The Effect Of Sense Of Stress On Consumption Propensities:the Mediated Role Of Perceived Control

Consumer propensity refers to the trend of consumer demand for commodities.Under different stress scenarios,consumers may show different consumption propensities in the face of commodities with different social attributes.In the context of economic downturn,industrial structure adjustment,consumption upgrading,etc.,exploring the influencing factors behind consumers’ consumption propensities under different stress situations can facilitate consumers to better understand their own needs and consume rationally and healthily.It can also facilitate enterprises to grasp user’s needs more comprehensively and scientifically and create a more satisfactory consumption scenario,so as to achieve win-win results.Therefore,it has practical significance in business practice.Based on the review of the previous studies related to tress,this study analyzes the impact of work stress on practical and hedonistic consumption compensities for social people(employed),which is the most extensive consumer group.Based on the literature summary and theoretical deduction,the variable of perceived control is introduced as the boundary conditions that affecting consumers’ different consumption compensities under the stress scenarios,and the influence mechanism behind it is explored through different assumptions and experiments.Additionally,since the composite indicator of socio-economic status has replaced the previous three single indicators including income,education level and occupation in the real field of research on consumer analysis and user portrait,the variable of socio-economic status is introduced in this study.Based on the theory of limited self-control and the theory of control compensation,individuals in the stress scenario may cause the loss of control resources,leading to the lack of perceived control.At this time,individuals may try to make psychological compensation through other ways.When consumers consume,the hidden compensation mechanism behind it may play a role,and meet their own needs through the additional social attributes of commodities.The sense of stress of consumers may negatively affect the perceived control then affect their consumption propensities.Individuals with sense of low stress usually have a relatively high perceived control and tend to meet hedonic consumption,while individuals with sense of high stress are more likely to feel the lack of perceived control and tend to meet practical consumption.This study mainly includes three aspects: 1.How does the sense of stress affect the consumption propensities,what is the difference between high-stress and low-stress groups;2.What kind of influence does the perceived control have between the sense of stress and the consumption propensities,is it possible to influence the consumption propensity by intervening in the perceived control;3.How does the socio-economic status affect the sense of stress,perceived control and the consumption propensities.The design of the experiment adopts the concept judgment paradigm,which changes the external environment factors to cause the primary control,so that the subjects can form a short-term perceived control deprivation and feel the lack of perceived control.Based on the above research,three conclusions can be drawn: Firstly,compared with the low-stress group,the high-stress group have a higher propensity for practical consumption.Secondly,social-economic status plays a regulating role,and under the same stress level,the subjects with high socio-economic status have a higher propensity for hedonic consumption.Thirdly,compared with the group with sense of low stress,the group with sense of high stress lacks the perceived control,the perceived control plays an intermediary role,and can affect the consumption propensities by manipulating the subjects’ perceived control(practical vs.hedonic).In this study,it is also found that the impact of stress levels on consumption propensities in specific consumer group is relative,and the isolated analysis of consumption propensities with sense of low or high is lack of scientificity.Furthermore,there are some limitations in manipulating the perceived control to affect their consumption propensities.Finally,this article summarizes and summarizes this research,discusses its theoretical and practical significance,and points out the shortcomings of research and the prospect of future research.