Compulsive Buying in Poland. An Empirical Study of People Married or in a Stable Relationship

The present study examines the phenomenon of compensative and compulsive buying in a developing consumer society such as Poland. Firstly, the obtained empirical data make it possible to estimate the prevalence of compensative and compulsive buying among Poles married or in stable relationships. Secondly, the conducted analysis shows to what extent the prevalence is differentiated by individual (self-esteem), cultural (materialism), and sociodemographic conditions (gender, age). The findings come from a survey conducted in 2017 based on a nationwide statistically representative sample of 1,121 Poles married or in a stable relationship aged 18 years old and over. Drawing on this survey based on the German Compulsive Buying Indicator (GCBI), the prevalence of compulsive buying is observed at about 3%. Like in other countries, it turns out that gender, age, self-esteem, and materialism differentiate the extent of susceptibility to compensative and compulsive buying in Poland, too. The direction of the correlations is coherent with the findings in other countries.