Browsing by Subject "Retail Therapy"

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    Coping with the Pandemic: A Qualitative Exploration of How Female Millennial Consumers Use Retail Therapy
    (2023-05) Langefels, Erika
    The focus of this dissertation study was to explore retail therapy behaviors of female millennial consumers in the novel context of the coronavirus pandemic. Personality was an additional attribute examined to understand how it impacts attitudes and behaviors towards shopping in these conditions. This study took a qualitative grounded theory approach by conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews of 19 millennial women, most of whom had partners and children. The findings suggest themes that seek to redefine the meaning of retail therapy and offer new factors driven by the pandemic that led to an increased need to seek retail therapy. Online shopping led to an increase in package deliveries to the home which made shopping behaviors more visible to partners, creating a new dynamic of feelings of guilt within relationships. Inventory shortages both online and in store created frustration for participants that exhibit completionist type personalities. This study demonstrates how retail therapy shopping itself has changed – RT theory should be defined more broadly to include treat shopping as a reward for good outcomes or avoidance of negative ones, and that shopping for treats for others is a form of RT. Additionally, novel conclusions about relationship guilt and completionism as factors that drive retail therapy shopping have changed because of the pandemic are discussed. Outcomes of this study offer several theoretical implications by contributing to existing studies on retail therapy and related topics, as well as offering a novel research approach of qualitative research. Practical implications of this study are realized by providing insight to the retail industry on the female millennial consumer’s therapeutic shopping needs in a post-pandemic paradigm.
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    Retail therapy: A qualitative investigation and scale development.
    (2009-05) Kang, Minjeong
    The principle goal of this research was to enhance understanding of retail therapy, defined as shopping to alleviate negative moods. The specific research objectives were to 1) analyze the conceptual foundations of retail therapy, 2) qualitatively investigate the phenomenon of retail therapy, and 3) develop and validate a scale measuring retail therapy. Through a detailed conceptual analysis of the two existing approaches to the study of retail therapy, the researcher articulated how these approaches are related. In addition, the exploration of relationships between retail therapy and other consumer behaviors further clarified the concept of retail therapy. In-depth interviews were conducted to qualitatively investigate consumer experiences of engaging in retail therapy. 43 self-identified therapy shoppers participated in one time interviews. Interview findings revealed the nature of retail therapy during three shopping stages: pre-shopping, shopping, and post-shopping. Retail therapy scale development consisted of three phases: initial item generation, scale purification, and scale validation. 43 initial scale items were generated based on interview findings and included in the survey questionnaire. 258 survey responses from the general population were used for scale purification through which four factor measurement model was developed with 22 items retained. The refined measurement model was validated using a separate sample of 272 general populations. Implications of research findings were provided in three areas: consumer behavior research, retailers and marketers, and consumers and therapists.