Applications of SOR and para-social interactions (PSI) towards impulse buying: the Malaysian perspective

Abstract

Nowadays, sellers and buyers are utilizing social platforms, such as mobile instant messaging (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc.) for online trading/purchase interaction. The present study is conducted to empirically examine the relationship of the intrinsic factors: para-social interaction (PSI), impulse buying tendency (IBT), normative evaluation (NE), positive affect (PA) with the urge to buy impulsively (UB) during the purchase interaction with the sellers on mobile instant messaging. The current study integrates S–O–R and PSI theory to develop the research model. A cross-sectional study was applied by utilizing an online survey with 183 responses that have been collected. The findings indicate that IBT, NE, and PA positively related to Gen-Y consumers’ urge to buy impulsively during the purchase interaction with the sellers on mobile instant messaging. Surprisingly, PSI is not significantly related to UB. However, PSI significantly associated with IBT and PA, respectively.