Shopping Well-Being and Ill-Being: Toward an Integrated Model

Positive Impact of Shopping on Consumer Well-Being

In some cases, shopping contributes to the well being of consumers by paving way to hedonic enjoyment and satisfaction of self-expressive needs. Retailing scholars have argued that shopping is associated with hedonic value (e.g, Arnold & Reynolds, 2003; 2012; Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994), excitement and delight (e.g., Oliver, Rust, & Varki, 1997; Wakefield & Baker, 1998), and enjoyment (e.g., Beatty & Ferrell, 1998). Hedonic retail activities have been described as a form of “recreation” (e.g., Backstrom, 2006; Guiry, Magi, & Lutz, 2006), entertainment (e.g., Moss, 2007), or related to enthusiasm that creates emotional arousal and joy (e.g., Jin & Sternquist, 2004; Pooler, 2003).

More recently, researchers expressed interest in the idea that retail activities (i.e., shopping) help shoppers express themselves (Timothy, 2005). As such, it can be argued that shopping activities are not only hedonically enjoyable but also self-expressive in that they allow the consumer to become emotionally involved with the purchase thus serving to actualize the consumer’s potential in becoming a good mother/father, wife/husband, etc. Much of this discussion is related to shopping well-being experiences. This construct is explicitly defined as the degree to which consumers experience hedonic enjoyment and satisfaction of self-expressive needs through their shopping activities.