Same Country, Different Ethnicity: The Role of Ethnicity on Impulse Buying

Abstract

Impulse buying refers to buying as a result of a sudden, intense urge to buy without planning the buying situation. Previous research has shown that numerous factors influence impulsive buying decisions of consumers. This study treats ethnicity as a factor that influence consumers’ impulse buying decisions. Data was collected from three ethnic minorities living in the UK: Turkish, Chinese and Indian. These particular consumers are compared in terms of impulsive buying and the results indicate that, consumers’ ethnicity differentially has influence on their impulsiveness. Indian consumers are found to be the least impulsive buyers and significantly different from Turkish and Chinese consumers whereas no impulsive buying difference is found between Turkish and Chinese consumers. © 2016, Academy of Marketing Science.