Fear Of Buying: Death Anxiety Influences Consumer Purchasing

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Women report higher levels of death anxiety than men, but the health-related beliefs of consumers from both genders influence both their level of death anxiety and their purchase of goods typically associated with death, such as pre-planned funeral packages, according to University of Arkansas researcher Steve Kopp.

"Very little is understood about the consumer decision making process in end-of-life contexts," explained Kopp, associate professor of marketing and logistics in the Walton College of Business. "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, who has studied death-related issues and consumer behavior for more than 10 years, conducted his study with Swinder Janda, University of Arkansas alumnus and associate professor of marketing at Kansas State University. They presented their findings recently at the annual meeting of the American Marketing Association.

The United States funeral industry accounted for more than $20 billion in annual revenue, or an average of $10,000 for each of the 2.3 million Americans who died in 1998, according to data from the National Funeral Directors Association. In addition, more than $50 billion is held in escrow in pre-need plans. Although it gets little discussion and even less research, almost every American will eventually consume some type of end-of-life (EOL) goods.

In their study, 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 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 health behaviors can be successfully carried out, and the individual can have more control over their own 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. They also found that women expressed higher levels of death anxiety and purchase involvement with EOL goods.

"Generally, funeral-related purchases are made without prior knowledge of needs, requirements, costs or available alternatives, under substantial time pressures, during a time when the buyer is in a state of emotional vulnerability," Kopp said. "In the past two decades, pre-planning or prearranging funerals has become more common. But even though consumer attitudes toward EOL purchases are very complex, the lack of research in this area means that marketers of these products expend considerable resources without knowing how to best approach their potential customers."