This study concentrate on men who buy sex from women, because this is the most common phenomenon.
The study is based on qualitative interviews with 4 regular costumers of prostitution.
The study aims to elucidate the emotional reasons that drives regular customers to pay for sex and how the self-images of the prostitution customers are affected by paying for sex. The emotional reasons are elucidated from a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach, and thus partly rests on the narratives of the customers and partly on theoretical analyses of the narratives.
The study adopts the theoretical perspective of the sociology of emotions.
The customers talk about a longing for reciprocity in the relationship and they emphasize that the good experience resembles an experience with a girlfriend. The costumers would rather have the same experience with a girlfriend or a wife. All of the interviewed costumers expresses that sex is not the essential part of the relationship, the essential part is the contact between the costumer and the prostitute.

It has personal and economic costs to be a regular costumer of prostitution as it is associated with secrecy and represents a substantial economic strain, which affects the total life situation of the costumer.

The interaction of prostitution can be seen as a ritual of interaction, which generates positive energy when successful and drains energy when it fails. The purpose of the sexual ritual is to build emotions of solidarity and thus promote a sense of emotional attachment.
Rituals of interaction that fail can cause shame and anger. Purchased sex can also be seen as a source to soothe the feeling of shame as well as being the cause of shame. Commercial sex, which is used as a substitute for failed relations with girlfriends, aim to soothe the shame, while being a costumer addicted to paying for sex evokes shame.
It is likely that a role-taking takes place in connection with paying for sex, which creates certain expectations to the sexual act itself as well as the interaction with the sex partner. This is assumed to have a particular impact on costumers, who debuts as costumers at a young age. This might create difficulties in relation to girlfriends and cause these costumers to remain regular costumers because they experience fewer complications and more success as a sex partner in this context.
Finally, it is to be expected that the conflicting discourses of the society towards prostitution affects the costumers in a way that their self-image will be fragmented and ambivalent. To accommodate this the costumers articulate themselves on the basis of legitimating discourses in an attempt to creates meaning and consistency.