What Is an Impulse Purchase?

Impulse purchase or impulse buying is an unplanned decision to purchase a product or service, which occurs temporarily before the purchase. People with this behavioral tendency are called impulse buyers. Studies have found that emotions and feelings are the decisive cause of impulse purchases, and that consumers are motivated when they see a product or a carefully crafted promotional message. ^[1]

Impulse purchase

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Impulse purchase or impulse buying is an unplanned decision to purchase a product or service, which occurs temporarily before the purchase. People with this behavioral tendency are called impulse buyers. Studies have found that emotions and feelings are the decisive cause of impulse purchases, and that consumers are motivated when they see a product or a carefully crafted promotional message. ^[1]

With the development of society and economy, consumers' purchase behavior has changed significantly in recent years. This change is mainly reflected in the declining planned purchase ratio of consumers rather than the rapid increase in planned (perceptual) purchase ratio. We call consumers' purchasing behavior driven by this perceptual factor ImpulseBuying. This article analyzes the irrational buying behavior of consumers, and explores the corresponding marketing strategies based on consumers' impulse buying behavior.

In traditional marketing, consumers are often assumed to be "economic men." From this point on, it is assumed that consumers are rational in making purchase decisions. But in fact, this is not the case. Consumers also have an emotional side, and purchase decisions driven by emotional factors are very common. In daily life, consumers often make impulse purchases. ImpulseBuying refers to the purchase decisions reached quickly by consumers. It is a kind of unplanned, instantaneous, strong, continuous desire to buy immediately.

Impulse shopping characteristics in hypermarkets

Brythe (JimBlythe) and others believe that consumers' personal characteristics, situational characteristics, and product characteristics jointly affect the consumer decision-making process. In the store, consumers are often persuaded by the price, shape, color, fragrance, and even companions of their products to generate impulse purchases unconsciously. Consumers' impulse behavior is mainly due to the characteristics of consumers and the influence of the store environment.

Analysis in marketing psychology points out that "impulse buying" accounts for most of people's consumption. That is to say, maybe you did not think about an hour before you buy this product and you will buy it. There are many examples of impulse purchases, I will give a few here:

1. You see something cheaper in the mall, or something you like, which may be something you often see but never used. You suddenly feel like you really need it, so you buy it Down. But afterwards you find that you do nt need it at all, or its effect is small;

2. You plan to go to the mall to buy something, but after you go there, the salesperson will try to recommend another related or alternative product. After hearing it, you think it is better than what you originally planned to buy, so you buy it. ;

3. You suddenly find that something you are using is outdated. Now the specifications and functions of similar products sold in the market have been improved a lot, so you buy a new product or upgrade an old product;

4. You received a catalog of offers, or you saw some offers on the Internet. There may not be what you need in these messages, but you always feel like you should buy some, so you buy something that you think maybe "Will need" things;

5, you bought the same product you like very much, this product also has some related accessories sold separately, so you feel that since you have bought this product, then the surrounding accessories may also be needed, so buy. There are many examples, countless Lift.

"Impulse buying" is a waste of money. They all have a common feature, that is, you will buy something you don't need much. So how to prevent impulse buying?

1. This is the general principle-when you have an impulse to buy, think about whether you really need it. If you buy it, what benefits does it bring you? How long will this benefit last? How often do "benefits" occur? There is a little trick to judge, just think back, do you think "if there is this thing" in your life more than once? If so, buy it!

2. Do you already have something that can achieve the same or similar functions? Is it necessary to bring new functionality or application enhancements? Does the old item really affect your use?

3. When you see something that is cheap enough to be another one, please refer to the first one;

4. When the salesperson recommends to you something you do not know, if it is not urgently needed, it is best not to buy it first. Come back online to check the relevant information of this thing, or ask an expert.

5. When you suddenly feel that you need something that you haven't thought of or used before, don't buy it immediately, it must not be something urgently needed. You can spend a day or two waiting for your "impulse" to pass, Think if it is needed, buy it if you still need it.

6. A good way to think is to assume that you don't need that.

(1) Pure impulse purchase. Shopping in a particular mall for a special price, but no product is planned in advance.

(2) Suggested purchase. It refers to the behavior of extra purchases stimulated by the temptation of shopping malls.

(3) Fashion impulse purchase. In order to obtain diversity or freshness, buying behavior represents a departure from the normal product line or the conventional brand.

(4) Reminder purchase. Advertisements, shelves or counter displays inside the mall remind consumers of a certain demand and then purchase.

(5) Plan impulse purchases. Consumers are interested in buying a specific product category, but at the end of the scene decide whether it is desirable and available.

Analysis in marketing psychology points out that "impulse buying" accounts for most of people's consumption. In other words, maybe one hour before your purchase or you never even thought you would buy this item after one hour. There are many examples of impulse purchases. Here are a few:

1. Some of the things you see in the mall are cheaper, or they are very flattering. These things may be things you often see but never use. You suddenly feel like you really need it, so you buy it. But afterwards you find that you don't need it at all, or its effect is small;

2. You plan to go to the mall to buy something, but after you go there, the salesperson will try to recommend another related or alternative product. After hearing it, you think it is better than what you originally planned to buy. ;

3. You suddenly find that something you are using is outdated. Now the specifications and functions of similar products sold on the market have been improved a lot, so you buy a new product or upgrade an old product;

4. You receive a catalogue of offers or you see some offers online. There may not be what you need in this information, but you always feel like you should buy some, so you buy something that you think you need to need;

5. You bought the same product that you like very much. This product also has some related accessories that are sold separately, so you feel that since you have already bought this product, the surrounding accessories may also be needed, so you buy it. There are many examples and countless. "Impulse buying" is a waste of Money. They all have the common feature that you will buy something you don't need much. So how to prevent impulse purchases?

1. This is the general principle-when you have an impulse to buy, think about whether you really need it. If you buy it, what benefits does it bring you? How long will this benefit last? How often do "benefits" occur? There is a little trick to judge, just think back, do you think "if there is this thing" in your life more than once? If so, buy it!

2. Do you already have something that can achieve the same or similar functions? Is it necessary to bring new functionality or application enhancements? Does the old item really affect your use?

3. When you see something that is cheap enough for your heart, refer to the first one;

4. When the salesperson recommends to you something you do not know, if it is not urgently needed, it is better not to buy it first. Come back online to check the relevant information of this thing, or ask an expert.

5. When you suddenly feel that you need something that you haven't thought of or used before, don't buy it immediately, it must not be something urgently needed. You can spend a day or two, wait for your "impulse" to pass, then think about whether it is needed, and if you still feel it, buy it.

6. A good way to think is to assume that you don't need that kind of thing.

The difference between impulse buying and unplanned buying

Impulse buying refers to the on-site buying behavior that consumers do not plan in advance, also known as unplanned buying. This buying behavior involves multiple psychological and emotional aspects of the consumer. The so-called impulse purchase is "the shopping behavior of customers who have no previous shopping intentions or have not formed a shopping desire before entering the store".

Impulsive buying can be divided into 5 types: pure impulse buying, suggestive buying, reminder buying, fashion impulse buying, and planning impulse buying.

There is a phenomenon in the field of economics called unscheduled purchase, that is, purchases are often bought without a plan, completely based on mood and interest.