Karanika, Katerina and Hogg, Margaret (2016) Being kind to ourselves:self-compassion, coping and consumption. Journal of Business Research, 69 (2). pp. 760-769. ISSN 0148-2963
Karanika_and_Hogg_Being_kind_to_ourselves_8_July_2015.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs.
Download (560kB)
Abstract
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 understanding of consumer coping.