Journal
JOURNAL OF RETAILING AND CONSUMER SERVICES
Volume 56, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102144
Keywords
Debt stress; Luxury consumption; Status demotion; Lay rationalism
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Youth Foundation of China [71702095, 71702099]
- Philosophy and Social Sciences Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education of China [17YJC630076]
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Being in debt prevails in the modern society, but little is known about the behavioral consequences of being under debt stress. Based on compensatory consumption theory, this paper examined how debt stress affects people's consumption behavior. Through a survey and three lab experiments, we found that: (1) debt stress increases consumers' luxury consumption intentions; (2) perceived status demotion mediates this relationship, such that debt stress leads to perceived status demotion, which in turn enhances consumers' luxury consumption intentions; (3) lay rationalism moderates this relationship, such that the positive relationship between debt stress and luxury consumption is stronger among less rational consumers. We concluded by discussing the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.
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