Compulsive Buying occurs when a person indulges in excessive purchasing overcome by social pressures and negative emotions. The main objective in this study is to garner insights into this issue from a marketing perspective and also to understand whether the millennial’s preference to avoid social contact physically but to crave for it in a virtual space has an impact. Conducted over a seven-month period with data collected and analyzed from 202 respondents in Bangalore, the study revealed that emotions like loneliness, depression, low self-esteem and anxiety encourage the respondents to go ahead and maintain relationships in a virtual space rather than engage in face-to-face interactions. Furthermore, it was realized that the growing Internet Addiction can also be positively related to online Compulsive Buying. This study is of high significance as it allows marketers to reach out and capture that segment of elusive customers who are always online and are guaranteed to make a purchase. Therefore, allowing companies can align their marketing strategies accordingly develop products and services, resulting in better sales revenues and repeat purchases.

No abstract

Garnering insights into the relation between the general demographic variables such as age, gender, occupation status and psychological imbalances of anxiety, depression, self-esteem levels and loneliness and their subsequent influence on compulsive buying levels in an individual from the marketing perspective was the impetus and main motivation behind undertaking this study. Study was conducted over a 7-month period with a balanced homogeneous mix of randomly chosen respondents belonging to various occupations, ranging from an age band of 20 to 35 years. They were then administered a 5-Point Likert Scale questionnaire that incorporated demographic as well as psychological variables of loneliness, self-esteem, depression and anxiety. Responses were analyzed using frequency Analysis, principal component analysis, linear regression and cross tabulation to derive insights. The study revealed that along with loneliness, which was a major constituent, occupation type and marital status also significantly contributed in determining whether or not an individual would be compulsive in his or her purchase behavior. The study is significant as it discusses Compulsive Buying Behavior from a marketing perspective in a developing young economy such as India and discusses the implications of the findings as well.

Research highlights• According to conventional wisdom public spending on education should improve wage inequality.• We examine the validity of the wisdom both theoretically and empirically.• A 2×3 simple general equilibrium model for a small open economy is used for theoretical analysis.• A panel data analysis of data from 13 small OECD countries for the period 2000-2011 has been performed.• The relationship between wage inequality and public spending on education is found to be ambiguous.

This article provides a state-specific co-integration study by linking exports and foreign direct investment (FDI) to economic growth in Alabama. The study aims to determine how much of Alabama’s economic growth is driven by exports. Mercedes-Benz and its announcement of a US$600 million investment in 1993 started a surge of FDI and exports never seen before in the state accelerating its long-run economic growth path. Twenty years later, Mercedes-Benz has invested over US$4.5 billion and can produce 300,000 vehicles per year. This study analyses the importance of exports and FDI in the Alabama economy and establishes significant evidence of the positive relationship between Total Gross Domestic Product for Alabama (ALNGSP) and its exports from 1999 to 2017, whereas it does not find a statistically significant impact of the FDI on Alabama’s growth. We conclude that Alabama needs to focus on three main policies to continue its economic success. First, it needs to continue to attract FDI in these sectors to build a vast supplier network. Second, Alabama must allocate new investments in infrastructure and finally, it needs to continue to be a friendly state to businesses, providing skilled labour, low corporate taxes and less bureaucracy. JEL: C82, L62, O51