International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering Volume-2 Issue-1, pp:40-49
IJICSE@2021 40
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
“Assessing the Effective Factors that Influence Consumer Impulsive buying behaviour in a technologically
driven world with special reference to Muscat Region Oman”.
ABSTRACT
Impulsive Buying is a habit almost everyone develops
without realizing, this is evident when people stop at
the gas station or store to buy beverages or foodstuff
without really thinking or being aware of the process,
this, however, is harmless. This research paper aims
to find out what exactly influences people to make
quick, unplanned purchases. Impulse Buying is
purchasing anything without pre-meditation, or pre-
planning. Almost all people buy out of Impulse,
usually to satiate a need or to survive, but a large
number also Impulse Buys for the prestige of owning
something expensive, or for the rush that results from
“Retail Therapy”. Most surprisingly, E-Commerce
offers the easiest gate into Impulse Buying, as it is both
convenient and simple. Impulse Buying Behavior is a
dynamic process that can be triggered by a list of
different factors such as a flashy ad, or message. But
it is always first initiated from a lack of restraint or
will. Unfortunately, there exists another group of
people who have taken Impulsive Buying to the
extreme. They buy luxurious things they don’t need, to
induce a “rush” or heavily buy “comfort foods” to
escape a difficult emotional period of their lives.
Impulsive Buying can also be initiated by stimuli, both
internal and external. The outcomes of this study
are the various factors such as attractive pricing,
store displays, E-commerce & M-Commerce
purchasing, Retail therapy which influences the
buying behavior of consumers in this technologically
driven world in Muscat city and put an attempt to
analyze the dysfunctional impulsive buying behavior
of consumers in Muscat city in particular and
Sultanate of Oman in general.
Key words: Fast Moving Consumer Goods,
Functional Impulse Buying, Dysfunctional Impulse
Buying, Retail Therapy, Rush, Comfort Food, Internal
Stimuli, External Stimuli E-commerce,M-commerce.
Introduction
Everyone’s affected by it, yet no one realizes why.
There is a myriad of factors that go into impulse
buying, it is a sudden and dynamic process with a
number of variables that clouds logical decision-
making and encourages hasty purchase decisions
without prior planning because of the impact of
promotional messages through WhatsApp, email or
mobile. Impulse Buying is an unplanned decision to
buy a product or service, made just before a purchase.
This act of buying is very indecisive, and therefore,
emotions and feelings play a critical role in it. Impulse
buying is usually triggered by a flashy product or a
well-constructed promotional message.
This study has tested how strongly different factors
trigger an impulse buying decision in people. This has
been achieved by utilizing a quantitative approach.
The data was collected by way of questionnaires.
The primary participant in this research study was
employed young adults and full adults, specifically;
independent individuals that have little commitments,
and generally more freedom to spend their money.
Impulse Buying occurs in all price ranges, but most
prominently in lower priced, daily consumable
products which are also known as FMCG products and
less commonly in high-end luxurious items.
Impulse Buying is also split into two (2) sub-types:
those being Functional & Dysfunctional Impulse
Buying.
International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering (IJICSE)
1) Dr. Santhosh Kumar.S
Faculty Member
Business Studies Department
University of Technology and Applied
Sciences
Muscat- Sultanate of Oman.
2) Mohammed Ahmed AlHarthy
Student ID: (11S1587),
3) Omar Yahya AlHudhrami
Student ID: (11J15174),
4) Al Haitham Mohammed AlHusaini
Student ID: (11S162989),
5) Fatma Aqeel Baomar
Student ID: (11J16180),
6) Althuraya Anwar Alkharusi
Student ID: (11S15141),
Business Studies Department,
University of Technology and Applied
Sciences, Muscat- Sultanate of Oman.
International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering Volume-2 Issue-1, pp:40-49
IJICSE@2021 41
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
Simply put, Functional Impulse Buying is done with
the intent to satisfy a need, and Dysfunctional Impulse
Buying is done to satisfy a want.
Statement of the Problem
This research has explored the most common factors
that influence people to buy on impulse. In today’s
technological world promotional messages will reach
the consumers within no time and subsequently make
the consumers to be impulsive. Moreover, it studied
and compared the patterns of Functional and
Dysfunctional Impulse Buying respectively. As
opposed to functional impulse buying which has a
recognizable pattern, Dysfunctional Impulse Buying
does not have a discernable pattern and is instead,
completely random. This presents a challenge to find
and identify Dysfunctional Impulse Buyers.
Objectives:
To study the various factors that induce
impulsive buying behavior.
To analyze why Dysfunctional Impulsive
Buying is dangerous.
Hypotheses
There is no relationship between the
promotional offers and consumer impulsive
buying behavior.
There is no relationship between consumer
gender and consumer impulsive buying
behavior.
Consumer age and Consumer gender are
independent in terms of impulsive buying.
Review of Literature:
In this Literature Review, different studies have been
discussed and linked to this one. This will enable a
deeper understanding of which factors triggers IB in
consumers, what kind of IB it will manifest as, and
how it could be a positive or negative aspect of their
daily lives.
Researchers have endeavored to make progress in the
phenomena of impulse buying by creating practical
evidence of it, rather than purely theoretical evidence.
Impulse Buying has been delved into before by
prominent marketing researchers such as Stern, and
Rook, but their studies were mostly theory-based.
Hawkins’ study gained a lot of traction because it
brought a lot of new information about buying
impulsively to light. For instance, Impulse Buyers
were found to be of two categories: Functional
Impulse Buying, which essentially is a routine buying
pattern that an individual express out of need, or habit.
This includes stocking up on house supplies,
purchasing clothes, food, or FMCG-related products
in general. On the other hand, a Dysfunctional
Impulse Buyer possesses little identifiable pattern or
logic to his/her buying pattern. Buying things, they
want, not out of necessity, but out of luxury. (Lin,
2020)
Moreover, another researcher tried to distinguish a
conscious, well-planned purchase decision from an
Impulsive Buy, by interviewing people he found were
impulsive buyers. To no one’s surprise, most were
impulse buyers, and were not aware of it. Even the
impulse buyers themselves were not conscious of their
purchasing habits, and when asked, most of them
replied with phrases along the line of “I always buy
things without thinking first”, “I buy it as soon as I see
it”, and “Should buy now, and regret later”. It has
already been established that Impulse Buying is not
pre-planned or pre-meditated, but is in actuality a
dynamic process. There can be a number of factors
that can trigger an impulse buying decision in an
individual. These factors can be an eye-catching
display, message, or advertisement, among many
other unique things. (Mathur, 2019)
On one end of the spectrum lies Functional Impulse
Buying, this is a behavior that almost everyone
exhibits, provided they have good reason and
capability to do so, Functional Impulse Buying, or
buying impulsively for the purpose of living, is the
regular, unplanned, and unreflective purchase of
consumable items such as water, food, and other
general consumable items. This is a healthy behavior
that everyone always practices oftentimes without
realizing. Consumable goods are also classified as
FMCG, or Fast Moving Consumer Goods. FMCG
market-places are everywhere, and they are
undoubtedly rising. As it is a vast empire made of
rapidly-growing industries selling astronomical
amounts of items every single day. FMCGs will
always have demand due to their essentiality to a
human being’s survival, but even for FMCGs, people
still seem to be selectively buying them based on a few
factors such as the Marketing Mix, and the brand
name. (Husnain and khtar, 2016)
Just as another team of researchers theorized that due
to consumers being bombarded with hundreds of
FMCG brands in their day-to-day lives, quality and
brand recognition of FMCG products has become
essential to their survival. In addition to that, product,
price, place, and promotion, also play an undeniable
role in the movement of these goods. (Vijayakumar
and Nijanthan, 2019) Once a consumer gains his/her
trust in certain brands of FMCGs, they develop a
preference towards those particular brands, and will
always be choosing them over the others. This is why
the 4 Ps are important in Fast Moving Consumer
Goods.
International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering Volume-2 Issue-1, pp:40-49
IJICSE@2021 42
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
In short, for Functional (rational) Impulse Buying,
Brand name, quality and the 4 Ps of Marketing are the
main effective factors that influence Impulsive buying
behavior. As for traits, things such as hunger, thirst, or
any of the other human needs are a key factor also.
A plethora of other random social factors also go into
play here. (Chen and Wang, 2016)
Surprisingly, products are categorized into types based
on their essentiality, those being Utilitarian, and
Hedonic. Hedonic products are mainly bought in the
pursuit of pure pleasure, while Utilitarian products are
bought for their generally all-around beneficial nature.
IB has countless factors that go into making it
manifest, but in its core, it is always caused by a weak
will. A weakness of will is always the root cause of an
irresponsible buying behavior, because like a row of
dominos, weak willpower can kick start a dynamic
chain of emotional decisions that almost always go
against the better judgment of the consumer. This
brings about the conclusion that that people with high
IB tendencies are weak willed, and people with lower
IB tendencies have stronger wills. In addition to that,
internal or external stimuli (influence) also adds to the
desire to buy things on impulse. Internal stimuli
usually lead to functional Impulse Buying while
external stimuli usually lead to dysfunctional Impulse
Buying, this however does not mean that the two types
of influence are exclusive only to one type of IB each,
as it is also common that internal stimuli can lead to
Dysfunctional Impulse Buying and vice versa.
(Mcnair and Crozier, 2017)
And on the other end of the spectrum lies
Dysfunctional Impulse Buying, this is a behavior that
is oftentimes seen as a setback. DIB is relevant to all
luxurious, non-essential goods. These are hedonic
products people seek out for pleasure, not practical
use. interestingly, some people, Buying Things
impulsively is not for the purpose of owning a product,
but to stimulate a rush. As buying things on impulse
more and more created a change in their cognition,
which resulted in stronger buying intentions. This
however, is only prevalent in a low number of people.
(Parsad, 2017)
Impulse Buying also does not necessarily only occur
in the physical world, but it does also take place
digitally. A theory suggested that Impulse Buying can
also be triggered via the internet. As technology
becomes more and more prevalent in our modern
world, people find it more convenient to make their
transactions online or digitally, rather than physically.
This is done mainly due to its sheer convenience and
time & effort saving nature. (Wiranata and Hananto,
2019)
It is also much more likely for people to come across
a flashy ad while browsing shopping sites or the net,
meaning they are subconsciously influenced to
purchase things impulsively both in and outside of
their own homes. Another research study also lends
credence to this theory, as it states that people using
the internet as a gateway for their Impulsive Buying
Behavior are much more susceptible to it. This give E-
commerce an unparalleled advantage in influencing
customers to make purchases spontaneously. (Liu et
al, 2013)
An interesting investigation was made by Fenton-
O’Creevy & Furnham, sponsored by worldwide news
network corporation; The BBC, they have found out
that personality and Income power factor as a big role
in encouraging Dysfunctional Impulsive Buying
Behavior in British citizens. In addition to that, they
have, through extensive research, identified that
younger females from high-class households were the
most chronic impulsive buyers. Furthermore, people
who were found to be neurotic (which is a personality
trait, not a mental condition), extraverted, agreeable
and possess low self-esteem were the most likely to
have a Dysfunctional Impulsive Buying Behavior.
Conscientiousness, the trait of being careful,
disciplined, and self-conscious, also plays a role in this
dynamic process, as people who were observed to
have low conscientiousness levels were way more
prone to shop irresponsibly. (O’ Creevy and Furnham,
2018)
All in all, when all of these factors; a) strong income,
b) young age, c) high class or high status, d)
neuroticism, e) extraversion, f) agreeableness, and low
levels of g) self-esteem & h)
conscientiousness come together, they create a recipe
for disaster, and for a person, dysfunctional impulsive
buying behavior becomes akin to a chronic condition,
persisting for a long period of time. This demonstrates
that Impulse Buying can be unhealthy.
Moving on in the topic of Dysfunctional Impulse
Buying, according to Atalay & Meloy and Fenton‐
O'Creevy, there is a concept known as “Retail
Therapy”, in essence, it is the treatment of mental and
emotional deteriorations by shopping irrationally. This
is usually done when an individual is going through a
time of stress or depression. Retail Therapy can
develop shopping addiction if done regularly as its
drawbacks can far outweigh its benefits. Sometimes,
Retail Therapy can cause people to purchase what is
known as “comfort food”; foods that contain high
amounts of sugar, such as cookies or ice cream. In
short, these foods trigger a chemical rush of serotonin
in the human body, which in-turn triggers short-lived
sensations of euphoria (a state of intense happiness).
This may be mood-uplifting in the shorter and
immediate term, but is destructive in the longer term,
because shopping is far from qualified as actual
therapy in the medical field of study. (Atalay & Meloy,
2011) (Fenton O’Creevy et al, 2018)
So far, it has been established that Impulse Buying
Behavior can either be functional or dysfunctional,
International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering Volume-2 Issue-1, pp:40-49
IJICSE@2021 43
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
and that the functional kind is much more simple in
nature than the dysfunctional variant. Moving on,
another interesting study was conducted by Furnham,
Wilson, and Telford and they theorized that having a
strong income or being wealthy in general reduces
dependency on other and increases independency.
These people are generally aloof and distrustful of
other in nature, as money has been a substitute for a
lot of things for them, and has acted as a sort of
security, or emotional jacket, because rather than build
and develop relations with people, and mutually
benefit one-another, they could just buy their services,
or loyalties with their acquired wealth.
This is the basis of the popular philosophy: “Money is
power”, as it provides protection from vulnerability,
and danger, and allows wealthy individuals to
practically do almost whatever they wish or desire.
This is Dysfunctional Impulse Buying in the most
extreme form.
Finally, there are countless studies that support this
theory, one of which was a study done by Harnish and
Rooster, in the United States of America with a
whopping test sample of almost 290 people all ranging
from 18 to 25 years old. Through an extensive study,
they have surmised that a lot of the young adults in the
country have money deeply rooted in their minds, and
have already developed a belief in the concept of
“Money is power”, buying things they cannot afford,
with money they do not possess, to impress people
they do not know. (Harnish and Rooster, 2018)
Research Gap:
There hardly exist any studies focused on this topic in
Oman. This research has explored the most common
factors that trigger both Functional & Dysfunctional
Impulsive Buying Behaviour in the sultanate. Then
drew a conclusion why these phenomena are such a
regular occurrence. Marketing specialists and retailers
are the main target beneficiary of this research.
Therefore, this study is intended to act as a guide for
those parties. By finding and identifying which factors
trigger an urge to buy in consumers, this information
can be used to increase sales of low-value and luxury
products, and aid in attracting more customers. In
addition to that, other research students will be able to
link this research study to their own studies further
down the line.
Research Type
For the duration of this study, a quantitative approach
has been used to “Assess The Effective Factors That
Influence Consumer Impulse Buy”. This allowed for a
more detailed look, and more accurate results based on
numbers, and reliable statistics and data. The
researcher team distributed surveys across numerous
relatives, and friends.
For the entirety of the research, a quantitative method
of approach has been selected for use to “Assess the
Effective Factors That Influence Consumer Impulse
Buying”. This method allowed for a more practical
look, and for more detailed results that were supported
by statistics and numerical data. The research team
distributed surveys to known relatives and friends.
Design of Research
Design of research is the detailing of the
circumstances that were used to gather and analyze the
information in such a way so that it allows for a fluid
process of result production. Deductive surveys were
extensively and exclusively used in this research study
as a primary source of data. In addition to that,
secondary sources such as websites, and other
journals, and articles have also been made the most out
of. This is a descriptive research that aims to determine
why the phenomena of Impulse Buying is occurring.
Research Respondents
Impulsive Buyers of both FMCG and luxury goods
were the target respondent (sample) for this research.
The minimum number for surveys was at least 50
respondents. Luckily, almost 70 respondents have
participated.
The Sampling Frame refers to something used to
define a researcher’s demography of interest. The
Sampling Frame defines a group of elements from
which allows a researcher to choose a specimen of the
target population. This study used a Sampling Frame
that includes all young-adults to full-adults ranging
from (19-50) in Oman.
The research team has reached out to the target
respondents through other higher-level education
students, colleagues, friends, and family members.
In this research study, the researchers have employed
the utilization of Non-Probability Convenience
Sampling Technique to gather data, which focuses on
giving out surveys to friends and relatives.
The collected samples were tested with appropriate
statistical tools with a 95% confidence level and 5%
significance level. There is a chance of 5% marginal
error. The respondents’ opinion would have been
biased only at 5%, but the maximum responses are
95% unbiased.
International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering Volume-2 Issue-1, pp:40-49
IJICSE@2021 44
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Objective #1: To study the various factors that
induce impulse buying behavior.
1. Demographics Sex:
From above chart # 1 above, it can be analyzed that
45.1% of the respondents are male, and 54.9% are
female.
2. Demographics Respondents’ age
From the above chart #2, it can be analyzed that none
of the respondents are 50 years or older, 1.4% of
respondents are between 40 and 49 years, 2.8% are
between 30 and 39 years, 94.4% were between 20 and
29 years, and 1.4% were 19 years or younger.
3. Respondents Location
From above chart #3, it can be analyzed that 97.1% of
the respondents live in Muscat, and 2.9% of the
respondents do not.
4. I always buy things on sale, if I can.
From the above chart #4, it can be analyzed that of all
the respondents; 19.7% opined for Strongly Agree,
31% opined for Agree, 29.6% opined neutral,
followed by 12.7% and 7% who opined for Disagree
and Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
5. When I work with a team, I’m very
agreeable.
It can be analyzed from the above chart #5, that out of
71 respondents; 18.3% opined for Strongly Agree,
45.1% opined for Agree, 31% opined neutral,
followed by 1.4% and 4.2% who opined for Disagree
and Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
6. Rules in society are flexible and can be ignored
sometimes.
From chart #6, it can be analyzed that of the
respondents;8.5% opined for Strongly Agree, 33.8%
opined for Agree, 38%Opined neutral, followed by
18.3% and 1.4% who opined for Disagree and
Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
Objective #2: To know why is Dysfunctional
Impulse Buying dangerous
7. When buying something, I do it based on how much
I like it rather than how much I need it.
Chart #4 Chart 7
7.00%
12.70%
29.60%31.00%
19.70%S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
4.20%1.40%
31.00%
45.10%
18.30%S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
1.40%18.30%
38.00%33.80%
8.50%S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
Chart # 5
8.50%
25.40%
22.50%
28.20%
15.50%S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
45.10%
54.90%
Chart 1
Male
Female
1.40%
94.40%
2.80% 1.40%
19 or younger
20 - 29 years
30 - 39 years
40 - 49 years
50 or older
Chart #2
97.10%
2.90%
Chart 3
Yes
No
Chart 6
International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering Volume-2 Issue-1, pp:40-49
IJICSE@2021 45
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
From chart #7, it can be analyzed that of all the
respondents;15.5% opined for Strongly Agree, 28.2%
opined for Agree, 22.5% Opined neutral, followed by
25.4% and 8.5% who opined for Disagree and
Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
8. If something I really like catches my eye, I prefer if
I buy it now, and maybe regret it later.
From chart #8, it can be analyzed that of all the
respondents; 14.1% opined for Strongly Agree, 25.4%
opined for Agree, 36.6% opined neutral, followed by
9.9% and 14.1% who opined for Disagree and
Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
9. I prefer saving my money, and am very
cautious when I spend any of it.
From chart #9, it can be analyzed that of the
respondents;18.8% opined for Strongly Agree,
27.5% opined for Agree, 33.3%opined neutral,
followed by 15.9% and 4.3% who opined for
Disagree and Strongly Disagree with the
statement above.
10. Shopping is a great way for me to
celebrate.
From chart #10, it can be analyzed that of all the
respondents; 21.1% opined for Strongly Agree, 33.8%
opined for Agree, 23.9% Opined neutral, followed by
9.9% and 11.3% who opined for Disagree and
Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
11. I love eating ice cream or deserts.
From chart #11, it can be analyzed that of all the
respondents; 35.2% opined for Strongly Agree, 26.8%
opined for Agree, 18.3% opined neutral, followed by
15.5% and 4.2% who opined for Disagree and
Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
12. I eat Ice Cream or deserts especially when my
mood is down.
From chart #12, it can be analyzed that of all the
respondents; 23.9% opined for Strongly Agree, 18.3%
opined for Agree, 23.9% opined neutral, followed by
18.3% and 15.5% who opined for Disagree and
Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
14.10%
9.90%
36.60%25.40%
14.10%S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
4.20%
15.50%
18.30%
26.80%
35.20%
S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
Chart 8
4.30%
15.90%
33.30%28.50%
18.80%
S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
Chart # 9
11.30%
9.90%
23.90%33.80%
21.10%S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
Chart # 10
Chart # 11
15.50%
18.30%
23.90%
18.30%
23.90%
S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
Chart # 12
International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering Volume-2 Issue-1, pp:40-49
IJICSE@2021 46
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
13. I rather hire help than ask my friends and family
for it.
From chart #13, it can be analyzed that of all the
respondents; 7% opined for Strongly Agree, 33.8%
opined for Agree, 35.2% opined neutral, followed by
14.1% and 9.9% who opined for Disagree and
Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
14. I still shop for non-essential things during the
current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
From chart #14, it can be analyzed that of all the
respondents; 9.9% opined for Strongly Agree, 14.1%
opined for Agree, 22.5% opined neutral, followed by
18.3% and 35.2% who opined for Disagree and
Strongly Disagree with the statement above.
Hypotheses Testing:
Sl
No.
Hypothesis
Statement
P Value ( T
test)
Remarks
1 H0: There is no
relationship
between the
promotional
offers and
consumer
impulsive
buying
behavior .
0.001010668
Reject
Interpretation: Since the P value of two tailed T test
that is 0.001010668<0.05 at a 5% significance level
and at a 95% confidence level the null hypothesis gets
rejected and it can be concluded that “There is a
relationship between the promotional offers and
consumer impulsive buying behavior because when
any consumer visits shopping malls if attractive offers
are provided by the shopping malls consumer would
become impulsive.
Sl
No.
Hypothesis
Statement
P Value (
T test)
Remarks
2 H0: There is no
relationship
between
consumer gender
and consumer
impulsive buying
behavior .
1.90625 Accept
Interpretation: Since the P value of two tailed T test
that is 1.90625>0.05 at a 5% significance level and at
a 95% confidence level the null hypothesis gets
accepted and it can be concluded that “There is no
relationship between the consumer gender and
consumer impulsive buying behavior. Irrespective of
consumer gender consumer may become impulsive
due to other attractive elements.
Sl
No.
Hypothesis
Statement
P Value
(Chi-
square)
Remarks
3 H0: Consumer
age and
Consumer
gender are
independent in
terms of
impulsive
buying.
0.00302447
Reject
Interpretation: Since the P value of Chi-square of test
that is 0.00302447<0.05 at a 5% significance level and
at a 95% confidence level the null hypothesis gets
rejected and it can be concluded that Consumer age
and Consumer gender are dependent in terms of
impulsive buying. As it was observed that most of the
time young adults would involve in impulsive buying.
Chart #14
9.90%
14.10%
35.20%
33.80%
7.00%S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
Chart 13
35.20%
18.30%
22.50%
14.10%
9.90%S. Disagree
Disagree
NAND
Agree
S. Agree
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IJICSE@2021 47
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
Findings and Discussions:
Objective #1: To study the various factors that
induce impulse buying behavior.
It was found from the study that consumers have
opined that “I always buy things on sale”, and half of
the participants (31% & 19.7%) agreed and strongly
agreed. Buying things on sale indicates a habit of
saving money which has already been established as a
functional IB trait. This statement tests the
agreeableness levels of the partakers of the survey.
High agreeableness levels lead to the dysfunctional
kind of Impulse Buying which means that being
agreeable can ultimately be detrimental to the
individual. This study reveals that due to this
pandemic situation online shopping has been
increased. While shopping online mobile apps such
Amazon.com, Aliexpress.com Alibaba.com playing a
vital role in online business in and around Muscat
region. It was also observed that “Rules in society are
flexible and can be ignored sometimes”, this statement
calculates how closely an individual follows societal
rules and customs. This is important because it
determines another trait of DIB, and that is
agreeableness. The majority (33.8%) agreed that
societal rules are flexible, and therefore, making them
less prone to dysfunctional impulsive buying.
Objective #2: To analyze why Dysfunctional
Impulse Buying is dangerous
This research paper reveals that testing the need vs
desire when purchasing a physical item, or service. Of
course participants who preferred to purchase a
product based solely on how much they liked it, were
already showing very obvious signs of Dysfunctional
buying. The highest rated responses were “disagree”,
“Neither Agree or Disagree”, and “Agree” at 25.4%,
22.5%, and 28.2% respectively. It also found that
gauging how participants react when they see
something they were strongly likely to purchase. It
basically asked, provided they were capable, if they
regularly bought things unreflectively knowing fully
that they might regret it later. The highest percentile
(36%) were apathetic, and the second highest (25.4%)
agreed. It has been observed that statement tests the
strength of the participant’s money-saving habit.
Again, the majority (33.3%) were impartial and did
not agree nor disagree. The participants engage
themselves in “Retail Therapy”, the process of buying
things simply to uplift mood. This is also a symptom
of neuroticism, which is very dangerous on its own.
Notably, the highest rated responses were “agreed” or
“strongly agreed” to all three statements. Retail
therapy is of course detrimental and as established -
isn’t a verified method of therapy. (Atalay & Meloy,
2011) (Fenton O’Creevy et al, 2018). Buying help
instead of just asking for it is one of the stronger
symptoms of Dysfunctional Impulse Buying. The
majority of responses to this one were either
indifferent or agree. (35.2%) and (33.8%)
respectively.
It was found that the set reaffirms if the respondents
are Dysfunctional buyers by asking whether or not
they still shop for things they do not need in the current
pandemic quarantine of COVID-19. Thankfully, the
majority (35.2%) strongly disagreed. In today’s
competitive world changes in societal needs would
also influence the consumers to behave impulsive.
Conclusions & Recommendations
Conclusions:
This research has come to support almost all of the
theories other researchers made in relation to Impulse
Buying. By surveying more than 70 people, the
research team received a lot of answers confirming a
lot of the assumptions and theories about how some
factors lead to impulse buying and how other do not.
Some of these discoveries were:
Impulse Buyers are categorized into Functional &
Dysfunctional Impulse Buyers.
Both types of Impulse Buying are caused by
internal and external influence.
The majority of impulse buyers are functional
impulse buyers, who are buyers of primarily
FMCG products.
Impulse Buying is a real phenomenon that almost
no one seems to realize exist or at the very least
give very little thought for.
Advertisements do not always attract customers
and sometimes do repel them instead.
Some of the questions from the survey determined
that promotional offers such as sales don’t always
affect consumer buying behavior.
Retailer pricing strategies play little to no role in
affecting consumer buying behavior.
Young to full adults are the most susceptible to
Dysfunctional Impulsive Buying behavior.
Functional IB is completely normal, and is a
healthy buying behavior.
Dysfunctional IB is detrimental, and very
dangerous.
Factors such as the 4 Ps (Marketing Mix), brand
name, and need recognition play a vital role in
inducing Functional Impulse Buying in people.
International Journal of Innovation in Computational Science and Engineering Volume-2 Issue-1, pp:40-49
IJICSE@2021 48
ISSN: 2708-3128 May-2021
Factors such as low mood level, good income, and
young age play a dangerous role in manifesting
people as Dysfunctional Impulse buyers.
Most Impulse purchases were tech related. Things
such as phones and personal computers were
bought frequently.
Extraversion is a symptom of DIB.
The majority of survey partakers were found to be
agreeable, which may seem like a harmless trait,
but it strongly leads to DIB.
Recommendations
Recommendations have been made based on the
findings of the study to assist marketing specialists and
other students these are some recommendations and
strategies:
Retailers should create an online platform to sell
their stock more effectively.
Retailers should avoid online ads and resort to
other promotion tools instead.
Tech related stores need to give more attention to
their efforts in advertising smartphones,
computers, and TVs.
Finding dysfunctional impulse buyers in the
sultanate is not as difficult as once thought, as
many of the participants if not most were
practicing dysfunctional buying behavior.
It can be suggested to the buyers that impulsive
buying behavior is not a good habit to be
continued. Buyers should always think about their
needs and take a decision whether product or
service should be purchased or not. Needless to
say, not based on promotional offers or some other
attractive elements from the marketers.
Marketers need to focus not only on sales, but they
should also focus on customer needs, wants, and
finally on customer satisfaction. If a consumer
purchases a product even though he doesn’t have a
need for it, later he might regret it and not be
satisfied with his purchase.
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