Investigation of customer mindset behind impulse buying behaviour

Abstract

The landscape of the shopping industry has changed drastically over the past decade. What began with the advent of the hypermarkets and megamarkets that brought in modern retailing, the deep penetration of the internet has furthered the changes in the retail industry. With several domestic and foreign players continually entering into the space, the options for the consumers are endless. These new entrants, in addition to the increasing disposable incomes in the population have changed consumer shopping behaviours as well and now have paved the way to understand what is known as impulse buying behaviour. Impulse buying behaviour refers to the sudden urge to indulge in purchasing products that the consumer was initially now planning on buying. Researchers have been interested in understanding the consumer mindset behind impulse buying behaviours for several years now. It is interesting to understand the thought process that goes behind buying something spontaneously. This report aims to understand the driving factors behind impulse buying behaviour. Several aspects of impulse buying behaviour in the likes of external factors such as the in-store aesthetics, the promotional mails, the advertisements etc., and internal factors such as psychological urges that might cause a temptation to buy a product or the immediate sense of satisfaction that buying a product might provide have been analysed. Other factors such as the prevalence of the behaviour in each gender and the kind of products that each gender indulges in have also been covered in the scope of the research.