Perceived social support reduces the pain of spending money》.pdfVIP

Available online at ScienceDirect Journal of Consumer Psychology 25, 2 (2015) 219 – 230 Research Article Perceived social support reduces the pain of spending money☆ Qian Xu a, 1, Yuanji Zhou b , 1, Maolin Ye c , Xinyue Zhou d ,⁎ a School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai, China b Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China c School of Management, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China d Lingnan College, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China Received 25 December 2012; received in revised form 18 November 2014; accepted 20 November 2014 Available online 29 November 2014 Abstract People experience pain when they spend money. Because previous studies have shown that perceived social support reduces physical pain, this research examined whether perceived social support reduces spending pain. Our studies showed that both real and recalled social support reduced spending pain (Studies 1–3) and that perceived social support reduced the perceived importance of money as a protection mechanism, which in turn reduced spending pain (Studies 1 and 3). Moreover, the pain-buffering effect of social support was stronger for hedonic purchases than for utilitarian purchases (Study 2). This research broadens our understanding of the factors that enhance consumer experiences and the relationships among love, security, and pain. © 2014 Society for Consumer Psychology