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Vanity as a Mediator in Relationship between Personality Traits and Compulsive Buying: An Empirical Investigation

Author Affiliations

  • 1Department of Business Administration, Indus University, Karachi,PAKISTAN
  • 2 Department of Business Administration, IQRA University, Karachi,PAKISTAN
  • 3Management Sciences Department, SZABIST, Karachi, PAKISTAN

Res. J. Management Sci., Volume 3, Issue (11), Pages 12-22, November,6 (2014)

Abstract

This research paper aims to provide empirical investigation on relationship between Big Five personality traits and compulsive buying; examines mediating role of consumer vanity in their relationship; and draws pragmatic implications for marketers and researchers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to test hypothesis on data set of 222 respondents recruited from randomly selected public and private universities. Contrary to the existing role of personality in shaping compulsive buying, we suggest that vanity permeates this influence. We elucidate that vanity is reshaping the purchase patterns and choice of global consumer. Findings of this research advance earlier studies that associate extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness and agreeableness with compulsive buying. We find that physical vanity and achievement vanity are key constituents of new commercial lifestyle.

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