Towards a hierarchical theory of shopping motivation

Shopping motivation is one of the key concepts in research on consumer shopping behavior and continues to be vividly discussed. Providing a revised theoretical perspective on this issue, the authors propose three hierarchical levels including purpose-specific, activity-specific, and demand-specific shopping motivation. A hierarchical model of shopping motivation is developed based on the theoretical properties introduced by corresponding research in the areas of social and organizational psychology and tested by means of a cross-contextual survey design. Evidence for the mediating nature of the established framework is provided and the findings reveal the dynamics of how purpose-specific shopping motivation predicts activity-specific motivation, which, in turn, determines demand-specific motivation. The moderating impact of the shopping context is tested, demonstrating in which way the relationship between activity and demand-specific motivation is more idiosyncratic in nature than the interrelation of purpose and activity-specific motivation. The utility of the study for future research and its managerial implications are discussed.