Compulsive Buying: A Systematic Review and Lexicometric Analysis

Compulsive buying is a maladaptive behavior that adversely affects consumers' psychological and financial well‐being. To understand the current state of research on this phenomenon, we conduct a systematic literature review of 195 studies following the SPAR‐4‐SLR protocol. We find that traits and values, psychological factors, retail and shopping factors, socio‐cultural factors, branding, buyer–seller dynamics, disruptive events, family dynamics, addictions, financial factors, behavioral factors, and socio‐demographic factors drive compulsive buying. The findings also show how compulsive buying impairs consumers' psychological and financial well‐being and suggest several psycho‐social interventions, financial practices, and policy recommendations that may help mitigate it. In addition, the lexicometric analysis reveals major conceptual clusters in compulsive buying research centered around credit card debt, brands, personality traits, self, family, money management, values, social influence, life, and anxiety. Finally, we identify gaps in the literature and propose directions for future research.