APA question

1

Motivations of the Deviant Consumer Behavior of Shoplifting.

Student Name

NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY, School of Business, Marketing Department

MKTG XXX, course #, semester

Due Date

Professor Susan D. Williams

CERTIFICATION OF AUTHORSHIP: I certify that I am the author of this work and that any assistance I have received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed. I have also

cited any sources from which I used data, ideas, or words, directly quoted, or paraphrased. This work was prepared by me, specifically or this course.

2

What Motivates Consumers to Shoplift?

The deviant consumer behavior of shoplifting is a serious issue in the United States, and

the problem is only increasing. Steven Malanga, journalist, and Urban Policy expert, wrote in the

New York Post that the National Retail Federation reported that store losses increased from

$453,940 per $1 billion in sales in 2015 to $719,458 per $1 billion in sales in 2020. The largest

increase during that period happened when total losses from shoplifting increased from $50

billion in 2018 to $61 billion in 2019 (Malanga, 2022). Researchers noticed this unfortunate

increasing trend, and set out to answer the questions of “who?” and “why?” Were the culprits

people who could not afford an item, and stole to meet a basic need? Or was the issue quite the

opposite, with the culprits stealing out of want, not need? In a study performed by a team of

psychiatrists using a nationally representative sample of adults from the U.S. Census Bureau and

using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

(NESARC), results showed that shoplifting was more common in people with a college or higher

levels of education, individuals with incomes over $35,000, family incomes of over $70,000, and

had private insurance (Blanco et al., 2008, pp. 906, 909). The resulting incomes of the study

might not define a person as being wealthy, but it elevates one out of the category of stealing to

meet a basic need. This led researchers to question the motivations that drive consumers to

shoplift if the reason is not the inability to afford to purchase an item. This review of literature

will explore the motivation that drives a consumer’s decision to shoplift.

Miranda M. Nadeau performed a study to uncover various types of consumers who

shoplift. The study categorized people into six groups of who shoplift: loss-reactive, impulsive,

depressed, hobbyist, addictive-compulsive, and economically disadvantaged. In this study, a

wealthy person who shoplifts falls into the category of impulsive shoplifter or hobbyist

3

shoplifter. A shoplifter in the category of the impulsive type was recognized to have the most

ability to pay for the items that were stolen. This category of consumers has lower overall past

incidences with shoplifting and shoplift with a sense of opportunism when the circumstance is

resented. Consumers in this category have the lowest sense of guilt and shame compared to

members in other categories, but the most internal locus of control. The study revealed that such

consumers have the least life stressors before the act of shoplifting, and economic motivation

was not the reason (Nadeau et al., 2019). This type of shoplifter is quite common, as Paul

Cromwell, author of In Their Own Words: Criminals on Crime, revealed in his study on people

who have committed crimes. Cromwell discovered that “over one-half of all the subjects

reported impulse as one of the motives for their first shoplifting experiences” (Cromwell, 2006,

pg.6).

The category type with the second-most incidences of shoplifting in Nadeau’s study was

the hobbyist shoplifter. Shoppers in this category stated – claimed to enjoy shoplifting. Theory

would suggest that members possessed ego-syntonic characteristics and had high traditional

ethics but no sense of guilt or shame, often seeing themselves as above, or even exempt from, the

law. Hobbyist shoplifters scored low in antisociality and depression (Nadeau et al., 2019). The

enjoyment that a person gets out of shoplifting is also associated with the reason for shoplifting

not being out of economic motivation. Cromwell’s study found this category to have a high

number of offenders, as 82 out of the 320 people who were interviewed reported the primary

motivation for shoplifting was wanting an item, but not wanting to pay for it. The subjects of this

study had the money to pay for stolen items, but just preferred to steal. This group of consumers

expressed feeling a thrill or rush when committing the crime (Cromwell, 2006).

4

Some people that shoplift are doing so to fulfill a need, even if that need is not a basic

need. David DiSalvo, senior contributor to Forbes, explained a study that revealed that an

influence that motivated people to shoplift is a feeling of being financially deprived. Many that

fall in this category were not in a state of financial instability at all, however the feeling was still

there. Wealthy people often feel more financially deprived than others when the want to possess

more occurs, or when financial comparisons are made against wealthier peers. A feeling of

financial deprivation can also occur when a person experiences a sudden negative change in

finances, even if the person still falls into the category of being wealthy. The feeling of being

financially deprived can lead a person to act in ways that are morally questionable, such as

shoplifting. The reversal of moral behavior when a person performs the deviant act of shoplifting

is rationalized and justified based on the person’s feeling of deprivation based on one’scurrent

financial situation (DiSalvo, 2013).

Motivational factors cause consumers to behave the way they do. In consumer behavior

theory, motivation is defined as the process of providing a motive that drives a person to satisfy a

need. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from a person’s inner

drive and not from an external reward. The pleasure one gets from accomplishing the task is the

drive in motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from the outside, with external rewards being

the drive in the motivation. When a need is aroused, a state of tension will exist causing a

consumer to take action to fulfill the need. The need might be a basic need, which has a practical

or functional benefit; or the need might be a hedonic need, which fulfills an emotional desire or

has an experiential benefit (Durmaz & Diyarbakırlıoğlu, 2011).

Expectancy theory suggests that consumers are motivated to behave in a way that is

expected to produce a desired combination of outcomes. The theory explains that when a person

5

expects a reward, rational calculations are made comparing reward and the cost of effort it will

take to get the reward. Expectancy theory attempts to learn how consumers choose between

alternative behaviors. Comprehension has an important role in expectancy theory, as the

consumer has the cognitive ability of reasoning and planning to foresee the possible results of the

chosen behavior. Expectancy is based on three beliefs: valence, expectancy, and instrumentality.

Valence is the emotional connection that a consumer has with the reward. How badly does the

consumer want the reward? Expectancy is the confidence that the consumer has in getting the

reward. How confident is the consumer in his or her ability to get away with the act of

shoplifting? Instrumentality is a performance-outcome perception. The consumer believes that

the way to get the reward is by shoplifting. The motivation in expectancy theory can be intrinsic

or extrinsic. At the root of expectancy theory is the principle of hedonism, in which a person’s

drive is indulgence, and effort is made to maximize pleasure and minimize pain (Andersone &

Gaile-Sarkane, 2010). A study on hedonism, led by Maxime Taquet, NIHR Oxford Health BRC

Senior Research Fellow, explained that a person’s choice of daily activities is guided by hedonic

principles. When a person feels good, the need to try to maintain or maximize positive emotions

is paramount. When a person feels bad, engaging in activities that alleviate the negative, makes

one feel better by decreasing negative emotions. A consumer’s decision to partake in a particular

activity is related to feelings, or mood, in that moment (Taquet et al., 2016). A consumer who

decides to shoplift is doing so based on current mood. A hobby is usually something that

someone enjoys, so shoplifting as a hobby is done to maintain or maximize a good mood.

Shoplifting out of impulse could be to maintain or maximize a good mood, or to improve a bad

mood. Shoplifting due to feeling financially deprived occurs in an attempt to decrease negative

emotions.

6

Research on the motivations of shoplifters contains many gaps, as only consumers who

have been caught or decide to self-report can be questioned. Dean A. Dabney, Professor and

Chair in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University,

explains that shoplifting is one of the most underreported and misreported crimes. In most acts of

shoplifting, the person is not caught and only a small fraction are turned over to law

enforcement, and even fewer are formally booked and receive a formal record or a criminal

prosecution (Dabney et al., 2004). Looking at data that does exist, it can be confirmed that when

a consumer shoplifts out of impulse, for a hobby, or due to feeling financially deprived, the

motivating behavior is still due to the tension felt to fulfill a need. A consumer who shoplifts

who can afford to pay for the item is shoplifting to fulfill a hedonic need. This shows that

expectancy theory, and its roots of hedonism, can be applied to support what motivates a

consumer to shoplift. A consumer who wants the reward and is confident in the chance of getting

away with the crime, will choose to shoplift despite the known risks.

7

References

Andersone, I., & Gaile-Sarkane, E. (2010, May 13). Consumer expectancy theory for business

[Paper presentation]. 6th International Scientific Conference, Vilnius, Lithuania.

https://alephfiles.rtu.lv/TUA01/000027602_e.pdf

Blanco, C., Grant, J., Petry, N. M., Simpson, H. B., Alegria, A., Liu, S.-M., & Hasin, D. (2008).

Prevalence and correlates of shoplifting in the United States: Results from the national

epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions (NESARC). The American

Journal of Psychiatry, 165(7), 905-913. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07101660

Cromwell, P. F. (2006). In their own words: Criminals on crime (4th ed.). Roxbury.

Dabney, D. A., Hollinger, R. C., & Dugan, L. (2004). Who actually steals? A study of covertly

observed shoplifters. Justice Quarterly, 21(4).

http://users.clas.ufl.edu//rhollin/Who_actually_steals.pdf

DiSalvo, D. (2013, October 27). Whether rich or poor, feeling deprived makes us steal more.

Forbes. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/10/27/whether-rich-or-poor-feeling-

deprived-makes-us-steal-more/?sh=6525b9202aff

Durmaz, Y., & Diyarbakırlıoğlu, I. (2011). A theoretical approach to the strength of motivation

in customer behavior. Global Journal of Human Social Science, 11(10).

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yakup-Durmaz-3/publication/229998654_A_Theori

tical_Approach_to_the_Strength_of_Motivation_in_Customer_Behavior/links/

09e41501239a9760d5000000/A-Theoritical-Approach-to-the-Strength-of-Motivation-in-

Customer-Behavior.pdf

8

Malanga, S. (2022, January 22). Why shoplifting is soaring across the US — and will only get

worse. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2022/01/22/why-shoplifting-is-soaring-in-the-

us-and-will-get-worse/

Nadeau, M. M., Rochlen, A. B., & Tyminski, R. (2019). The psychology of shoplifting:

Development of a new typology for repeated shoplifting. International Journal of

Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology, 63(13), 2338-2355.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X19845979

Taquet, M., Quoidbach, J., De montjoye, Y.-A., Desseilles, M., & Gross, J. J. (2016). Hedonism

and the choice of everyday activities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

113(35), 9769-9773. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1519998113

CRITERIA EXEMPLARY (4)

ACCOMPLISHES (3)

DEVELOPING (2)

EMERGING (1)

Paper Focus/ Topic/Thesis 

The research paper's topic, purpose, or position statement is well- developed, readily apparent, and clearly stated. Consistently maintains the focal point throughout the paper.

Paper's central topic, purpose, or position statement is apparent and is the focal point of the paper for the most part but may digress on occasion.

Paper's central purpose or position statement is somewhat unclear and needs to be developed further; focus of paper is not consistently clear.

Paper's central purpose or position statement is generally unclear, and paper lacks focus overall.

Depth and Evidence (Sources)

Central purpose or position is supported in-depth with at least 5 sources that are highly relevant, accurate, reliable, and primary, and each adds to the strength of the paper. Sources are skillfully referenced throughout the paper.

Central purpose or position is supported with at least 5 sources that are mostly relevant, accurate, reliable, and primary. Sources are integrated well into the paper for the most part.

Central purpose or position is largely supported but with less than 5 sources and/or some sources may not be relevant, accurate, reliable, or primary, and/or some sources are not integrated well in the paper.

Central purpose or position is not supported with sufficient research sources and/or are generally not relevant, accurate, reliable, or primary, and/or sources are generally not integrated well in the paper.

Organization Paper is well-organized. Ideas are arranged logically, flow smoothly, with a strong progression of thought from paragraph to paragraph connecting to the central purpose or position statement. Includes all required components.

Paper is organized for the most part. Ideas are arranged logically and usually linked clearly from paragraph to paragraph connecting to the central purpose or position statement. Includes required components for the most part.

Paper is organized in general, although occasionally ideas from paragraph to paragraph may not make sense to the central purpose or position statement and/or be clear as a whole and/or may be lacking a required component.

Paper lacks logical organization and impedes readers' comprehension of ideas. Central purpose or position statement is rarely evident from paragraph to paragraph, and/or is missing required components.

Writing Quality & Adherence to Format Guidelines

Paper is well written and clear using standard English characterized by elements of a strong writing style and basically free from grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, or formatting errors. 3 or more pages in length, not including cover, or reference page.

Paper shows above average writing style and clarity and uses standard English with little errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, and/or formatting. 3 or more pages in length, not including including cover, or reference page.

Paper shows an average or casual writing style based on standard English with some errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, and/or formatting. Under 5 or over 10  pages in length, not including cover including cover, or reference page.

Paper shows a below average or poor writing style based on appropriate standard English with frequent errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, and/or formatting. Under 5 or over 10  pages in length, not including cover, or reference page.

NJCU School of Business, Marketing Department 8/23 SLO #2 APA Expository Essay Grading Rubric

1

Motivations of the Deviant Consumer Behavior of Shoplifting.

Student Name

NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY, School of Business, Marketing Department

MKTG XXX, course #, semester

Due Date

Professor Susan D. Williams

CERTIFICATION OF AUTHORSHIP: I certify that I am the author of this work and that any assistance I have received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed. I have also

cited any sources from which I used data, ideas, or words, directly quoted, or paraphrased. This work was prepared by me, specifically or this course.

2

What Motivates Consumers to Shoplift?

The deviant consumer behavior of shoplifting is a serious issue in the United States, and

the problem is only increasing. Steven Malanga, journalist, and Urban Policy expert, wrote in the

New York Post that the National Retail Federation reported that store losses increased from

$453,940 per $1 billion in sales in 2015 to $719,458 per $1 billion in sales in 2020. The largest

increase during that period happened when total losses from shoplifting increased from $50

billion in 2018 to $61 billion in 2019 (Malanga, 2022). Researchers noticed this unfortunate

increasing trend, and set out to answer the questions of “who?” and “why?” Were the culprits

people who could not afford an item, and stole to meet a basic need? Or was the issue quite the

opposite, with the culprits stealing out of want, not need? In a study performed by a team of

psychiatrists using a nationally representative sample of adults from the U.S. Census Bureau and

using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

(NESARC), results showed that shoplifting was more common in people with a college or higher

levels of education, individuals with incomes over $35,000, family incomes of over $70,000, and

had private insurance (Blanco et al., 2008, pp. 906, 909). The resulting incomes of the study

might not define a person as being wealthy, but it elevates one out of the category of stealing to

meet a basic need. This led researchers to question the motivations that drive consumers to

shoplift if the reason is not the inability to afford to purchase an item. This review of literature

will explore the motivation that drives a consumer’s decision to shoplift.

Miranda M. Nadeau performed a study to uncover various types of consumers who

shoplift. The study categorized people into six groups of who shoplift: loss-reactive, impulsive,

depressed, hobbyist, addictive-compulsive, and economically disadvantaged. In this study, a

wealthy person who shoplifts falls into the category of impulsive shoplifter or hobbyist

3

shoplifter. A shoplifter in the category of the impulsive type was recognized to have the most

ability to pay for the items that were stolen. This category of consumers has lower overall past

incidences with shoplifting and shoplift with a sense of opportunism when the circumstance is

resented. Consumers in this category have the lowest sense of guilt and shame compared to

members in other categories, but the most internal locus of control. The study revealed that such

consumers have the least life stressors before the act of shoplifting, and economic motivation

was not the reason (Nadeau et al., 2019). This type of shoplifter is quite common, as Paul

Cromwell, author of In Their Own Words: Criminals on Crime, revealed in his study on people

who have committed crimes. Cromwell discovered that “over one-half of all the subjects

reported impulse as one of the motives for their first shoplifting experiences” (Cromwell, 2006,

pg.6).

The category type with the second-most incidences of shoplifting in Nadeau’s study was

the hobbyist shoplifter. Shoppers in this category stated – claimed to enjoy shoplifting. Theory

would suggest that members possessed ego-syntonic characteristics and had high traditional

ethics but no sense of guilt or shame, often seeing themselves as above, or even exempt from, the

law. Hobbyist shoplifters scored low in antisociality and depression (Nadeau et al., 2019). The

enjoyment that a person gets out of shoplifting is also associated with the reason for shoplifting

not being out of economic motivation. Cromwell’s study found this category to have a high

number of offenders, as 82 out of the 320 people who were interviewed reported the primary

motivation for shoplifting was wanting an item, but not wanting to pay for it. The subjects of this

study had the money to pay for stolen items, but just preferred to steal. This group of consumers

expressed feeling a thrill or rush when committing the crime (Cromwell, 2006).

4

Some people that shoplift are doing so to fulfill a need, even if that need is not a basic

need. David DiSalvo, senior contributor to Forbes, explained a study that revealed that an

influence that motivated people to shoplift is a feeling of being financially deprived. Many that

fall in this category were not in a state of financial instability at all, however the feeling was still

there. Wealthy people often feel more financially deprived than others when the want to possess

more occurs, or when financial comparisons are made against wealthier peers. A feeling of

financial deprivation can also occur when a person experiences a sudden negative change in

finances, even if the person still falls into the category of being wealthy. The feeling of being

financially deprived can lead a person to act in ways that are morally questionable, such as

shoplifting. The reversal of moral behavior when a person performs the deviant act of shoplifting

is rationalized and justified based on the person’s feeling of deprivation based on one’scurrent

financial situation (DiSalvo, 2013).

Motivational factors cause consumers to behave the way they do. In consumer behavior

theory, motivation is defined as the process of providing a motive that drives a person to satisfy a

need. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from a person’s inner

drive and not from an external reward. The pleasure one gets from accomplishing the task is the

drive in motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from the outside, with external rewards being

the drive in the motivation. When a need is aroused, a state of tension will exist causing a

consumer to take action to fulfill the need. The need might be a basic need, which has a practical

or functional benefit; or the need might be a hedonic need, which fulfills an emotional desire or

has an experiential benefit (Durmaz & Diyarbakırlıoğlu, 2011).

Expectancy theory suggests that consumers are motivated to behave in a way that is

expected to produce a desired combination of outcomes. The theory explains that when a person

5

expects a reward, rational calculations are made comparing reward and the cost of effort it will

take to get the reward. Expectancy theory attempts to learn how consumers choose between

alternative behaviors. Comprehension has an important role in expectancy theory, as the

consumer has the cognitive ability of reasoning and planning to foresee the possible results of the

chosen behavior. Expectancy is based on three beliefs: valence, expectancy, and instrumentality.

Valence is the emotional connection that a consumer has with the reward. How badly does the

consumer want the reward? Expectancy is the confidence that the consumer has in getting the

reward. How confident is the consumer in his or her ability to get away with the act of

shoplifting? Instrumentality is a performance-outcome perception. The consumer believes that

the way to get the reward is by shoplifting. The motivation in expectancy theory can be intrinsic

or extrinsic. At the root of expectancy theory is the principle of hedonism, in which a person’s

drive is indulgence, and effort is made to maximize pleasure and minimize pain (Andersone &

Gaile-Sarkane, 2010). A study on hedonism, led by Maxime Taquet, NIHR Oxford Health BRC

Senior Research Fellow, explained that a person’s choice of daily activities is guided by hedonic

principles. When a person feels good, the need to try to maintain or maximize positive emotions

is paramount. When a person feels bad, engaging in activities that alleviate the negative, makes

one feel better by decreasing negative emotions. A consumer’s decision to partake in a particular

activity is related to feelings, or mood, in that moment (Taquet et al., 2016). A consumer who

decides to shoplift is doing so based on current mood. A hobby is usually something that

someone enjoys, so shoplifting as a hobby is done to maintain or maximize a good mood.

Shoplifting out of impulse could be to maintain or maximize a good mood, or to improve a bad

mood. Shoplifting due to feeling financially deprived occurs in an attempt to decrease negative

emotions.

6

Research on the motivations of shoplifters contains many gaps, as only consumers who

have been caught or decide to self-report can be questioned. Dean A. Dabney, Professor and

Chair in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University,

explains that shoplifting is one of the most underreported and misreported crimes. In most acts of

shoplifting, the person is not caught and only a small fraction are turned over to law

enforcement, and even fewer are formally booked and receive a formal record or a criminal

prosecution (Dabney et al., 2004). Looking at data that does exist, it can be confirmed that when

a consumer shoplifts out of impulse, for a hobby, or due to feeling financially deprived, the

motivating behavior is still due to the tension felt to fulfill a need. A consumer who shoplifts

who can afford to pay for the item is shoplifting to fulfill a hedonic need. This shows that

expectancy theory, and its roots of hedonism, can be applied to support what motivates a

consumer to shoplift. A consumer who wants the reward and is confident in the chance of getting

away with the crime, will choose to shoplift despite the known risks.

7

References

Andersone, I., & Gaile-Sarkane, E. (2010, May 13). Consumer expectancy theory for business

[Paper presentation]. 6th International Scientific Conference, Vilnius, Lithuania.

https://alephfiles.rtu.lv/TUA01/000027602_e.pdf

Blanco, C., Grant, J., Petry, N. M., Simpson, H. B., Alegria, A., Liu, S.-M., & Hasin, D. (2008).

Prevalence and correlates of shoplifting in the United States: Results from the national

epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions (NESARC). The American

Journal of Psychiatry, 165(7), 905-913. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07101660

Cromwell, P. F. (2006). In their own words: Criminals on crime (4th ed.). Roxbury.

Dabney, D. A., Hollinger, R. C., & Dugan, L. (2004). Who actually steals? A study of covertly

observed shoplifters. Justice Quarterly, 21(4).

http://users.clas.ufl.edu//rhollin/Who_actually_steals.pdf

DiSalvo, D. (2013, October 27). Whether rich or poor, feeling deprived makes us steal more.

Forbes. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/10/27/whether-rich-or-poor-feeling-

deprived-makes-us-steal-more/?sh=6525b9202aff

Durmaz, Y., & Diyarbakırlıoğlu, I. (2011). A theoretical approach to the strength of motivation

in customer behavior. Global Journal of Human Social Science, 11(10).

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yakup-Durmaz-3/publication/229998654_A_Theori

tical_Approach_to_the_Strength_of_Motivation_in_Customer_Behavior/links/

09e41501239a9760d5000000/A-Theoritical-Approach-to-the-Strength-of-Motivation-in-

Customer-Behavior.pdf

8

Malanga, S. (2022, January 22). Why shoplifting is soaring across the US — and will only get

worse. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2022/01/22/why-shoplifting-is-soaring-in-the-

us-and-will-get-worse/

Nadeau, M. M., Rochlen, A. B., & Tyminski, R. (2019). The psychology of shoplifting:

Development of a new typology for repeated shoplifting. International Journal of

Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology, 63(13), 2338-2355.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X19845979

Taquet, M., Quoidbach, J., De montjoye, Y.-A., Desseilles, M., & Gross, J. J. (2016). Hedonism

and the choice of everyday activities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

113(35), 9769-9773. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1519998113