Antecedents and outcome of mindful buying

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• Author: Anil Mathur,George P. Moschis
• Date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12565

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Antecedents and outcome of mindful buying

Anil Mathur

1

|George P. Moschis

2

1

Department of Marketing, International

Business and Legal Studies, Frank

G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra

University, Hempstead, New York, USA

2

College of Management, Mahidol

University, Bangkok, Thailand

Correspondence

Anil Mathur, Department of Marketing,

International Business and Legal Studies,

Frank G. Zarb School of Business,

442 Hofstra University, Hempstead,

NY 11549, USA.

Email: anil.mathur@hofstra.edu

Abstract

Many scholars have examined how people implement

principles of mindfulness in their day-to-day con-

sumption activities. Because buying in most cases

precedes consumption, the present research builds a

model of antecedents of mindful buying. Based on

multi-theoretical perspectives, the model posits four

key variables as antecedents of mindful buying:

environmental activism (self-concept theory and col-

lective interest model), duration of concern about the

environment (life course perspective), and media and

personal sources as socialization agents. The model

proposes that these antecedent variables would have

direct effects on mindful buying as well as indirect

effect through attitudes toward the environment.

The model also posits positive health outcomes of

mindful buying. Using a demographically diverse

sample (N=629, females =51.7%), regression models

were used to test for direct and indirect effects of ante-

cedent variables on mindful buying. Findings of these

analyzes find support for the model. Implications for

theory development, public policy and practice are

also discussed.

KEYWORDS

attitudes toward the environment, environmental activism,

environmental concerns, media sources, mindful buying,

personal sources

Received: 26 January 2023Revised: 5 November 2023Accepted: 13 November 2023

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12565

© 2023 American Council on Consumer Interests.

1684 J Consum Aff. 2023;57:1684–1713.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca

1|INTRODUCTION

The concept of mindfulness is very broad and touches upon domains like spirituality, religion,

culture, beliefs, lifestyle, and minimalism. At the basic level, mindfulness involves awareness

and attention to the surroundings within which a person is situated, including events and the

person's experience of them as they unfold. Although many scholars have attempted to define

this concept in subtle different ways, the core idea remains the same. For example, Kabat-Zinn

(2003) define mindfulness as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose,

in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment and

moment”(p. 145). And in the recent past, scholars have also examined its connection to con-

sumption and sustainability (Ericson et al., 2014; Sheth et al., 2011). Within the field of mind-

fulness, there is a rich body of literature focusing on the benefits of mindfulness in a wide range

of situations, such as stress reduction (Rush & Sharma, 2017), emotion regulation (Davis &

Hayes, 2011), job satisfaction (Hülsheger et al., 2013), healthier eating habits (Murphy et al.,

2012), and other benefits for consumers belonging to different demographic and other segments

(e.g., Gupta & Verma, 2019a; Samuelson et al., 2007). Although not specifically included in the

research design, consumption of goods and services is implied in these studies.

Within the field of consumer behavior, the emerged concept of mindful consumption com-

bines the principles of mindfulness with specific aspects of behavior (for reviews of literature

relating to mindful consumption see, e.g., Kumar et al., 2023; Fischer et al., 2017; and Haider

et al., 2022). Many scholars have studied the relationship between mindfulness and sustainabil-

ity and socially responsible behavior without specific reference to the term mindful consump-

tion, despite a significant overlap between the two terms (see Thiermann & Sheate, 2021;

Geiger et al., 2019; Falc˜

ao and Roseira, 2022 for reviews). Considering the fact that in most situ-

ations involving consumption of goods and services, buying (or otherwise acquiring) is the first

step of consumption, it would be interesting to know how the practice of mindfulness affects

this first step of consumption—buying. The objective of this research is to examine antecedents

and consequence of a specific aspect of mindful consumption—mindful buying.

There is a gap in the literature with respect to mindful consumption in general and mindful

buying in particular (Gupta & Verma, 2019b; Milne et al., 2020). There is a rich body of litera-

ture on behaviors that represent mindless consumption, such as addiction, compulsive buying,

impulsive buying, and materialism (for reviews see, e.g., Wang et al., 2020; Goodman, 2008;

Black, 2007; Iyer et al., 2020; Richins, 2017). Within the broader area of sustainable consump-

tion, many related concepts have been studied by scholars, such as responsible consumption,

green consumption, ethical consumption, sharing, sufficiency, and mindful consumption

(Haider et al., 2022). However, there is a paucity of research on mindful consumption in general

and mindful buying in particular. Based on a review of related literature, Haider et al. (2022)

note that empirical research on antecedents of mindful consumption is very limited and more

effort in this direction is warranted.

This research proposes to bridge the gap in the literature by developing a multi-

theoretical framework to understand antecedents and consequence of mindful buying. The

model of mindful buying incorporates environmental activism as an antecedent of mindful

buying. Theoretical basis for incorporating environmental activism as an antecedent of

mindful buying is derived from the collective interest model, which helps to explain the fac-

tors that play a role in peoples' decision to participate in any collective action (Lubell, 2002).

Although concern about the environment has been studied by many scholars (e.g., Van

Liere & Dunlap, 1980; Zimmer et al., 1994), there has been considerabledebate and

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