Online Impulse Buying – Integrative Review of Social Factors and Marketing Stimuli

Abstract

Although the growth of e-commerce to the most distant areas of the world, the increasing orientation of civilisations towards consumption, new opportunities for impulsive buying, and considering that impulse buying has already been studied since the 1950s, its literature still seems to lack further details for a better validation and understanding. The intention of this paper is to make an integrative review on the impact of social factors and marketing stimuli on online impulse buying, specifically considering the following aspects: individualism and collectivism, power distance belief, parasocial interaction, social symbols and identity, the consumer’s need for uniqueness, sales promotion, product diversity, product attractiveness, brand, color and hedonism, and credit card usage. This paper is also intended to encourage further studies about the impact of online impulse buying on environmental sustainability. Even though this review may help marketers tailor strategies to increase sales, it may also be a starting point to help consumers reduce their impulse buying behavior, and consequently, their environmental footprint. Apparently, all of the aforementioned factors impact online impulse buying.