Abstract
Objectives
Impulse buying occurs frequently and leads to many negative consequences, but few intervention studies have addressed this issue. The current study aimed to apply an online self-compassion intervention called the “Positive Self” to intervene in impulse buying, and explored the role played by materialism and self-control in the relationship between self-compassion and impulse buying.
Method
A total of 191 participants were randomly allocated to an intervention group or waitlist control group. The intervention was a 14-day online self-help intervention. Self-compassion, materialism, self-control, and impulse buying were assessed at pretest, posttest, and 1-month follow-up.
Results
Compared to the waitlist control group, the intervention group showed a significant increase in self-compassion and self-control, as well as a significant decrease in materialism and impulse buying. Changes in self-compassion and self-control were maintained at the 1-month follow-up. The reduction of materialism and enhancement of self-control played a chain mediating role in the intervention’s effects on impulse buying.
Conclusions
This study demonstrated the benefits of self-compassion in reducing impulse buying and proved the effectiveness of an online self-help self-compassion course for this purpose.
Preregistration
This study is not pre-registered.