Cultural Influence on Impulse Buying Behaviour.pdf

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Society for onsumer Psychology

The Influence of Culture on Consumer Impulsive Buying BehaviorAuthor(s): Jacqueline J. Kacen and Julie Anne LeeSource: Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 12, No. 2 (2002), pp. 163-176Published by: Society for Consumer PsychologyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1480261.

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2/15

JOURNAL

OF

CONSUMER

PSYCHOLOGY,

12(2),

163-176

Copyright

?

2002,

LawrenceErlbaum

Associates,

Inc.

The Influence of Cultureon Consumer

Impulsive BuyingBehavior

Jacqueline

J.

Kacen

Departmentof

Business

Administration

Universityof

Illinois

at

Urbana-Champaign

Julie Anne Lee

Department

of

Marketing

Impulse uying enerates

ver

$4

billionnannual alesvolumenthe

United tates.

With

he

growth

f e-commerce nd elevision

hopping

hannels,

onsumers ave

easy

access o

im-

pulsepurchasing

pportunities,

ut

ittle

s known

bout his

sudden,

ompelling, edonically

complex urchasing

ehavior

n

non-Western

ultures.

et

culturalactorsmoderate

any

s-

pects

of

consumer's

mpulsive

uying

ehavior,

ncludingelf-identity,

ormative

nfluences,

the

suppression

f

emotion,

nd

he

postponement

f

instant

ratification.

rom

multi-country

survey

of consumersn

Australia,

nited

States,

HongKong,

Singapore,

nd

Malaysia,

ur

analyses

how hatboth

egional

evel

actors

individualism-collectivism)

nd ndividualul-

turaldifference actors

independentinterdependent

elf-concept)ystematically

nfluence

impulsive purchasing

behavior.

Impulsive

consumer

buying

behavior

s

a

widely recognized

phenomenonnthe UnitedStates.Itaccounts orupto80%of

all

purchases

n

certain

product

categories

(Abrahams,

1997;

Smith,

1996),

and t has been

suggested

that

purchases

f

new

products

result more from

impulse purchasing

than from

priorplanning Sfiligoj,

1996).

A

1997

study

oundthatan es-

timated

$4.2

billion annual store volume

was

generatedby

impulse

sales

of

items such as

candy

and

magazines

(Mogelonsky,

1998).

Paco

Underhill,

authorof

Why

We

Buy:

TheScience

of

Shopping

1999),

affirms hat

manypurchases

are

being

made

on

the

premises

of

stores themselves as cus-

tomers

give

in

to their

impulses.

Furthermore,

echnologies

such as television

shopping

channels

and

the

Internet

xpand

consumers'

impulse purchasing opportunities,increasing

both the

accessibility

to

products

and services andthe ease

with

which

impulse purchases

can be

made.

Impulsive buying

behavior is a

sudden,

compelling,

hedonicallycomplex

purchasing

behavior

n

which the

rapid-

ity

of the

impulse purchase

decision

process precludes

Requests

or

reprints

hould be

sent

to

Jacqueline

J.

Kacen,

University

of

Illinois

at Urbana-

Champaign,

1206 S. Sixth

Street,

Champaign,

L

61820.

Email: [email protected]

thoughtful,

deliberate consideration

of all

informationand

choice alternativesBayley&Nancorrow,1998;Rook 1987;

Thompson,

Locander,

&

Pollio, 1990;

Weinberg

&

Gottwald,

1982).

This

description

s

largely

based on

interviews

and

surveys

of Westerners.

The

growth

of e-commerce and the

increasing

con-

sumer-orientation

f

many

societies

around

he worldoffer

expanding

occasions for

impulse

purchasing,

but

little

is

known

about

mpulsive

buying

behavior

n

non-Western o-

cieties. Most of the

research

on

impulse

buying

focuses on

consumers

n

the United States.A

few

studies havelooked at

consumers

in

Great Britain

(Bayley

&

Nancarrow,

1998;

Dittmar,

Beattie,

&

Friese, 1995;

McConatha,

Lightner,

&

Deaner,

1994),

and

South Africa

(Abratt

&

Goodey, 1990)

andhave found

thatUnited States

consumers

end to be

more

impulsive

than

comparable

Britishand

South

African sam-

ples.

However,

none

of

these

studies examined

explicitly

the

effect

of

cultural actors

on

impulse

buying

behavior.

A

recent

special

issue

of

the

Journal

of

Consumer

Psy-

chology

dealt with

cultural

ssues

demonstrating

he

growing

interest

in

cultural differences

in

consumer

behavior

and

highlighted

he

importance

f

understanding

hecultural on-

text of consumer

behavior

n

an

increasing

globalized

mar-

ketplace

(Maheswaran

&

Shavitt,

2000).

We

believe that

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3/15

164

KACEN

AND LEE

cultural actors

significantly

nfluence

consumers'

mpulsive

buying

behavior.

Specifically,

the

theory

of

individualism

andcollectivism holds

mportant nsights

about

consumerbe-

havior hatcan

help

us to

gain

a

better,

more

complete

under-

standing

of the

impulsive buying phenomenon.

Consistent

with this interest

n

cultural

differences,

his

articleexamines

the effect of regional evel (individualist-collectivist)and n-

dividual

difference level

(independent-interdependent

self-concept)

cultural actorson consumers'

mpulsive buy-

ing

behavior.

Utilizing

a

multi-country ample

of

over a

thou-

sand

consumers

rom both Westernand Eastern

cultures,

we

investigate

how

culture

systematically

moderates

impulse

buying

behavior.

Thisis

especiallyimportant

s

shopping

s

a

major

eisure

activity

n

many

East Asian countries

Wong

&

Ahuvia,

1998),

including

Singapore,

Hong

Kong,

and

Japan.

IMPULSE BUYING

Impulse

buying

s defined as an

unplannedpurchase

hat s

characterized

by

(1)

relatively

rapid

decision-making,

and

(2)

a

subjective

biasinfavorof immediate

possession

Rook

&

Gardner,1993,

p.

3;

see also

Rook, 1987;

Rook &

Hoch,

1985).

It

is described

as more

arousing,

ess

deliberate,

and

more

irresistible

buying

behavior

compared

o

planned

pur-

chasing

behavior.

Highly

impulsive

buyers

are

likely

to be

unreflective

n

their

thinking,

to be

emotionally

attracted

o

the

object,

and to desire

immediate

gratification

(Hoch

&

Loewenstein,

1991;

Thompson

et

al.,

1990).

These consum-

ers often

pay

little attention

to

potential negative

conse-

quences

that

may

result

from their actions

(Hoch

&

Loewenstein, 1991;Rook, 1987;see also O'Guinn& Faber,

1989).

Previous

research

conducted

in

the United States

and

Great

Britain

(individualist

cultures)

has shown

that

many

factors

nfluence

mpulsive buying

behavior: he consumer's

mood

or

emotional

state

(Donovan,

Rossiter,

Marcoolyn,

&

Nesdale,

1994; Rook, 1987;

Rook

&

Gardner,

1993: Wein-

berg

&

Gottwald,

1982),

trait

buying impulsiveness

(Puri,

1996;

Rook &

Fisher,

1995;

Weun,

Jones,

&

Beatty,

1998),

normative

evaluation

of the

appropriateness

f

engaging

in

impulse

buying

(Rook

&

Fisher,

1995),

self-identity

Dittmar

et

al.,

1995),

and

demographic

factors,

such as

age

(e.g.,

Bellenger,

Robertson,

&

Hirschman,1978;

Wood,

1998).

Several studies demonstratethe effect of consumers'

moods and affective

states

on

impulsive

buying

behavior.

Rook and

Gardner

1993)

found

that

consumers'

positive

moods

were

more conducive to

impulsive buying

than

nega-

tive

moods,

although impulse buying

occurred under

both

types

of

moods.

Beatty

and Ferrell

(1998)

also found

that

a

consumer's

positive

mood

was

associated with the

urge

to

buy impulsively,

while the

impulsebuyers

n

Weinberg

and

Gottwald's

(1982)

study

were more

emotionalized

han

nonbuyers.

Donovan

et

al.

(1994)

discovered

a

positive

asso-

ciation between

consumers'

feelings

of

pleasure

n

the

shop-

ping

environmentand

impulse buying

behavior. In

each of

these

studies,

pleasurable

eelings

led

to

increased

unplanned

spending.

Cognitive,

clinical,

social,

developmental,

and consumer

psychologists

have studied he

general

raitof

impulsiveness

and

impulse

control

(Eysenck

&

Eysenck,

1978;

Eysenck,

Pearson,Easting,&Allsopp, 1985; Helmers,Young,&Pihl,

1995;

Hilgard,

1962;

Logue

&

Chavarro,1992;

Logue,

King,

Cavarro,

&

Volpe,

1990;

Mischel, 1961; Puri,

1996;

Rawlings,

Boldero,

&

Wiseman, 1995;

Rook &

Fisher,

1995;

Weun et

al.,

1998).

Trait

mpulsiveness

is

characterized

by

unreflectiveactions

Eysenck

et

al.,

1985)

and

s

significantly

correlated

with

thrill-seeking

(Weun

et

al.,

1998),

and

the

psychological

need to

maintain

relatively

high

level

of

stim-

ulation

(Gerbing,

Ahadi,

&

Patton,

1987).

Rook

and

Fisher

(1995)

recentlydeveloped

a

nine-item measureof trait

buy-

ing

impulsiveness

hat was

significantly

correlated

with im-

pulse

buying

behavior.

In

addition,

they

found that

consumers' normativeevaluation

of the

appropriateness

f

engagingin impulsebuyingin a particular ituationmoder-

ates an individual's

trait

impulsiveness. Specifically,

when

consumers

believe

that

mpulsepurchasing

s

socially accept-

able,

they

act

on their

mpulsive

endencies,

but when

it

is

so-

cially unacceptable

hese

tendencies

may

be thwarted.

The

literature

on

compulsive

shopping

(Elliot,

1994),

self-gifts

(Mick,

DeMoss,

&

Faber,

1992),

and

impulse pur-

chases

(Dittmar

t

al.,

1995)

highlights

the

role

of

perceived

social

image

and

the

expression

of

self-identity

in

the

pur-

chase decision.

Dittmar

et

al.

(1995)

hypothesized

that im-

pulse

purchases

were more

likely

to be items that

symbolize

the

preferred

r ideal self andas such should be

affected

by

social categoriessuch as gender.They arguedthat women

value their

possessions

for emotional

and

relationship-ori-

ented

reasons,

whereas

men value their

possessions

for

func-

tional and

instrumentalreasons.

The

results

of the

study

supported

heir

hypothesis:

Men

reported

more

personal

in-

dependent)

identity

reasons for their

purchases

whereas

women

reported

more

social

(relational)

dentity

reasons.

An

individual's

mpulsive

behavior endencies

have

also

been related

to

demographic

characteristics uch as a con-

sumer's

age.

Based

on a national

sample

of

adults

in

the

United

States,

Wood

(1998)

foundan inverse

relationship

e-

tween

age

and

mpulse

buying

overall.

However,

he

relation-

ship

is non-monotonic

between the

ages

of

18 and

39

impulse buying increases slightly and thereafterdeclines.

This is consistentwith

Bellenger

et al.

(1978)

who found that

shoppers

under35

were more

prone

to

impulse buying

com-

pared

o those

over 35

years

old. Researchon trait

mpulsive-

ness indicates

that

younger

individuals

score

higher

on

measures

of

impulsivity

compared

o older

people

(Eysenck

et

al., 1985;

Helmers

et

al., 1995;

Rawlings

et

al.,

1995)

and

demonstrate ess

self-control

hanadults

Logue

&

Chavarro,

1992).

Because

impulsiveness

s linked

to emotional

arousal,

this

finding

concerning

he

relationship

between

age

and

im-

pulsiveness

is consistent

with

studies

of emotions and emo-



4/15

CULTURE

AND

IMPULSIVEBUYING

BEHAVIOR

165

tional control. Research shows

that older

individuals

demonstrate

reaterregulation

of emotional

expression

than

do

younger

adults

(Lawton,

Kleban,

Rajogopal,

&

Dean,

1992;

McConatha t

al., 1994;

Siegel,

1985).

These

findings

suggest

that

as

consumers

age,

they

learn

to control

their m-

pulsive

buying

tendencies.

Interestingly, he factorsthat havebeen linked to impulse

purchasing

are also

likely

to

be

influenced

by

culture.

The

theory

of individualism

and collectivism

offers several

in-

sights

into

many

of the variables

hat

have been linked to

im-

pulsive

buying

behavior,

including

self-identity,

normative

influences,

the

suppression

of

emotion,

and

postponement

f

instant

gratification

see

Triandis,

1995

for

a

review).

In the

next

section,

we discuss

this

theory

and demonstrate

hat

t is

well

suited to

the

study

of

impulse

buying.

INDIVIDUALISM ND COLLECTIVISM

Triandis

1995)

defined

collectivism

as

a social

pattern

hat

consists

of

individuals

who see themselves

as

an

integral

part

of

one or

more collectives

or

in-groups,

such

as

family

and

co-workers.

People

who are

more

collectivist

are often

moti-

vated

by

norms

and duties

imposed

by

the

in-group,

give pri-

ority

to

the

goals

of

the

in-group,

and

try

to

emphasize

their

connectedness

with the

in-group.

He defines individualism

s

a social

pattern

hat

consists

of individuals who

see

them-

selves

as

autonomous

and

ndependent.

People

who are

more

individualist

are

motivated

by

their

own

preferences,

needs,

and

rights, give

priority

o their

personal

goals,

and

empha-

size

a rational

analysis

of

their

relationships

with

others

(Triandis,1994). Thesesocial patternsareexpectedto influ-

ence

impulsive

purchasing

behavior

hrough

heiraffect

on

a

person's

self-identity,

responsiveness

to normative

influ-

ences,

and the

need

(or

lack

of

need)

to

suppress

nternalbe-

liefs

in order

o act

appropriately.

The

tendency

o focuson

group

preferences

nd

group

har-

mony

in collectivist

cultures

eads to

an

ability

to

repress

n-

ternal

(personal)

attributes

n certain

settings.

Accordingly,

people

in collectivist

cultures

often

shift their

behaviorde-

pending

on

the

context

or what

is

right

or the situation.

Among

collectivists

a

person

is

generally

seen

as more

ma-

ture

when s/he

puts

personal

feelings

aside

and acts

in a so-

ciallyappropriate

manner

ather

han

n a

way

consistent

with

personal

attitudes

and

beliefs

(Triandis,

1995).

Conse-

quently,

it has been

found that attitude-intention

Bagozzi,

Wonge,

Abe,

&

Bergami,

2000;

Lee,

2000)

and attitude-be-

havior

relationships

Kashima,

Siegal,

Tanaka,

&

Kashima,

1992)

are

weaker

in collectivist

than

individualistcultures.

This

pattern

s

likely

to

carry

over

to

the

impulse

trait-behav-

ior

relationship.

Collectivist

cultures

also

emphasize

the

control and

mod-

eration

of one's

emotions

more so

than

individualistic

cul-

tures

(Potter,

1988;

Russell &

Yik,

1996;

Tsai

&

Levenson,

1997).

For

instance,

the

maintenance

of

harmony

within

the

group

is

dependent

on

members'

ability

to

manage

their

emotions. In

short,

culture

s

likely

to

impact

an

individual's

emotional

experiences

by

determining

the

appropriate

x-

pression

of

one's

feelings

(McConatha,

1993).

Culture

nflu-

ences both

feeling

rules,

how

an

individual

nterprets

he

environment,

and

display

rules,

which

emotions

are

ex-

pressedand how they areexpressed(Ekman, 1972). For in-

stance,

people

from Asian

(collectivist)

cultures have been

found to

control

negative

emotions and

only

display positive

emotions

o

acquaintances Gudykunst,

1993).

Given that

m-

pulsiveness

is

related to

sensation-seeking

and

emotional

arousal

(Rook,

1987;

Weinberg

&

Gottwald,

1982),

it

is

likely

that

people

in

collectivist cultures

earn o control

heir

impulsive

tendencies

more than

people

from individualist

cultures.

In

fact,

children

in

collectivist cultures are social-

ized

to

control

their

mpulses

at an

early age

(Ho,

1994).

In

individualist

ultures,

people

often

ignore

the

potential

negative

consequences

of their

impulsive buying

behavior

(see

Rook,

1987),

preferring

o focus

on

the

positive

conse-

quences

of theiractionsand on theirown

feelings

and

goals.

This

may

not

be

true

for

people

from collectivist

cultures,

who are more

ikely

to

focus

on

the

potential

negative

conse-

quences

of

their

behavior

and the

effect of their actions on

in-group

members

(Triandis,

1995).

The

greater

ikelihood

that

people

in collectivist

cultures

will consider

the

negative

consequences

of their

actions

makes the

suppression

of the

impulse

trait-behavior

elationship

more

probable.

These differences

between

individualistsand collectivists

are

best

explained

by

examining

he tenants

on

which the cul-

tural

patterns

f

individualism

nd collectivism

are

based.

As

Kim,

Triandis,

Kagiycibasi,

Choi,

andYoon

(1994)

explained

Western ndividualist ocietiesarebasedonthetenantof liber-

alism.

In

these

societies individuals

re

encouraged

o be ratio-

nal andare

given

individual

rights

to

define

their

own

goals

andchoose

freely.

Conversely,

East

Asian

collectivist societ-

ies are

based

on

Confucianism,

which

promotes

common

goals

and social

harmony

over individualinterests. Within

each

society

these differences

are reinforcedat

the

cultural

level

through

ocial

institutions

uch

as

schools,

workplaces,

and

amilies,

so

thateven

very

ambitious

i.e.,

more

ndividu-

alist)

people

who

grow up

in

China are

likely

to be betterat

controlling

heir

mpulses

and emotions

than

veryfamily-fo-

cused

(i.e.,

more

collectivist)

people

from he UnitedStates.

In

collectivistsocieties

individuals

are

encouraged

o

suppress

theirownhedonicdesires nfavorof

group

nterestsand

goals.

From

this we conclude

the

following:

H

la:

The

relationship

between trait

buying

impulsiveness

and

impulsive buying

behavior

will

be

stronger

among people

from individualistcultures

compared

to

people

from collectivist

cultures.

Several

researchers

have

emphasized

the

importance

of

examining

the

influence

of

culture

at the

individual evel as

well

as at thenational

evel

(e.g.,

Kim

et

al.,

1994; Schwartz,



5/15

166 KACEN

AND

LEE

1994;

Singelis

&

Brown, 1995; Triandis, 1994,

1995).

Ac-

cording

oTriandis

1994),

All of us

carry

both ndividualist

andcollectivist

tendencies;

he difference s that n some

cul-

tures

the

probability

that individualist

selves, attitudes,

norms, values,

and

behaviors

will be

sampled

or used

is

higher

han

n

others

p.

42).

Consequently,people

fromcol-

lectivistcultures houldbe more ikelytorelyon a more nter-

dependent

self-concept

and

people

from individualist

cultures

should be more

likely

to

rely

on a more

ndependent

self-concept

in

any given

situation.

Singelis

(1995)

defined

an

interdependent

elf-concept

as one

emphasizing

(a)

ex-

ternal,

public

features

such as

statuses, roles,

and

relation-

ships,

(b)

belonging

and

itting

n,

(c)

occupying

one's

proper

place

and

engaging

in

appropriate

ction,

and

(d)

being

indi-

rect

in communicationand

'reading

others'

minds, '

and an

independentself-concept

as one

emphasizing

(a)

internal

abilities,

thoughts,

and

feelings;

(b)

being unique

and

ex-

pressing

he

self;

(c)

realizing

nternalattributes nd

promot-

ing

one's

own

goals;

and

(d)

being

direct n communication

(p.

581).

We

expect

that

measuring

self-concept

at

the individual

level

across cultures should

produce

parallel although

not

identical results

to the

cultural

i.e.,

regional)

level

analysis.

Although

a

person's self-concept

reveals

the

parts

of

culture

that

have

been

internalized

y

that

ndividual,

t does not

fully

explain

differencesthat

may

be due to the

influence

of

social

institutions,

which

emphasize

he

suppression

of hedonicde-

sires

in

favor

of

group

interestsand

goals.

Thus,

at the

indi-

vidual level across

societies,

we

expect

to

find

a

similar

pattern

of

trait-behavior

elationships, lthough

he differen-

tial effect

of

culture should

be

somewhatweakerthan at the

regional-national evel.

Hlb:

The

relationship

between trait


and

mpulsive

buying

behavior

will

be

stronger

or in-

dividualsclassified as

having

a

more

ndependent

in-

dividualist)

self-concept

as

compared

o those

classi-

fied

as

having

a more

interdependent

collectivist)

self-concept.

In

addition,

becausecontrol

and

moderation

f

one's emo-

tions

is

emphasized

more

strongly

in

collectivist

cultures,

consumers

rom

theseculturesaremore

ikely

to

suppress

he

emotional

component

of

their

impulse

buying experience

than those fromindividualistcultures.

H2: The

emotional factors of

pleasure

and

arousal that

characterize

mpulsive buying

behaviorwill

be

more

positively

related to

impulsive

buying

behavior

among

individualists han

among

collectivists.

However,

pleasure

and

arousal

may

be

universal

compo-

nents

of

spontaneous

buying

behavior,

and ones

shared

by

people

in

both individualist

and

collectivist

cultures. If

so,

then

feelings

of

pleasure

and

arousal

will

be

positively

related

to

impulsebuying

behavior

among

both

individualists

and

collectivists. Given the lack of research nto

impulse

buying

in non-Western

societies,

one of

the

objectives

of our re-

search s to determine

n

what

ways

impulsivebuying

behav-

iordiffers across culturalcontexts.

Finally,

the

moderating

nfluence of

age

is

expected

to af-

fect theimpulsivebuyingbehaviorof peoplefromcollectivist

culturesearlier hanthose from individualist

ultures.Given

thatadults n individualist

ultures

have

demonstrated

slight

increase in

impulsive buying

into their late

30's

(Wood,

1998),

we

do not

anticipate

a decline

in

impulsive

buying

be-

havior

for

college-aged

individualists.

Conversely,

because

people

in

collectivist cultures earnatanearlier

age

to

control

theiremotions and

behavior,

we

expect age

to

negatively

m-

pact impulse buying

once collectivists reach

college

age.

H3:

Age

will

negatively impact impulse

buying

to a

greater

extent for collectivists

compared

o individu-

alists,

in

their

early

adult

years.

METHOD

Overview

Two

studies were conducted o

measure he influenceof

cul-

tureon consumers'

mpulsive

buying

behavior.The

prelimi-

nary

tudy

concentrates

n a

parsimonious

xplanation

f im-

pulsive

buying

behavior: The

basic

hypothesis

is

that

consumers

with a

personality

rait

of

impulsiveness

will

make

more

frequent mpulsivepurchases,

but thatthis

relationship

willbemoremoderatencollectivist cultures.Themainstudy

examines this

effect

but also

controls for the

effect

of

affec-

tive states

and

age

variableson

impulsive

buying

behavior

o

better

understand

his

complex

buying

behavior

within

differ-

ent culturalcontexts.

In

these

studies,

surveys

wereadministered

o

studentsand

non-students n

highly

individualistand

highly

collectivist

countries

purposefully

selected from

their

positioning

on

Hofstede's

(1991)

ranking

of

individualism to include

the

UnitedStates

individualism

core

=

91)

and

Australia

90)

as

highly

individualistic ountries

and

Singapore

20),

Malaysia

(26),

and

Hong Kong

(25)

as

highly

collectivist countries.In

each

study,

culturaldifferences

were

compared

at

two levels

of

analysis:

cultural

egion

(Western

ndividualist s.

Eastern

Collectivist)

and individual level

(independent

vs.

interde-

pendent

self-concept). Using

both

levels

helps

to

address

some of the more

common

criticisms

associated with

cross-cultural

esearch.

Althoughusing

cultural

region

as an

indicatorof

individualismand

collectivism offers the

advan-

tage

of

capturing

he

more

complex

natureof the

construct,

t

also

includes the

disadvantage

of

adding between-country

variance to

the often

problematic

within-country

variance

found in

cross-culturalresearch. On the

other

hand,

using

people's self-concept

as an

indicator

of

their evel of individ-



6/15

CULTURE

AND IMPULSIVE

BUYING BEHAVIOR

167

ualism and collectivism

measures

the

within-country

vari-

ances,

recognizing

thateach

person

nternalizesnational

and

institutional

nfluences to a

greater

or

lesser

extent,

but

t

fails

to

pick up

the

more

complex

natureof theconstruct.

Using

an

individual

evel

measureof culture

n

addition

o a

regional

or

national

level

measure

adds confidence that the results are

dueto theconstructof cultureregardlessof its measurement

(see

Maheswaran

&

Shavitt, 2000; Schwartz, 1994;

Singelis

&

Brown, 1995; Triandis, 1994,

1995).

PRELIMINARYSTUDY

Participants

and Measures

A

survey

was administered

o 706

students

and

non-students

in

four

countries,

wo individualistic

ountries

Australia

and

United

States)

and

two collectivist countries

(Singapore

and

Malaysia).

As

part

of a

larger

study, participants

were

asked

to

complete

a

questionnaireconcerning

a recent

impulsive

purchase,

defined in

this

questionnaire

s,

one n which

you

experience

a sudden

unexpected

urge

to

buy

something

that

you

cannot

resist.

Impulse purchases

occur while a

person

s

in the

store and

involve

rapid

decision

making.

The

survey

included

questions

on

impulsive purchasing

behavior,

re-

spondents'

independent

and

interdependent

self-concept

(Singelis,

1994),

trait


(Rook

&

Fisher,

1995),

and

demographic

tems

including

he

country

n which

respondent urrently

ives,

andwhether his

country

s the one

she or he has lived

in

most

of his or

her life.

A

single

measureof

impulsive

buying

behaviorwas used

for thispreliminary tudy.The item, Howoftendo you buy

things

on

impulse?

was measuredon

a

4-point

scale from

1

(almost

every day)

to 4

(almost

never).

The

summary

tatis-

tics

for this item are

reported

n

Table

1.

Respondents

were classified

into

cultural

groupings

based

both

on theircultural

region

and their

ndividual

elf-concept

score as follows. At the cultural

region

level,

respondents

were

classified

into

two

groups

based on their

country

of resi-

dence: individualist

Australia

and

United

States)

or

collec-

tivist

(Malaysia

and

Singapore).

Those

respondents

who had

notlived in their

country

or

most of their

ife were

excluded

from

the

sample

at this level of

analysis.

The

resulting

sam-

ples comprised

245

respondents

rom

the

individualist

egion

(n

= 131 fromAustraliaandn = 114 from the United

States)

and 344

respondents

from

the collectivist

region

(n

=

160

from

Malaysia

and n

=

184 from

Singapore).

The

cultural

classification

procedure

developed by

Triandis

(1995)

was

used to

group

participants

at

the individual

evel of

culture.

Respondents

ndicated heir

evel of

agreement

with 12

inde-

pendence

and 12

interdependence

self-concept

statements

found in

Singelis

(1994)

on

9-point

strongly

dis-

agree-strongly agree

scales.

These two

self-concept

scales

have

been

used

frequently

in

cross-cultural

research with

consistent

resultsand

n

this

study

each scale

received a satis-

factory

evel of

reliability

n each

sample,using

Nunnally's

(1978)

criteriaof

a

>

.70. The 12

interdependent

tems and 12

independent

tems

wereeach

averaged,

and

respondents

were

trichotomizedwith a score

of

1,2,

or 3 on

each. The

independ-

ent score was

reversedand added o the

interdependent

core

to

produce

a

measureof

independence-interdependence

n

a

scale of 2 to 6. Thoserespondentswho scoreda 2 or 3 were

classified as

independent

n

=

217),

those who

scoreda 5

or

6

were

classified as

interdependent

n

=

207)

and

those

who

scored 4 were

classified

as neither

and removed

from

the

analysis

at the individual

self-concept

level.

The

personality

raitof

buying

mpulsiveness

was

initially

measured

using

Rook and

Fisher's

(1995)

nine

trait-buy-

ing-impulsiveness-scale

tems,

measured

on

5-point

strongly

disagree-strongly gree

scales. This

scale

achieved

satisfac-

tory

levels of

reliability

(ranging

rom .79

to

.92)

in

each

of

the

country

samples

(Nunnally,

1978).

However,

it is

possi-

ble

that he nine tems

measure

lightly

different

constructs n

differentcultures

and f

so,

the

impulse

model

may

fit

poorly

(see

Marsh &

Byrne,

1993).

All

nine of

the

trait

mpulsive-

ness items

were factor

analyzed

across

cultural

regions

and

reduced o a sub-scaleof four

items1

that were

most

consis-

tent

across different

cultures

(for

details see

Appendix

A).

Of

course,

we

predict

hat

people

with

higher

trait

buying

impulsivity

will make more

frequent

mpulse purchases,

but

we

also

hypothesize

that

for

consumers n

individualistcul-

turesthe

trait-behavior

elationship

will

be

stronger

hanfor

consumers n collectivist

cultures.To

test

this,

a

comparison

of

correlationsand their

variationacross

cultural

groupings

was conducted.

Results

As seen

in

the

top

portion

of

Table

2,

the

correlation

between

traitand

behavioral

mpulsiveness

equals

0.64 for

individual-

ist culturesand

0.40

for

collectivists.

Similarly,

the

correla-

tion between

traitand

behavioral

mpulsiveness

equals

0.59

for

independent

nd 0.46

for

interdependent

elf-concepts

of

culture.

All of

thesecorrelations

are

significantlypositive

at

the .001

level as

expected.

As

hypothesized,

he

buying mpulsiveness

raitwas more

strongly

associatedwith

impulse buying

behavior or

the

in-

dividualistthan for

the collectivist

groups.

Fisher's

z-trans-

formations revealed that the

correlations

differed

significantly

n

the

expected

directionatboth

the

culturalre-

gion

(z

=

3.87,

p

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