Impulse Buying

Comparative study of Impulse buying
behaviour of Indian students in

Dublin and in India
Nupur Kalose
MSc Marketing
Student Number 10386550
Supervisor Name: Dr. Chantal Ladias
Word Count: 14577
August 2019
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Declaration............................................................................................................................................. 7
Acknowledgment ................................................................................................................................... 8
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 9
1.1 Research Motivation ................................................................................................................. 10
1.2 Research Aims ..................................................................................................................... 11
1.3 Recipients of the Research ................................................................................................. 11
1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 11
1.5 Dissertation Structure and Overview ................................................................................ 12
1.6 Ethics Statement.................................................................................................................. 13
2. Literature Review ....................................................................................................................... 14
2.1 Literature Introduction ............................................................................................................ 14
2.2 Literature theme one: Definition and Types of Impulse Buying .......................................... 14
2.3 Literature theme two: Self-Regulation and Mood Repair .................................................... 20
2.4 Literature theme three: Sales Promotion ............................................................................... 22
2.5 Literature theme four: Influence of Culture on Impulsiveness ............................................ 24
2.6 Literature theme five: Influence of Merchandising (Visual Attention) ............................... 25
2.7 Literature Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 26
3. Research Methodology ............................................................................................................... 27
3.1 Research Design ........................................................................................................................ 27
3.2 Research Objective ................................................................................................................... 28
3.3 Research Approach ................................................................................................................... 28
3.4 Research Strategy ..................................................................................................................... 29
3.5 Research Questionnaire Design ............................................................................................... 30
3.6 Data Collection methods........................................................................................................... 32
3.7 Sampling .................................................................................................................................... 33
3.8 Ethics .......................................................................................................................................... 33
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4. Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 35
4.1 Respondent Analysis ................................................................................................................. 35
4.1.1 Gender .......................................................................................................................... 35
4.1.2 Age ................................................................................................................................ 36
4.1.3 Level of Education ...................................................................................................... 37
4.2 Survey Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 38
4.2.1 Shopping to change the mood .................................................................................... 38
4.2.2 Excitement while making an impulse purchase ....................................................... 39
4.2.3 Regret buying on impulse ........................................................................................... 41
4.2.4 Enters store by seeing an attractive window display. .............................................. 42
4.2.5 Impulse shopping after finding the right size ........................................................... 43
4.2.6 Impulse shopping because of the return policy ........................................................ 45
4.2.7 Impulse shopping because of sale season .................................................................. 47
4.2.8 Impulse shopping because of sale promotion ........................................................... 48
4.2.9 Festival Shopping ........................................................................................................ 50
4.2.10 Shopping alone ............................................................................................................ 52
4.2.11 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 53
4.3 Focus Group Analysis ............................................................................................................... 55
4.3.1 Factor one: First Salary and Spending Motive ........................................................ 55
4.3.2 Factor two: Control on Impulse Buying ................................................................... 55
4.3.3 Factor three: Spending their Savings on Shopping ................................................. 55
4.3.4 Factor four: Shopping Influenced by Sales Promotion ........................................... 56
4.3.5 Factor five: Brand Loyalty ......................................................................................... 56
4.3.6 Factor six: Impact of Culture..................................................................................... 56
5. Result Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 57
5.1 Discussion................................................................................................................................... 57
6. Limitations, Recommendations, And Conclusion .................................................................... 59
6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 59
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6.2 Limitations of the Study ........................................................................................................... 59
6.3 Recommendations for Marketers/Retailers............................................................................ 60
6.3 Future Work .............................................................................................................................. 60
6.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 61
7. References .................................................................................................................................... 62
Appendix .............................................................................................................................................. 68
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Model Consumer Buying Process ........................................................................ 20

Figure 2: Sampling Process ................................................................................................... 33
Figure 3: Gender of survey participants .............................................................................. 36
Figure 4: Distribution of Age of Participants ...................................................................... 37
Figure 5: Distribution of level of education ......................................................................... 38
Figure 6: Survey Question 1 results ..................................................................................... 39
Figure 7: Survey Question 2 Results .................................................................................... 39
Figure 10: Survey Question 5 Results .................................................................................. 41
Figure 15: Survey Question 10 Results ................................................................................ 45
Figure 18: Survey Question 13 results ................................................................................. 47
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ABSTRACT
Impulse buying by consumers form a key part of buying in some product types. Various
researches in the United States stated that impulse buying behaviour of the customers adds up
to 80% of all shopping in certain product groups, and it has also been found that purchasing of
new products result more from impulse buying than from prior planning. Dublin is a city with
growing number shoppers defined as impulse shoppers who react to eye-catchy advertisements
like ‘never to be beaten bargains’ and ‘buy one get one free’. With the ever-growing Indian
population of students who later settle their lives in Dublin is a huge audience that the marketers
can target. Various factors like Mood repair, sales promotions, merchandising, customer
service and culture has a profound effect on why people buy (Ali, 2018). Culture affects the
specific items people purchase and also the structures of consumption, individual decision-
making, and communication in a society. It has been of great importance to determine whether
Indian students impulse purchase more when they are away from home and whether cultural
differences had an influence on impulsive buying behaviour. The primary research objective
was to assess the influence of the Impulse buying behaviour of Indian students in Dublin and
in India. The findings of this research study indicate results that show 30% of students agreed
to shop more in Dublin than in India. 57% of students disagreed to shop more in Dublin, rest
had no opinion. The results showed that 62% agreed to shop more in India than in Dublin and
only 26% disagreed with it. Thus, it is clearly evident that Indian students preferred shopping
more in India than in Dublin
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Declaration
I declare that:
“Comparative study of Impulse buying behaviour of Indian students in Dublin and India”
is my own work, that all the sources used or quoted have been identified and acknowledged by
means of complete references, and that this dissertation has not previously been submitted by
me for a degree at any other university.
Nupur Kalose
August 2019
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Acknowledgment
I would like to thank my dissertation supervisor Dr. Chantal Ladias, who provided me
guidance, assistance, and advice on this dissertation and her support has been invaluable
throughout this dissertation process.
And I would also like to thank my family and close friends who helped and supported me
through this process.
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1. Introduction
Impulse buying by consumers form a key part of buying in some product types. Consumer
behaviour theorists suggest that the consumption patterns of a society (food, fashion, personal
grooming, gifting, etc.) is determined by its culture (Ali and 2018). Psychology Today says
that the combination of basic evolutionary drives and the tactics retailers put in place makes us
more susceptible to spontaneously spend our money. The most common reason people love to
shop as many say it’s a ‘feel-good activity’ and in some cases helps pick them up when they
are feeling down. Another driving force is the money many of us desire to save e.g. if one sees
a sign which says a limited period offer then they instantly buy the product thinking they may
have to pay more later rather they can buy it now. Impulsive shopping is starting to become
more common practice, experts say many children and young adults are starting to lose the
touch of what it feels like to save up to buy something new.
In India, the new faces of the modern retailing environment are hypermarkets, mega marts and
multiplex malls (Muruganantham and Bhakat 2013). In India, the retail industry has bloomed
as one of the fast-growing and most dynamic industries with various foreign and domestic
brands entering the Indian market. As per, the report by (Kearney 2012) India is rated fifth in
developing countries category, grounded upon a global retail development index of thirty
developing countries. The planned marketing in India is anticipated to increase within the next
5 years, that’s mainly determined by forever changing lifestyles, growing financial profits, and
favourable demographic segmentation.
A store professed with high hedonic traits provided enthusiasm to buyers (Parsad, Prashar
2017). The placements of clothes, in-store & window display play an important role in creating
a desire for one to make an unplanned purchase. Bad moods are improved by engaging in
potentially uplifting activities or distracting oneself from the negative event this leads to the
buyer to indulge in retail therapy, and good moods are sustained by avoiding risky activities
that might potentially dampen the positive feelings or result in losses (Atalay and Meloy 2011).
Retail therapy or impulse purchase doesn’t have to be an expensive affair, rewarding yourself
with a scented candle also can be a great mood repair. Cultural factors are some of the strongest
influences on consumer buying behaviour. Cultural factors are the set of basic values,
perceptions, wants and behaviours that are ‘learned’ by a consumer from their families and
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other important social institutions (Lins 2015). Culture profoundly affects why individuals
purchase.
1.1 Research Motivation
Research motivation is to contemplate the attitudes of Indian students and their impulsive
shopping behaviour while they are in Dublin and in India. This study will be analysing whether
they practice the same buying behaviour as when they were while living with their family and
had the flexibility to enjoy the impulse purchasing within the shape of retail treatment.
Previously analysts have had a longstanding interest in this unavoidable prodigy, but numerous
questions around impulse buying behaviour still stay unanswered (Li 2015). Retailers have
long figured out the control of impulse buying, which in fact could be a central point in
numerous obtaining exercises. Even though the subject has received the researcher’s intrigue
in investigating, little is known about how culture impacts spontaneous buys in Dublin. A
person’s culture influences his or her morals, convictions and demeanours and thus it impacts
choices, counting his or her choices as a buyer.
Since Dublin has a huge number of Indian students coming every year, it will be of great
importance to determine what is their buying behaviour when in Dublin and India. Culture can
be defined as the fundamental framework of concepts, ethics, principles, and attitudes that
guide an individual’s behaviour (Barrett 2008, cited in (Hamilton 2010). The culture of the
consumer is vital as it provides information about how a shopper reacts to the purchase of
products. Culture is a variable factor, because over a time period a society’s ideas, beliefs,
values, and attitudes can change. A person’s culture affects his or her values, beliefs and
attitudes and therefore it influences decisions, including his or her decisions as a consumer (Ali
and 2018). The number of Indian students in Dublin is going on increasing also the Indian
students account for one of the majorities of the international student population in Dublin.
There is a need for marketers to target this audience for their products. Hence, it is required to
understand the shopping habits of Indian students in Dublin and in India. This will allow
marketers to gauge what factors among sales promotion & services, merchandising and culture
are responsible for the sale of their products, as this will help marketers and brands to cater in
the right way to reach the ever-growing Indian population in Dublin.
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1.2 Research Aims
It is of prime importance to have a knowledge of sales promotion, merchandising and cultural

influences on consumer's impulse buying behaviour and this was also the aim of the research.
Researching on whether Indian students make impulse purchase more when away from home
is also a key important hypothesis of this dissertation. Unplanned purchase in stores is of
interest to manufacturers as well as retailers. Manufacturers invest a large amount of money
every year in advertising and promoting their brands to consumers, aiming to increase
awareness and ultimately increase in profits. These manufacturers also spend large amounts of
money on promoting the same brands in retail outlets. Manufacturers need the knowledge on
to what level retail therapy impacts consumer's buying behaviour of their brands, and also it is
of huge importance for retailers to have such information to distinguish their stores from those
of competitors to come up with more relevant adverting and marketing tactics.
1.3 Recipients of the Research
The population comprised of full-time and part-time Indian students studying in Dublin. A test
of 107 understudies in Dublin was drawn. The chronicled approach strategy was utilized to
decide the test measure of 107. The test measure is steady with past ponders conducted on
Impulse buying behaviour (O‟ Guinn & Faber, 1989; Rook & Fischer, 1995). The test
respondents were drawn on a random premise.
1.4 Research Questions
The study intends to answer these research questions:
The aim is to do a comparative study of the impulse buying behaviour of Indian students in
India and in Dublin. This prime purpose of this research is to understand where Indian students
engage in impulse buying more whether in Dublin or in India. The dissertation also aims to
answer the following questions;
1. What are the various factors that influence Indian students to impulse buy when in
Dublin and India?
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The research plans to hypothesis testing of the below key factors:
Hypothesis 1: Does seeing sales promotions and advertising persuade the consumer to shop
more?
Hypothesis 2: Do Indian students impulse buy to repair their mood when they are away
from home?
Hypothesis 3: Is cultural factor important in order to indulge in impulse buying?
Hypothesis 4: Does merchandise and customer service encourage the consumer to buy
more impulsively?
1.5 Dissertation Structure and Overview
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter dealt with the introduction and background of the research study. The statement
of the research problem and the importance of the research study were discussed. This chapter
determined the organization and structure of the research.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This chapter presented a detailed discussion of the various factors influencing Impulse
purchase. A complete review was performed on the literature and key problems related to
impulsive buying behaviour, for example, categories of impulse purchases. How culture
influences impulse buying behaviour was also discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
This chapter offered the research methodology. The population, sample frame and discussed
the sampling procedure, problems experienced, as well as the response rate to the study were
discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Interpretation
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This chapter analysed, the results received by the conducted online survey and the focus group,
interpreted and evaluated the research findings.
Chapter 5: Result Discussion
The results of data collection methods – online survey and focus group, performed in this
research is discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 6: Limitations, Recommendations and the Conclusion
This chapter revised the entire research and provided the limitations and recommendations.
The conclusion was addressed and also gave ideas for future research.
1.6 Ethics Statement
The research study was conducted with the ethical standards of academic research. All the data
and responses were studied thoroughly in an aggregated format. The necessary approval was
obtained to conduct the survey. Involvement in the survey was voluntary.
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2. Literature Review
2.1 Literature Introduction
In (Ali and 2018) it was found that power distance, long term introduction and mass influence
individual’s affect impulse buying tendency, whereas uncertainty avoidance and long term
orientation were found to be significantly related to cognitive impromptu purchase tendency.
Gender and age have affiliation with distinctive impulse buying behaviour patterns. Salary does
not have any connection to making an urge for impulse buying and hedonic consumption
(Gunawan). Within the book (East 2017) the creator has specified that impulsive customers
show up to urge a few emotional feel great factor, or temporary ‘mood repair’ can also be called
as retail therapy, out of the process of buying. Holidays and festival rituals reflect the social
childhood of an individual, subsequently, marketers tend to create the foremost of these
openings to utilize these touchpoints to advance their products.
In (Mohan, Sivakumaran 2013) a comprehensive study on Indian Consumers was done

considering factors like impromptu buying factor, avoidance, socialism, gender, and future
orientation. Research on similar lines can be done in Dublin due to the growing population of
Indian students and working professionals coming to Dublin in order to gain education and
settle down in Ireland. New factors like age, purchase capacity, the family background can be
studied for different cultures to devise an effective marketing strategy. It is important to study
what influences cultural factors affecting the impulsive buying behaviour of the consumer as
an impromptu purchase in stores is important to marketers and also retailers.
2.2 Literature theme one: Definition and Types of Impulse Buying
The descriptions of impulse buying for the research (Muruganantham and Bhakat 2013) were
focused on the product whereas understanding the impulse purchase was important. The
previous researches did not take into account the buyer and his individual traits to understand
what factors influence impulse buying. The later year’s researchers focused on personal
impulsiveness by studying varied behavioural features of impulse buying.
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In (Rook 1987) it was argued that the consumer's prompt, overpowering and persistent desire
is experienced in purchasing impulses. He classified the purchase of the impulse as an
unintentional, non-reflective reaction that usually happens soon after being subjected within
the store to impulses. The work of (Rook and Gardner 1993) defines impulse buying as
haphazard behaviour involving fast decision-making and the tendency for immediate
acquisition of the product.
The study in (Beatty and Ferrell 1998) described that Impulse buying refers to instant buying
of an product who are without any pre-shopping objective either to purchase the specific
product type or to fulfil a precise need. They explained that impulse buying behaviour occurs
after experiencing a buying craving by the buyer and without much of a regret. The buying of
a product or commodity that is out-of-stock and reminded throughout encountering the
merchandise are excluded from the reach of impulse buying.
In (Bayley and Nancarrow 1998) impulse buying is defined as a “surprising, compelling,

hedonically complicated shopping of conduct in which the rapidity of an impulse decision
process precludes thoughtful and deliberate attention of opportunity statistics and alternatives.”
Hedonic behaviour is marked with pleasure, in contrast to the utilitarian conduct in which the
consumers search for functional benefits and economic cost within the purchasing technique.
The work of (Block and Morwitz 1999) enunciated the definition of an impulse purchase as
consumers buying an object with very little deliberation after the end result of an unexpected,
powerful urge, whereas (Kacen and Lee 2002) said that impulsive conduct is extra arousing
and irresistible however much less considerate in comparison to planned shopping for
behaviour.
According to (Swan and Oliver 1989) impulse buying is an action undertaken without
previously having been consciously recognized or a buying intention formed prior to entering
the store. Based on the various description, we tend to conclude that impulse buying involves
indulgent purchase choices that are created within a store and excludes the reminder buying
activities.
The classification of purchase as planned or impulse began with the (Stern 1962) as planned or
impulse began with the study where he provided the fundamental framework of impulse buying
by categorizing a buying behaviour as planned, unplanned, or impulse.
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Planned buying comprise of long information-searching with rational decision making, on the
other hand, unplanned buying denotes to all spending choices made without any prior planning.
Impulse purchase is different from the unintended shopping in terms of fast decision making.
In addition to being unplanned, an impulse shopping also involves experiencing a rapid, robust,
and appealing urge to shop.
The study undertaken in (Iyer 1989) concluded that all impulse purchases are without planning,
whereas unplanned shopping are not always decided on impulse. It was (Han, Morgan 1991)
that changed the classification of impulse buying relating in the context of fashion product and
developed as four types of impulse buying:
i) Planned impulse buying
ii) Reminded impulse buying
iii) Suggestion or fashion-oriented impulse buying
iv) Pure impulse buying
Planned impulse buying is partially planned however specific product or categories don't seem
to be set by the shopper. They are determined on the principle of the different ads in the shop.
Reminder impulse buying occurs when the consumer is reminded of the requirement of the
product by observing it in the shop. Pure impulse buying is a novelty or escape purchase which
a shopper breaks the trend of usual shopping.
The early work of (Stern 1962) clarified, that a customer makes a purchase of something with
no prior plan to do it, this purchase that has been made is termed as impulse buying. Prior to
(Rook 1987) examined social perspectives from the consumer that may impact drive
purchasing, earlier contemplates were centered around the product to decide the impulse
buying behaviour. Rook (1987: 191) clarified impulse buying happens when a purchaser
encounters an unexpected, frequently ground-breaking and persevering desire to purchase
something right away. (Dittmar, Beattie 1995) speculated if impulse buying things were a
reflection from self-thought or preference and could be influenced by social categories such as
gender. (McConatha 1994, Kacen and Lee 2002) contended that more established people were
able to control their impulse purchasing tendencies contrast with more youthful people as more
established people show better guidelines of emotional articulation. (Mai 2003) expected
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customers with an abnormal state of salary will have higher impulse buying conduct than those
with a low dimension of pay. Consumers with high salary will have increasingly adaptable
shopping list, as they can stand to purchase something unexpected. A few past examinations
had discovered the relationship between impulse buying and demographic factors such gender
(Arnold and Reynolds 2003), age (Badgaiyan, Verma 2016), and salary (Rana and Tirthani
2012).
Of late, impulse buying has emerged to a universal phenomenon. According to (Coley and
Burgess 2003), approximately 90% of consumers occasionally buy on impulse. Research by
(Beatty and Ferrell 1998) posited that impulse buying contribute approximately 27% to 62%
of all type of purchases.
Earlier studies focused on conceptualizing and concretizing the definition of the term
‘impulse’. Impulse buying behaviour is defined as unplanned, sudden, and spur-of-the-moment
urge to buy, with the absence of product evaluation and buying consequences(Beatty and
Ferrell 1998) (Cobb and Hoyer 1986, Rook 1987, Kacen and Lee 2002, Vohs and Faber 2003).
Mostly these studies pivoted around certain common salient features—spontaneity, strong
urge, lack of planning, linked with mood, and lack of evaluation of consequences (Youn and
Faber , Stern 1962, Cobb and Hoyer 1986).
Later studies have attempted to identify and isolate the relative significance of various factors
influencing causing impulsive buying. It has been noted that impulse buying behaviour is
influenced by a range of factors ranging from hedonism, store atmospherics, packaging,
promotional offers, socialization, and product display. Different researchers in different
markets have identified these factors.
In his iconic study, (Belk 1974) proposed five factors that influence the buying behaviour of a
purchaser. These include physical surroundings of the retail area; social surroundings of the
purchaser; time or duration spent in retail shops. The physical surrounding of the store area
comprising colour patterns, music, lighting, and aroma affects the buying behaviour of
shoppers. Various studies have posited a positive impact of these store atmospheric elements
in enhancing perceptions about product quality and improving the perception about the store
in the mind of consumers (Gulas and Bloch 1995, Baker, Parasuraman 2002) Positive
atmospherics improves shopper’s satisfaction and leads to higher market share. The study
conducted on the effect of scent and music demonstrated that in the presence of both these
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factors, shoppers exhibited a higher tendency of impulse buying behaviour. Other studies have
explained the effect of exclusive product displays on impulse buying behaviour (Jaeger, Bava
2011). (Pattipeilohy and Rofiaty 2013) found a direct correlation between the time spent by the
shoppers in a store browsing and looking out for different products and the amount of money
they spend.
Along with in-store/exclusive displays, merchandising tools including in-store promotions like
discounts, price reductions, and extra product promotions have a direct impact on impulsive
purchases (Prashar, Parsad 2017). A study by (Hultén and Vanyushyn 2011) found that
discount/cash coupon provides the sense of “spending less” than planned and it is perceived as
“savings,” reducing the “mental barrier” of the buyers. The number of unintended purchases
could go up owing to such “unexpected” savings (Heilman, Nakamoto 2002). These coupons
help in increasing brand sales by 35% and consumer basket by 14% (Thompson 1997).
Promotional events like the announcement of “Buy one get one free” and/ or an attractive
display showcasing the discount percentage may prompt an impulse purchase (Zhang 2007).
Other than economical price, product-related features such as package design, color, and
product display also influence the buying decision of the consumer (Stern 1962).
Elements of the social environment such as friends/relatives and fellow shoppers have a strong
influence on spontaneous purchasing (Mattila and Wirtz 2008) opined that social factors reduce
the shoppers’ ability to think, leading to a momentary loss of self-control and increasing the
likelihood of impulse purchase. (Harrell, Hutt 1980)have studied the impact of perceived
crowding on the retail outlet. It was noted that consumers experience deviation in their
shopping plan while shopping in a crowded store (Eroglu, Machleit, and Chebat 2005). As per
(Youn and Faber), environmental and social factors reduce consumer’s ability to think through
the effects of their actions and this leads to an impulsive purchase.
Further, it has been noted that impulse buying behaviour is not only influenced by extraneous
factors like promotions, socialization, ambiance, display, and packaging but also by hedonic
desires (Mattila and Wirtz 2008; Hulten and Vanyushyn 2011). It was noted that consumers
tend to experience stronger feelings toward impulse purchases as compared to that of planned
purchases (Gardner and Rook 1988). Hedonism represents those facets of behaviour that relate
to the multisensory, fantasy, and emotive aspects of consumption (Hirschman and Holbrook
1982). Impulse buying satisfies a number of hedonic desires of the consumers (Prashar, Parsad
2017). Satiating the hedonistic drives, the deed of purchasing on impulse is an expression of
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‘feeling high’ in the world. (Weinberg and Gottwald 1982) substantiated this by suggesting
that impulse buyers demonstrated greater feelings of amusement, delight, and joy without
thinking about financial consequences (Mattila and Wirtz 2008). Few studies have even
concluded that shopping experience uplifts feelings and energizes consumers (Cobb and Hoyer
1986; Rook 1987; Pieters 2013). Thus, impulse buying is linked with the positive emotions of
shoppers. (Donovan and Rossiter 1982) also had suggested a strong relationship between
overspending and pleasure.
According to (Rook 1987), impulsiveness is a ‘lifestyle trait’ of some consumers. Shoppers

pursue impulse buying of some products as it offers them ‘material symbols of personal and
social identity’ (Dittimar 1995). (Hausman 2000) found that in the pursuit of fulfilling their
self-esteem, shoppers tend to carry out impulsive purchasing. Besides the personality
characteristics of consumers, such behaviour is also influenced by the opinions of others.
(Prashar, Parsad 2017).
(Churchill and Peter 1998) cited in (Kim 2003) established a model of the consumer buying
process, classifying five steps, namely, need recognition, information search, alternative
evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase assessment. The buying process starts with a
recognized need. This need recognition may come from an internal feeling or it may come from
external stimuli generating motivation to purchase. When consumers are motivated by
identifying needs, they start looking for information. Based on the information, consumers
evaluate ways to fulfill the need. After evaluating options, consumers may make a purchase.
Finally, consumers formally or informally evaluate the outcome of the purchase after buying a
product. This consumer buying process is influenced by social, marketing and situational
factors.
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Figure 1: Model Consumer Buying Process
2.3 Literature theme two: Self-Regulation and Mood Repair
Self-regulation theory rests on the notion that individuals are motivated to manage multiple
standards, goals, and ideals that may be complementary or competing at any given point in
time, and which the individual is either drawn to or repelled from through a feedback loop
(Cardon, Wincent 2009).
According to the self-regulation theory, there are four categories of self-regulation goals.
Individuals attempt to manage their thoughts, emotions, impulses, and performance. In an
effort to attain these multiple self-regulation goals, (Brissette, Scheier 2002) concludes that the
goals “form a queue, with the goal that currently has the priority being the one that is actively
pursued at that moment because priorities fluctuate with ever-changing circumstances, people
shift the focus of their behaviour repeatedly”.
The two broad key factors of the study is self-regulatory goals—mood regulation and impulse
regulation—that may, at times, conflict. Mood-regulation activities have long been thought to
arise as a means of creating a more stable internal affective environment (Brissette, Scheier
2002). Individuals actively monitor and assess their affective states and strive to maintain or
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improve their feeling tones. Specifically, bad moods are improved by engaging in potentially
uplifting activities or distracting oneself from the negative event, and good moods are sustained
by avoiding risky activities that might potentially dampen the positive feelings or result in
losses (Atalay and Meloy 2011).
In general, however, most mood regulation activity is driven by the goal of repairing a nasty
mood (Bruyneel, Dewitte 2009). As the goal of mood repair is being pursued, the active pursuit
of different goals could also be diminished.
Self-regulation theory suggests that bad moods cause individuals to fail at self-regulation (Tice
and Bratslavsky 2000). Similarly, according to (Tice, Bratslavsky, and Baumeister 2001),
emotional distress (e.g., anger, fear, loneliness) may shift priorities such that the individual will
focus on shorter-term goals to escape the distressing state of affairs, including engaging in more
impulsive behaviours: “The emotionally distraught person may become impulsive, risk-
oriented, arbitrary, or preoccupied” (Tice, Bratslavsky,& Baumeister, 2001, p. 54).
In alternative words, when energy is spent to mitigate negative emotions and distress, fewer
resources are available to self-regulate and control one’s impulses. The goal of mood repair
takes priority over the goal of self-control and impulse regulation (Leith & Baumeister, 1996).
As such, people who try to repair bad moods strategically discarding of impulse control to form
themselves the feel-good factor. In the relevant literature, there is an ambiguity in clarifying
shopping addiction, compulsive shopping, and compulsive buying terms. Actually, the genesis
of studies on shopping addiction finds its roots in compulsive buying, addictive buying and
excessive buying literature, which serve as common points in psychology, psychiatry,
sociology, social psychology, and consumer behaviour. As a psychiatric term, behavioural
addiction is associated with loss of control and emerging negative consequences in terms of
psychologically, physically or socially (Rose and Dhandayudham 2014). The common theme
connected to behavioural addictions is that they repetitively occur and they are adaptative. In
that perspective, shopping addiction is defined as (Andreassen 2014,198) “being overly
concerned about shopping, driven by an uncontrollable shopping motivation, and to investing
so much time and effort into shopping that it impairs different necessary life areas.” Similarly,
(Walters 1999) emphasized the progression, preoccupation, perceived loss of control and
negative outcomes nature of shopping as proving to be an addiction, whereas (Black 2007)
pointed out specific addiction symptoms like craving, withdrawal, loss of control, and tolerance
(Andreassen 2015). Shopping addiction originates from compulsive buying, where compulsive
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buying is a “chronic, repetitive purchasing that becomes the primary response to negative
events or feelings” (O’Guinn and Faber, 1989: 155). In fact, some researchers used both terms
almost interchangeably due to considerable similarities (Dittmar 1996; Scherhorn 1990).
However, as analyzed deeply, three noteworthy difference exists between these terms. First of
all, compulsive shoppers, experience shopping urge as an unwelcome pressure and distressing
activity, whereby in addiction the shopping serves as a pleasurable activity on the action.
Whereas, shopping addicts are stated to take enjoyment from the shopping action itself.
Secondly as (Elliott 1994) planned, “ this behaviour is more accurately represented as an

addiction because it involves the extension of traditional behaviour into a pathological habit.
In other words, compulsive buying can be seen as a part of Impulse Control Disorder (ICD) in
terms of impulsivity, heightening tension and gratification connected to disorder (Grant and
Kim,2003). In that sense, some researchers connected the “compulsive buying/shopping” term
to obsessive-compulsive disorder (Clark and Calleja 2008).
2.4 Literature theme three: Sales Promotion
Comparative to compulsive buying/shopping, shopping addiction is largely referred to as a

milder version of that control disorder due to therapeutic implications and effective methods
of intervention (Clark and Calleja 2008). Lastly, (Bas 2016) added another difference between
compulsive shoppers and shopping addicts as, compulsive shoppers as rejecting their abnormal
activity, whereas, addicts as being aware of their addiction but indefeasibly continue shopping.
In both cases, a person is powerless to resist this strong urge to behaviour on a continuous basis.
Clarifying shopping addiction is only possible by uncovering the antecedents of shopping
addiction. So, in that sense, it may be useful to find an answer to the key question of what
motivates addicts, rather than to disclose the personality traits of the individual or to examine
environmental contingencies. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to enlighten the
motivational determinants of shopping addiction tendency in typical consumers. Through the
scope of this study it is believed that if motives behind shopping addiction are somehow
clarified and shared with society, consumers may become aware of the factors that trigger them
to become shopping addicts and hence may help them to resist this tendency or motivate them
to find effective self-defensive mechanisms.
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Whereas, there is an increasing stream of research on the store atmosphere, which explores the
influence of its various elements on consumer behaviour. For example, it shows that the
observations about store employees play an important role in influencing customer's attitudes
towards merchandise and service quality (Hu and Jasper 2006).
Similarly, convenience, quality, variety, and value lead to positive attitudes towards private
labels (Wu, Yeh 2011) and store brands (Semeijn, Van Riel 2004).
The store environment widely influence the amount of impromptu buying of items, store liking,
time and money spent as when the consumer enters the store and the atmosphere uplifts the
mood then shopping leads to retail therapy (Sherman, Mathur 1997), perceived quality of
merchandise and patronage (Baker, Grewal 1994), sales (Milliman 1982), product evaluation
(Wheatley and Chiu 1977), satisfaction (Bitner 1990), and store choice (Darden, Erdem 1983).
However, there's very little attention paid to the influence of store surroundings on impulse
buying despite its increasing importance in creating the retail experience a key differentiator
(Hu and Jasper 2006).
In fact, (Sherman, Mathur 1997) explored the influence of store layout, ambiance, and sales
personnel on unplanned buying however not on impulse buying that is totally different from
unplanned buying (Stern 1962).
(Beatty and Ferrell 1998) proposed a model of impulse buying including some consumer traits
(impulse buying tendency, shopping enjoyment tendency) and situational variables (time and
money available) but do not include store-level factors. They even ask, “are impulse buyers a
lot of liable to store atmospherics?” similarly, (Baker 2002) study the impact of store
atmosphere on patronage, however not on impulse buying.
According to (William and Ferrell 1987), sales promotion is an activity that acts as a direct
inducement, offering added value or incentive for a product to resellers, salespersons or
customers. (Nagadeepa, Selvi 2015) defined sales promotion as special offers which essentially
aim to stimulate demand for the products. (Blattberg Robert and Scott Neslin 1990) have
categorized the different types of consumer sales promotion techniques induced by the retailers
to boost sales and respond as Coupons, Rebates, Free trial premium, Contest, Sweepstakes, and
Price packs. Such activities enhance the value of the product either by reducing cost or adding
benefits. (Cuizon 2009) reported that sales promotion techniques used by the marketer are not
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only effective in attaining short-term sales but are also more cost-effective than advertising.
(Nema 2012) categorized sales promotions as Consumer Sales promotion and Trade Sales
promotion. According to their study, consumer sales promotion refers to any short-term
promotion techniques designed by retailers to enhance customer response to the products.
According to (Banks and Moorthy 1999), sales promotion led to a sudden increase in sales
experienced by retailers due to the price-consciousness of consumers. (Sinha and Smith 2000),
claimed that consumers would be easily swayed to buy products as there is no extra cost by
bared by the consumers. (Blackwell 2001) identified that price discounts play a significant role
in influencing consumer product trial behaviour which indirectly attracts new consumers.
According to (Aggrawal and Aggrawal 2012), pricing of the product has an impact on deriving
consumer perception and the extent to which perception is influenced, is derived from the
nature of consumer behaviour.
2.5 Literature theme four: Influence of Culture on Impulsiveness
Cultural factors exert the broadest and most profound effect on a purchaser's buying behavior
(Kotler, 2003:183). Culture figures out what is satisfactory with product marketing and
advertising. The way culture impacts choices is through the reasons that people enroll when
required to explain their decisions. Cultures endow people with various standards or rules that
help in decision making process (Briley 2000:157).
With regards to culture, the theory of individuality and collectivism holds important insights
about consumer behaviour that can help to gain a better understanding of the impulsive buying
phenomenon (Kacen and Lee 2002). Research undertaken by Hofstede in the 1980s holds
important insights about consumer behaviour that can help to gain a better understanding of
the impulsive buying phenomenon.
The dimensions as identified by Hofstede are power distance, uncertainty, individualism

avoidance, individualism, gender and time orientation (Burgess & Bothma, 2007:174). In some
cultures, there are greater and more pronounced differences between individuals in terms of
power and wealth than in others. In cultures with a high-power distance, a relatively small
number of high-ranking individuals make all the decisions. In a lower distance culture, power
is more dispersed, and individuals are on a more equal scale. In some cultures, individuals feel
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more threatened by uncertain situations, while in other cultures uncertainty is more readily
accepted. This relates to the dimension of uncertainty avoidance. When individuals feel
threatened by uncertain situations, they tend to have strict laws and regulations in place to guide
behaviour. Some cultures promote individuality while others reward dependence on a group.
In some cultures, a masculine culture is more dominant, and it prizes values such as
assertiveness, materialism and limited concern for other members of society.
2.6 Literature theme five: Influence of Merchandising (Visual Attention)
Visual attention is a key component in decision-making because in order for information to

influence behaviour it must be noticed (Pennings 2014). However, multiple studies have
demonstrated that consumers are highly selective of the information they view (Lee and Ahn
2012; Shi 2013). The work in (Wedel and Pieters 2008) determined that consumers direct their
gaze to selective information related to the task at hand. The extent to which visual attention
influences individual behaviour that can also depend on visual representation.
Regarding the relationship between impulsive buying and visual attention, impulsive
buying is triggered by exposure to relevant and/or appealing point-of-sale information,
products, promotions, and displays likely due to intensified urges and reduced self -
regulation (Büttner 2014; Field and Eastwood 2005). (Hubrechts and Koktürk 2012) found
promotional signage had the biggest impact on impulsive buying while (Nanda 2015)
reported that displays were more important, followed by sales promotions, and packaging.
(Büttner 2014) used visual dwell time to measure impulsive consumer's distractibility in
shopping situations. They found that impulsive consumers were more visually distracted
by non-focal products than less impulsive consumers. (Serfas 2014) assessed impulsive
buyers’ arousal to in-store information by measuring pupil diameter. They determined that
impulsive consumers’ pupil dilation/arousal increased only for shopping situations.
However, arousal did not predict behaviour (i.e., picture liking rating). Meaning, if they
are faster decision-makers, their visual attention to point-of-sale information should be
lower than less impulsive consumers.
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2.7 Literature Conclusion
The position that the thoughts, meanings beliefs, and values people learn as individuals from
society, decides human instinct. Individuals are what they learn and are inculcated with. The
idealistic variant of this hypothesis hypothesizes that individuals are by and large endlessly
adaptable can pick the lifestyles they like. The cynical rendition keeps up that individuals are
what they are adapted to be; this is something on which they have no control. People are
inactive creatures and do whatever their way of life instructs them to do.
The value of youthful shopper groups to advertisers has increased more prominent significance
as their obtaining power has been developing over time. For instance, having access to credit
cards additionally enabled them to purchase more than before.
Existing research considered factors like impromptu buying factors, avoidance, socialism, and
future orientation. The proposed research would be carried out in Dublin with enhanced factors
like
➢ Retail Therapy (mood repair)

➢ sales promotions
➢ Merchandising and Services
➢ Values and culture
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3. Research Methodology
This chapter identifies how the analysis was done, and its aim is to explain the research
strategy and methods applied in this study and to discuss their suitability within the context
of various research philosophies, models and methodological approaches. This includes a
general overview of the overall analysis philosophy used in completing the analysis,
justification of the chosen approach, provision of operational construct definitions and
specification of their indicators, and a discussion of the data collection and analysis
methods. It is useful to state at this point that due to the confirmatory nature of the research
objectives, the questions that emerged in chapter 2 and former analysis foundations
reported within the literature, the approach used in this analysis is primarily informed by
a positivist philosophy based on the deductive approach of inquiry.
In line with general practice within the analysis of a management nature, some elements
of inductive-based qualitative techniques are incorporated in achieving the objectives of
this research; hence, it is important to evaluate the range of research approaches and
potential methodologies that were at the researcher’s disposal, in order to show how these
were considered and to justify the methodological choices made.
3.1 Research Design
The research included both local and international literature, which served to underpin the
empirical research. The following sources were consulted:
- The internet -Book publications
- Academic journals
- Databases (EBSCO Host, Google Scholar & DBS library resource)
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3.2 Research Objective
The Primary Research Objective
The primary research objective of the research study was to compare the impulsive buying
behaviour of Indian students in Dublin and India.
The Secondary Research Objective
The secondary research objective of the research study was to establish whether the factors like
sales promotions, retail therapy, merchandising & services and culture of students influence
their impulsive buying behaviour.
3.3 Research Approach
The second layer of the research onion is the research approach. There are two types of
research approach that can be employed, according to (Saunders and Lewis 2009) which are
inductive and deductive approaches. The first approach is the deductive approach which is also
known as the testing theory in which the researcher develops a theory or hypotheses and
designs a research strategy to check the formulated theory and the second is the inductive
approach which is also known as building a theory, in which the researcher starts with
collecting the information in an attempt to develop a theory. The
researcher should explain clearly which approach is being followed in his or her analysis
project. For this research on consumer behaviour toward Indian students impulsive buying
behaviour while in Dublin and in India both deductive and inductive approach was used as
these approach helps in understanding the consumer behaviour as it provides a basis for
scientific-style model specification and testing with very high accurate result. Deduction
possesses several important characteristics. First, there is the search to explain causal
relationships between variables and it is operationalized in a way that enables facts to be
measured quantitatively. This holds that problems as a whole are better understood
if they're reduced to the simplest potential elements.
The final characteristic of the deduction is a generalization. In order to be able to

generalize statistically about regularities in human social behaviour, it is necessary to
select samples of sufficient numerical size (Saunders and Lewis 2009). For Inductive, it
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goes from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories. In inductive
reasoning, it begins with specific observations and measures and then begins to detect
patterns and regularities which result in formulating some uncertain hypotheses that can
be explored, and which finally end up developing some general conclusions or theories for
the research (Saunders and Lewis 2009). As a consequence of this, the use of quantitative
techniques was applied as the primary strategy for the information gathering process.
3.4 Research Strategy
The third layer of research onion is a research strategy that helps in distinguishing the
various methods which can be used in order to answer the research questions. These
methods are surveys, case study, experiment, grounded theory, guided approach,
ethnography and action research (Saunders 2009). The survey strategy is typically related
to the deductive approach. It is a popular and common strategy in business and
management research and is most often used to answer who, what, where, how much and
how many questions. It, therefore, tends to be used for exploratory and descriptive
research. Surveys are standard as they permit the collection of a large amount of
data from a sizeable population in an extremely economical manner.
Often obtained by using a questionnaire administered to a sample, these data are

standardized, allowing easy comparison. In addition, the survey strategy is perceived as
authoritative by people in general and is each relatively simple to explain and to know.
A survey is a systematic method of gathering data from a population, by sampling a portion

of that population and subsequently generalizing the attributes of the population from this
sample. (Baker and Foy 2003) state that a survey is concerned with fact-finding by asking
questions of the personal representative of a population of interest to determine attitudes,
opinions and help understand behaviour. The survey content and form will differ
depending on the objective and the intention, and these considerations will lead to the type
of survey to be undertaken, whether factual, opinion or interpretive. Factual surveys are
concerned with actual behaviour and attributes while opinion surveys are concerned with
the respondent’s views. Interpretive surveys on the other hand are
concerned with explaining the why of actions, beliefs or opinions (Baker and Foy 2003).
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While the interpretive survey is considered analytical, factual and opinion surveys are
generally classed as descriptive.
The survey technique is standard within the quantitative methodology because of its
advantages in providing a basis for gathering factual, attitudinal and behavioural data, as
well as its ability to provide the researcher with great scope in terms of reach, sample size
and costs.
Surveys also are weak in internal validity as a result of they rely heavily on the
use of statistical measures to control for extraneous variables, and as a result, it is difficult
to reliably prove causation in the relationships between variables. To limit the effect of
these disadvantages, careful attention was given to the planning and execution of
the test instrument.
In marketing, research surveys are often used to gather information on numerous topics
and are significantly helpful for researching attitudes, lifestyles, behaviours, decision
making, and demographics. This empirical precedence as well as other considerations such
as costs, time and accessibility, were major factors and considerations in the valuation of
the survey method’s suitability for this research which focused on aspects of consumer
behaviour involving attitudes, perception, and motivation in Indian students while they are
in Dublin and in India.
3.5 Research Questionnaire Design
Research is designed in line with the nature of the problem identified and the questions to be
addressed (McGivern, 2006). The stated objectives of this research are confirmatory and
explanatory in nature, as they sought to describe and confirm the consumer behavioural of
Indian students studying in Dublin and their impulse buying tendency; and to establish, as well
as explain, the nature of the effect of regulatory focus in consumer’s fashion buying behaviour.
Research design provides an overall direction for the collection and analysis of data of a study
(Churchill Jr 1979). The importance of research design stems from its role as a critical link
between the theory and argument that informed the research and the empirical data collected
(Nachmias and Peres 2008). A choice of research design reflects decisions about the priority
being given to a range of dimensions of the research process (Bell and Bryman 2007), and this,
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of course, will have a considerable influence on lower-level methodological procedures such
as sampling and statistical packages. Along with a clear research plan it provides, constraints
and ethical issues that a study will inevitably encounter must also be taken into account
(Saunders and Lewis 2009). This address both the descriptive and explanatory aspects of the
research. The data collected was then analysed and thereby addressing the confirmatory aim of
the research.
To obtain essential facts together with the key players viewpoints and beliefs, Indian students
studying in Dublin filled out the questionnaires. A structured questionnaire had been designed
which was used throughout. All questions were collated in an online survey format with a cover
page explaining the purpose, objective and application of this research. The particulars of the
author were also given including the address and contact numbers. The questions were
formulated according to a model established during the literature study. The questionnaire
comprised of two sections. The first section (Section A) of the questionnaire used five-point
Likert scales (5 = Frequently and 1 = Never) that focused on the respondent’s perceptions
about the present influence of the key factors like Impulse buying, merchandising and services,
sales promotion and culture on their impulsive buying behaviour. The second section (Section
B) requested demographic or profile information from the respondents. Content and face
validity of the questionnaire was established by asking a number of experienced academics to
review the questionnaire.
The questionnaire in this study was divided into two different sections, namely Section A and
B. Section A was divided into 4 subsections, which were as follows:
Section 1 – contained questions aimed at establishing whether the respondent had a level of
impulsiveness.
Section 2 – contained questions to determine whether merchandising and services influenced

the respondent’s impulsive buying behaviour.
Section 3 - contained questions to determine whether sales promotions influenced respondent’s

impulsive buying behaviour.
Section 4 – contained questions to determine whether culture influenced respondent’s

impulsive buying behaviour.
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Section B of the questionnaire contained questions to determine the demographic
characteristics of the respondents.
The following type of questions had been used in the questionnaire:
-Multiple choice questions, which required the respondents to select an answer from the list
provided in the questionnaire. -Five-point Likert scales.
3.6 Data Collection methods

In order to test the hypothesis and solve the research problem, data is required to be collected
from all applicable sources. Since the data is available to conclude the research, primary data
collection methods were used. It is the method in which data is collected for a precise research
problem using the methods that fit the study goals. The data for this research question needs to
be formulated and the data is collected in a qualitative manner to align with the nature of the
research.
The main source for data collection was the survey method. A survey method was chosen
because it is one the faster way of gathering data and also it is possible to reach many
respondents in very little time. Also, it is a very economical method and can help to visualize
the results. A survey was designed with 25 questions. This survey was circulated using various
means like Facebook, LinkedIn, Whatsapp, E-mails, etc.
There are a few drawbacks of the above-mentioned survey method like the results can be biased
at times as the respondents may not take the survey seriously. This can also lead to the
collection of inaccurate data. To minimize such drawbacks, a secondary data collection method
in the form of ‘Focus Group’ was used. It involved the participation of members to answer
different questions related to the research. It helped in getting detailed and precise information
about the topic. There was a less likelihood of results to be biased as it was conducted with
active and interactive participation of respondents. These two methods formed the pillars of
data collection methods.
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3.7 Sampling
In this research, the aim is to study the impulsive buying behaviour of Indian students, hence
they formed the sampling audience. For this research, sampling methods described by
(Churchill, 2002) were used.
Figure 2: Sampling Process
The survey strictly targeted Indian students in Dublin. Also, the members of the focus group
were Indian students. There are a lot of Indian students in Dublin hence, the sample size for
the survey was decided to be 107. The survey was continuously circulated and monitored until
the sample size was achieved. The age group for the samples was between 20-30 years. The
samples included all Indian students of all genders, race and other cultural backgrounds. Also,
the education degree of the respondents was not a criterion for the research. From, all these
sources sample size was defined, and data was collected.
3.8 Ethics
The research involved the collection of data from participants, therefore ethics were given
utmost importance. Ethical problems can come up at any step in the business and management
research (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The research project complied with the ethical standards of
academic research. All the information and responses were analyzed in an aggregated format.
The necessary approval was obtained to conduct the surveys at the different institutions.
Participation in the survey was voluntary. The identity of the individual taking part in the
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survey was noted and was confidential. The data collected from the participants was used only
for the dissertation purpose. Before conducting the survey, all the participants were given an
idea about it.
Also, considering the GDPR rules, the data was kept confidential and the right to privacy of
participants was not violated. The results were not shared without the consent of the
participating students. “The right to privacy is a tenet that many of us hold dear, and
transgressions of that right in the name of research are not regarded as acceptable” (Bryman &
Bell, 2011). All the participants who were interviewed had all the right in deciding whether to
participate in the survey or not.
All the data collected was stored in encrypted and password protected files to avoid data loss
and data theft. The recordings of the Focus group were not shared with anyone All the
necessary precautions were taken in generating a questionnaire so that any sentiments of the
group of students were not hurt. All the research was carried out with proper approvals and
prior appointments in a professional manner.
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4. Data Analysis
In this research, there was a need to collect data to test the hypothesis and to answer the research
questions. The primary data was collected by means of a survey. The survey was distributed
among the sample population discussed in the previous chapter, by social networking websites
like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even E-mails. The survey was also filled by people,
who were approached personally. This chapter explains the data and results collected by the
survey.
4.1 Respondent Analysis

A total of 107 participants took the survey. The respondents of the survey were distributed in
varying demographics like age, gender, and educational qualification. The detailed distribution
of participants is as follows:
4.1.1 Gender
The survey had balanced participation of both the genders. The results showed that out of 107,
58 survey-takers were male whereas 49 were female. The number of Indian students in Dublin
is increasing every year. The survey results show the appropriate balance of both gender, hence
the sample data can be considered appropriate and the chance of results being biased is less.
The below figure shows the distribution of the participant's gender.
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Figure 3: Gender of survey participants
4.1.2 Age
The total number of participants was 107, out of which 86% of the population was in the age
group between 20-30 years. This justifies the entire population of the student as the majority
of students will be the age group of 20-30 years. Thus our sample data justify the student
population. 86% of students were further divided into 2 groups. 41% of the total sample size
belonged to the age group of 20-25 years, whereas 45% of total students were aged between
25-30 years. Very few participants were below 20 years and above 30 years in age. The pie-
chart below shows the distribution of the age of the participants.
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Figure 4: Distribution of Age of Participants
4.1.3 Level of Education

The third category of differentiation of survey participants was based on the level of education.
80% of the total student participants were undertaking or have completed the master’s course
in Dublin. These students formed the majority of the participants. It was followed by
undergraduates which accounted for 17% of the total population. The survey could manage to
target only 2 Ph.D. candidates. Thus, the sample population was highly under the influence of
Master’s students. The below figure shows the distribution of educational qualifications of
survey respondents.
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Figure 5: Distribution of level of education
4.2 Survey Analysis

The aim of the survey was to compare the buying behavior of Indian students in Dublin and
India. 107 Indian students participated in the survey and provided insights about impulse
buying behavior. The questions were designed to get a response to the situation when the
student is in India and when in Dublin. The following were the results.
4.2.1 Shopping to change the mood

When asked the students whether they shop more in Dublin or India to change mood, very
similar behavior was observed. Out of 107, 55 participants agreed that they shop to change the
mood in Dublin, whereas 53 participants agreed for the same behavior in India. Indian students
shop in both places for changing the mood. So, mood can be one of the factors contributing to
impulse purchase for Indian students. The detailed results are shown below.
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Figure 6: Survey Question 1 results
Figure 7: Survey Question 2 Results
4.2.2 Excitement while making an impulse purchase

The majority of the participants showed excitement when they made an impulse purchase. This
excitement was seen slightly more in Dublin. From the survey results, it was noted that in India
58% of candidates agreed to this factor, whereas in Dublin the number was increased to 69%.
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It can be concluded that the impulse shopping nature of students is similar in both places,
although shopping in Dublin made a few candidates more excited than in India. The following
graphs show the result of this question.
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4.2.3 Regret buying on impulse
The aim of this question was to understand whether the candidates have any control over their
impulse buying behavior and also to understand the place where they had more control. The
results for this question display that more candidates regret buying on impulse in Dublin than
in India. The survey outcome shows that 50 participants out of 107 regret impulse shopping in
Dublin, whereas this number is reduced to 37 while in India. The disagreement number is high
in India for this question, with 53. There can be various factors for such results, which could
be explored. The below figures illustrate the result of the survey for this question.
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4.2.4 Enters store by seeing an attractive window display.

In this question, the task was to understand which of the two places had a better window display
that could attract Indian students. It was observed that 50 candidates disagreed with this
question in Dublin, whereas the disagreement was very less in India accounting to almost half
of the number in Dublin, which is 26. It can be concluded that the number of Indian students
entering the shop by window display was reduced in Dublin, than in India. There can be many
reasons for this may be due to cultural and fashion differences in both places. The detailed
results are as follows:
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4.2.5 Impulse shopping after finding the right size

To test whether the availability of the right size and fit contributes to impulse shopping or not,
this question was asked to the students. The aim of this question was to understand which place
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students engage more in impulse shopping after getting the best fit. It was observed that the
participants did more impulse shopping in India after getting the right size as 63 out of 107
agreed whereas the agreement number in Dublin reduced to 46. A few students showed no
impact by this parameter in both places. The below bar graph shows the results.
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4.2.6 Impulse shopping because of the return policy

The aim of this question was to understand the impact of the return policy on impulse shopping
decisions of Indian students and also to understand India and Dublin, which place has better
return policies. 71% of the participants agreed that Dublin has better return policies than in
India and it makes them shop on impulse in Dublin. This number reduced to half to 35%
agreement of shopping on impulse in India. The survey results suggest that the return policies
of Dublin strongly affect impulse shopping than that of India. The detailed results are as
follows:
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4.2.7 Impulse shopping because of sale season
When the students were asked whether they engage in shopping as soon the sale season start,
there was a difference observed in their behaviour in India and Dublin. In Dublin, 45 candidates
out of 107 did not go shopping as soon as the sale season started. 20 people had no opinion in
this shopping. In India, the behavior was contrasting 64 candidates out of 107 agreed to go
shopping as soon as the sale starts. The detailed results are as follows:
Figure 18: Survey Question 13 results
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4.2.8 Impulse shopping because of sale promotion

The aim of this question was to understand which place India or Dublin, does the sales
promotion impact impulse shopping. It was observed that sales promotion had an almost
similar impact in both places. In Dublin, 52% candidates agreed to do shopping because of
sales promotion, whereas in India also 52% of students had an impact on sales promotion.
There was some difference observed in Dublin and India as 38% and 28% of students had
disagreed to engage in shopping because of sale. The below graph shows the results in detail.
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4.2.9 Festival Shopping
Many people tend to believe to shop during festivals. Thus, to test this hypothesis, respondents
were asked about their festival shopping sprees. The results show that in Dublin only 41% of
Indian students, accepted to do festival shopping, whereas in India 74% of students did festival
shopping. There can be several reasons, as being away from family can be one of them. The
detailed results are as follows:
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4.2.10 Shopping alone
In order to understand if shopping is influenced by the company, the candidates were asked
whether they engage in shopping alone. This question received contrasting results for both
places. In Dublin 59 out of 107 agreed to shop alone, whereas this number dropped as 28 out
of 107 agreed to do shopping alone in India. The detailed results are shown below:
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4.2.11 Conclusion
The participants were asked whether they engage in more impulse shopping in India or in
Dublin. The results show that 30% of students agreed to shop more in Dublin than in India.
57% of students disagreed to shop more in Dublin, rest had no opinion. The results for India
showed that 62% agreed to shop more in India than in Dublin and only 26% disagreed with it.
Thus, it is clearly evident that Indian students preferred shopping more in India than in Dublin.
The detailed results are as follows:
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4.3 Focus Group Analysis
The aim of the focus group was to understand the spending habits and to test various factors
contributing to Impulse Buying.
4.3.1 Factor one: First Salary and Spending Motive

All the respondents expressed a positive attitude towards spending their first income on their
loved ones. All the respondents expressed the emotion of feeling proud and all of them had
well planned on how they will be spending their first salary which was on their parents and
loved ones. They felt emotional even while thinking about the day, on how they thanked
everyone with showering love in the form of gifts they presented to them with their hard-earned
money. Respondents were very clear about the fact that they will first use their entire salary for
gifting goodies to their loved ones. Only one respondent said that after buying things for their
parents if at all any extra money remains he would have bought for himself otherwise his
priority was fixed.
4.3.2 Factor two: Control on Impulse Buying

All the 4 respondents regretted buying a product and later wanting to get freed from it. From
them, 1 has never done impulse shopping after coming to Dublin. Also one of them has
completely controlled themselves from shopping for anything that they like in one go. One of
the respondents bought a product that was out of impulse and later saw a similar product that
was lesser in price. Fortunately, they returned the expensive product and bought the one which
was less in price. This was agreed by the other 3 respondents saying that the return policy in
Dublin is better than in India indicating there is less risk in buying a product on impulse. Among
4 respondents 3 of them described an impulse shopper as an indecisive, spontaneous and risk-
taker whereas 1 of them said its self-satisfaction to impulse shop.
4.3.3 Factor three: Spending their Savings on Shopping

Among 4 respondents, 3 respondents hesitated to spend their savings on clothes. Even if they
do want to spend their saving it would be on electronic items. If they are saving for a particular
product which later is on a discount, they all feel it should be value for money or the product
should fit in the savings that they have done so far.
55 | P a g e
4.3.4 Factor four: Shopping Influenced by Sales Promotion
All the 4 respondents agreed to enter a store looking at any sales promotion or discount signs
outside a store, they expressed that they feel excited. 1 of the respondent also mentioned that
if a brand is having a sales promotion and if you enter once or twice and you walk outside
without buying anything that means you will not enter the store third time. One of the
respondents felt that even if there is a discount on a product it should be of good quality and
should also be value for money. They refused to buy a product with a discount like 80% if the
quality is very low. All the respondents will also save for a product that they have been wanting
to buy for a long time even if that takes a couple of months they do not mind waiting for the
price to fall. Upon asking them whether they will avail a student offer provided by their bank
to shop now and pay later during a festive season, they all looked delighted to avail the offer.
But when told the bank will be charging them extra in their equated monthly installment (EMI),
they all refused to pay extra money to the bank rather they will buy the things that they can
afford.
4.3.5 Factor five: Brand Loyalty

Among 4 respondents, 2 of the respondents expressed the feeling of loyalty towards the brand
they love and have been using for years. The other 2 said they were not loyal to any brand. The
response was mixed and there was balanced conclusion to this factor.
4.3.6 Factor six: Impact of Culture

According to the culture all the respondents have been following for years, 3 of them follow
their culture away from home whether it means celebrating festivals with minimum
arrangement with lack of availability. 1 of the respondent had a mixed opinion about
celebrating Indian festivals in Dublin. All the respondents also agreed to follow the Irish culture
and adapting to it. These respondents also expressed they would fit into a new culture due to
peer pressure and feeling of missing out.
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5. Result Discussion
On the basis of the above results, it was observed that Indian students Impulse buy more in
India than in Dublin. The major purpose of this study was to analyze the impulse buying
behaviour of Indian students in Dublin and in India by finding the factors which influence their
purchasing habits. The result in this study shows that sales promotion, merchandising, retail
therapy, customer service, and culture have the influence on people’s buying decision process,
which echoes to the literature in order to analyze the factors.
According to consumer behaviour models, whether the product is able to satisfy people's needs
is one of the arguments that influence people’s buying decisions. In the case of fashion and
clothing, the product products quality and price is considered as the influence that defines
whether one’s major needs could be satisfied; as what literature implies that there are various
reasons for a person to impulse purchase, this study has analyzed to what level the key factors
affect Indian student purchase decision when they are away from home in Dublin and when
they are in India .
5.1 Discussion
With regards to the first research question which was to find out whether Indian students
impulse buy more when they are in Dublin or when they are in India, the finding shows that
upon comparison there are various factors that influence on the students when they shop in
Dublin and in India. Answering the first question of this study, India students impulse purchase
equally in both the country, in Dublin they impulse purchase to repair their mood as they are
alone and when one pampers themselves it’s a feel-good factor.
Upon asking the respondents whether the merchandising and window display urge them to
shop, a maximum number of respondents agreed to impulse shop more in India as they find it
attractive. Most of the respondents agreed to shop hasslefree in Dublin due to its customer
service and return policy on the products, even if they buy impulsively and later don’t like the
product they can return it and get refunded in cash or a gift card that they can use it later.
There are 20-30 commonly celebrated festivals in a year in India hence there is a huge scope
that the marketers leverage on to increase their sales through great advertising and sales
57 | P a g e
promotion during those festive seasons. The majority of the respondents agreed to impulse
buying seeing sales promotions, they are influenced more in India than when in Dublin. Due
to the above factors, this study concludes that Indian students impulse shop more in India than
in Dublin and the key factors that were used to understand the reason did influence them to
impulse purchase.
58 | P a g e
6. Limitations, Recommendations, And Conclusion
6.1 Introduction
As already indicated, the purpose of this study stresses the degree on factors like retail therapy,
sales promotion, merchandising and culture have an effect on Indian student’s impulsive
buying behaviour while they are shopping in Dublin and India. The findings, recommendations,
and conclusions is useful for both manufacturers, brands and retailers who spend millions on
advertising and sales promotion.
The value of young consumer groups to marketers have gained greater importance as their
purchasing power has been growing through all the years and is expected to grow with the
changing standard of living and constant peer pressure. For example, having gained access to
credit cards also allowed them to impulse buy more than in the past. Therefore, the consumer
behaviour of young college students was considered worthwhile to be researched (refer to
Chapter 2). Impulsive buying behaviour has been theorized as acts that are spontaneous and
unplanned (Rook, 1987). Impulsive behaviour in the social sciences literature has been
conceptualized as spontaneous acts that occur in response to certain situations and stimuli
(Wolman, 1973; cited in Sneath, 1996:28).
6.2 Limitations of the Study
The study had the following limitations:
The research study was not able to assess the full extent of the influence of factors like retail
therapy, sales promotion, merchandising and culture on consumer impulsive buying behaviour,
as only students were included in this study. The viewpoints of Indian or Dublin manufacturers
and retailers were not consulted or taken into consideration.
59 | P a g e
6.3 Recommendations for Marketers/Retailers
One of the major problems faced by marketers is devising marketing strategies and finding the
optimal marketing mix such that sales and profits improve. Hence, understanding what drives
customer choices is imperative for the marketer. Literature suggests that in addition to various
product characteristics and in-store stimuli, certain consumer characteristics also impact
consumer behaviour. This holds true for planned purchases as well as excessive consumption
behaviours such as addictions, compulsive buying and impulse buying. Given the increasing
significance of such excessive consumption behaviours, from the retailer’s point of view, it is
important to understand what drives impulse buying, so as to increase sales.
The results of our analysis revealed that Indian consumers are affected by individual cultural
values as a factor influencing impulse buying tendency, although the effect may not be very
pronounced.
Therefore, marketers need to be aware of these factors and design the marketing mix for the
Indian consumer accordingly. The marketing mix should be designed around relating the
product use to an enhancement of social status, performance and achievement and enhancing
personal steadiness and stability. Such communications and marketing strategies are likely to
promote impulse buying tendency among Indian consumers.
Consumers scoring high on power distance values are highly influenced by their peers and
reference groups and are extremely conscious of social class structures. In such a scenario,
marketers must carefully position their products so that they are considered sought after by the
target segment and viewed as status enhancers. This will help to promote impulse buying of
such products.
6.3 Future Work
Viewpoints of manufacturers and retailers should also be taken into consideration. A broader
group of respondents should also be included and not only students. Further extended research
among various geographical groups is recommended. Further research should therefore also
investigate a bigger sample frame so that more demographical differences could be identified.
60 | P a g e
6.4 Conclusion
The aim of the research was to understand the impulse buying behaviour of Indian students.
This survey was conducted to find out whether Indian students shop more in Dublin or India.
The results of the survey proved that students engage in impulse buying more in India than in
Dublin. There were various factors for this result. Students felt more excited about impulse
shopping in India than in Dublin because they always have a company to shop with, the sales
and promotions are very attracted and engaging.
The research also tested which of the two places had an impact on impulse buying because of
merchandise and customer service. Upon asking the respondents whether the merchandising
and window display urge them to shop, a maximum number of respondents agreed to impulse
shop more in India as they find it attractive. The only contrasting result was based on customer
service and return policy. Most of the respondents agreed to shop hasslefree in Dublin due to
its customer service and return policy on the products, even if they buy impulsively and later
don’t like the product they can return it and get refunded in cash or a gift card that can be used
later.
With regards to the first research question which was to find out whether Indian students
impulse purchase more when they are in Dublin or when they are in India, the finding shows
that upon comparison there are various factors that influence on the students when they shop
in Dublin and in India. Answering the first question of this study, Indian students impulse
purchase equally in both the country, in Dublin they impulse purchase to repair their mood as
they are alone and when one pampers themselves it’s a feel-good factor.
The other factors that motivated Indian students to shop more in India were sales promotion
and advertising of product. There are 20-30 commonly celebrated festivals in a year in India
hence there is a huge scope that the marketers leverage on to increase their sales through great
advertising and sales promotion during those festive seasons. The majority of the respondents
agreed to impulse purchasing seeing sales promotions, they are influenced more in India than
when in Dublin. Due to the above factors, this study concludes that Indian students impulse
shop more in India than in Dublin and the key factors that were used to understand the reason
did influence them to impulse purchase.
61 | P a g e
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Appendix
The below Questionnaire was used for the online research survey.
Indicate your opinion about the following statements using the scales below:
1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = No Opinion, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree
Section 1 Impulse buying 1 2 3 4 5

1a In Dublin, I shop to change my mood.
1b In India, I shop to change my mood.
2a In Dublin, I feel excited when making
an Impulse purchase.
2b In India, I feel excited when making
an impulse purchase.
3a In Dublin, I regret buying on impulse.
3b In India, I regret buying on impulse.
Section 2 Influence of Merchandising & 1 2 3 4 5

Services
1a In Dublin, I enter stores when I see an
attractive window display.
1b In India, I enter stores when I see an
attractive window display.
2a In Dublin, when I find the right size I
buy it immediately.
2b In India, when I find the right size I
buy it immediately.
3a In Dublin, I don’t hesitate to buy
because of return policy.
3b In India, I don’t hesitate to buy
because of return policy.
68 | P a g e
Section 3 Influence of sales promotion 1 2 3 4 5
1a In Dublin, as soon as sales season
start, I go shopping.
1b In India, as soon as sales season start, I
go shopping.
2a In Dublin, when I see sales promotions
I buy more.
2b In India, when I see sales promotions I
buy more.
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Section 4 Influence of culture 1 2 3 4 5
1a In Dublin, during festivals, I go on a
shopping sprees.
1b In India, during festivals, I go on a
shopping spree.
2a In Dublin, I shop alone.
2b In India, I shop alone.
3a In Dublin, I shop more than in India
3b In India, I shop more than in Dublin
➢ What is your gender

o [ ] Male [ ] Female [ ] Others
➢ What is your age?
o [ ] under 20 [ ] 20-25 [ ] 25-30 [ ] other than 30
➢ Level of education
o [ ] under grad [ ] Master’s [ ] PHD
70 | P a g e

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Comparative study of Impulse buying

behaviour of Indian students in

1.1 Research Motivation ................................................................................................................. 10

1.2 Research Aims ..................................................................................................................... 11

1.3 Recipients of the Research ................................................................................................. 11

1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 11

1.5 Dissertation Structure and Overview ................................................................................ 12

1.6 Ethics Statement.................................................................................................................. 13

2. Literature Review ....................................................................................................................... 14

2.1 Literature Introduction ............................................................................................................ 14

2.3 Literature theme two: Self-Regulation and Mood Repair .................................................... 20

2.4 Literature theme three: Sales Promotion ............................................................................... 22

2.5 Literature theme four: Influence of Culture on Impulsiveness ............................................ 24

2.6 Literature theme five: Influence of Merchandising (Visual Attention) ............................... 25

2.7 Literature Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 26

3. Research Methodology ............................................................................................................... 27

3.1 Research Design ........................................................................................................................ 27

3.2 Research Objective ................................................................................................................... 28

3.3 Research Approach ................................................................................................................... 28

3.4 Research Strategy ..................................................................................................................... 29

3.5 Research Questionnaire Design ............................................................................................... 30

3.6 Data Collection methods........................................................................................................... 32

3.7 Sampling .................................................................................................................................... 33

3.8 Ethics .......................................................................................................................................... 33

4.1 Respondent Analysis ................................................................................................................. 35

4.1.1 Gender .......................................................................................................................... 35

4.1.2 Age ................................................................................................................................ 36

4.1.3 Level of Education ...................................................................................................... 37

4.2 Survey Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 38

4.2.1 Shopping to change the mood .................................................................................... 38

4.2.2 Excitement while making an impulse purchase ....................................................... 39

4.2.3 Regret buying on impulse ........................................................................................... 41

4.2.4 Enters store by seeing an attractive window display. .............................................. 42

4.2.5 Impulse shopping after finding the right size ........................................................... 43

4.2.6 Impulse shopping because of the return policy ........................................................ 45

4.2.7 Impulse shopping because of sale season .................................................................. 47

4.2.8 Impulse shopping because of sale promotion ........................................................... 48

4.2.9 Festival Shopping ........................................................................................................ 50

4.2.10 Shopping alone ............................................................................................................ 52

4.2.11 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 53

4.3 Focus Group Analysis ............................................................................................................... 55

4.3.1 Factor one: First Salary and Spending Motive ........................................................ 55

4.3.2 Factor two: Control on Impulse Buying ................................................................... 55

4.3.3 Factor three: Spending their Savings on Shopping ................................................. 55

4.3.4 Factor four: Shopping Influenced by Sales Promotion ........................................... 56

4.3.5 Factor five: Brand Loyalty ......................................................................................... 56

4.3.6 Factor six: Impact of Culture..................................................................................... 56

5. Result Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 57

6. Limitations, Recommendations, And Conclusion .................................................................... 59

6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 59

6.3 Recommendations for Marketers/Retailers............................................................................ 60

6.3 Future Work .............................................................................................................................. 60

6.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 61

Figure 1: Model Consumer Buying Process ........................................................................ 20

1.1 Research Motivation

It is of prime importance to have a knowledge of sales promotion, merchandising and cultural

1.3 Recipients of the Research

1.4 Research Questions

The study intends to answer these research questions: