Astrology: Its Influence on Consumers’ Buying Patterns and Consumers’ Evaluations of Products and Services

Abstract

The impact of astrological signs on personality traits has often been investigated in the area of psychology. Every person is born into a specific astrological sign (e.g., Aquarius, Taurus). However, the effect of astrological signs has not been systematically studied in the marketing literature. Here, we apply the notion of zodiac signs to explain a) consumers’ general evaluations of products and services and b) consumers’ buying patterns (i.e., impulsive buying and compulsive buying) as personality traits. Following a survey of 239 college student subjects, we find that odd (e.g., Aries, Gemini) and non-water (e.g., Leo, Virgo) signs are positively associated with consumers’ impulsive buying tendencies. The results also suggest that consumers born under water signs (e.g., Cancer, Scorpio) are more likely to show favorable evaluations of services than are those with non-water signs. Implications and future research topics are also discussed.