The impact of PTSD symptoms on post-disaster consumption: tertiary victims of the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes in Türkiye
İbrahim Kırcova, Munise Hayrun Sağlam, Ahmet Can Şenlik, Doğan Mert Akdemir, Ebru Enginkaya

TL;DR
This study explores how PTSD symptoms from the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes in Türkiye affect the consumption behaviors of people far from the disaster zone.
Contribution
The study introduces a mixed-methods approach to examine how psychological states influence consumer behavior among tertiary disaster victims.
Findings
PTSD symptoms relate to post-disaster wellbeing and consumption through death anxiety, uncertainty intolerance, and search for meaning.
Media pressure influences how psychological states translate into consumer behaviors.
Participants used value-aligned purchases and media regulation as strategies for emotional resilience.
Abstract
The February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes reshaped everyday life well beyond the impact zone; however, how disaster-linked psychological states influence psychosocial wellbeing and everyday behaviors, including consumer responses among tertiary victims (geographically distant yet psychologically affected), remains underexplored. We employ an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design (QUAN → QUAL): a cross-sectional survey of Istanbul adults (N = 350) is modeled using PLS-SEM, followed by 24 semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis, integrated via joint displays. Quantitatively, PTSD relates to post-disaster wellbeing and consumption directly and indirectly through death anxiety (DA), intolerance of uncertainty (IUS), and search for meaning (MLQ-S); perceived media pressure (ME) attenuates these translations on average. Qualitatively, participants described…
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Taxonomy
TopicsDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
