The Influence Of Narcissistic Personality And Emotion On Impulse Buying Behavior

With the improvement of People’s living standard and the change of consumption concept,impulsive buying behavior is increasing.The external factors that influence impulsive buying behavior include price stimulation and sales atmosphere,while individual characteristics are the important internal factors that influence impulsive buying behavior.Narcissism,as a stable personality trait,has become a hot topic in recent years.High narcissists tend to buy products that have a hedonistic quality,rather than products that are plain and functional.In addition,existing studies have shown that both positive and negative emotions can promote impulsive buying behavior.Therefore,this study attempts to explore the differences of hedonic and pragmatic impulse buying behavior between individuals with different levels of narcissism in positive and negative emotions.In the first study,339 college students,including 130 males and 209 females,were selected to explore the influence of narcissistic personality and product type on impulsive buying behavior.The results showed that:(1)there were significant differences between high narcissism level and low narcissism level,and(2)there were significant differences between low narcissism level and high narcissism level,impulse buying is more likely to occur for pleasure products.On the basis of study 1,study 2 introduced the variable of emotion to further explore the difference between positive emotion and negative emotion in the impulsive buying behavior of hedonistic goods and practical goods.Nanjing Normal University selected 262 students,including 142 boys and 120 girls.A 3-factor experiment was designed with 2(emotion: positive vs.negative)× 2(narcissism: high vs.low)×2(product category: Pleasure vs.utility).The dependent variable was impulse buying behavior score.The results showed that:(1)there were significant differences between positive emotion and negative emotion;(2)there were significant differences between positive emotion and negative emotion in hedonic impulse buying behavior of individuals with low narcissism level,in the negative mood,the individuals with high narcissism level and low narcissism level were more likely to buy hedonic goods impulsively,the former is more prone to impulsive buying behavior.The findings are as follows:(1)individuals with high levels of narcissism are more likely to engage in impulsive buying behavior,and there is no significant difference in impulsive buying behavior between hedonic goods and practical goods.(2)individuals with low levels of narcissism are more likely to make impulsive purchases of hedonic goods.(3)individuals are more likely to buy impulsively when they are in a positive mood.Compared with high narcissists,low narcissists are more likely to be influenced by positive emotions in their hedonic purchases.(4)in negative mood,high narcissists are more likely to buy hedonic goods impulsively than low narcissists.