as a function of psychological relief. Also, tendency of impulsive buying can be linked to materialism, because the more materialistic person is, the more inclined is to build its own identity through possession and therefore might be more susceptible to impulsive buying of various products. Considering the complexity of this widespread phenomenon and its relatively insufficient research on the Croatian sample, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-esteem and materialism with a tendency towards impulsive buying on Croatian sample of students. The research was conducted in University of Zadar by a paper-pencil technique on a sample of part-time students who filled out a questionnaire that consisted of three scales, Impulsive Tendency Scale, Self-esteem Scale and short version of Material Value Scale. Examining the association between self-esteem and tendency of impulsive buying, no significant association was established. Furthermore, it is established positive association between materialism and tendency of impulsive buying, and negative correlation between materialism and self-esteem