Li Jing, Yang Ruirui, Cui Junjie, Guo Yongyu
School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Key Laboratory of Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, and Hubei Human Development and Mental Health Key Laboratory, Wuhan 430079, People's Republic of China.
Zhengzhou Innovative Experimental School, Zhengzhou 450001, People's Republic of China.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019 Nov 29;12:1071-1079. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S227403. eCollection 2019.
Several studies have demonstrated that materialistic people tend to engage in impulsive buying. However, how to help them reduce such irrational behavior, especially in online shopping context, is not known. This study aimed to explore whether mental simulation moderates the relationship between materialism and online impulsive buying.
A total of 200 Chinese college students participated in the experiment. We adopted an imaginary priming paradigm to manipulate three types of mental simulation: process simulation (i.e., imagining the detailed process of purchasing goods), upward outcome simulation (i.e., imagining possible positive outcomes after purchasing), and downward outcome simulation (i.e., imagining possible negative outcomes after purchasing). Then we asked participants to make purchase decisions in a simulated online store.
Results showed that mental simulation exerted a significant moderating effect. In the upward outcome simulation group, a higher level of materialism predicted more online impulsive buying. However, this association was not significant in the downward outcome simulation and process simulation groups.
Our findings have implications for interventions in that mental simulation (process simulation or downward outcome simulation) can act as an effective way to help materialists reduce online impulsive buying.
多项研究表明，物质主义者往往倾向于冲动消费。然而，如何帮助他们减少这种非理性行为，尤其是在网络购物环境中，尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨心理模拟是否会调节物质主义与网络冲动消费之间的关系。
共有200名中国大学生参与了该实验。我们采用虚构启动范式来操控三种类型的心理模拟：过程模拟（即想象购买商品的详细过程）、向上结果模拟（即想象购买后可能的积极结果）和向下结果模拟（即想象购买后可能的消极结果）。然后我们要求参与者在模拟的在线商店中做出购买决策。
结果表明，心理模拟发挥了显著的调节作用。在向上结果模拟组中，更高水平的物质主义预示着更多的网络冲动消费。然而，在向下结果模拟组和过程模拟组中，这种关联并不显著。
我们的研究结果对干预措施具有启示意义，即心理模拟（过程模拟或向下结果模拟）可以作为帮助物质主义者减少网络冲动消费的有效方法。
