Reminders of Friendship Enhance the Self-Control of Compulsive Buyers: An Fmri Study

We identify the beneficial influence of friendship reminders on the self-control of compulsive buyers. In doing so, we focus on two processes that constitute self-control: consumers’ capacity to identify conflict and their capacity to implement control. Dependent on whether reminders of friendship improve conflict identification and/or control implementation, we expected enhanced activation in the ACC and/or DLPfC when consumers are reminded of friendship. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), our findings suggest that reminders of friendship increase activation in both brain areas. The effect is particularly pronounced for compulsive compared to non compulsive buyers and renders important insights for consumer welfare.