Gadgets Are Always in the Hands of Consumers: The Triggers for Impulsive Buying Behavior

Abstract

Media technology is changing how people communicate, work, consume goods and services, and socialize. Meanwhile, digital devices always move wherever people move, even when the owner is sleeping, making people very dependent on gadgets. This book chapter examines impulse buying habits by controlling online product campaigns. Because online and offline life cannot always overlap during the COVID-19 pandemic, gadgets always guide every activity, including shopping, and become impulsive triggers. The literature review approach to 152 articles that have been published in various academic journals is analyzed with the dimensions of “Resources” of shopping activities, psychologically “Internal” factors, and “External” factors of retail industry marketing communication activities. The results show that new resources that are the primary basis for impulsive buying are gadgets or devices and marketplaces with their applications. Internal factors that encourage impulsiveness are cognitive dissonance, hedonism and materialism, anxiety/uncertainty, and self-esteem, plus 18 external factors that trigger impulsive buying (price discounts, marginal need for the item, mass distribution, self-service, social media ad campaigns, prominent store display, short product weight, ease of storage, retailer’s apps, visual and aroma products, live streaming, credit card and e-money, peer group interaction, in-store events, sales-person performance, point-of-purchase, and online review). In closing, managerial implications and future research related to impulsiveness and online shopping are also discussed.

1. Introduction

Impulsive buying behavior is a topic that has attracted the attention of researchers in the field of consumer behavior. This concept is even more so with the significant changes in media technology. Social media is changing the landscape of channels of marketing distribution, retailing, online shopping, the way people shop, and the communication approach taken by retailers. Media technology causes the rapid and significant changes that occur not only at the level of individual consumers—with all its psychological consequences, but also in groups, communities, and society. Furthermore, the e-commerce landscape is increasing in various online shopping names such as e-shop, e-store, Internet shop, webstore, virtual store, and online store. The existence of the retailing world is in a conventional transition journey by integrating the online life applications of its customers. People shop from home and go to the store shopping while having fun.

The uniqueness of contemporary consumer behavior is that interactions, communications, and transactions are carried out online and offline wherever they shop. Gadget communication devices or devices have been massively distributed, adopted, and used by people who are the target market for the retail industry. Devices or gadgets have become part of the fashion elements inherent in the individual’s body. Digital devices are becoming an inseparable part of the human body where they move by absorbing information, getting entertainment, and shopping. Gadgets, applications, and e-money have become resources that make it easy to shop.

Shopping is an integral part of everyone’s free time in urban, suburban, and even rural areas. However, this chapter discusses consumer behavior motivated by urban and suburban interactivity with modern shopping. Because shopping is part of the urban lifestyle and has been embedded in urban culture, expressions such as “shopaholic,” “retail therapy,” and “shop ‘til you drop” have become commonplace in urban popular culture [1].

Many scholars with their respective perspectives have studied various studies on shopping. The concept of shopping has several aspects related to urban people’s leisure time, such as individual independence, having fun, enjoying the shopping recreation arena, and becoming a hobby in between busy work [2]. Meanwhile, several other perspectives are unique for discussing shopping activities because they involve the motive of consumerism religiosity [3] and become the determinant of political consumerism and donations [4]. Shopping can also be seen as part of the freedom that must fight for because it is a human right [5] and a study of environmental care or shopping as eco-consumerism [6]. All study aspects are interesting to discuss but are still neglected regarding devices and marketplaces as new resources and internal psychological and external factors that determine impulsive buying behavior. This book chapter explicitly discusses this new element as a trigger for impulsive buying.

Various research approaches to examine impulsive buying have been carried out by many researchers, including empirical research [7], qualitative approaches [8], even terms of gender differences in examining cognitive and affective impulse buying [9], and external and internal trigger cues of impulse buying online [10]. This article was compiled using a literature review approach that analyzed 152 similar articles from various academic journal publications. This discussion aims to summarize with a focus on subjects missed by previous research regarding impulse buying both offline and online. Shopping is an activity that consumers prefer. Apart from the economic cycle in individuals and families, spending most of that income is also an activity for fun. Many consumers are accustomed to buying impulsively. Whether young people or adults in a family, almost everyone experiences it.

This chapter discusses impulsive buying behavior by considering the combination of offline and online conditions. The existence of physical stores and shopping centers is still growing in city centers. Still, retailers are very aggressive in digital retailing, collaborating with unicorns, delivering services, and financial technology with e-money, and revamping the website into a shopping application as the main homepage to build long-term relationships with every family. The focus of attention in the discussion is consumer behavior from individuals, groups, and consumers who classically have impulsive characteristics as shoppers, both in conventional stores and e-stores. This discussion puts gadgets at the center and guides everyone’s activities, including shopping.

2. Conceptual framework

2.1 Impulse

The term “impulsive” is generally understood as a psychological problem. However, impulsive behavior can be viewed from various perspectives. From a philosophical view, impulsiveness is addressed centrally in the legend of Adam and Eve [11], and sometimes people associate it with “The Grasshopper and the Ant” [12]. That impulsivity has become part of the identity and necessity of living humans on planet Earth.

Furthermore, from a sociological point of view, people in their groups have behavior patterns of “deferred gratification,” [13] “impulse renunciation,” [14] and “instrumental orientation” [15]. Every human being from the moment they are born into children, adolescents, and growing up.

The impulse from a psychological perspective views human consumption behavior [16]. Psychological studies define impulse as “a strong, sometimes irresistible urge; a sudden inclination to act without deliberation” [17]. Impulse becomes a stimulating and motivating agent from within the individual, both consciously and unconsciously. Psychological impulses thus describe actions that occur suddenly and spontaneously. After being triggered by a strong stimulus, the impulse is forced to appear and demands immediate action. Impulses are not planned but come suddenly after a confrontation with a particular unavoidable stimulus [18].

Social psychologists study impulsivity through experimental research on people’s capacity to delay gratification. Impulsivity was positively correlated with age, intelligence, social responsibility, and the presence of a father at home for his family. If someone is quiet, it turns out that his ability to delay gratification is negatively correlated. People from disadvantaged families also experienced low ability to delay gratification and the length of the procrastination interval [19, 20, 21].

Psychoanalytic further illustrates that impulse control has become a social need, based on Freud’s (1956) claim that human civilization is determined by individual development and internalized impulse control. Impulse, for him, is a competitive force between pleasure and reality. People compromise desired pleasures and realities, which gives birth to rational considerations. However, some people are in the spikes of stimuli in everyday life, and they become accustomed to it as a unique personality [22]. The pleasure principle causes immediate pleasure. People are always comfortable with pleasure, but when there is no meeting point with reality, the impulse moves toward equilibrium at the rational point.

The solid and persistent urge of impulse concept becomes unbearable, resulting in a sudden tendency to act without consideration [17, 12]. Impulses always arise in confrontation with a stimulus [18]. In addition, impulses maintain substantial incentive value consisting of hedonic reactions to tempting situations [23]. In addition, impulses can be challenging to resist by involving pleasurable experiences [12].

Analysis with a more recent economic perspective on impulse focuses its attention on the problem of conflict due to scarcity. The dispute arises from consumers’ choices to get goods because they are faced with decisions between saving and impulsive spending [24].

2.2 Impulse buying

In the context of consumer behavior, the psychological-economic perspective is the approach to discussing impulsive buying in this chapter. The term “impulse buying” refers to a range of phenomena in consumers with a narrower and more specific meaning than “unplanned buying.” Individual consumers are faced with many new products, the advantages of new features, and new ways that are more attractive every time consumers experience impulse pressure. The definition of impulse buying is appropriate in the following way: [12]

Impulsive buying occurs when a consumer experiences a sudden, often strong, and persistent urge to buy something immediately and spontaneously. The urge to buy is hedonic in nature and can stimulate emotional conflict without regard for the consequences.

Individual consumers get pleasure in impulsive buying and make it an extraordinary and exciting experience [12, 25]. Impulse buying is often compelling and urgent when consumers physically visit a store. So are contemplative purchases compared to surfing online when people relax and freely adjust their exposure. But both are equally fast, and even online shopping can be even quicker. Buyers tend to take the product rather than linger choosing the product. The impulsive behavior is more spontaneous, instant than long, thinking, and careful. While contemplative buying is more of a continuum, impulsiveness is more emotional [12], and consumers enjoy walking quickly between displays while rapidly picking up items.

The concept of impulsive buying has long attracted the attention of researchers. Early studies of the retail business in the 1950s showed that compulsive and impulsive buying was common. A certain percentage of retail sales are made by customers in response to sudden urges while shopping [26]. Customers buy many unplanned items from their homes but decide when they see them in the store. Purchases immediately and with solid encouragement [27, 28] are made by shoppers with a sense of pleasure and enjoy this shopping way.

Impulse buying is a buying process that is not based on a previous purchase plan but occurs when an impulse or stimulus arises from the feeling of wanting to have something visible at that time. Impulsive buyers then manipulate emotional or cognitive reactions. So, the main characteristics of impulse buying are unplanned, immediate, emotional, or mental reactions and exposure to the stimulus [29]. Impulsive shoppers feel the adrenaline of shopping pleasure when they can pick up any item they see and feel good about. Mindfulness occurs in the shopping experience, that is, in a state of mind, established by a non-judgmental awareness of the present and non-reactionary attention to one’s thoughts, sensations, feelings, and emotions [30].

Decades after the initial research on impulse buying, online impulse buying is now finding new ways to make people more accustomed to being impulsive. The enjoyment of online surfing is also obtained as people shopping come to the store. The psychological factors of impulsive online buying are stress reactions, self-esteem, materialism, boredom, positive influence, absorption, shopping pleasure, need for consumption, and hedonic and utilitarian habits [31].

Four types of impulse buying are found in consumer behavior [28]. The first is pure impulse buying. This type of transaction is made with a genuinely impulsive purchase, a novelty purchase, or a breakout that breaks the usual pattern. Emotional attraction triggers pure impulse buying.

The second is reminder impulse buying. This type of purchase occurs when a customer sees an item and then remembers that the item’s stock at his house is running low and so decides to buy it immediately. The customer also places the advertisement or other information about the product and buys it instantly. This “remembering” factor triggers impulsive buying.

The third is suggestion impulse buying. This type of suggestion occurs when a customer sees a product for the first time and visualizes his need for a moment, even though he has no prior knowledge of the product. Since the product is new, quality, functionality, and the like must be evaluated at the point of sale. Thus, the purchase of suggestions tends to be somewhat rational.

The final one is planned impulse buying. This kind of strange-looking purchase occurs when a buyer enters a store (or online application) with a particular purchase plan in mind or notes but is accompanied by the hope or intention of buying other items depending on conditions such as discount prices and other benefits. This type of “planned” is the most significant impulsiveness, and it is suspected that housewives like this way of shopping.

2.3 Young consumers

Impulsive buying highlights suspected consumer characteristics—and various studies have been conducted on this consumer group—to be identical to the impulsive shopping experience. Young consumers often feel anxious about image satisfaction to please their loved ones, and young people like adventures, including when shopping. Payment solution facilities also support the habit of not having to think long term and intensify irrational buying behavior among young consumers [32].

Furthermore, young consumers who are very synonymous with technology need further rights. That young people have a habit of digging up information quickly and accurately about what products they buy. The daily life of young people is difficult to separate online and offline because wherever they are, they are always shared via live streaming images or videos [33]. The independence and intelligence of young people to acquire product knowledge are extraordinary, so it is assumed that there are no new products that they are not familiar with before deciding to buy impulsively. However, various studies have shown that intrinsic factors make sense to influence young consumers’ impulsive buying tendencies [32].

2.4 Female consumers

Various studies concluded two groups of consumers with different behavior between males and females from all selected intrinsic factors. Based on the analysis, female tend to be more prone to cognitive dissonance, unwanted advocacy, and affirmative buying sensations than their counterparts [32]. Many male consumers are concluded as a group of consumers who rely on rationality in the decision-making process. Meanwhile, the emotional aspect is identified with female characteristics in the decision-making process. However, further investigation must consider other variables such as education level, managerial experience, leadership training, etc.

Female consumers are significantly the decision-makers for almost all products related to the family or household. Various product lines are intended for living rooms, family rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, furniture, electronics, and home appliances. Even the determination of the color of the walls and roof of the house is in the hands of female consumers. Female consumers play a significant role in spending family money. Meanwhile, impulsive buying as an act involving the emotional side is a characteristic of females. These two merging sides make female consumers very vulnerable to impulse buying.

Earl Puckett, a practitioner in the retail industry and Chairman of the Allied chain of department stores, was quoted in Fortune magazine as saying: “Female spend money like conservative trustees in charge of somebody else’s money.”! It has also been said that “one of the harshest canards of our time is that female are impulsive buyers with an almost neurotic compulsion to squander their household money on any bauble that chances to catch their fancy” [28, 34]. This retail industry practitioner’s comments reflect the general belief that in shopping for daily necessities, female are the main realistic and efficient buyers. Female consumers are very decisive in distributing and consuming products even though many of their purchases are not carefully planned. The intentional non-planning type of impulse buying may be an integral part of the efficiency of female consumers as contemporary shoppers.

Groups of urban female workers grow as communities that quickly form global networks between countries. The existence of this female consumer community is essential as a core element of urban culture. Their skills in viral products, menus, atmosphere, locations, brands, and so on are very significant. Female with modern urban lifestyles have a substantial relationship with impulse buying behavior among working ladies, while brand reputation and country of origin of the product are not [35].

3. Methodology

The literature review is the methodology of choice in this research article, considering the field of business research is accelerating at a tremendous speed [36]. The literature review method attempts to analyze, summarize, and evaluate various academic writings on impulsive buying from various credible sources [37]. Various secondary data sources were explored and reformulated in this literature review. Multiple sources were evaluated, primarily academic journal articles, books, and web-based resources [38]. Search literature through “Google scholar,” “ResearchGate,” and “Academia” with the keywords such as “impulsive buying,” “online impulsive,” and “impulsive online buying.” Selected articles are verified by taking research papers published in international journals. Data come from 152 relevant articles. The conceptual framework is geared toward developing an understanding of the subject area. The literature review involves scanning, taking notes, compiling a literature review, writing a literature review, and building a bibliography.

Categorization is based on shopping events, namely offline or physically coming to the onsite store with all the atmosphere that might affect impulsive buying. In addition, online shopping events with all elements of websites and applications and support facilities make it easier for people to decide on impulse shopping.

4. The triggers for impulsive buying behavior

Among the various models of buying decision-making and consumer behavior, one thing that has received less attention is the unconscious mental processes of consumer choice. This basis is used as a guide for developing the new Martin-Morich model of consumer behavior. Predictions on consumer behavior to be accurate first must be understood consciously or unconsciously how consumers interact with brands, products, websites, or stores as an interaction level of automation. The level of consumer automation along the conscious to the unconscious continuum is broken down into autopilot, pilot, or co-pilot mode categories [39]. The level of automation (autopilot) is higher to navigate the situation if the consumer is more familiar and familiar with the environment and the more routine his behavior becomes.

In a person, an automatic process affects attitudes, beliefs, and goals to do something that psychologically involves behavioral mimicry, activation of traits and stereotypes, and the pursuit of unconscious goals. If the autopilot has often worked, automation becomes a habit. If the consumer perceives the environment as a novel, the conscious mind is actively involved in interpreting its environment and figuring out what to do [39]. Next, this basic model of consumer behavior was developed to analyze impulsive buying behavior (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

The Martin-Morich model of consumer behavior [39].

A summary of the analysis results is presented in Figure 2, which shows the factors of impulsive buying behavior. Based on the findings of classical research, impulsiveness is divided into the impulsive mix such as pure, reminder, suggestion, and planned impulsive buying. The four components are triggered by three groups of triggers such as resources (money, time, physical effort, mental effort, gadgets, and marketplace apps). The second trigger group is internal or psychological factors such as cognitive dissonance, hedonism and materialism, anxiety/uncertainty reduction, and self-esteem. Third, there are 18 dominant external factors, such as price discounts, marginal need for items, mass distribution, self-service, social media ad campaigns, prominent store displays, and short product life. In addition, it is necessary to consider the small size of lightweight, ease of storage, retailer’s apps, visual and aroma products, and live streaming. Onsite and online shopping experiences are also stimuli for impulsiveness, such as live streaming, credit cards and e-money, peer group interaction, in-store events, sales-person performance, point-of-purchase (pop), and online reviews.

Figure 2.

The impulsive buying behavior factors. (source: Based on literature review) [28, 33].

The macro-environment in a society certainly has a hand in influencing the attitudes, thoughts, actions, and behavior of consumers. However, in this chapter, the cultural aspect is set aside because it only focuses on the closest internal and external factors to consumers. The assumption is that urban and suburban communities in various nation-states are relatively like modern societies and have relatively equal access to technological developments. So, impulse buying is influenced by multiple economic, personality, time, location, and even cultural factors. Impulsive buyers vary among different shoppers considering the purchase of the same item and for the same shopper who buys the same thing but in different buying situations. There has been an “impulse mix” of the four types of impulse buying above [28].

Whether physical distance or through online channels, the convenience of shopping allows consumers to intensify their impulse buying. The purchase of an item involves the expenditure of several resources: money, for the thing itself and for any expenses incurred to go to and from the store; time, on the way to or from the place of the purchase; physical exertion, such as walking or driving to or from a place of the purchase; and finally, mental effort, scheduling trips to the store and budgeting for purchases [28]. Contemporary society in the digital era adds resources such as media devices (gadgets) and marketplace apps. Technology has accelerated and made it easier for impulsive buying (Figure 2).

4.1 Internal factors

Internal factors in this case are psychological such as cognitive dissonance, hedonism and materialism, anxiety/uncertainty reduction, and self-esteem. These four elements influence impulse buying, although there may still be other psychological elements, but various studies have concluded that they have a significant effect.

4.1.1 Cognitive dissonance

Leon Festinger invented Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT) to explain when an individual holds two or more elements of knowledge that are relevant to each other but inconsistent with each other, uncomfortable states are created [40]. These conditions may make consumers feel uncomfortable about their previous actions or beliefs, that is, a situation that consumers might seek to resolve by changing their attitudes to suit their behavior. Festinger theorized that people motivated by an unpleasant state of dissonance to engage in cognitive work to reduce inconsistency. To reduce dissonance, individuals can add consonant cognition, reduce dissonant cognition, increase the importance of consonant cognition, or reduce the importance of dissonant cognition. One way to reduce dissonance that is most often assessed is attitude change. Attitude changes in response to a state of dissonance are expected to lead to the cognitions that are most resistant to change [41, 42].

Consumers prone to cognitive dissonance tend to achieve unmatched product combinations. It will be easy for sellers to identify these consumers and match the appropriate product combinations [32]. Retailers or online stores can help consumers reduce cognitive dissonance [41] by providing broader and deeper merchandising width and depth. The shopper chooses the opportunity to know the current product diversity and make it a planned impulsive buyer.

According to Festinger, a person’s attitude can change because of the factors inherent in the person. Individuals who are more impulsive will experience higher levels of cognitive dissonance after an unplanned purchase than individuals who are less impulsive [5]. Consumers act differently in inconsistent ways with their attitudes, beliefs, or opinions when confronted with marketing cues. Other previous studies have shown that sales promotions significantly affect impulsive buying behavior and post-purchase cognitive dissonance [43].

4.1.2 Hedonism and materialism

In philosophical psychology, hedonism is the view that all human action is ultimately motivated by desires for pleasure and the avoidance of pain. An intense emotional impulse accompanies every impulse purchase. The desire that likes feeling comfortable and happy and trying to avoid unpleasant things. Hedonism has been studied by many prominent philosophers, including Epicurus, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill. The Britannica Encyclopedia writes: [44]

Psychological hedonism is a form of psychological egoism. Psychological egoism is a broader notion, however, since one can hold that human actions are exclusively self-interested without insisting that self-interest always reduces to matters of pleasure and pain.

Furthermore, materialistic values and desire for goods may strongly correlate with online impulse buying [31]. Usually, people who adhere to extreme materialism seek dignity and social status [45]. A materialist considers material possessions as a central attribute of an individual’s identity for success. Materialism is an individual’s devotion to material desires, the desire to have more material things, and an interest in material ownership to achieve the desired condition, which ultimately determines and grows the nature of materialism in the individual. It is also found that consumers with high impulsivity have a high desire to buy impulsively because of hedonistic motivation [45, 46].

Hedonic shopping motivation strongly predicts exploratory information seeking and impulse buying. Further data show that hedonic shopping motivation influences online shopping behavior, affecting pre-purchase browsing time. Pre-purchase browsing time has a positive relationship with online purchase frequency [47]. Hedonic and Utilitarian shopping motive factors have been used to infer various effects of online shopping behavior, broadly categorized as impulse buying behavior and rational buying behavior [48].

Furthermore, hedonic motivation moderates the relationship between social characteristics of the retail environment and consumers’ positive emotional responses [49]. Impulse buying behavior is a consumer experience that gradually becomes a habit. The patterns of shopping behavior formed in their subconscious will always repeat themselves. Because, psychologically, when a motor schema is triggered more frequently by exposure to a particular stimulus, it is more likely to persist in the future as a consumer habit [31].

4.1.3 Anxiety/uncertainty reduction

Anxiety/uncertainty reduction theory proposed by Berger and Calabrese [50] and developed by Gudykunst is related to anxiety that occurs due to uncertainty in predicting what and who is faced and what will happen in the future [51]. Although the context of interpersonal communication is from two different cultural backgrounds, a buyer, on the one hand, is also filled with anxiety because they do not know or do not have complete information on the conditions that occur.

Impulsive buying in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can be understood because of the great anxiety of the consumer community about the scarcity of consumer goods. But even in regular times, fear always arises in individual consumers. Excessive anxiety due to scarcity or the individual is obsessed with buying—and their behavior occurs in response to negative emotions and decreases the intensity of negative emotions. Consumer euphoria or relief comes from negative emotions and lack of knowledge. Then, this feeling is the most common consequence of compulsive buying. Empirical studies proved the relationship between compulsive buying and anxiety [52]. For example, individual anxiety arises from excessive fear of information and news. If conventional media is now rarely consumed by families, exaggerated news on social media is a substitute. Sharing news that is not verified is increasingly making everyone anxious, which results in impulsive buying.

On the other hand, compulsive buying can also cause anxiety during the post-purchase period, especially compulsive buying, as consumers escape from the problems they face. Consumers can experience stress due to various life problems, and then he feels to reduce it by impulsive buying, but it turns out to bring new anxiety. Consumers who are reactive to stress can buy impulsively to lower negative emotional states and carry out shopping to avoid boredom and possible antecedents of online impulse buying [31].

4.1.4 Self-esteem

Self-esteem highlights the existence of individuals in a group. Self-esteem is the result of, and a necessary ingredient in, the process of self-verification that occurs in groups, sustaining individuals and groups. The self-esteem built up by self-verification buffers the negative emotions that arise when self-verification is problematic, thus allowing continued interaction and continuity in structural arrangements during periods of disruption and change [53]. Self-esteem amid peer groups, communities, or social structures can trigger impulsive buying. In the construction of feudal society, self-esteem often trumps individual rationality. People buy not because of need but to gain an image in the heads of their neighbors, coworkers, family, and even the wider community. Empirical research found that the greater the online impulse buying behavior, the lower the self-esteem [31]. Thus, compulsive buying behavior has a significant relationship with buying social status, materialism, and the perceived self-esteem of certain people. Specifically for the fashion product category, research has found that compulsive buying is positively correlated with perceived social qualities [54].

Furthermore, empirical research shows that female score higher on self-esteem and fear of negative evaluation scales than men. Self-esteem and anxiety are positively related to impulsive and compulsive buying behavior [55].

4.2 External factors

4.2.1 Price discounts

The price factor is always a consideration for consumers to make purchases, both regular and impulsive. People tend to want to own a product when the price is discounted, and opportunities are scarce. The heavily discounted price automatically eliminates most other shopping opportunities. When there are discounts for high-cost products, such as cars, houses, and other luxury goods, there will be impulse buying by certain consumer groups. Thus, prices affect impulses, especially for consumers who know how to compare prices from different locations and sources. Impulse buying also occurs in convenience goods [28]. Empirical research investigates the effect of price discounts and bonus packages on online impulse buying and finds that the discount variable will further trigger online impulse buying for consumers if the product offered has a low price. The phenomenon of online and offline impulse buying certainly has a positive impact on marketers, retailers, and profits for stores [56].

4.2.2 Marginal need for the item

Regular purchases are based on needs, not wants [57]. Consumers must know or predict the level of demand for an item of goods. If it is beyond their needs, then the item is impulsive. Some consumer goods, such as grocery stores, bread, dairy, meat, and similar or packaged health aids and drugs at drugstores, are necessities that shoppers should schedule for regular trips. If it is not needed, it can be postponed until it is convenient to buy it, or it is called a marginal need item [28].

4.2.3 Mass distribution

Cooperation between manufacturers and online shops is a contemporary channel of marketing that makes it easier for consumers to find the products they are looking for. However, even in a conventional retail business, the problem of distribution and channel of marketing is very crucial. Because the more outlets where an item is available, the more opportunities for consumers to find and buy it. Since the impulsive consumer does not shop specifically for the item, it should be displayed and made available to them in as many marketplaces and stores as possible where they usually surf or come to shop [28, 58].

4.2.4 Self-service

Indeed, self-service allows shoppers to purchase more quickly and with greater freedom than attendant service operations. Online shopping also provides flexibility and pleasure to surf, explore product knowledge, or combine the desired product items yourself. However, self-service also offers an excellent opportunity to find unplanned items and make impulse purchases. As more items become available in supermarkets and online shop websites and applications, there are increased opportunities for impulse buying [28]. Visual merchandising for online stores must pay attention to the attractiveness of merchandising presentation during self-service, such as fixturing, product density, display, and product adjacency; in-store environment, such as layout and interior; and in-store promotion as signage [59].

4.2.5 Social media ad campaigns

Advertising and marketing communication campaigns on social media are significant activities to attract consumers to shop impulsively. Impulsive buying tendencies of young consumers and marketers will be required to resort to an indirect approach of influencing the domestic ingredients through promotional and advertising techniques [32]. Because gadgets are permanently attached to the owner’s body wherever they move, IG is one of the favorite social media among young people and female as part of their lifestyle [60]. Then, IG affects impulsive buying. The main reason for the decision from impulse buying is good online advertisement content, which is marked by informative, easily understood, and easily accessed content and attractive visualization [61]. Also, brand attitude and merchandise attractiveness, in turn, are positively related to the impulse to purchase [61, 62].

4.2.6 Prominent store display

Since, by definition, shoppers do not explicitly look for impulse items in stores, a prominent display of these items is necessary to increase the consumer’s impulse buying opportunities. Here, the collection includes favorable shelf positions, special in-store promotions, and distinctive packaging [28]. Retail stores and online shops must display an atmosphere of engagement by providing comfort, enjoyment, modern style, and attractiveness of goods arrangement [63]. Empirical studies prove that the window display, forum display, floor merchandising, and shop brand name were significantly associated with consumer impulse buying behavior [64]. The display arrangement is also supported by an atmospheric engagement effect such as background music and scent [65] so that it affects impulsive buying.

4.2.7 Short product life

Items that are perishable or for other reasons have a short product life will be purchased more often than products with longer life. Except for necessities which may also be perishable or short-lived, the faster the buying cycle of an item, the more likely it is to be bought on impulse. The buyer purchasing the item often reduces his need to plan for it. He is more likely to rely on finding it in stores and buying it on impulse [28]. Empirical studies show that product categories that involve consumers’ feelings at a low level stimulate consumers’ online impulse buying tendencies. It is also proven that simultaneously there is an interaction effect between time pressure (product life cycle) and product type [66].

4.2.8 Small size or lightweight

Store visitors love to take things on the display shelves with ease and freedom. They grabbed it quickly and filled the trolley he was pushing. Products of small size and lightweight are preferred in impulse buying. So, regardless of price, size, or weight, an item affects impulse buying. If the product is too big and heavy, then impulsive buyers tend to delay taking it spontaneously and become delayed impulsive buying or do not buy the item because they forget. On the other hand, small, light, easy-to-transport items do not pose such problems and are more likely to be impulsive [28, 67].

4.2.9 Ease of storage

Buyers who provide a place to put their groceries at home can easily match the physical size of the goods. That way, he immediately decided to impulsive buying. However, there are always consumers who do not associate the place of placing their interests in their homes, causing new problems in their homes. Thus, items that do not have storage problems are more likely to be impulsive items [28, 68, 69].

4.2.10 Retailer’s apps

The physical presence of consumers in stores is replaced by marketplace or retailer applications. Consumers can freely choose the products and brands they want and they can shop efficiently because they do not have to leave the house. If consumers are already in the store area, connectivity with retailer applications continues. It is easier for consumers to control store containment through the gadgets in their hands. Devices model become guides in in-store shopping events or at home. Shopping online or both while visiting a store is a fun event and affects impulse buying. Positive and negative influences can impact hedonic and utilitarian online browsing, which in turn affects impulse buying intentions, and, thus, online impulse buying behavior [31].

Consumers’ shops are guided by applications installed through Google Play or the App Store. But the trigger can be from IG ads, Facebook, or news from peer group friends. Consumers rely on their ability to multitask media on the impulse to buy. Even on the move and on location at store locations, multitasking continues. Empirical research finds that media multitasking increases purchase urges for individuals with higher impulse buying tendencies by mediating the high perceived utility of information. Media multitasking enhances purchase impulses for individuals with lower or moderate impulse buying movements by negotiating the high perceived utility of communication and social presence [70].

4.2.11 Visual and aroma

The visual appearance of the product usually attracts the eye. Still, if the consumption product includes food and beverage offerings in a restaurant, then the aroma must also draw the sense of taste of the traffic of visitors around it. Those with significant absorption levels may be more susceptible to sensory stimuli, being more likely to engage in online impulse buying [31]. The higher, more convincing smell of fast food within reach of consumers can well reverse the planning tendencies of highly adventurous shoppers. Opening a barbeque shop in a local community can trigger higher sales because it is vulnerable to irrational buying desired by shoppers.

4.2.12 Live streaming

Live streaming, one of the real-time social media applications, has become an excellent channel for communication campaigns. One live streaming is TikTok, with features that make it easy for creative users to interact and communicate commercial messages. Practitioners and researchers refer to the TikTok Way as a new stream of shopping channels. Live streaming feature to drive interactive, informative, and immersive online shopping experience. Live streaming e-commerce revolutionizes conventional e-commerce business models by offering unprecedented real-time interaction between sellers and consumers, effectively reducing perceived distances, and solving the problem of information opacity [70, 71]. This interactivity mode provides information about the product, and the entertainment element is robust so that viewers can immediately make impulse buying.

Interactivity in computer-mediated communication (CMC) creates a two-way synchronous connection between sellers and consumers and vice versa reciprocally. Through written communication, consumers can participate actively by providing comments, reviews, experiences, and shares to potential consumers [72]. The potential ability of livestream commerce is to exploit consumers’ impulsive “see-now-buy-now” mentality [71]. Moreover, the power of live streaming commerce to rake in billions in revenue within hours has propelled this commercial model into the global spotlight. Impulse buying in streaming marketing presents new challenges for developing producer-consumer interaction and collaboration models. In live streaming parasocial interactions, vicarious experiences, scarcity persuasion, and price perception can drive cognitive and affective reactions, which encourage impulse buying [71].

4.2.13 Credit card and eMoney

Financing credit facilities with credit cards are beneficial for consumers to transact so that they do not need to spend money when shopping in cash. It is like the e-money payment application. Although it is the same as paying cash, physical money is not required, including spending by m-banking transfer. Everything triggers consumers to shop freely and take items that are not planned or impulse buying. The decision-making process to buy on credit is defined as the cognitive process of choosing to use installments or pay on a delayed basis. The credit card payment facility is seen as an action that begins with choosing to consume the product and ends when the product is paid for, or debt is incurred to obtain it. The process is carried out in three phases [73], (1) before obtaining credit, (2) during the use of the credit, and (3) during the repayment period.

4.2.14 Peer-group interaction

Peer interaction includes both online and offline communication as both are integrated. Offline channels are slightly more likely to encourage impulse buying than online channels because everyone has relatively switched to social media channels of communication. The group’s cohesiveness can influence its members to follow the trend of consumption that is trendy in the group. They share and provide recommendations to buy products that they do not need so much that they become impulsive. Thus, social networking within peer groups can significantly impact impulse buying [74].

In urban communities, such as female’s workgroups or peer groups, consumers always influence each other to get the same shopping experience. Thus, social and idea shopping can influence online impulse buying [31].

4.2.15 In-store events

It is essential to attract the attention and engagement of visitors. Efforts to entertain and make visitors relax to enjoy the atmosphere will lead to their decision to buy impulsively. People come to stores or shopping centers not only for shopping purposes but also to enjoy entertainment, eat, and meet friends. In-store events will provide a memorable experience, so one can easily be persuaded to buy impulsively. Several factors that must be considered are as follows: [49] (1) the ambient characteristics or design of the retail environment on consumers’ positive emotional responses to the retail environment, and (2) consumers’ positive emotional responses to the retail environment on impulsive buying behavior. On the other hand, online events on websites or applications, such as uniqueness and up-to-date appearance, emotional buying motives, and identity buying motives, influence online impulse buying directly [65, 75, 76].

The in-store shopping environment is divided into two categories [67, 77, 78], such as in-store promotions in coupons, discounts, and gifts. Also, the atmosphere inside the store is like the store display, salesforce, background music, and ventilation. However, in-store events can make a lasting impression, and visitors can spontaneously make impulse purchases because they are entertained and involved. Consumer characteristics and situational factors are against impulse buying. The resulting value for the impulse buying tendency constructs, such as the shopping enjoyment tendency, shows a significant positive effect [79].

The presence of celebrity endorsers in P-o-P advertising increases consumer impulse buying. Furthermore, celebrity endorsers are more effective in the case of high-involvement products than in the case of low-involvement products, and celebrity fit with product category also affects impulse buying, but only in the case of high-involvement products [80].

4.2.16 Sales representative performance

Shopping at hypermarkets, supermarkets, and minimarkets generally have officers or merchandisers who manage each product category area. They can be referred to as sales representatives sent by brand owners. Representatives work to break the ice with shoppers, speak politely, and help consumers start the in-store shopping process. The right approach and politeness in interacting and communicating will produce positive results to support impulse buying. The sales representative’s role is seen as a cultural role, and their performance reflects the quality of retail services. The service quality of sales representative affects consumers’ mood toward impulse buying [81].

4.2.17 Point-of-purchase (P-o-P)

Point-of-purchase (P-o-P) are strategic spots in stores often passed by visitors with relatively dense traffic compared to most routes. The placement of unique shelves in P-o-P with striking designs, colors, and lighting allows you to get a solid eye-catching from potential buyers. Electronic devices such as digital layers on each side of the sales shelf and hanging posters can be an attraction to trigger impulse buying stimuli. Various studies have also proven the importance of P-o-P, as in the type of brick-and-mortar shop [78] making impulsive buying, and likewise, consumer impulse buying and in-store stimulation in supermarkets [63]. In the application, P-o-P in physical stores is also replaced with online P-o-P in the form of banners to attract buyers’ impulse purchases. P-o-P is integrated with a customer engagement atmosphere that presents enjoyment, modernity, and a strong appeal according to the urban lifestyle in stores or on websites, online retailer applications, or online shops (marketplaces).

Consumers do not like wasting time. When they are already in the queue in front of the cashier, consumers do not want to go back around looking for a product they forgot to buy. Therefore, the P-o-P position in front of the cashier becomes very strategic for the impulsive product category. Meanwhile, features of mobile phone location-based advertising (MLBA) services such as customization, permission, and intrusiveness affect attitudes and purchase intentions. Interactive advertising will direct buyers to make impulsive buying when they are in-store. Visitors can engage in interactive advertising locally in the checkout area that provides dedicated P-o-P racks [82].

4.2.18 Online review

Gadgets or devices are always in the hands of almost all individual consumers, and they are connected online with social networks and channels of marketing and distribution. If there is not yet known information, people immediately go to Google to find it out very quickly. For example, during their lunch break, a group of female urban working groups has left the office to find the best place to eat in town. On the way, they find out and decide based on the recommendations of Google Review or Zomato. Impulsive buying will occur, and people will decide which path to go to the restaurant they just found in their car.

Online reviews have shown important information that influences consumers’ online shopping behavior, especially its effect on consumers’ online impulse buying behavior [83]. Empirical research findings suggest that consumers’ perceived utilitarian and hedonic value from reading online reviews enhances their browsing behavior. Browsing marketplace apps affects consumers’ impulse to buy impulsively and ultimately affects their impulse buying behavior.

After Google Reviews and Zomato are checked by consumers, they also need recommendations from ordinary people or celebrities who have consumed a product on YouTube or Instagram. However, online reviews are not the ultimate guide to decision-making, but a strong desire to explore new products and meeting places and try new challenges that lead to impulse buying. Empirical research shows the emergence of celebrity roles in social media and embedded social interactions in impulse buying, even though users encounter them simultaneously and frequently while browsing. Consumers are always looking for and asking for their gadgets to help provide the best choice when shopping. Consumers look to social media celebrity posting channels and contextual interactions to decide on impulse purchases [84].

5. Conclusions

Impulse buying has become part of some people’s identity as consumers and cannot be separated from its characteristics as part of the economic cycle in their lives. In varying degrees of impulse buying, four types of impulses can shift according to changes from the emotional side to the rational side and vice versa. They can be divided into pure impulse buying, reminder impulse buying, suggestion impulse buying, and planned impulse buying.

The resources used by consumers in the practice of impulse buying include capital in the form of money, time, physical effort, mental effort, gadgets or media technology, and marketplace applications.

Internal factors that determine the occurrence of impulse buying include cognitive dissonance, hedonism and materialism, anxiety/uncertainty reduction, and self-esteem. Some or all of them can intertwine with individual consumers to make impulse buying consciously and unconsciously, and physically directly at store locations and or online through devices or gadgets that are always in the hands of consumers.

External factors that determine the occurrence of impulse buying are all marketing communication activities in physical retailing and or online shopping activities. Eighteen external factors include price discounts, marginal need for the item, mass distribution, self-service, social media ad campaigns, prominent store displays, short product life, small size or lightweight, and ease of storage. In addition, the determining factors are the retailer’s application, visual and aroma products, live streaming, credit cards and e-money, peer group interaction, in-store events, sales-person performance, point-of-purchase (P-o-P), and online reviews.

The managerial implication of this chapter is that consumers must be dynamic in adopting the type of impulse buying in themselves, and gadgets should be used to explore information so that consumers get high value when shopping. The recommended impulse buying is planned impulse buying by considering the role of technology in obtaining information about the products purchased. The managerial implication for retailers and online shops is that as part of the marketing channel, the companies must educate their consumers. Retailers and online stores arrange the suitable type of impulses. Companies and customers need a mutual relationship, collaborates in customer engagement, and prioritizes the role of media or online technology as a two-way communication channel with customer.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Research Center of Bina Nusantara University, for funding this research with contract number 017/VR.RTT/III/2021.