SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS, DELAY OF GRATIFICATION, AND IMPULSE BUYING

Contemporary high levels of consumer debt and bankruptcy suggest recon sideration of hypothesized middle-class delay of gratification. Theori es of self-identity in post-industrial society propose that norms supp orting impulse control and delay of gratification have weakened in fav or of present-oriented expression of impulse. Previous research on soc io-economic status, delay of gratification, unplanned and ''impulse'' buying is reviewed, and a conceptual model differentiating akratic imp ulse buying from compulsive impulse buying is proposed. Survey data fr om a US national sample of adults with a self-reported measure of impu lse buying are analyzed and a legit model fit to the data. The results do not fit the middle-class delay of gratification model: Higher leve ls of impulse buying were found to be associated with ''some'' college (or other post high school) educational experience, controlling for a ge and gender: family income was not found to be related to impulse bu ying. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.