Impulse Buying Behavior in E-Commerce
Summary
Impulse buying in the online retail environment refers to unplanned, immediate purchase decisions driven by sudden desires rather than premeditated intent. The digital landscape, characterised by seamless payment systems, personalised recommendations and interactive promotional tactics, has amplified the propensity for consumers to act on spur‐of‐the‐moment urges. Psychological drivers such as emotional arousal, anticipated regret or joy, and susceptibility to external stimuli interplay with platform design elements—such as scarcity cues, time‐limited offers and social proof—to heighten impulsive purchasing. Moreover, the integration of social commerce features and live‐stream retailing introduces peer influence and real‐time engagement, further reducing consumers’ deliberation time. Understanding these mechanisms is vital for designing ethical marketing strategies, fostering consumer well‐being and informing regulatory frameworks aimed at balancing commercial objectives with responsible consumption.
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Impulse Buying Behavior in E-Commerce publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in impulse buying behavior in e-commerce across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Impulse buying: A sudden purchase without prior planning or deliberation.
Scarcity marketing: A strategy creating perceived limited availability of products to stimulate demand.
Stimulus-Organism-Response model: A framework describing how external stimuli influence internal states and lead to consumer actions.
Social commerce: Online retail environment integrating social interaction features such as reviews and sharing.
Live-stream commerce: E-commerce format where products are showcased and sold in real-time video streams.
References
- Impulse buying tendency in live-stream commerce: The role of viewing frequency and anticipated emotions influencing scarcity-induced purchase decision. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (2023).
- Scroll, Stop, Shop: Decoding impulsive buying in social commerce. Journal of Business Research (2024).
- Online antecedents for young consumers’ impulse buying behavior. Computers in Human Behavior (2024).
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