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Introduction
Consumers’ impulse buying is an important source of revenue for retailers. In fact, studies have shown that depending on product category, products bought on impulse can account for 40-80 per cent of purchases (Amos et al., 2014). With the rapid growth of multi-channel shopping (i.e. using multiple channels, online and offline, during the purchase process), consumers are constantly exposed to marketing stimuli that can promote impulse buying (Dawson and Kim, 2009). The digital media connected to the internet and cell phones provide a high degree of accessibility for customers, as well as a cost-effective means for product promotion for retailers (Lin and Lin, 2013). Moreover, research suggests that the ease of searching and buying online, along with the lack of social pressures and absence of delivery efforts, could increase consumers’ tendencies to act impulsively (Chan et al., 2017; Madhavaram and Laverie, 2004; Verhagen and van Dolen, 2011). Huang et al. (2015) also state that younger consumers, such as millennials who are highly engaged in multi-channel shopping, perceive online channels to be more genuine and efficient. Despite this, there seems to be a lack of effort in stimulating consumers’ impulse buying, according to Ozen and Engizek (2014).
Because of the prevalence and complexity of impulse buying, the phenomenon has attracted a lot of research interest over the years (Sharma et al., 2010). However, there is no clear theoretical framework explaining impulse buying (Amos et al., 2014), and further research is still called for. Based on Rook (1987), Sharma et al. (2010, p. 277) define impulse buying as “a sudden, compelling, hedonically complex purchase behaviour in which the rapidity of the impulse purchase decision precludes any thoughtful, deliberate consideration of alternatives or future implications”. Clearly, some people are more prone to buying things on impulse than others. Impulse buying tendency (IBT) is regarded to be the most important antecedent of impulse buying (Amos et al., 2014), but there is still a lack of research addressing the interactions between impulse buying tendency and other variables (Amos et al., 2014; Badgaiyan and Verma, 2014; Beatty and Ferrell, 1998; Floh and Madlberger, 2013), especially in an online context (Sun and Wu, 2011).
Considering the extent of impulse purchasing, a better understanding of the...