Purpose

The purpose of this study was to propose and examine a conceptual model delineating how two different types of appearance-related self-discrepancies (i.e. the ideal appearance self-discrepancy vs. the ought appearance self-discrepancy) influence retail therapy shopping behavior through motivational route (i.e. approach motivation vs. avoidance motivation).

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilized the online survey for data collection. Using a national sample of 532 US consumers who had retail therapy shopping experience, the conceptual model was tested through various statistical techniques, including confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Findings

Results revealed that the ought appearance self-discrepancy positively influenced retail therapy shopping behavior through avoidance motivation and emotion-focused coping strategy, whereas the ideal appearance self-discrepancy did not influence retail therapy shopping behavior. The results also suggested that the effect of two different types of appearance-related self-discrepancies on motivations in retail therapy shopping context varied depending on the gender (i.e. male vs. female).

Originality/value

Results suggest implications regarding potential target market strategies to retailers and provide a better understanding of retail therapy shoppers' characteristics and psychological mechanisms for consumer researchers.

中文翻译：

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通过动机途径研究与外表相关的自我差异与零售疗法购物行为之间的概念联系

目的

本研究的目的是提出并检验一个概念模型，描述两种不同类型的与外观相关的自我差异（即理想外观自我差异与应该外观自我差异）如何通过动机途径影响零售疗法购物行为（即接近动机与回避动机）。

设计/方法论/途径

本研究利用在线调查来收集数据。使用由 532 名具有零售疗法购物经验的美国消费者组成的全国样本，通过各种统计技术（包括验证性因素分析、探索性因素分析和结构方程建模）对概念模型进行了测试。

发现

结果显示，应该外观自我差异通过回避动机和以情绪为中心的应对策略对零售疗法购物行为产生积极影响，而理想外观自我差异不影响零售疗法购物行为。结果还表明，两种不同类型的与外表相关的自我差异对零售疗法购物环境中动机的影响因性别（即男性与女性）而异。

原创性/价值

结果表明，零售商的潜在目标市场策略具有重要意义，并为消费者研究人员提供了对零售疗法购物者特征和心理机制的更好理解。