The-product-specific-nature-of-impulse-buying-tend

Theproduct-specificnatureofimpulsebuyingtendencyMichaelA.Jonesa,*,KristyE.Reynoldsb,SeungoogWeunc,SharonE.BeattydaDepartmentofMarketing,UniversityofTennesseeatChattanooga,615McCallieAvenue,Chattanooga,TN37403,USAbLouisianaStateUniversity,BatonRouge,LA,USAcDong-AUniversity,Pusan,KoreadUniversityofAlabama,Tuscaloosa,AL,USAAbstractPreviousstudieshavetreatedtheimpulsebuyingtendencyasageneralizedconsumertraitconsistentacrossproductcategories.Thisstudyextendspreviousconceptualizationsandtreatsimpulsebuyingtendencyascontextorproductcategoryspecific.Theresultsindicatedthataproduct-specificconceptualizationoftheimpulsebuyingbehaviorwasabetterpredictorofactualimpulsepurchasingbehaviorwhencomparedtogeneralimpulsebuyingtendencyfortwoproductcategories.Inaddition,involvementwasfoundtobeanimportantvariableimpactingconsumers’tendenciestopurchaseproductsofaparticularproductcategoryonimpulse.Implicationsandareasforfutureresearcharealsoaddressed.D2003ElsevierScienceInc.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Impulsebuying;Involvement;LISREL1.IntroductionMarketershavelongrecognizedthesignificanceofimpulsebuying.Infact,onestudyhasreportedthat38.7%ofdepartmentstorepurchasesareboughtonimpulse(Bellengeretal.,1978).Retailersarecontinuallytryingtoincreasethenumberofimpulsepurchasesthrough,forexample,storedesign,productdisplays,packagedesign,andsales(HoyerandMacInnis,1997).Duetotheprevalenceofimpulsebuyingintoday’smarketplace,academicresearchonimpulsebuyinghasincreasedduringthelastdecade.Consistentwithresearchonimpulsivenessinthepsychologyliterature,recentstudiesinmarketingcontendthatimpulsebuyingtend-encyisaconsumerpersonalitytraitindicatingthatindividualscanbedistinguishedfromoneanotherbasedonthistrait(BeattyandFerrell,1998;Puri,1996;RookandFisher,1995;RookandGardner,1993).Furthermore,severalscaleshavebeendevelopedtomeasureconsum-ers’generalizedimpulsepurchasingtendencyinordertobetterunderstandandpredictthisimportantphenomenon(Puri,1996;RookandFisher,1995;RookandGardner,1993;Weunetal.,1998).Previousresearchhastreatedtheimpulsebuyingtend-encyasageneralizedtraitthatisconsistentacrossproductcategories(BeattyandFerrell,1998;Puri,1996;RookandFisher,1995;RookandGardner,1993;Weunetal.,1998).Animportanttaskforpersonalityresearchinconsumerbehaviorisdeterminingifthetraitcanbegeneralizedacrossproductcategoriesorifitshouldbemeasuredonaproduct-specificlevel(Kassarjian,1971).Thisissueisofparticularimportancetothestudyofimpulsebuyingsinceitwillleadtoabetterunderstandingofimpulsebuyingandwillguidetheuseofeitherageneralizedorproduct-specifictendencyforthepurposeofmoreaccuratelypredictingimpulsepurchasesinfutureacademicandprac-titionerresearch.Therefore,thecurrentstudyextendsthenotionofimpulsebuyingtendencyfromageneralperson-alitytendencytoamoreproduct-specificvariable.Further-more,thisstudyproposesthattheconceptofproductinvolvementmayplayanimportantroleintheimpulsebuyingprocess.Specifically,thecurrentstudyempiricallyassessestherelationshipsamonggeneralimpulsebuyingtendency,product-specificimpulsebuyingtendency,prod-uctinvolvement,andimpulsebuyingbehaviorfortwoproductcategories.0148-2963/03/$–seefrontmatterD2003ElsevierScienceInc.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(01)00250-8*Correspondingauthor.Tel.:[phone];fax:[phone].E-mailaddress:[e-mail](M.A.Jones).JournalofBusinessResearch56(2003)505–5112.Impulsebuying2.1.ThenatureofimpulsebuyingResearchersagreethatimpulsebuyingoccurswhenanindividualmakesanunintended,unreflective,andimme-diatepurchase(cf.Rook,1987;RookandFisher,1995).Thepurchaseisunintendedbecauseitismadewhileshopping,althoughtheindividualwasnotactivelylookingforthatitem,hadnopreshoppingplanstopurchasetheitem,andwasnotengagedinashoppingtask,suchaslookingforagift,whichtheitemsatisfies.Unintendedbuyingarisesfromasuddenurgetobuyaspecificitemwhileshopping.Thedesireanddecisiontobuyoccursafterthepersonseesthearticle(HochandLoewenstein,1991).Unintendedandunplannedhavelongbeenassociatedwithimpulsebuyingandisanecessarybutnotsufficientbasisforcategorizingapurchaseasanimpulsepurchase(KollatandWillet,1967;Rook,1987;RookandFisher,1995).Impulsebuyingisunreflectiveinthatthepurchaseismadewithoutengaginginagreatdealofevaluation.Individualsbuyingonimpulseislesslikelytoconsidertheconsequencesortothinkcarefullybeforemakingthepurchase(Rook,1987).Theperson’sattentionisfocusedontheimmediategratificationofrespondingtotheurgetobuyratherthanonsolvingapreexistingproblemoronfindinganitemtofillapredeterminedneed.Finally,consistentwithgeneralimpulsiveness,impulsivebuyingisimmediate(Barratt,1985;Rook,1987).Thetimeintervalbetweenseeingtheitemandbuyingitisveryshort,andthedecisiontobuyismadehastily.Anindividualmakinganimpulsepurchaserespondsquicklytotheurgeandmakesaspontaneousdecisiontopurchasetheitemwithoutdelay.Furthermore,theindividualisnotlikelytopostponethepurchaseinordertogathermoreinformation,comparisonshop,seekadvice,orsimply‘‘cooloff.’’2.2.ImpulsebuyingtendencyJustaspsychologistsbelievethatindividualsvaryintheirproclivitytoactimpulsively,consumerr