The urge to splurge: Differentiating unplanned and impulse purchases

Abstract

This research note addresses a significant gap in the literature regarding the underlying mechanisms of purchase decision-making that lead to unplanned and impulse purchases. Although several papers have highlighted the differences between the two purchase types, recent academic publications continue to use those terms interchangeably. Through a systematic literature review, this study identified six high-level constructs, in line the Theoretical Domains Framework, that effectively differentiate unplanned from impulse purchase types. Overall, impulse (vs. unplanned) purchases have a primary association with automatic (vs. reflective) motivation. With these findings, academic researchers can better define the types of purchase they are investigating, including the main constructs and underlying psychological mechanisms that are associated with these purchases. As a result, this study substantially improves the reliability of knowledge in this domain. Additionally, this study may encourage marketers to expand their existing toolkits with a broader set of activities that can drive these different purchase types. For instance, marketers could appeal to different underlying purchase decision-making mechanisms: for unplanned purchases, they could offer reminders of related products; for impulse purchases, they could focus on immediate gratification.