Being kind to ourselves: Self-compassion, coping, and consumption

Most consumer research on coping builds from the notion of pursuing self-esteem. However, recent psychological research emphasizes the pursuit of self-compassion as a healthier goal versus the pursuit of self-esteem within coping strategies. Only a minority of consumer research studies discuss self-compassion in relation to coping. Yet, these more recent consumer studies firstly, do not explore the different coping strategies linked to self-compassion even though psychological research suggests that self-compassion involves different components. Secondly, these recent consumer studies do not explore the role of socio-temporal comparisons in self-compassionate coping even though psychological research relates socio-temporal comparisons to self-compassion. This phenomenological study of downwardly mobile consumers identifies different coping strategies that reflect a pursuit of self-compassion and highlights how coping strategies, with a focus on self-compassion, relate to socio-temporal comparisons. The study contrasts and maps consumers' coping strategies in their pursuit of self-esteem and self-compassion. The study contributes to an understanding of consumer coping.