Compulsive consumption and credit abuse

Researchers have grown concerned during the past several years about the mounting levels of consumer debt among US households. Debt payments as a percentage of disposable income grew from 10.5% in 1950 to 23.9% in 1985. There also has been an alarming increase in the number of consumers who are unable to keep pace with their debts -- there was a 462% increase in the number of personal bankruptcies between 1950 and 1975. These alarming trends can be attributed to a variety of factors, including: 1. poor budgeting skills, 2. economic problems, and 3. the influence of the mass media on consumer wants. A newly discovered factor, called compulsive consumption, refers to persons who consume impulsively and uncontrollably in order to escape from other problems. A study of compulsive consumers found that they differed from normal consumers by being more obsessive-compulsive, envious, materialistic, and nongenerous. Interestingly, compulsive consumers did not differ significantly from normal consumers in their possessiveness, which may indicate that the motivation behind compulsive consumption is not the desire to own the item bought.