Title: Impulse buying behaviour: an emerging market perspective

Authors: Sheetal Mittal; Neena Sondhi; Deepak Chawla

Addresses: ITM University, HUDA Sector 23 A, Gurgaon, Haryana, India ' International Management Institute, B-10 Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi, India ' International Management Institute, B-10 Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi, India

Abstract: Impulse buying accounts for a substantial volume of goods and services, across product categories and geographies. The phenomena takes on interesting possibilities in the emerging economies where the changing socio-economic situation has led to a substantial rise in consumers' dispositional needs alongside emergence of modern retail. While the construct has been widely researched, the studies have been largely fragmented in their approach, either examining isolated antecedents or the stages in the process. Thus, there is a dire need to comprehend the phenomena in its unique entirety. This paper, on the basis of extensive literature review proposes a conceptual framework that considers impulse buying both as a proactive phenomenon driven by personality factor as well as a reactive phenomenon driven by the stimulus: product and physical surroundings; which is further moderated by various personal, social, demographic and situational factors. The authors posit that these various forces tend to act upon a consumer simultaneously and not necessarily in the same direction.

Keywords: impulse buying; buying behaviour; situational factors; impulse buying traits; normative evaluation; conceptual framework; emerging markets; India; literature review; consumer behaviour.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2015.070246

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2015 Vol.11 No.1, pp.1 - 22

Received: 24 Sep 2013
Accepted: 05 Feb 2014
Published online: 01 Jul 2015 *

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