State-trait interactions in regulatory focus determine impulse buying behavior.

Anand Krishna,Marie Meixner,Sophia Ried,Luigi Cembalo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253634

Abstract

Little research has focused on motivational state-trait interactions to explain impulse buying. Although the trait chronic regulatory focus has been linked to impulse buying, no evidence yet exists for an effect of situational regulatory focus and no research has examined whether the fit of chronic and situational regulatory focus can influence impulse buying with actual consumptive consequences rather than purchase intentions. Two laboratory experiments (total N = 250) manipulated situational regulatory focus before providing opportunities for impulse buying. In addition, cognitive constraint was manipulated as a potential boundary condition for regulatory focus effects. Situational promotion focus increased impulse buying relative to situational prevention focus in participants with strong chronic promotion, consistent with regulatory fit theory and independently of cognitive constraint. Surprisingly, situational promotion focus also increased impulse buying in participants with strong chronic prevention, but only under low cognitive constraint. These results may be explained by diverging mediating cognitive processes for promotion vs. prevention focus' effect on impulse buying. Future research must focus more on combining relevant states and traits in predicting consumer behavior. Marketing implications are discussed.

Highlights

The spontaneous urge to buy is something with which many human beings are intimately familiar
A full 68% of U.S consumers reported having bought something on impulse in the last month in a 2012 survey [1], whereas in-store studies evaluating the extent of impulse buying behavior show that between 46% and 91% of products a consumer buys in a given trip may be impulsive purchases depending on the circumstances [2]
This effect was not impacted by time pressure during the purchase decision, indicating that regulatory focus effects can generalize to fast decisions

Summary

Introduction

The spontaneous urge to buy is something with which many human beings are intimately familiar. Given the large impact of impulse buying behavior on end-user consumption, much research has focused on discovering antecedents and predictors of impulse buying decisions. Impulse buying is usually described as a spontaneous act of purchasing with an associated positive emotional feeling, diminished regard for cost and a temptation to self-fulfil via consumption [3]. The timeframe for an impulsive purchase decision is often short, impulse buying urges may persist over a longer period, albeit thereby increasing the likelihood that the impulse will be curbed by constraining cognitions [4, 5]. The majority of the work on impulse buying concerns direct

Results

Discussion

Conclusion