Fall 2009 » Research Briefs » Fear Of Buying: Death Anxiety Influences Consumer Purchasing

Fear Of Buying: Death Anxiety Influences Consumer Purchasing

March, 2009

Women report higher levels of death anxiety than men, but the health-related beliefs of consumers of both genders influence both the level of death anxiety and the purchase of goods typically associated with death, such as pre-planned funeral packages, according to associate professor of marketing and logistics Steve Kopp.

Very little is understood about the consumer decision-making process in end-of-life contexts," explained Kopp. "Our previous research found that consumers were aware of the importance of making end-of-life purchases, such as making a will, and even expressed intentions to make these purchases but did not do so. We wanted to explore what influenced consumers to act contrary to their own knowledge and expressed intentions."

Kopp conducted his study with Swinder Janda, University of Arkansas alumnus and associate professor of marketing at Kansas State University.
Kopp and Janda examined the role of gender and the relationships between consumers' death anxiety, assessment of their personal health status, belief that their own behaviors control their health and their purchase of end-of-life (EOL) goods. They surveyed 305 members of a household research panel. The average age of respondents was 55, and they represented a variety of education and income levels.

The researchers found that EOL purchasing decisions were directly affected by the individual's current assessment of health status, but the effects of health behavioral control were mediated by death anxiety. Health behavioral control is the enduring belief that an individual can have control over his or her health.

"People who expressed higher levels of perceived control over their own health experience lower levels of death anxiety, but they are also less involved with EOL purchases," explained Kopp.

Conversely, people who felt that they had little control over their health were more likely to be involved in EOL purchases.