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ABSTRACT
Impulsive buying is a sudden and power urge to buy the product immediately without much deliberate consideration of information, knowledge and choice alternative. The purpose of this study is to compare men and women for differences in decision making factors associated with impulse buying behavior and to identify gender differences in terms of impulsive purchases made from a variety of product categories. A total of 100 consumers served as the sample. Using factor analysis and chi-square tests, men and women were found to be significantly different with respect to affective process components (irresistible urge to buy, positive buying emotion and mood management) and cognitive process components (cognitive deliberation and unplanned buying). Significant differences were also found between men and women in the frequency with which the following product categories were purchased on impulse: apparels, accessories, shoes, electronics, music CDs or DVDs, health/beauty products, and household products etc. Numerous factors, which play a significant role in the impulse shopping of the customer, were studied in this study, The study extends to find out if there is any cognitive dissonance in the customer after making an impulse purchase and which gender suffers more with the cognitive dissonance.
Key Words : Cognitive Dissonance, Gender Bias, Impulse Buying Behavior
INTRODUCTION
An impulse purchase is an unplanned or otherwise spontaneous purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is often referred to as an impulse purchaser or impulse buyer. Marketers and retailers tend to exploit the impulse buying behavior. It has been identified that impulse purchases are made by the consumers in order to gratify themselves. Shopping in itself has been labeled as a mood elevating activity by various psychologists. For example, a shopper in a supermarket might not specifically be shopping for confectionary or sweets. However, candy, gum, mints and chocolate are prominently displayed at the checkout aisles to trigger impulse buyers to buy what they might not have otherwise considered. Alternatively, impulse buying can occur when a potential consumer spots something related to a product that stirs a particular passion and desire in them, such as seeing a certain country's flag on the cover of a certain DVD. Sale items are displayed in much the same fashion.
Impulse buying is such a sudden phenomenon...