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ACADEMIC PAPER

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Gender differences in cognitive and affective impulse buying

The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
Keywords Cognition, Buying behaviour, Gender Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare men and women for differences in affective and cognitive processes associated with impulse buying behavior and to identify gender differences in terms of impulsive purchases made from a variety of product categories. A total of 277 students served as the sample. Using analysis of variance tests, males and females were found to be significantly different with respect to affective process components (irresistible urge to buy, positive buying emotion and mood management) and cognitive process components (cognitive deliberation and unplanned buying). Significant differences were also found between men and women in the frequency with which the following product categories were purchased on impulse: shirts/sweaters, pants/skirts, coats, underwear/lingerie, accessories, shoes, electronics, hardware, computer software, music CDs or DVDs, sports memorabilia, health/beauty products, and magazines/books for pleasure reading.

Amanda Coley and Brigitte Burgess

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management Vol. 7 No. 3, 2003 pp. 282-295 # MCB UP Limited 1361-2026 DOI 10.1108/13612020310484834

Introduction As industry moves from mass marketing into an era of mass customization, marketers and retailers seek characteristics that can be used to differentiate consumers and streamline segmentation strategies. Resulting from this surge is an increased interest in several areas of consumer behavior including impulse buying (Foreman, 1999). Retailers are well aware that a sizable portion of their sales volume is generated by impulsive purchases, with over 50 percent of mall shoppers buying items on impulse and as much as 70 percent of all grocery items being impulsively purchased (Nichols et al., 2001; Underhill, 1999). With non-store retailing such as online shopping gaining market share, retailers are experiencing a decline in impulse purchases at retail stores, affecting their bottom line (Christman, 1999). A seemingly under-researched factor affecting consumers' impulsive buying decisions is gender, although this demographic variable is one that retailers consistently use as a means of classifying customer behavior (Chiger, 2001; Marks, 2002; Otnes and McGrath, 2001). Researchers have been reporting gender differences in terms of shopping preference and behavior for many years and, despite the modern tendency to downplay gender differences, research shows that men's and women's shopping behavior differs on many levels. Men and women have been found to process information differently (Peter and Olson, 1999), relate to and value material possessions differently, purchase different items for different reasons (Dittmar et al., 1995, 1996) and

approach the shopping task differently (Berni, 2001; Chiger, 2001). Although previous studies have included gender as a variable of study (Dittmar et al., 1995, 1996), the purposes differed from the current study. Gender has also been included in the methodologies of other impulsive buying studies, although direct empirical evidence is not available regarding gender differences in terms of cognition and affect, which are considered to greatly contribute to consumers' purchase decisions (Burroughs, 1996; Dittmar et al., 1996; Youn and Faber, 2000). Therefore the purpose of this study was to compare men and women for differences in affective and cognitive processes associated with impulse buying behavior and to identify gender differences in terms of impulsive purchases made from a variety of product categories. Review of the literature Impulsive buying, as a function of affect and cognition and their six lower order components (Youn, 2000), served as the conceptual framework for this study. Generally speaking, affect and cognition influence decision making, where affect refers to feelings, emotions and moods and cognition refers to thinking, understanding and interpreting information (Youn, 2000). Because of their inter-relationship, affect and cognition can be thought of as end-points on a continuum. As the affective state overcomes cognition, impulsive buying behavior becomes more likely (Youn, 2000). Affective components include irresistible urge to buy, positive buying emotions and mood management. Cognitive components are cognitive deliberation, unplanned buying and disregard for the future (Table I). Further information regarding the process components can be found in Table I. Early research on impulse buying was directed mainly at a taxonomic level among various product categories (e.g. Bellenger et al., 1978; Kollat and Willett, 1967; West, 1951) and within different retail establishments (Clover, 1950; Prasad, 1975). Product-related research resulted in the finding that impulse
Affective process involves emotions, feeling states, moods Irresistible urge to buy Desire is instant, persistent and so compelling that it is hard for the consumer to resist Positive buying emotion Refers to positive mood states generated from self-gratifying motivations provided by impulse buying Mood management Impulse buying is, in part, motivated by the desire to change or manage feelings or moods Cognitive process involves thinking, understanding, interpreting Cognitive deliberation Refers to a sudden urge to act without deliberation or evaluation of consequences Unplanned buying Refers to lack of clear planning Disregard for the future The result of choosing an immediate option with lack of concern or consideration about the future Source: Adapted from Youn (2000)

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Table I. Affective and cognitive psychological processes and related components pertaining to impulse buying

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buying was widespread across product categories with few products being unaffected by impulse buying (Bellenger et al., 1978; Rook, 1987; Rook and Hoch, 1985). Consumers continue to be influenced both by long-term rational concerns and by more short-term emotional concerns, which affect their purchase decisions (Dholakia, 2000; Youn and Faber, 2000). As a result, consumer's behavior at any given point in time is distinctly related to selfcontrol and impulsivity. Impulse buying is closely tied to reflexes or responses stemming from external or environmental stimuli as well as internal stimuli (Youn and Faber, 2000). The action or reaction to stimuli is processed affectively, cognitively or by a combination of the two. The recognition of this combination of thoughts and emotions, created and perceived by the consumer, is what has led to the present day understanding of impulse buying. Consumers who are more susceptible to emotions or affective states have been found likely to experience an irresistible urge to buy (Dholakia, 2000; Rook, 1987; Youn and Faber, 2000). The desire to make an impulse purchase has been described as compelling, exciting and immediate (Rook, 1987). Later these types of feelings were determined to be linked with personality, where impulse buyers were found to lack cognitive control in buying situations (Youn and Faber, 2000). In comparing buyers categorized as more or less prone to impulsive buying behavior, Youn and Faber (2000) found a difference in terms of the impact of positive and depressed feelings on impulse buying, where highly prone impulse buyers were more affected. This finding supports those of an earlier study in which buying items on impulse was an effective method for altering or managing moods such as boredom, depression and frustration (Gardner and Rook, 1988). Browsing activity, mediated by affective state, has been shown to relate to impulsive buying tendencies of mall shoppers (Beatty and Ferrell, 1998). The increased occurrence of impulse buying due to consumers' desire to either change or prolong a mood or emotional state has been evidenced in the findings of other researchers as well (Gardner and Rook, 1988; Rook, 1987; Rook and Gardner, 1993). For some shoppers, mood may be the most important psychological consideration leading to impulse buying (Dittmar et al., 1996). Rook and Fisher (1995) found that shoppers' impulsive buying tendencies are tempered by perceptions that the outcome will be positive rather than negative. While shoppers with impulsive buying tendencies may view an impulse purchase as negative and successfully resist the temptation, at other times they are also more likely to rationalize the negative feelings and make the purchase anyway. This indicates that, although impulsive shoppers may deliberate about the purchase on a cognitive level, at some point in the decisionmaking process the shopper's affective state overcomes their cognitive willpower. These findings support a study, which concluded that, although cognitive deliberation plays a part in the impulse buyer's decision, its influence is smaller than that of the affective state (Weinberg and Gottwald, 1982). Additionally, the tendency to make the impulse purchase is interposed by

situational influences as well as the shopper's past experiences (Rook and Fisher, 1995). Researchers have differentiated between impulse buying and unplanned buying. Cobb and Hoyer (1986) conducted a study identifying three types of purchasers planners, partial planners, and impulse buyers. Planners intended to purchase both the category and the brand, partial planners intended to purchase the product category but not the brand, and impulse purchasers had no intention to purchase category or brand. This finding is consistent with other research, which found that, for unplanned purchases, individual shopper characteristics might not be as salient as situational variables (Prasad, 1975; Stern, 1962). For some shoppers the desire to act impulsively results in a total disregard for the consequences of the purchase. For consumers who dismiss the possibility of a negative outcome resulting from the purchase, feelings of remorse or guilt may develop (Dittmar and Drury, 2000; Gardner and Rook, 1988; Rook, 1987). Interestingly, some consumers may feel regret due to the monetary expenditure, while maintaining satisfaction that the purchase was made (Dittmar and Drury, 2000). Utilizing cognition, consumers are better equipped to make rational purchase decisions and, in turn, make fewer impulse purchases. This may involve evaluating information resulting from comparison shopping, reference group recommendations and advertisements. In a landmark study, Stern (1962) classified four distinct types of impulse buying that can be categorized according to the amount of affect versus cognition present in the decision process. Pure impulse buying, where an emotional appeal triggers the impulse to buy, represents the least amount of cognitive involvement. The remaining three types involve a combination of cognitive and affective influence, with cognition increasing respectively. A suggested impulse buy occurs when a shopper sees an item for the first time and desire to buy is formed without prior product knowledge. Planned impulse buying occurs when a shopper has some specific purchase in mind; however, the actual purchase depends upon price specials, coupon offers and the like. Reminder impulse buying results from a predetermined need that is prompted upon encountering the item while shopping (Stern, 1962). Burroughs (1996) attempted to better integrate the role of cognition and affect in impulsive buying situations. This research showed that consumers utilize holistic information processing and are capable of evaluating a purchase decision with great speed by generalizing product information in such a way that its symbolic meaning can be almost immediately compared with the shopper's self-image. When a match is found, the purchase is made. The contention is that more cognition is involved in impulse buying decisions than previously reported (Burroughs, 1996). Differences between shoppers are of great interest to an industry that is actively seeking methods by which they can better target consumers. As such, gender poses a timely avenue of investigation. Women's behavior is

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generally thought of as being more emotionally and psychologically rooted than men, suggesting that they are more susceptible to impulse purchasing. Additionally, it has been argued that women, because of their propensity to shop more than men in general, make more impulsive purchases (Dittmar et al., 1996; Rook and Hoch, 1985). However, other researchers have suggested that, if the number of purchases is held constant, men and women have the same degree of susceptibility to impulse purchases (Kollat and Willett, 1967). Recent research shows that men aged 18-34 shop considerably more than older men in every retail channel (Marks, 2002), and that men aged 16-24 are more openly shopping for health and beauty aids than in past years (Global Cosmetic Industry, 2002), possibly indicating a future trend towards less stereotypical shopping behavior. Historically, women have been found to be more likely to shop for aesthetic products, while men are more likely to shop for functional products (Dittmar et al., 1996; Rook and Hoch, 1985), leading to the determination that women will purchase different types of products on impulse compared with men as well as engage more strongly in more affective impulse buying than men. Hypotheses Based on the conceptual framework and supported by the literature review, the following hypotheses were constructed. There will be no significant difference in impulse buying behavior between men and women in terms of: H1. Individual affective process components: irresistible urge to buy, positive buying emotions, mood management. H2. Individual cognitive process components: cognitive deliberation, unplanned buying, disregard for the future. H3. Product category purchased. Research design and methodology Variables of study Affective and cognitive process components have been developed and used successfully in previous research (e.g. Beatty and Ferrell, 1998; Youn, 2000). Items from those studies, which related to affective and cognitive process components, were selected to create multi-item scales for the current study. A total of 15 items representing the affective process components (irresistible urge to buy, positive buying emotions and mood management) and the cognitive process components (cognitive deliberation, unplanned buying and disregard for the future) were identified from the literature review and were specifically chosen because of the generality of their nature and representation of each variable as suggested in the literature. Responses to these items were measured using four choice options from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4).

To measure frequency of impulse purchases, respondents indicated how often they impulsively purchased items from 15 product categories. Responses were measured using a five-point scale consisting of: (1) never; (2) more than yearly; (3) yearly; (4) seasonally; or (5) monthly or more. Several demographic questions were asked of each respondent including gender, marital status, age, job status (unemployed, part-time job, full-time job), university classification (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate student), approximate grade point average (GPA), and estimated monthly disposable income. Responses for GPA and disposable income were openended in format. Data collection According to the trade literature impulse buying behavior is more prominent in younger adults (Retail World, 2002). This, coupled with Wood's (1998) finding that some education beyond high school was significantly associated with impulsive buying behavior, led to the decision to use graduate and undergraduate university students as the sample for this study. These students were enrolled in merchandising, consumer economics and psychology courses at a large university. Professors of each class were contacted by phone for permission to give out the survey during their class. A researcher visited each class and discussed the purpose and objectives of the study, gave directions, answered questions and collected the completed surveys. Incentives for participation were not offered. A total of 277 surveys were collected and all were complete and usable. Data analysis and discussion of findings Data reduction Principal components analysis with varimax rotation was used to reduce affective and cognitive component items into related factors. Factors with eigenvalues of one and greater were retained. Individual items were retained within a factor if it loaded at 0.50 or higher in one factor and at 0.49 or lower on remaining factors. From this process, 14 items were successfully loaded into five factors, accounting for 75.68 percent of the total variance explained (Table II). Three of these factors represented affective components: (1) irresistible urge to buy; (2) positive buying emotions; and (3) mood management.

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Measurement item Affective components

Factor % component variance Cronbach loading explained alpha

288

Irresistible urge to buy I always buy if I really like it When I shop I tend to decide what I want to buy while I am looking around in a store Positive buying emotions I feel a sense of thrill when I am buying something new I feel excited when making a purchase Mood management Sometimes, I buy something in order to make myself feel better Buying is a way of reducing stress in my daily life Sometimes I regret buying new things I experience mixed feelings of pleasure and guilt from buying something on impulse Cognitive components Cognitive deliberation When you think about your buying behavior in general, do you consider yourself to be an impulse buyer? Would people who know you consider you to be an impulse buyer? I rarely ever buy impulsivelya I make a list when I go shopping and buy only what is on the lista Unplanned buying If I see something that I think I need, I buy it even though I went shopping for other purposes When I go shopping, I buy things that I had not intended to purchase Note: Items reverse-scored
a

0.81 0.80 0.87 0.83

24.52

0.47

20.70

0.68

13.99 0.80 0.73 0.72 0.59 8.74 0.92 0.89 0.87 0.45 7.73 0.88 0.87

0.57

0.81

0.69

Table II. Scale reliability of impulsive buying components

Two factors emerged, representing cognitive components: cognitive deliberation and unplanned buying (Table II). A factor for disregard for the future did not emerge, resulting in its elimination from further analysis. Cronbach alpha tests were employed to determine factor reliability (Table II). Although the alpha score for irresistible urge to buy was marginal (0.4721), this variable was retained for analysis because of its importance in the literature review and should be interpreted and generalized with caution. Items representing the three affective factors pertained to emotions, moods and feelings. The two items comprising irresistible urge to buy related to the shopper's inclination to always buy items he or she really liked and the use of browsing as the method of deciding which items to purchase. This illustrates

the instant and compelling desire for products, as indicated in the literature review. Positive buying emotion comprised two items having to do with feeling thrilled when buying something new or feeling excited about making a purchase. Both of these refer to positive mood states generated from selfgratifying motivations which impulse buying has been shown to prolong. Similar to the desire to prolong an enjoyable mood is the mood management component of the affective process, where impulse buying can be motivated by the desire to change or manage feelings or moods. The four items in this factor included statements regarding elevating feelings and reducing feelings of stress as well as leading to regret or mixed feelings of pleasure and guilt over making an impulse purchase. Cognitive process factors as they relate to impulse buying referred, in general, to the tendency to think through purchase decisions and their possible consequences. The factor representing cognitive deliberation included four items ranging from describing whether others would consider the respondent to be an impulsive buyer to the tendency not to purchase impulsively or to make and stick to shopping lists. The other cognitive process factor, unplanned buying, resulted in two salient items, which were impulsively choosing items when shopping for other purposes and buying items that were not previously intended for purchase. Demographic findings Women comprised three-quarters (75.8 percent) of the sample and this can be explained due to their overwhelming presence in the merchandising courses. Although the proportion of men to women is unequal, the numbers are acceptable for the types of statistical tests employed. Juniors and seniors comprised the majority of the sample (86.6 percent), with most of them being between the ages of 20 to 22 (76.2 percent). These findings were anticipated because courses in which data collection was allowed were upper level courses and these ages are typical for junior and senior students. Taking age into consideration, finding the vast majority was single (93.5 percent) was not surprising. Grade point averages (on a 4.0 scale) consisted of 50.9 percent of the sample having a 3.0 or higher GPA, 32.8 percent having between a 2.5 and 2.99 GPA, and 14.5 percent having a GPA below 2.5. Almost 60 percent were full-time students and 37.9 percent reported having a part-time job. Estimated monthly disposable income amounts ranged from $0 to $3,000 per month with a mean of $281 and a mode of $200. In addition to part-time jobs, students likely received financial funds from other sources including family, scholarships and grants. Hypotheses findings Hypothesis 1 H1, which questioned gender-related differences for each of the three affective components of impulse buying, was tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The first test, for irresistible urge to buy, was significant at the 0.05 level (Table III). Women were more likely to experience an irresistible urge to

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Null hypothesis

Means Women Men

t-value

p-value

290

There is no significant difference between men and women in terms of: H1. Affective components 2.62 2.83 a. Irresistible urge to buy 2.81 3.20 b. Positive buying emotion 2.52 2.83 c. Mood management H2. Cognitive components a. Cognitive deliberation b. Unplanned buying H3. Product category purchased a. Shirts/sweaters b. Pants/skirts c. Suits/business wear d. Coats e. Underwear/lingerie f. Accessories g. Shoes h. Electronics i. Hardware j. Computer software k. Music CDs or DVDs l. Sports memorabilia m. Entertainment n. Health and beauty o. Magazines, books for pleasure reading 2.76 3.05 4.25 4.07 2.33 2.90 4.06 3.80 4.12 2.28 1.60 1.71 3.68 2.31 3.98 4.79 4.26 2.51 2.84 3.76 3.67 2.11 2.45 3.72 2.87 3.45 2.99 2.54 2.10 4.07 2.75 4.17 3.82 3.73

2.55 5.75 3.74 3.47 3.17 4.43 3.46 1.65 3.61 2.45 5.97 5.80 5.23 5.86 3.02 2.17 2.26 1.17 5.31 2.60

0.011* 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.001** 0.002** 0.000*** 0.001** 0.100 0.000*** 0.016* 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.003** 0.031* 0.026* 0.244 0.000*** 0.011*

Table III. Summary of hypotheses tests

Notes: * Significant at p < 0.05; ** Significant at p < 0.01; *** Significant at p < 0.001

buy (mean 2.83) compared with men (mean 2.62) including using browsing as a method of determining the products they wish to buy. Additionally women were more likely than men to always buy an item they really liked. Early research indicated that women may experiencing a greater urge to buy than men may be due to the greater number of total shopping experiences in which women are likely to engage (Kollat and Willett, 1967). The result of the second test, to determine whether a significant gender difference existed in terms of positive buying emotion, was significant (p = 0.000) (Table III). By examining mean scores, it seems that women were more likely to experience positive buying emotions (mean 3.20) compared with men (mean 2.81). Women were more likely than men to report feeling excitement or a thrill when making a purchase. This finding supports that of Dittmar et al. (1995), who found mood and enjoyment more salient for women than men. The result of the third test, to determine whether a significant difference existed between men and women in terms of mood management, was significant (p = 0.000) (Table III), indicating that women (mean 2.83) are more likely to engage in impulse buying as a way to manage their mood and

eliminate stress than men (mean 2.52). Women have been found to be more aware and more concerned with their moods and in return more able and more motivated to change or maintain their feeling and moods compared with men (Peter and Olson, 1999). Women in the current study were also found to be more likely than men to exhibit feelings of regret or mixed feelings of pleasure and guilt over making an impulse purchase. In terms of the overall affective process, it seems that women were likely to exhibit a greater tendency to shop under the influence of affective states than men. Previous research has shown that women tend to value emotional and symbolic possessions more than men for more emotional and relationship oriented reasons (Dittmar et al., 1995; Underhill, 1999), which partially explains their tendency to shop from an affective mindset. Because of the significance of the ANOVA tests H1 was rejected. Hypothesis 2 H2, which was constructed to determine gender differences related to the cognitive components of impulse buying, was tested using separate ANOVA tests for each component. The result of the first test, used to determine whether a significant difference existed in terms of cognitive deliberation, was significant (p = 0.001) (Table III). By examining mean scores, it appears that women (mean 2.76) were more likely to engage in cognitive deliberation when shopping compared with men (mean 2.51). Cognitive influence referred, in general, to the tendency to think through purchase decisions and their possible consequences. An explanation may be that women, compared with men, are more patient and enjoy the experience of making a good choice selection (Underhill, 1999). The result of the second test, to determine whether a significant difference existed between men and women in terms of unplanned buying, was significant (p = 0.002) (Table III) as well. It appears that women (mean 3.05) are more likely than men (mean 2.84) to participate in unplanned buying, often purchasing items without prior intention and purchasing items when shopping for other purposes. This result supports the literature stating that men are less likely than women to browse while they shop, tending instead to seek and purchase the items they are intending to buy before entering the store (Underhill, 1999). For the cognitive process components it seems that women exhibit more thinking while buying on impulse than men. Underhill (1999) recognized that women are generally more patient and inquisitive than men about purchase decisions. Rook and Hoch (1985) found that men view shopping as a waste of time. By nature, men may be less inclined to try and rationalize an impulse purchase or feel the need cognitively to valuate the purchase. Owing to the significance of these findings H2 was rejected. Hypothesis 3 It was hypothesized that no differences existed between men and women with regard to the frequency of purchasing a variety of products on impulse. In all, 13

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of the 15 product categories were significant (Table III). Based on mean scores (Table III) women more frequently made impulse purchases from apparelrelated product categories than men, including shirts or sweaters (p = 0.000), pants/skirts (p = 0.001), coats (p = 0.000), underwear/lingerie (p = 0.016), accessories (p = 0.000) and shoes (p = 0.000). In Western cultures women are generally regarded and accepted as more ornamentally adorned. Women tend to value emotional and symbolic possessions more than men, are more emotional and image-guided (Dittmar et al., 1995; Underhill, 1999). Jewelry and accessories have the potential for self-presentation, self-expression, and mood adjustment (Dittmar et al., 1995), making these items more appealing to women. This finding supports previous research in which women were more likely to impulsively purchase apparel (Dittmar et al., 1996; Rook and Hoch, 1985). Men were more likely than women to impulsively purchase items from product categories related to technology and entertainment (Table III). These included electronics (p = 0.000), computer software (p = 0.003) and music CDs or DVDs (p = 0.031). An explanation for this difference is that men prefer buying functional, instrumental and leisure items compared with women, who prefer buying symbolic and self-expressive goods concerned with appearance and emotional aspects of self (Dittmar et al., 1995, 1996; Underhill, 1999). Of the remaining product categories men were found to purchase hardware (p = 0.000) as well as sports memorabilia (p = 0.026) on impulse more frequently than women (Table III). Hardware is related to functional types of products, which are favored by men, as well as a product typically associated with traditional male social roles (Dittmar et al., 1995). Sports memorabilia is a product category related to activities in which men are generally more interested in terms of type and variety than women. Utility and personal identities are expressed with such items. These types of products allow men to compensate for or fulfill a strong masculine identity or self-concept (Dittmar et al., 1995). Women purchased more health and beauty items on impulse than men (p = 0.000), which can be explained by the fact that women are more emotional and image-guided and purchase goods that project emotional and appearance aspects of self (Dittmar et al., 1995). Women were found to impulsively purchase magazines and books for pleasure reading with more frequency than men (p = 0.011), which may, in part, be due to magazine content, which presents extensive information related to women's concerns about appearance and body-related issues. Because of the large number of significant results related to product category, H3 was rejected. Women purchased eight of the 13 significant product categories with more frequency than men. Generally, men made impulse purchases in product categories where strong personal identity was of concern, whereas women made impulse purchases in product categories that related to social identity. Women bought products that express emotional stylistic appearance, while men bought products that are more instrumental, use-related, and functional, supporting, in general, the findings of Dittmar et al. (1995).

Implications and conclusions The purpose of this study was to compare men and women for differences in affective and cognitive processes associated with impulse buying behavior and to compare men and women in terms of the frequency with which impulsive purchases were made from a variety of product categories. Overall results show that women were affectively and cognitively more impulsive. Significant differences were found between men and women in terms of irresistible urge to buy, positive buying emotion, mood management, cognitive deliberation and unplanned buying. Men and women were found to differ in terms of the frequency with which a variety of products were impulsively purchased including: shirts/sweaters, pants/skirts, coats, underwear/lingerie, accessories, shoes, electronics, hardware, computer software, music CDs or DVDs, sports memorabilia, health and beauty products and magazines and books for pleasure reading. Results suggest several implications for industry. Positive buying emotion and mood management were the most significant components of the affective process. Retailers should constantly work on creating a positive shopping environment. Atmosphere is key in attracting and keeping the consumer excited about the shopping experience. Attractive decor, creative merchandising, appropriate lighting, music and aromas enhance mood and emotion, which may trigger affective tendencies leading to impulsive behavior. Using affective appeals in store signage and public address announcements/ advertisements may also elicit impulsive buying emotion. These elements can be used to motivate shoppers to make an impulse purchase as a way to manage or prolong mood. These implications should be especially effective in influencing women, who are more susceptible to emotion and mood by nature. For men, this task may be more difficult. Since they tend to shop more for functional items and items that are more personal than social, retailers with this type of product mix should incorporate affective and cognitive elements into their merchandising and promotional strategies, emphasizing product functionality. Cognitive deliberation and unplanned buying, both components of the cognitive process, also resulted in findings that lead to implications for industry. In-store displays and promotions can be important influences of impulsive buying. Various marketing strategies should be considered related to merchandising and promotions of products such as friendly and educated sales associates and well-designed displays. Providing signage and advertising that address the cognitive aspects of impulse buying could eliminate concerns that the purchase would be unwise. This would enhance cognitive states by increasing information processing and assisting with deliberation leading to less anticipated post-purchase remorse. Retailers can increase the level of temptation to make an impulse purchase by removing barriers that could lead to the decision not to make the impulse purchase. Acceptance of credit cards, automatic teller machines, 24-hour retailing and money-back guarantees can strengthen or create temptations and

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increase impulse buying. Available time has a positive influence on browsing behavior. Retailers might attempt to influence the time consumers have available in the store by making shopping more efficient. This can be accomplished by aiding the shopper in finding his or her planned items more quickly. Some products were impulsively purchased with more frequency than others. Careful merchandising of these items, as outlined above, can increase frequency of impulse purchases. To do so, retailers should work on identifying and profiling their target market regularly, so as to ensure that the customer they attract is the one they are actually targeting. Knowing who the customer is will allow the retailer to present merchandise in a way that sparks the impulsive desire. In conclusion, impulsive buying represents interesting, multi-dimensional phenomena, which provide fertile ground for industry-related implications and future consumer behavior research. The findings of this study suggest that future research should be conducted which expands this study to include a nonstudent sample, demographic subcultures, social classes and lifestyle factors. Also of interest would be to explore impulse buying within television, Internet, telemarketing, direct mail shopping, and other non-store formats. Finally, since impulse buying is presumed to be largely universal, research should investigate cultural differences in impulse buying behavior.
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