Impact of motivations to buy and offer gifts in consumerism at Christmas

Abstract

This article aims to analyze a conceptual model composed of the variables motivation to buy, motivation to offer gifts and compulsive consumerism at Christmas time. In order to achieve the proposed objective, a quantitative methodology based on a questionnaire survey was used. The sample consists of 1086 Portuguese individuals, over 18 years old. To evaluate the model, structural equation modeling with partial least squares was used. The results show that the motivations to buy and to offer gifts positively influence compulsive consumerism at Christmas time, and that the motivation to buy positively influences the motivation to offer gifts at Christmas time. The model also demonstrates that the motivation to offer gifts plays a mediating role in the relationship between the motivation to buy and compulsive consumerism. In Portugal there are no known studies on the motivations for offering gifts at Christmas. The present study can help academics, researchers and professionals (managers of consumer goods companies, commercial managers and advertising campaign managers) to better understand the motivations for buying and offering gifts, and the compulsive consumerism of the Portuguese population at Christmas time.