Exploring the Feelings and Thoughts that Accompany the Experience of Consumption Desires

Desires represent a central aspect of human motivation. Recent studies in the field of consumer behavior have shown the importance of the concept of desire to better understand the aspirations of consumers living in economically developed countries for whom most basic needs are satisfied. There has been however no previous attempt at circumscribing the feelings and thoughts that accompany the experience of desire. The present research addresses this gap in the literature. The objectives of the research presented in this article are threefold: (1) to identify the affective and cognitive responses that accompany the experience of consumption desire, (2) to develop a valid scale to assess these feelings and cognitions, and (3) to explore the theoretical links that these internal responses have with other concepts of interest in the field of consumer behavior, such as impulsive and compulsive buying, materialism, innovativeness, voluntary simplicity, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. In order to address these objectives, five studies were conducted. The results of these studies have revealed that the experience of consumption desires is generally accompanied by psychological events that are affective (i.e., pleasure, discomfort, and guilt) and cognitive (i.e., control). This research contributes to a better understanding of the phenomena that surround the experience of consumption desires as lived and managed by consumers through the development of a reliable and valid measuring instrument that can be used to explore the relationships between these phenomena and other fundamental consumer behavior concepts. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.