An investigation into impulse buying behavior among Indian urban adolescents.

Sharma, Rajesh

Introduction

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A planned purchase is characterized by deliberate, thoughtful search and evaluation that normally results in rational, accurate and better decisions. Contrary to a planned purchase, "impulse buying" is a spontaneous and immediate purchase where the consumer is not actively looking for a product and has no prior plans to purchase. Beyond spontaneity, impulse buying may also be described as an intense, exciting urge to buy without regard to the consequences of the purchase decision. Impulse buying is more emotional than rational.

India is the second most populous country in the world with total population of over 1081 million. Adolescents (10-19 years) form a large section of population--about 22.5 percent, that is, about 225 million. They are living in diverse circumstances and have diverse needs. The total population of young people (10-24 Years) is approximately 331 million comprising nearly 30 percent of the total population of India (Census 2001). Adolescents are full of energy, have significant drive and new ideas. They are a positive force for a nation and are responsible for its future productivity.

Impulse buying may be influenced by internal states or traits experienced by consumers, or by environmental factors. Researchers have attempted to determine if people who frequently engage in this behavior have some common personality traits. Other researchers have suggested that internal states and environmental cues can serve to trigger the impulse to purchase. The purpose of this paper is to build on the prior studies by examining the influence of gender, age , income and idolatory behavior on impulse buying.

The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature and based on this review research hypotheses are developed. Section 3 describes the survey methodology and the measures of the variables. To test the research hypotheses, collected data are analyzed. The results are described in Section 4. Section 5 summarizes the major findings, identifies implications for management,and proposes suggestions for future research.

Literature Review

Impulse buying has been considered a pervasive and distinctive phenomenon and has been receiving increasing attention from consumer researchers and theorists (Rook 1987; Rookand Fisher 1995).

Few authors in the beginning simply equated impulse buying to unplanned purchasing (Bellenger, Robertson, and Hirschman 1978; Stem 1962). Impulse buying was redefined as occurring when a consumer experiences a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buying something immediately. The impulse to buy is hedonically complex and may stimulate emotional conflict. Also, impulse buying is prone to occur with diminished regard for its consequences (Rook 1987). In the same vein, Hoch and Loewenstein (1991) explained the impulse buying as a struggle between the psychological forces of desires and willpower.

Stern (1962) described factors that might influence impulse purchasing, which he described as a decision to buy a product while they are in the store: Price , Marginal need for product or brand, Mass distribution, Self service, Advertising, Prominent store display, Short product life, Small size, Ease of storage. Furthermore, the main classifications of impulse buying today are those suggested by Stern in 1962. These are (i) Pure impulse buying which is totally unplanned and a complete break in the buying pattern, like a novelty item. (ii) Reminder Impulse Buying which is a purchase based on a previous experience.(iii) Suggestion Impulse Buying which is a purchase upon seeing the product for the first time and evaluating value usefulness etc.(iv) Planned Impulse Buying which is dependent on other factors such as price.

Impulse buying is influenced by person-related variables. Wood (1998) found a relationship between impulse buying and educational experience,and a non-linear relationship between impulse and age. Linand Lin (2005) indicated that personal characteristics such as gender, age and pocket money available, were associated with adolescents' impulsive buying tendency. Rookand Gardner (1993) suggested that certain mood states (e.g., the combination of pleasure, excitement,and power) might elicit impulse purchase behavior.

Idolatry is one of the unique characteristics of adolescents (Raviv et al., 1996). Idolatry, the excessive admiration of devotion to something or someone, is commonly found among adolescents. This personal trait is more emotional than rational. However, the research of idolatry behavior is lacking, not a single empirical study on the psychological correlates of this behavior was found in a search of the literature over the past years (Cheng, 1997).

This study is designed to investigate the link between idolatrous behavior and impulse purchasing .The following four hypothesis are framed.

Hypothesis 1: Impulsive buying tendencies are same between male and female adolescents.

Hypothesis 2: Impulsive buying tendencies are same between different age groups of adolescents

Hypothesis 3: Impulsive buying tendencies are same between different income groups of adolescents

Hypothesis 4: Impulsive buying tendencies are same between idolator and non-idolator adolescents

Research Methodology

For conducting the research, questionnaires were administered to high schools students in Delhi and National Capital Region of Delhi in March 2009. Non-probability sampling was utilized with quotas for each product category. A total of 110 questionnaires were distributed among respondents and a total of 108 questionnaires were returned, representing a rate of 98.18 percent. Out of 108, four questionnaires were discarded due to respondent errors, further reducing total correct filled questionnaires to 104. This represented a final response rate of 94.54 percent. Participation was voluntary.The questionnaire contained nine items on impulse purchase, developed by Rook and Fisher (1995) which were rated on likert 6 point scale with 1 representing Strongly disagree to 6 as Strongly agree .

Analysis

In the final sample of 104, there were 63 male and 41 female respondents. Age of respondents (Fig 1) varied from 14 to 18 years old. We divided the monthly pocket money into three categories (Fig 2) as Less than Rs 400 , Rs 401 to 800 and more than Rs 800. The respondents having idol in their life i.e idolatrous respondents were more than non idolatrous respondents (Fig 3). The sample profile of respondents is given in Table I.

Mean and standard deviation of the nine items are shown in Table II. The item "I buy things according to how I feel at the moment" had the highest mean score (mean = 4.65, SD = 1.19),and the item "I often buy things without thinking" had the lowest score (mean = 2.36, SD = 1.52). To check the reliability of the questionnaire we calculated Cronbach's Alpha. The alpha coefficient was 0.735

Testing for Hypothesis: To test the different hypothesis, ANOVA was applied and the results are shown in Table III.

Testing for Hypothesis 1: At p<0.05, we fail to accept the hypothesis that Impulsive buying tendencies are same between Maleand Female adolescents.

Testing for Hypothesis 2: At p<0.05, we fail to reject the hypothesis that Impulsive buying tendencies are same between Different age groups of adolescents.

Testing for Hypothesis 3: At p<0.05, We fail to reject the hypothesis that Impulsive buying tendencies are same between Different income groups of adolescents

Testing for Hypothesis 4: At p<0.05, we fail to reject the hypothesis i.e. Impulsive buying tendencies are same between Idolator and non idolator adolescents

Discussion

Gender has received some attention in prior research as a factor that may affect impulse purchases. Several studies have examined whether men or women are more impulsive shoppers (e.g., Cobband Hoyer 1986; Kollatand Willett 1967); however, research findings are inconsistent. Kollatand Willett (1967) find that women tend to buy on impulse more than men do (the results were insignificant in another study by Bellenger, Robertson, and Hirschman 1978). Cobband Hoyer (1986) find the opposite i.e. Women are more likely to exhibit some element of planning before entering the store, whereas men are more likely to be impulse shoppers.

In this study we have failed to accept the hypothesis that Impulsive buying tendencies are same between Male and Female adolescents. The mean score of males is more than that of their female counterparts. Daviesand Bell (1991) reported that an increasing number and proportion of males are doing grocery shopping. They found that males tend to spend less per shopping trip and spend less time in the store. Spending less time in store may be one of the possible reasons that male adolescents seem to be more inclined towards Impulse buying. The results are also similar to the findings of Bellenger, Robertson and Hirschman (1978). Their studies revealed that 36 percent of men's sport/casual clothing sales and rainwear were impulsive purchases as compared to 54 percent of women's sportswear sales. Thus, males and females may have different impulsive buying tendencies.

It is suggested in the literature that younger people have more impulsivity compared with older people (e.g., Rawlings, Boldero, and Wiseman 1995). With regard to buying behavior, it is expected that younger consumers are more likely to experience an urge to buy things spontaneously when exposed to the relevant objects and to act on the urge, whereas older consumers may demonstrate better ability to control their buying impulses. In the present study, we fail to reject the hypothesis that Impulsive buying tendencies are same between different age groups of adolescents. Thus the adolescents in the age group 14-18 may be considered as a group. The marketer need not address them as separate segments based on age but as a group.

In a study by Abratt and Goodey (1990), higher income is suggested as one of several factors that can account for the higher level of impulse buying. A study by Mogelonsky (1994) logically suggests that impulse buying is reserved for those consumers who can afford it. In this study we fail to reject the hypothesis that Impulsive buying tendencies are same between different income groups of adolescents. One of the possible reasons may be that adolescent's pocket money may not be truly reflective of the family income. The future research may therefore focus upon family income rather than pocket money.

From a consumer-behavior perspective, products and brands that individuals select can be influenced by their reference groups (Bearden and Etzel, 1982; Childers and Rao, 1992). Adolescence is a stage which is strongly influenced by reference groups, such as peers, teachers and parents. In fact, building adolescents consumption (e.g. brand preference and loyalties, information search and examination patterns, media reliance, price sensitivity and adherence to price-quality beliefs) is typically easier than adults (Childers and Rao, 1992). However, all the previous research talks about the role of idol between adolescents and adults. This study has tried to explore the impulse purchase tendency among idolators and non idolators. We failed to reject the hypothesis i.e. Impulsive buying tendencies are same between Idolator and non idolator adolescents. This may be a specific case of Impulse buying and cannot be generalized to the general buying behavior of adolescents.

Limitations

There are a number of limitations in the research. First due to the time constraint we used convenience sampling. Second thing which is different form the original research that we were unable to find the effect of part time job on impulse buying behavior due to the legal environment of India. The sample profile may not be representative of the population, given the convenience sampling. Sample size was also less due to time and cost constraints, so the findings can not be generalized to population but if research is done on a large no of sample size, the research can have better interpretations.

Conclusions and Scope for Future Research

Given the increasing incidence of mall shopping most of it accompanied by browsing activity, retailers may use the findings of the study to improve their merchandise assortment and improve the shopping environment including store displays to trigger impulse purchases. In a highly competitive environment, only those retailers who exceed the expectations of their customers in terms of providing an enjoyable shopping experience can survive and become successful.

It would also be useful to examine the difference in impulse buying behavior between urban and rural areas. When the conditions for impulse buying behaviors are improved in rural areas (e.g., certain level of income, shopping infrasfructure), it would he meaningful to examine the impulse buying behavior between these markets. In addition, further research may need to examine the impact of situational factors, including physical and social factors, on impulse buying. In this context we may like to examine whether emotional responses to store environments vary by demographics such as gender, age, etc.

References

Abratt, R.and Goodey, S.D., Unplanned Buying and In-Store Stimuli in Supermarkets, Managerialand Decision Economics, 11 (2), pp111-21, 1990.

Bearden, W.O.and Etzel, M.J., Reference Group Influence on Product and Brand Purchase Decisions. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(3), pp.183-194, 1982.

Bellenger, D.N., Robertson, D.H.and Hirschman, E.C., Impulse Buying Varies by Product. Journal of Advertsining Research 18(6), pp15-18, 1978.

Cheng, S.T., Psychological Determinants of Idolatry in Adolescents. Adolescence, 32(127), pp 687-692, 1997.

Childers, T.L.and Rao, A.R., The Influence of Familialand Peer-Based Reference Groups on Consumer Decisions . Journal of Consumer Research, 19(2), pp.198-21 1, 1992.

Cobb, C. J.and Hoyer D. W., Planned Versus Impulse Purchase Behavior, Journal of Retailing, 62 (4), pp384-408, 1986.

Davies, G., J. Bell, The Grocery Shopper is he Different ? International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management19(1) pp25- 28, 1991.

Hoch, S. J. and Loewenstein, C. F., Time-Inconsistent Preferences and Consumer Self Control, Journal of Consumer Research, 17 (4), pp492-507, 1991.

Kollat, D. T. and Ronald P. W., Customer Impulse Purchasing Behavior, Journal of Marketing Research, 4 (February), pp21-31, 1967.

Lin, C.H.and Lin, H.M., An Exploration of Taiwanese Adolescents Impulsive Buying Tendency. Adolescence, 40(157), pp.215-223, 2005.

Mogelonsky, M., Poorand Unschooled, but a Smart Shopper, Journal of American Demographics, 16 (7), pp1415, 1994.

Raviv, A., Bar-Tal, D., Raviv, A.,and Ben-Horin, A., Adolescent Idolization of Pop Singer: Causes, Express, and Reliance. Journal of Youth and Adolescent, 5,pp.631-650, 1996.

Rawlings, D., Jenny B., and Felicity W., The Interaction of Age With Impulsiveness and Venturesomeness in the Prediction of Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Personality and Individual Differences, 19 (1), pp1 17-20, 1995.

Rook, D.W., The Buying Impulse. Journal of Consumer Research, 14(Sep.),pp.188-199, 1987.

Rook, D.W. and Fisher, R.J., Normative Influences on Impulsive Buying Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 22, pp.305-313, 1995.

Rook, D.W. and Gardner, M.P., In the Mood: Impulse Buying's Affective Antecedents. Research in Consumer Behavior, 6, pp.1-28, 1993.

Stern, H., The Significance of Impulse Buying Today, Journal of Marketing, 26 (April), pp 59-62, 1962. Wood, M., Socioeconomic Status, Delay of Gratification, and Impulse Buying 1998. Journal of Economic Psychology, 19(3), pp.295-320.

Rajesh Sharma

Associate Professor,

NIILM Centre for Management

Studies, Greater Noida, UP

Table--I
Sample Profile

    Demographic characteristic   Number   percentage

1   Gender
    Male                           63       60.58
    Female                         41       39.42

2   Age
    14 years old                   11       10.57
    15 years old                   11       10.57
    16 years old                   42       40.38
    17 years old                   38       36.53
    18 years old                   2         1.92

3   Pocket Money (per month)
    < Rs.400                       40       38.46
    Rs.401-800                     36       34.61
    >Rs. 801                       28       26.92

4   Idolatrous behavior
    Yes                            75       72.11
    No                             29       27.88

Table--II
Mean scores and standard deviations for Impulse buying tendency

Item Statistics                                  Mean   Std. Deviation

I often buy things spontaneously                 3.74        1.37

Just do it- describes the way I buy things       3.36        1.40

I often buy things without thinking              2.36        1.52

"I see it, I buy it" describes me                3.80        1.51

"Buy now, think about it later" describes me     2.82        1.58

Sometimes I feel like buying things on the       3.94        1.42
spur of the moment

I buy things according to how I feel at the      4.65        1.19
moment

I carefully plan most of my purchase             2.44        1.43

Sometimes I am a bit reckless about what I buy   3.72        1.42

Table--III
Hypothesis Testing

               p-value   Accepted/rejected

Hypothesis 1   0.045 *   Fail to accept
Hypothesis 2   0.336     Fail to reject
Hypothesis 3   0.441     Fail to reject
Hypothesis 4   0.890     Fail to reject

* Significant at p<.05

Fig.--1

Age

14 years old         11%
15 years old         11%
16 years old         39%
17 years old         37%
18 years old          2%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

Fig.--2

Pocket Money

>Rs.801              27%
>Rs.400              38%
Rs.401-800           35%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

Fig.--3

Yes      72%
No       28%

Note: Table made from pie chart.