The Buying Impulse and Perceptions of the Physical Self

Abstract

General trait-based approaches to the study of impulsive buying fail to explain the product-specific nature of this behavior and the relevance of specific self-motives in this context. Two related studies were conducted to understand the role of domain-specific physical self-perceptions on the context dependent nature of impulsive buying. The first study showed that physical self-perceptions are better predictors of context-specific impulsive buying than global self-measures. The second study grouped people with high and low physical self-esteem (PSE) to understand the role of PSE on product-specific, impulsive buying tendencies. Results showed that the impulsive buying tendency of individuals toward different products changes as a function of the relevance of product to physical self-perceptions. It was also found that perceived importance in the physical domain (PIP) may be an underlying factor. Overall, current research suggests impulsive buying is a product-specific behavior such that physical self-images along with perceived importance attributed to these images may affect individuals’ impulsive buying tendencies, depending on the self-related function of products.