Compensatory or adaptive: exploring the effects of power expectations on impulsive buying for hedonic products

The present study examines whether and why power expectations differentially affect the impulsive buying of hedonic products by powerful and powerless individuals, and how self-acceptance moderates the relationship between power expectations, power experience and impulsive buying of hedonic products. Integrating findings from two different literatures such as normative evaluation of impulsive buying and self-conscious feelings of deservingness, we propose and find that in situations where power expectations are activated, social stereotypes associated with power consumption lead to normative judgments of hedonic impulsiveness, which activate self-conscious feelings of deservingness. Thus, powerless individuals were unable to find a normative justification for hedonic products, had a lower sense of deservingness, and reduced their impulsiveness to purchase hedonic products. In contrast, powerful individuals increased their impulsiveness to purchase hedonic products, and power expectations can act as both catalysts and barriers that shape the impulsive buying behaviour. Furthermore, we find that the above effect is significant when self-acceptance is low. Our study provides a new perspective on power expectations for impulsive buying, which helps to reconcile the controversial findings on power and impulsive buying.