The Study on the Decision Making and Influencial Factors of Impulse-Buying Behavior

Lee, Jung Won(Major in Marketing Dept. of Business Administration Graduate School, Sookmyung Women's University)

Today most of the products in market are subject to impulse-buying. Most people have at least some experience of impulse buying.

Marketing innovations, which induce consumers to make an abrupt or convenient buying, as well as the changes in consumption value-system, the socio-economic role of women, and life-style change, and the like are giving inducing impulse buying. Recently the ratio of impulse-buying has been increasing rapidly.

Under such circumstances, it was deemed necessary to conduct a systematic research on impulse-buying behavior of consumers.

This research preparatorily formulated a theoretical system of the concept of impulse-buying, of impulse-buying process and of influential factors. And the empirical research was based on data elicited from 498 women of 20 or more years all residing in Seoul.

The major findings of this theorentical/empirical are as follows:

1. Impulse-buying behavior is the term used to describe case a consumer purchasing goods bored on purchasing-impulse, i.e., urge to buy something that can be characterized as an abrupt, powerful, irresistible and prompt reaction.

2. The concept of impulse-buying is different from that of unplanned buying, which includes all kinds of buying acts in which purchasing-decision is made in the shop. Unplanned buying includes impulse-buying as well as habitual buying, reminder buying, and such other buying acts as purchasing-decision process, though made instantly in the shop, is rational.

3. Decision-making process of impulse-buying goes thru the following steps: buying impulse (selective problem recognition), buying intention, buying-impulse controlling, and buying action.

4. The characteristic of decision-making process of impulse-buying is first of all in the fact that impulse-buying, even non-usual purchasing behavior, does not coincide with information-seeking or alternative evalvation. And while even in a short time the consumer experiences a degree of conflicts in some cases, often buying-impulse is over come by the controlling will.

5. The influencial factors of impulse-buying behavior are classfied on the ground of stimulus-exposures degree, buying-impulses degree, and the degree of buying-impulse control.

6. The influencial factors of impulse-buying behavior include marketing stimuli; manufacturer, retailer, as well as situational factor, consumer's factors in which case consumer's inner character is most important.

7. Impulse-buying behavior takes place usually in the cases of which products, price or market place are necessary to everyday life.

Impulse-buying is most frequent with items of fabrics or accessory, with medium priced ones, with lace, the department store has the highest impulse-buying ratio.

8. With demographic characteristics, there is no statistical significant difference among impulse buyer groups.

9. Information-seeking inclinations is infulenced by consumer's characteristic such as name-brand preference, fashion-inclination, recreational-shopping and future-stability preference(-)', etc, and marketing-stimulus factors as well as negative consumer situational factors have on affirmative influence on buying-impulse.

On the other hand consumer's characteristics such as economic purchasing desire and non-fashion inclination, and experience of negative impulse buying, etc., have an affirmative influence on buying-impulse and controlling-impulse. In that case, buying-impulse have a positive influence on impulse-buying, while controlling-impulse has a negative influence on.

10. When standardized regression coefficients(β-value) compared with, calculated by path analysis, consumer's characteristic is found having relatively a greater influence in contrast with other factors.