Online Shopping Addiction Amongst Nurses in Private Hospital
Abstract
Online shopping addiction, also known as obsessive buying disorder or compulsive shopping, is a behavioural addiction characterised by an insatiable desire to purchase online, which frequently has detrimental implications in numerous aspects of life. It, like other types of addiction, can have serious consequences for one's mental health, relationships, and financial well-being. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors of online shopping addiction among nurses in private hospital. This study focused on nurses who have the purchasing power or have the ability to buy something online. In this study, the variables of enjoyment, negative emotional state, and low self-esteem were used to investigate whether any of the factors are actually related to online shopping addiction (OSA) and which factors have a strong relationship with online shopping addiction. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to nurses in a private hospital in Malaysia, which served as the research setting for this study. The results highlighted the three proposed dimensions and underline as core issues negative emotional state, enjoyment and low self-esteem amongst nurses. It is hoped that the research will contribute to greater understanding of online shopping as well as consumer behaviour.
Keywords: Consumer behaviour, emotional state, enjoyment, online shopping addiction, private hospital
Introduction
Online shopping is a common leisure activity for women, but many people avoid online shopping because they feel anxious when purchasing items. Many believe that shopping online causes serious addiction. Here are some reasons why nurses might be addicted to shopping online.
First, shopping online requires patience and time. People tend to shop online at odd hours because they do not want to wait for the website to load. However, many have trouble resisting the temptation to browse new items when their internet connection is slow. Thus, this type of addiction happens at odd hours. Second, the prices are usually much lower online compared to brick-and-mortar shops. Thus, people tend to shop excessively online when they are already in debt. Third, many get stressed when making choices online due to the limited number of options. Essentially, they may not even know what they are truly buying until it arrives at their door.
Indeed, modern technology, particularly the virtual world, is influencing many people's lives in both positive and negative ways, depending on who you ask. The way people shop for goods is one area that has undergone significant change. People can enjoy the convenience of making their own purchases through e-commerce websites at any time and from any location thanks to the advent of the internet. One of the key causes of internet buying addiction is this pleasure (OSA). Online shopping addiction is categorised as compulsive purchasing behaviour, which is also known as a person's propensity to become fascinated with purchasing any goods or services online and to have no desire to rein in their purchasing behaviour. There is a need to understand online consumer behaviour and unplanned purchase in business to consumer (Straub & Watson, 2001; Zarate et al., 2022).
Literature Review
Flow theory
The flow experience describes how people feel when they are completely immersed in an action. That is, when people are in a flow state, they enter a common experience mode and become completely immersed in their own activities. There is a narrowing of the focus of self-awareness, loss of self-awareness, a clear goal, clear feedback, and a sense of control over the environment (Aksoy et al., 2023). Since its inception, it has been widely used in education, information systems, marketing, and other fields as an important theory of positive psychology. Hoffman and Novak first applied flow theory to the field of marketing in 1996. They argued that consumers' flow experience occurs during the buying process, is influenced by high-level skills and challenges, focused attention and interaction, and is enhanced by presence and interaction.
Online Shopping Addiction
Instead of running to different shops to compare brands and prices, the accessibility of the internet allows consumers to judge for themselves which product is the cheapest. Online shopping addiction (OSA) is considered a phenomenon that has both individual and societal consequences. This form of addiction exists when consumers have the illusion that they are not spending real money, especially when using credit cards. The aim of the study is to identify the factors that lead to online shopping addiction (Wang et al., 2022). The chosen compounds are negative emotional state, low self-esteem and pleasure. Online shopping addiction (OSA) behaviour, which refers to an individual's inability to control their online purchases and exists on a continuum from strong to low OSA behaviour, has attracted increasing attention (Bidgoli, 2002; Jiang et al., 2017; Ridgway et al., 2008). This type of behaviour leads to functional impairment in daily activities and feelings of distress (He et al., 2018; Rose & Dhandayudham, 2014).
The various reasons why someone prefers to shop online include ease of search, cheaper prices, wider choice, time saving and ease of use, fun, promotions and impulsivity. Most online shoppers shop for these reasons to achieve a sense of pleasure (Clark & Calleja, 2008; Li et al., 2022; Ruane & Wallace, 2013). In developing a definition of technology addiction, addictive behaviour is defined as characterised by loss of control, the inability to withdraw from the behaviour despite all attempts to do so, and long-term negative consequences (Rose & Dhandayudham, 2014; Tarka et al., 2022). In addition, the perceived benefits and dangers of online shopping influence attitudes towards online shopping; furthermore, online purchasing is favoured by a quick purchasing process, convenient access to products and the absence of the need to hold products in one's hand (Doğan Keskin & Günüç, 2017; Koufaris, 2002; Malter et al., 2020). Online shopping is particularly attractive to those who are "addicted" to shopping. This is because online shopping appeals to several motivations that are strong in compulsive shoppers, including the need to search for information about products, to buy sight unseen, to avoid social interactions while shopping, and to experience pleasure while shopping (Andreassen et al., 2015; Chuah et al., 2018; Lawrence et al., 2014; Trotzke et al., 2015).
Enjoyment
Enjoyment is one of the predictors that actively influence OSA. In the context of OSA, pleasure means hedonic motivation, which positively affects physical activity and website experiences when shopping online (Lin et al., 2008; Rose & Dhandayudham, 2014). Enjoyment occurs whenever people feel satisfied and enjoy the habits of online shopping, which then leads to increased purchase intention. Enjoyment is also closely related to the reward sensitivity that some people feel, which has a strong impact on purchase addiction, as people who are very sensitive to rewards respond to anything they enjoy, such as shopping or buying food (Davenport et al., 2012; Rose & Dhandayudham, 2014). In some other research, enjoyment is ranked as the predictor that encourages a person to shop (Hart et al., 2007; Lin et al., 2008; Rose & Dhandayudham, 2014), regardless of whether it is a traditional method (physical shop) or digital shopping (online shopping).
Moreover, pleasure is classified as one of the factors that proactively influence online shopping behaviour (Rose & Dhandayudham, 2014; Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2001). In this context, pleasure signifies a rewarding characteristic of compulsive buying behaviour. Therefore, the positive feeling of pleasure and excitement are associated with compulsive buying behaviour (Lejoyeux & Weinstein, 2010; Rose & Dhandayudham, 2014). The overall feeling of pleasure and enjoyment pushes them to feel fascinated and awe them when they are in the midst of online shopping. When online shoppers enjoy their purchases, they spend a lot of time on the website and are likely to get what they are looking for (Trotzke et al., 2015). This feeling of enjoyment during the transaction therefore leads users to make impulsive purchases (Aragoncillo & Orus, 2018; Mihić & Kursan Milaković, 2017). Therefore, we integrate this factor into our conceptual model as well as into our thesis that pleasure is one of the most important predictors leading to OSA.
Low self-esteem
This behaviour was characterised by a lack of self-confidence and poor self-esteem. People with low self-esteem often feel unlovable, awkward or incompetent. They have an introverted personality and prefer to spend their time alone rather than meeting or communicating with others. This leads them to surf the internet and browse social media platforms to fill their time.
The effects of low self-esteem are consistently reported in the form of compulsive and addictive behaviour (Davenport et al., 2012; O'Guinn & Faber, 1989). They tend to spend money lavishly, following their emotional state in the situation. Whenever their emotions become unstable, this leads to high levels of spending behaviour. Consumers who tend to engage in compulsive buying behaviour make an effort to alleviate the feeling of low self-esteem. This is due to the feeling of reward that occurs when self-esteem is reinforced by a repetitive behaviour.
Spending without sufficient thought can result in many unopened or unused items being left over due to the buying cycle. The intention to lower self-esteem through shopping is short-lived and is replaced by an increase in worry and guilt. After the purchase, they feel guilty and irresponsible for the purchase they perceived as a pleasure.
Negative Emotional State
A shopping addict is someone who shops compulsively and feels they have no control over their behaviour. They are eager to constantly make new purchases of unnecessary or superfluous things. These people are unable to control the effects of negative emotions, which affects their interpersonal relationships, for example, in the form of arguments with others, relationship break-ups and family problems. They have a variety of negative emotions such as anger, contempt, disgust, fear and guilt.
According to de Guinea and Markus (2009), the researcher found that a person's emotions are a factor and can change the person depending on how they use technology. This person will act impulsively to relieve their negative emotions such as stress, anger, nervousness and anxiety. According to Baumeister (2002), the researcher assumes that a person who is faced with negative emotions tends to lose self-control and is more likely to shop online to relieve their stress, anxiety and anger. According to Lo and Harvey (2011), the researcher found that each individual reacts differently to negative emotions and that they respond in different ways when their emotions are triggers for negative feelings such as frustrations. Each person transforms into two types of shoppers when confronted with negative emotions, namely compulsive and non-compulsive shoppers, with compulsive shoppers more likely to overspend than non-compulsive shoppers (Hirschman, 1992).
The researcher found that people with negative emotions in their lives face depression. They show various symptoms of depression, such as sadness, self-loathing, dissatisfaction, emotional instability, changes in body shape and health, and low work productivity and efficiency. Therefore, the researchers decided to find a link between this factor and OSA. Anger is the most dangerous emotion because if a person cannot control their emotions, they will hurt others, and in this state their emotions will affect themselves, for example in decision making (Black, 2007). These negative emotions will control themselves (Ekman & Friesen, 2003). When a person feels anger, they will be influenced by other negative emotions such as annoyed, irritated, frustrated, pissed off, angry, hostile, upset, furious and enraged (Matsumoto, 2009). According to Ekman and Friesen (2003), sadness is also one of the negative emotions that are uncontrollable and prolonged, so that the person suffers from these feelings and it affects their life and they feel lonely and helpless (Kukar-Kinney et al., 2016).
Research Methods
The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that lead nurses working in a private hospital to become addicted to internet shopping. Correlation research is therefore the research design of choice. Correlation research is conducted when the researcher wants to show the aspects associated with the problem, according to Sekaran and Bougie (2016). The main unit that is examined in the study is called the unit of analysis (Crossman & Crossman, 2011). Another study (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010) states that the term "unit of analysis' refers to the level of data aggregation used in the subsequent data analysis phase. Thus, nurses who rely on online shopping served as the unit of analysis for the study.
The survey included a total of 45 respondents. The questionnaire used as the primary research tool was taken from earlier studies and modified. The questionnaires were personally given out to each respondent, who in this case was a group of nurses working in a private hospital. The questionnaires were especially created by the researcher to fit the needs of the study and provide the necessary information (Zhao et al., 2017).
Results
Demographic Profile of the Respondents
A total of 45 usable questionnaires were returned, and there are more female (67%) than male respondents (33%). Out of this group of respondents, the majority of them were aged between 21 – 30 years old (82%). Obviously, 69% are single and monthly income of the respondents were between RM1000 – RM3000 (98%). Frequency of Time Spent on the Website for Online Shopping were 78% (1 to 5 times a day) and 22% (6 to 10 times a day). The demographic profile of respondents is presented in Table 1.
The reliability analysis was conducted by computing the Cronbach’s alpha for each measure. The analysis indicates the stability and consistency of the instrument measure a concept and helps to assess the goodness of a measure (Sekaran, 2006; Sekaran & Bougie, 2010). Nunnally (1978) indicated that reliability at over 0.7 is considered fairly high. This is supported by Cuieford (1965) that suggested a Cronbach’s alpha value over 0.7 amounts to high reliability and any value between 0.7 and 0.6 is acceptable and lowest acceptability is 0.5. Any value below 0.5 should be rejected. Based on the Table 2 below, all variable is reliable with value more than 0.5.
The extent of online shopping addiction among nurses in private hospitals can be determined by their enjoyment of online shopping. The mean score for enjoyment in this study shows that most of the respondents are rather addicted to their online shopping addiction (mean = 3.32) as shown in Table 3. This study is supported by Duong and Liaw (2022) who found that internet shoppers have their own reasons that make them addicted to their online shopping addiction.
According to Salkind (2012), the interpretation of correlation with results of 0.0 to 0.2 is very weak, then the results of will be 0.2 and 0.5 are weak, after that 0.4 to 0.6 are considered with moderate result, follow second last result of 0.6 to 0.8 is strong and last but not least will be 0.8 to 1.0 are very strong result. The Table 3 below show interpretation of correlation.
The interpretation of the correlation coefficient was used to understand the relationship between low self-esteem, enjoyment, negative emotional state and online shopping addiction (OSA). It also was used to explain the relationship strength in terms of value of the Pearson correlation (r) and the direction of the relationship of the variable that were used in this study. Based on the results in Table 4, it can be seen that the correlation between negative emotional state and OSA is (r= .749**, p<0.01). This illustrate the correlation is strong. Consumer emotion plays a significant role in the decision-making process to buy a product (Laros & Steenkamp, 2005). The people that cannot control their self will lead them to unable to control the impact of negative emotions thus will affect their interpersonal relations and this will lead toward online shopping addiction. Meanwhile, low self-esteem (r=.759**, p<0.01). The degree of correlation between low self-esteem and online shopping addiction considered as strong relationship because the correlations that are said to be strong is correlation between .6 and .8 (Salkind, 2012). Effect of low self-esteem is consistency reported in terms of compulsive and addictive behaviour (Davenport et al., 2012; O’Guinn & Faber, 1989). Consumer who falls in compulsive buying pattern is making an effort to ease the feeling of low self-esteem (Hirschman, 1992). There is a significant relationship between enjoyment and online shopping addiction among the nurses which is (r= .616**, p<0.01). Hence, the degree of correlation between enjoyment and online shopping addiction relationship is strong for this study. Enjoyment is being categorized as on the factors that proactively affect online shopping behavior (Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2001). Their enjoyment will lead them whether they enjoy their shopping tasks and how long they spend time on the website.
Conclusion
This study endeavours to make both theoretical and practical contribution to the literature, and it also provides several implications for future research. Findings from this study will assist policymakers, marketing practitioners, planners and government to change, as needed, in strategies, rules and procedures, and to improve the provision of purchasing behaviour in this country. Due to the cross-sectional design and limited generalisability of this study, further studies are needed to explore these associations.
Furthermore, instead of using a quantitative research design, future researchers are advised to use a different approach, namely a qualitative design in this study. Using a qualitative design can help them to answer the research questions better. Future researchers should also use qualitative data collection techniques such as interviews and observation when conducting their studies. By talking directly with respondents, researchers can obtain more accurate and reliable data that truly reflect personal opinions and perceptions.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA for funded this study.
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Aidil, N. ‘. S. A., & Hassan, L. F. A. (2024). Online Shopping Addiction Amongst Nurses in Private Hospital. In A. K. Othman, M. K. B. A. Rahman, S. Noranee, N. A. R. Demong, & A. Mat (Eds.), Industry-Academia Linkages for Business Sustainability, vol 133. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 102-111). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2024.05.9