Impulsive purchasing in grocery shopping: Do the shopping companions matter?

Xuqi Chen, Bachir Kassas and Zhifeng Gao

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2021, vol. 60, issue C

Abstract: Impulsive purchasing occurs when consumers succumb to urges to make purchases without careful evaluation. Unlike research examining personal factors as the predictors of impulse purchase behavior, our study incorporates internal and external factors by exploring the interpersonal influences of different types of shopping companions. A survey was conducted with 791 participants who indicated the types of companions they accompany when grocery shopping and reported how each type influences their purchase decisions. Results show that parents and spouses are the most common shopping companions and the most influential on the shoppers' impulse purchase decisions compared to other types of companions (e.g., significant others, colleagues, children, friends, and other shoppers). Additionally, the effect of different shopping companions varies based on the shoppers' internal characteristics and the social distance between the shopper and the shopping companion. Finally, while individual factors (e.g., age, gender, income, education, impulsivity, and emotional susceptibility) significantly affect shoppers’ impulse purchase decisions, the magnitude and direction of the effect of these factors differ significantly based on the type of shopping companion.

Keywords: Impulsive purchasing; Impulsivity; Emotional susceptibility; Shopping companions; Social distance; Interpersonal influence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 Q13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joreco:v:60:y:2021:i:c:s0969698921000618

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102495

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