From Value Orientations to Problematic Shopping: The Mediating Role of Social Beliefs in Adult Samples from China and the United Kingdom

Problematic shopping is recognized as a public health concern, yet its underlying psychosocial mechanisms remain underexplored. Integrating Self-Determination Theory and Value-Belief-Norm Theory, this study examined whether and how value orientations and social beliefs were related to problematic shopping among Chinese adults and explored the robustness of these pathways across adult samples from China and the United Kingdom (UK). Using convenience sampling, 462 participants residing in China (Mage = 23.44, SD = 7.45; 70.7% female) and 500 participants residing in the UK (Mage = 40.18, SD = 13.85; 67.9% female) completed an anonymous online questionnaire. Path analysis showed that most hypothesized paths were supported in Chinese adults. However, the paths from intrinsic value orientation to social cynicism and problematic shopping were nonsignificant, whereas the path from reward for application to problematic shopping was significant but opposite to the hypothesized direction. Mediation analysis revealed that extrinsic value orientation had significant positive total and indirect effects on problematic shopping through social cynicism and social complexity, whereas intrinsic value orientation had no significant total effect but showed a significant positive indirect effect through reward for application, contrary to the hypothesized direction, and a significant negative indirect effect through social complexity. Additionally, the Wald test detected no significant between-group differences, and the equality-constrained model showed good fit without substantial deterioration in model fit. Overall, these findings provide empirical support for applying a value-belief perspective to understanding problematic shopping and suggest that this value-belief pathway shows a similar pattern across the two samples. The findings also provide a basis for future research to examine whether components of this pathway may have relevance for interventions addressing problematic shopping.