The Influence of Culture on Impulse Buying Behavior: A Systematic Literature Review

Bashar, Abu; Singh, Shalini; Pathak, Vivek Kumar

doi:10.15728/bbr.2022.1221.en

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Article • BBR, Braz. Bus. Rev. 20 (4) • Jul-Aug 2023 • https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2022.1221.en copy

The Influence of Culture on Impulse Buying Behavior: A Systematic Literature Review

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Culture plays a significant buying role in shaping different aspects of consumer behavior such as rational, impulse, and compulsive buying behavior. Impulse buying is one of the prevalent phenomena that significantly affect the sales revenue of companies. This study focuses on unveiling the interaction between cultural factors and impulse buying behavior. For this systematic literature review, 112 significant articles were examined to understand the relationship between various aspects of culture and impulse buying behavior in both online and offline contexts. Further investigation of impulse buying in cross-cultural context helps to understand and classify different theoretical perspectives to study impulse buying behavior and cultural factors. This study offers practical implications for retail professionals and e-commerce strategists to design and implement viable cross-cultural marketing campaigns. Academic researchers may also understand research gaps and contribute further to understanding cross-cultural impulse buying.

KEYWORDS
Culture; Cross-cultural; impulse buying; online impulse buying; systematic literature review

S. No.	Theme	Cultural Factor(s)	Methodology	Country	Finding	Source
1	Global consumer culture	Individualism and Collectivism	CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis), SEM (Structural Equation Modelling)	UK	The individualistic are more accustomed to global consumer behaviour and demonstrate more impulse shopping.	(Czarnecka et al., 2020Czarnecka, B., Schivinski, B., & Keles, S. (2020). How values of individualism and collectivism influence impulsive buying and money budgeting: the mediating role of acculturation to global consumer culture. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 19(5), 505-522. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1833 https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1833... )
2	Store atmosphere	Individualism and collectivism	SEM (Structural Equation Modelling)	Brazil and Germany	Emotion significantly & positively affects the impulsiveness of collectivist.	(Barros et al., 2019Barros, L. B. L., Petroll, M. de L. M., Damacena, C., & Knoppe, M. (2019). Store atmosphere and impulse: a cross-cultural study. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 47(8), 817-835. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-09-2018-0209 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-09-2018-02... )
3	Store stimuli	Individualism and collectivism	SEM (Structural Equation Modelling)	Pakistan	The impulse purchase behaviour recorded more in the collectivist consumers.	(Miao et al., 2019Miao, M., Jalees, T., Qabool, S., & Zaman, S. I. (2019). The effects of personality, culture and store stimuli on impulsive buying behavior: Evidence from emerging market of Pakistan. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 32(1), 188-204. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-09-2018-0377 https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-09-2018-03... )
4	Impulse buying	All cultural dimensions of Hofstede	Linear regression	Sweden, Turkey, and Vietnam	The different cultural background influences the consumer impulse buying behaviour.	(Cakanlar & Nguyen, 2019Cakanlar, A., & Nguyen, T. (2019). The influence of culture on impulse buying. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 36(1), 12-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-03-2017-2139 https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-03-2017-2139... a)
5	Impulse Buying Tendency	All cultural dimensions of Hofstede	CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis), Multiple linear Regression analysis	India	The cultural factors are influencing the impulse buying behaviour of the consumers across cultures.	(Ali & Sudan, 2018Ali, S. W., & Sudan, S. (2018). Influence of Cultural Factors on Impulse Buying Tendency: A Study of Indian Consumers. Vision, 22(1), 68-77. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972262917750247 https://doi.org/10.1177/0972262917750247... )
6	Visual Merchandizing	Collectivism	CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis), SEM (Structural Equation Modelling)	Pakistan	Collectivism did not found significant in influencing impulse purchase behaviour.	(Jalees & Mustaghis-ur-Rahman, 2018Jalees, T., & Mustaghis-ur-Rahman, -. (2018). Role of visual merchandizing, sensational seeking, and collectivism in consumers’ impulsive buying behavior at shopping malls. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 33(1), 177-190.)
7	Dimensions of compulsive buying	Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Pragmatism, Indulgence Power Distance	CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis), ANOVA and SEM (Structural Equation Modelling)	British, Chinese, Czech and Spanish	The compulsive buying behaviour construct is invariant across the different cultural groups	(Eaglen & Schofield, 2017Eaglen, A., & Schofield, P. (2017). Across-cultural and cross-gender analysis of compulsive buying behavior’s coredimensions. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 42(1), 173-185. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12396 https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12396... )
8	Transformation Expectations	Heritage	Multi-group structural equation analyses	Thailand and America	The relations between the expectation of transformation and impulsiveness are demonstrated by cultural difference.	(Boonchoo & Thoumrungroje, 2017Boonchoo, P., & Thoumrungroje, A. (2017). A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Impact of Transformation Expectations on Impulse Buying and Conspicuous Consumption. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 29(3), 194-205. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2017.1289357 https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2017.12... )
9	Intrinsic factors	collectivism	SEM (Structural Equation Modelling)	India	Collectivism significantly and positively impacts impulse buying	(Badgaiyan & Verma, 2014Badgaiyan, A. J., & Verma, A. (2014). Intrinsic factors affecting impulsive buying behaviour-evidence from india. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(4), 537-549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2014.04.003 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201... )
10	Various situations	Individualism and collectivism	Man-Witney test, Binary logistic regression	UK & Taiwan	The UK consumers are buying more on impulse as Taiwanese.	(Ma, 2014Ma, J. (2014). Investigating Consumer Impulse Buying Choice in Various Situations- a Cross-Cultural Study on the Consumers From the Uk and Taiwan. 2014 Global Marketing Conference at Singapore, 137-148. https://doi.org/10.15444/gmc2014.01.07.03 https://doi.org/10.15444/gmc2014.01.07.0... )
11	Compulsive buying in developing/developed countries	National similarities and difference	SEM (Structural Equation Modelling), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)	Russia , Spain ,Netherlands and Turkey	There are more compulsive purchases exhibited by consumers of developing countries than developed economies	(Horváth et al., 2013Horváth, C., Adigüzel, F., & Herk, H. Van. (2013). Cultural Aspects of Compulsive Buying in Emerging and Developed Economies: a Cross Cultural Study in Compulsive Buying. Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, 4(2), 8-24. https://doi.org/10.15388/omee.2013.4.2.14247 https://doi.org/10.15388/omee.2013.4.2.1... )
12	Health, affect and self-esteem	Individualist/Collectivist	Two-way ANOVA, Regression analysis	Indonesia and Sweden	The youth exhibited greater impulsivity as of elders in Indonesia, while the convers is true in Sweden.	(Adrianson et al., 2013Adrianson, L., Ancok, D., Ramdhani, N., & Archer, T. (2013). Cultural influences upon health, affect, self-esteem and impulsiveness: An Indonesian-Swedish comparison. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology, 2(3), 25-44. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2013.228 https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2013.228... )
13	Relational collectivism	collectivism	Paired sample t-test and ANOVA	India	Impulsive shopping for relatives such as parents, spouse are more evident in the consumers of collectivist society.	(Khanna & Karandikar, 2013Khanna, M., & Karandikar, M. (2013). Impact of relational collectivism on impulse buying for others. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 7(4), 589-604. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijicbm.2013.056664 https://doi.org/10.1504/ijicbm.2013.0566... )
14	Symbolic meaning of money	Power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, Masculinity, symbolic meaning	Multiple linear Regression analysis	Indonesia	Hofstede dimensions and money symbol are influencing impulse buying behaviour significantly.	(Dameyasani & Abraham, 2013Dameyasani, A. W., & Abraham, J. (2013). Impulsive buying, cultural values dimensions, and symbolic meaning of money: A study on college students in Indonesia’s capital city and its surrounding. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology, 2(3), 35-52. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2013.374 https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2013.374... )
15	Retail service quality	Individualism and collectivism	Two-way ANOVA	Singapore and USA	Excellent services lead to more impulse purchases and vice-versa.	(Pornpitakpan & Han, 2013Pornpitakpan, C., & Han, J. H. (2013). The effect of culture and salespersons’ retail service quality on impulse buying. Australasian Marketing Journal, 21(2), 85-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2013.02.005 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2013.02.... )
16	Credit card use	individualism	CFA, MANOVA, MDA and Regression	Korea and USA	The impulse buying behaviour is likely to increase for both national when using credit card.	(Park & Forney, 2004Park, E. J., & Forney, J. C. (2004). A comparison of impulse buying behavior and credit card use between Korean and American college students. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 28(12), 1571-1582.)
17	Shopping Emotion	National similarities and difference	ANOVA, MANOVA and regression analysis	Korea and USA	Two groups differ in their impulse buying nature, Korean students tends to go around, look for options and buy what they need. While American love to buy new fashion apparels.	(Park, 2011Park, E.-J. (2011). Apparel Impulse Buying and Shopping Emotion: Does It Differ between Korea and the US? Korean Journal of Human Ecology, 20(2), 401-412. https://doi.org/10.5934/kjhe.2011.20.2.401 https://doi.org/10.5934/kjhe.2011.20.2.4... )
18	Consumer satisfaction	Individualist/Collectivist	ANOVA	USA, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia.	Compared to more individualist consumers, more collectivist consumers are likely to be more satisfied with an impulse purchase when another person is present at the time of purchase.	(Lee & Kacen, 2008Lee, J. A., & Kacen, J. J. (2008). Cultural influences on consumer satisfaction with impulse and planned purchase decisions. Journal of Business Research, 61(3), 265-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.06.006 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.0... )
19	Consumer Impulsiveness Trait	Individualist/Collectivist	CFA	Singapore and United States,	Consumers from collectivistic cultures differentiate between the deliberate and involuntary aspects of their impulsive behavior and tendencies, whereas those from individualistic societies are unable or unwilling to make this distinction and for them both these elements merge under a single hedonistic dimension.	(Sharma et al., 2005Sharma, P., Sivakumaran, B., & Marshall, R. (2005). Deliberate self-indulgence vs. involuntary loss of self-control: Exploring the influence of culture on consumer impulsiveness trait. E-European Advances in Consumer Research, 7, 593-594.)
20	Power Distance Belief	Power Distance	Regression analysis	Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam	There is a link between PDB and impulsive buying as a manifestation of self-control, such that those with high PDB display less impulsive buying	(Zhang et al., 2010Zhang, Y., Winterich, K. P., & Mittal, V. (2010). Power distance belief and impulsive buying. Journal of Marketing Research, 47(5), 945-954. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.47.5.945 https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.47.5.945... )
21	Cultural Orientation on	Individualism and collectivism		USA	Convergent results show that consumers with an independent self-construal tend to have more positive attitudes toward drinking beer and likely to consume more beer. Conversely, consumers with an interdependent self-construal tend to have less positive attitudes toward drinking beer and likely to consume less beer	(Zhang & Shrum, 2007Zhang, Y., & Shrum, L. J. (2007). The Impact of Culture Orientation on Consumption Impulsiveness and Beer Consumption. Advances in Consumer Research, 34, 370-373.)
22	Cultural Factors	Individualism and collectivism	Z-test and regression analysis	Australia, United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia	Compared to Caucasians, Asians engage in less impulse buying behavior due to trait buying impulsiveness.	(Jacqueline et al., 2002)

Study	Research focus	Theoretical foundation	Research methodology	Sample	Factors
(Verma & Singh, 2018Verma, H., & Singh, S. (2018). Interpretive structural modelling for e-impulse buying: An Indian study. International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 9(3), 288-306. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEMR.2018.092698 https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEMR.2018.09269... )	To establish a comprehensive model for the antecedents of urges to buy impulsively (UBI) that finally leads to E impulse buying	S-O-R framework	Survey	Indian consumer (223)	website related factors situational factors promotional tools website communication impulse buying tendency
(Jang et al., 2018Jang, S., Kim, J., Song, R., & Kim, H.. (2018). Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics Article information. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 30(3), 725-748. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-03-2017-0056 https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-03-2017-00... )	To understand the effects of website quality on online impulse buying with moderating effects of sales promotion and credit card use	S-O-R framework	Survey	Chinese Consumer (1161)	Website Quality Credit Card Use Sales Promotion Online Impulse Buying Behavior
(Adelaar et al., 2003Adelaar, T., Chang, S., Lancendorfer, K. M., Lee, B., & Morimoto, M. (2003). Effects of media formats on emotions and impulse buying intent. Journal of Information Technology, 18(4), 247-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/0268396032000150799 https://doi.org/10.1080/0268396032000150... )	To explore the effects of media formats on the emotions and the impulse buying intentions for music compact discs (CDs)	S-O-R framework	Experiment	U.S. students (n=95)	Media format (Text, still images, video) Visual/ verbal preference Emotional response (Pleasure, arousal, dominance) Impulse buying tendency Impulse buying intent
(Atici & Bati, 2010Atici, B., & Bati, U. (2010). Impulse Purchasing Behaviors of the Turkish Consumers in Websites as a Dynamic Consumer Model: Technology Products Example. International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning (IJAC), 3(4), 6-12. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijac.v3i4.1393 https://doi.org/10.3991/ijac.v3i4.1393... )	To explore how consumer demographic characteristics predict online impulse purchase behaviors in technology products	Not Specified	Survey	Turkish consumers (n=240)	Consumer demographics toward online impulse buying (e.g., gender, age, income)
(Bressolles et al., 2007Bressolles, G., Durrieu, F., & Giraud, M. (2007). The impact of electronic service quality’s dimensions on customer satisfaction and buying impulse. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 6(1), 37-56. https://doi.org/10.1362/147539207x198365 https://doi.org/10.1362/147539207x198365... )	To investigate the effects of electronic service quality on customer satisfaction and buying impulse	Not Specified	Survey	French consumers (n=4109)	Electronic service quality (ease of use, quality and quantity of information, design, reliability and respect for commitments, security and privacy, interactive personalization) Satisfaction Functional buying impulsivity (impulse buying superiority, trust in one’s impulses) Buying impulse
(Brooks et al., 2012Brooks, S. L., Califf, C. B., & Martin, T. C. (2012). Do distractions and interruptions mitigate online impulse purchasing?: An empirical investigation. 18th Americas Conference on Information Systems 2012, AMCIS 2012.)	To investigate web features that mitigate online impulse purchasing	Distraction -conflict Theory	Experiment	U.S. students (n=237)	Perceived enjoyment Urge to buy impulsively Distraction Interruption
(Chih et al., 2012Chih, W. H., Wu, C. H. J., & Li, H. J. (2012). The Antecedents of Consumer Online Buying Impulsiveness on a Travel Website: Individual Internal Factor Perspectives. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 29(5), 430-443. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2012.691393 https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2012.69... )	To examine individuals’ internal factors of online buying impulsiveness	Not Specified	Survey	Taiwan consumers (n=364)	Hedonic consumption needs Impulsive buying tendency Positive affective Normative evaluations Buying impulsiveness
(Dawson & Kim, 2009Dawson, S., & Kim, M. (2009). External and internal trigger cues of impulse buying online. Direct Marketing An International Journal, 3(1), 20-34. https://doi.org/10.1108/17505930910945714 https://doi.org/10.1108/1750593091094571... )	To investigate the effects of external and internal trigger cues of online impulse buying	Consumption impulse formation enactment (CIFE) model	Experiment	U.S. female students (n=300)	External trigger cues of impulse buying (sales, promotions, ideas, suggestions) Internal cues of impulse buying (cognitive and affective states) Impulse buying tendency Normative evaluation Consumption impulse Online impulse purchase decision
(Drossos et al., 2014Drossos, D. A., Kokkinaki, F., Giaglis, G. M., & Fouskas, K. G. (2014). The effects of product involvement and impulse buying on purchase intentions in mobile text advertising. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 13(6), 423-430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2014.08.003 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2014.08... )	To study the dimensionality of the product involvement construct and its effects on consumers’ impulse purchase intentions	Elaboration likelihood model	Experiment	University student (n=636)	Affective product involvement Cognitive product involvement Impulse buying tendency
(Dutta et al., 2003Dutta, R., Jarvenpaa, S., Tomak, K., March, S. T., Massey, A., & DeGross, J. I. (2003). Impact of feedback and usability of online payment processes on consumer decision making. Twenty-Fourth International Conference on Information Systems. https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2003/2 https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2003/2... )	To examine the effects of website characteristics (usability, feedback, and rehearsal) on consumer impulse purchase decisions	Psychology of mental budgeting	Experiment	U.S. students (n=172)	Feature of online payment process (usability, feedback, rehearsal) Recall of past experience Posting expenses to mental accounting Impulse buying
(Floh & Madlberger, 2013Floh, A., & Madlberger, M. (2013). The role of atmospheric cues in online impulse-buying behavior. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 12(6), 425-439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2013.06.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2013.06... )	To test the effects of virtual atmospheric cues on online Impulse buying behavior and spending	S-O-R framework	Survey	Did not specify (n=508)	Atmospheric cues (e-store content, e-store design, e-store navigation) Shopping enjoyment Impulsiveness Browsing Impulse buying Impulse buying expenditure
(Gwee & Chang, 2013Gwee, M. Y. T., & Chang, K. T. T. (2013). Developing e-loyalty amongst impulsive buyers via social influence on group buying websites. Proceedings - Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, PACIS 2013.)	To investigate the social influences in affecting impulse purchase behaviors	Not specified	Survey	Asian university students (n=98)	Informational social influence Normative social influence Cognitive impulse behavior Affective impulse behavior Product type (Hedonic vs. Utilitarian) e-Loyalty
(Gwee & Chang, 2014Gwee, M. Y. T., & Chang, K. T. T. (2014). What triggers impulse purchase behavior: The moderating effects of user expertise and product type. 35th International Conference on Information Systems “Building a Better World Through Information Systems”, ICIS 2014.)	To study the use of persuasive claims by marketers in affecting impulse purchase	Heuristics information processing	Experiment	Asian university student (350)	Scarcity claim Popularity claim Need for uniqueness Desirability Impulse purchase
(Eric Hostler et al., 2012Eric Hostler, R., Yoon, V. Y., & Guimaraes, T. (2012). Recommendation agent impact on consumer online shopping: The Movie Magic case study. Expert Systems with Applications, 39(3), 2989-2999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2011.08.160 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2011.08.1... )	To illustrate the impact of recommendation agents on unplanned online consumer purchase behavior	Not Specified	Experiment	U.S. university students (n=251)	Use of recommendation agent Product promotion effectiveness Product search effectiveness Customer satisfaction with website Unplanned purchase
(Shen & Khalifa, 2012Shen, K. N., & Khalifa, M. (2012). System design effects on online impulse buying. Internet Research, 22(4), 396-425. https://doi.org/10.1108/10662241211250962 https://doi.org/10.1108/1066224121125096... )	To study the relationship between system design characteristics and online impulse buying.	S-O-R framework	Experiment	Hong Kong university students (n=151)	System effect (interactivity, vividness) Presence (telepresence, social presence) Emotional responses (pleasure, arousal) Buying impulse Value perception Impulse enactment
(Liu et al., 2013Liu, Y., Li, H., & Hu, F. (2013). Website attributes in urging online impulse purchase: An empirical investigation on consumer perceptions. Decision Support Systems, 55(3), 829-837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2013.04.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2013.04.00... )	To study how the website cues affect personality traits to urge the impulse purchase online	S-O-R framework	Survey	Chinese university students (n=318)	Product availability Visual appeal Website ease of use Impulsiveness Normative evaluation Instant gratification Urge to buy impulsively
(Wells et al., 2011Wells, J. D., Parboteeah, D. V., & Valacich, J. S. (2011). Online impulse buying: Understanding the interplay between consumer impulsiveness and website quality. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 12(1), 32-56. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00254 https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00254... )	To investigate the impacts of website characteristics on consumers’ urges to buy impulsively	S-O-R framework	Experiment	U.S. university students (n=264)	Task-relevant cues Mood-relevant cues Perceived usefulness Perceived enjoyment Urge to buy impulsively
(Fan & Zhang, 2015Fan, Z., & Zhang, P. (2015). Impact of online reviews on impulsive buying intention based on regulatory focus theory. Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Education Technology, Management and Humanities Science. https://doi.org/10.2991/etmhs-15.2015.27 https://doi.org/10.2991/etmhs-15.2015.27... )	To investigate effects of consumers’ cognitive beliefs on online impulse buying	Technology acceptance model	Survey	U.S. university students (n=294)	Perceived ease of use Perceived usefulness Web use Subjective norms Intention Impulsiveness Purchase

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