Impact of Store

Size on
Impulse purchase

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Introduction

Unplanned purchases are defined as purchase made in a store

that are different from the consumer planned to made prior to
entering the store. Marketers and retailers tend to exploit these
impulses which are tied to the basic want for instant gratification.
For example, a shopper in a supermarket might not specifically
be shopping for confectionary. However, candy, gum, mints and
chocolate are prominently displayed at the checkout aisles to
trigger impulse buyers to buy what they might not have
otherwise considered
Abratt and Goodey(1990) define impulse buying
as a purchase decision made in-store with no explicit recognition
of a need for such a purchase prior to entry into the store.
Organized retail stores are designed in a manner so as to appeal
to the senses of the consumers into making Impulse purchases.
Even the mom- and-pop shops are being designed with soft music
and serene environment which appeal to customers’ emotions.
The increasing disposable income of the consumers is also adding
to the increase in Impulse purchases by the customers. New
technologies, such as teleshopping channels and Internet, act as
catalysts of consumer’s impulse buying behavior as they increase
both the accessibility to products and services, and the ease with
which impulse purchases can be made(Kacen and Lee,2002)

Impulse buying disrupts the normal decision making

models in consumers' brains. The logical sequence of the
consumers' actions is replaced with an irrational moment of self
gratification. Impulse items appeal to the emotional side of
consumers as ageing a logical sequence of consumers’ action.

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Some of the items bought on impulse are not considered
functional or necessary to the consumers. Unplanned purchase
implies a lack of rationality or alternative evaluation. Unplanned
purchase can be further subdivided into two categories. i.
Reminder Purchases-would occur when a consumer notices Band-
Aids in a store & remember that she is a almost out at home .ii)
Impulse Purchase would occur when a consumer sees a candy
bar in the store & purchases it with little or no deliberation as the
result of a sudden, powerful urge to have it.
The stimuli is the basic structure to which an
individual responds. The product, package advertisement, or
sales presentation have a major impact on the nature of the
mental processes that are activated and an the final meaning
assigned to the message.
Various in-store stimuli attract the mind of a
customer to fulfill his various needs and fancies (Kollat and
Willett,1967). For example, marketers and retailers prominently
display candies, chocolates, battery cells and other small ticket
items to motivate the customers to purchase the goods, that
they would not have otherwise purchased. Customers also
purchase products which stimulate their interests.
In-store stimuli, such as product display, product
price ,large variety, store ambience, etc. ,from the core reasons
that influence consumers to purchase on impulse. In-store stimuli
are possible only for big and medium –sized organized retail
stores. Small-sized retail stores, are less capable of attracting
Impulse purchase. A prominent reason is that customers can
choose the products themselves in a big store. Also, the big
stores are quite spacious and well-fit to attract purchase from a
customer. This is particularly true in India where small-sized
stores are not designed in a supermarket like manner and the
store keeper fulfills the customer’s order rather than allowing
him to go inside and pick the goods for himself.

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 However, a problem with the big-sized retail stores is
that owing to the heavy investment in the store ,the turnover of
the store (and it partially refers to impulse sales) must also be
sufficiently high to justify the investment. In other words, as the
store size increases ,it becomes necessary that the Impulse
purchase also increase correspondingly to the turnover of the
store.
In the context of our research, the ratio of Impulse
purchase to the total spending should also be competitive as
compared to a medium or a small sized store. Therefore, we make
an attempt to study the influence of the store size on Impulse
purchase. While there have been many studies (e.g., Kollat and
willet.1967) on the influence of in-store stimuli on impulse buying,
these studies do not consider how customer Impulse purchase
would differ across various store sizes. The study also contributes
by identifying various insightful strategies for an organized
retailer to attract more Impulse purchases.

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Objective

1) To Know the size of the store has a positive influcence on

the amount of impulse purchases made by the cutomers.

2) To Know the type of stimuli has a positive influence on

customer’s impulse purchase made from stores of different size.

3) To Know the type of items has a positive influence on

customer’s impulse purchase made from stores of different sizes.

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Research Methodology

Data Collection:
In this study, survey method was used to
collect data. The Questionnaire was developed in a simple
manner which asked the respondents the size of their planned
and unplanned purchases as well as the categories of items that
they purchased in an unplanned manner. The money spent on
planned and unplanned purchases was used as a measure of size
of the planned and unplanned purchases. The data was collected
using simple random sampling from various small-medium and
big sized fifteen retailers in Islampur. Every third customer to the
size was sampled. The store size was coded as small, medium
and big according to the size of the store. all the small size (such
as kirana stores) coded as ‘1’ The medium sized supermarkets
and bazaars were coded as ‘2’ and the big-sized stores were
coded as ‘3’.

Rationale of the study

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 It is seen that shopping mall owners tried to
exploit impulses, which a associated with the basic need for
instant satisfaction. A buyer in the shopping store might not
specially be shopping for the confectionery items displayed at
prominent places will certainly attract buyers attention and
trigger impulse buying behavior in them. this phenomenon can
easily be understood with the help of two principle/factors as a
part of psychological review of literature, which interprets
impulses as the consequences of these competing
principles/factors
These principle are well presented in the papers of Fread (1956) &
Mai ,et al (2002) These principle are stated below.
i) First, the Pleasure Principle
ii) Second, the reality principle
The Pleasure principle to immediate satisfaction felt by
consumer whereas the reality principle is related to delayed
gratification. There is always an ongoing competition between
these two forces represented as principle within the buyer when
they enter in store with the intention to buy. As a consequence
impulse related behavior overcomes them because impulses are
usually difficult to resist and involve premeditated pleasurable
experiences as of a study of Rook(1987)

Role of in-store stimuli in Impulse Buying

In-store stimuli are promotional techniques

employed to increase unplanned (or subconsciously planned)
purchases. These techniques include in-store sitting, on-shelf
positions, price-off promotions, sampling, point-of-purchase
displays, coupons, and in-store demonstrations. Retailers try to
increase the number of impulse purchase through store design,

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 product displays, package design and sales (Hoyer and
machnis,1997).
Studies (Cox,1970; Curhan, 1974; Wilkinson et
al., 1982; and Limentour et al.,1984)report a positive relationship
between the total unit sales of an impulse product brand having
high consumer acceptance and the amount of shelf space given
for that brand. However, no relationship has been reported
between total unit sales of an impulse product brand having low
consumer acceptance and the amount of shelf space given for
that brand.
On-shelf position also influences unit sales of
supermarket products (Sewell,1984; and Abratt and
Goodey,1990).This is because the consumers have a natural
tendency to focus and perceive at eye level. Displays can
therefore, increase the rate of unplanned purchase in retail
stores (Peak and Peak,1977; and Auelch,1983).Many studies
have been conducted in an attempt to quantify the sale
responsiveness of displays. All the found that the displays
increased the sales of the items exhibited .

Literature Review

Research findings suggest that emotions and

feelings play a decisive role in purchasing, triggered by seeing the
product or upon exposure to a well crafted promotional message.
Such purchases ranges from small (chocolate, clothing, magazines)
to substantially large (jewelry, vehicle, work of art) Impulse Buying

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as a purchase decision is discussed In detail by Kollet and
Willett,1967: Bellenger et al.,1978; and Abratt and Goodey (1990).

Rook and Gardner (1993) identify two important

characteristics of Impulse Buying, namely: rapid decision-making
and a subjective bias in favor of immediate because it is made while
shopping, although the individual was not actively looking for that
item, had no pre-shopping task, such as looking for a gift which
satisfies the customer.

Kollet and Willet study is important as it

attempts to explain customer difference in unplanned purchasing
behavior. However theses studies are concentrated on
supermarkets and big-sized organized retail stores. In-store
stimuli cab also occur in a relatively small-or medium-sized store.
Particularly these days even small stores lay emphasis on
attractive and elegant store designs. Therefore, in this research
we study how the impulse purchase behavior differs across
various store size. Owing to the high turnover in a big organized
retail store, the impulse purchase must also be proportionately
high.
Kollat and willet (1967) General study of Impulse
purchase behavior In store of a national supermarket chain look
into the influence of external stimuli .Average customer
purchase 50.5% of the products on an unplanned basis;\the
incidence of unplanned purchase varies greatly for customers.
Popai/Du Pont (1977) Study of consumer buying
habits look into the influence of external stimuli.65% of all
supermarket purchase decisions were made in-store with over
50%of these being unplanned; Rate of unplanned purchase differ
for different product categories; Reasons for unplanned
purchase-38%(Retail forces),29% (Manufacturer forces),24%
(world of mouth force),9% (other).

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 Bellenger et al.(1978) Infuse of demographic factors
on Impulse Buying behavior and finding are Shoppers under 35
years of age were more prone to impulse buying compared to
those over 35 years old.
Johnson and williams (1984) General study on
consumer Impulse buying behavior study also highlights major
differences between impulse purchases for various product
categories. 20% of purchasing decisions were made inside the
store; there were important differences between the product
categories.
Abratt and Goodey(1990) Influence of in-store stimuli
and culture on consumer impulse purchase behavior confirm the
role of in-store stimuli do affect unplanned purchase quite
significantly; 70% of unplanned purchase are due to promotional
techniques, namely; point -of –sale, shelf signs, end-of-aisles
displays, and special
displays.25% of unplanned purchase are made when the
respondent ‘remembered a need’ for the product.

Garder(1994) Influence of consumers’ mood on

impulse buying behavior this study finding is Consumer’s
positive moods were more conducive to impulse buying than
negative moods.
Donovan et al. Consumer’s mood or emotional state
influences impulse buying behavior study also highlights Feeling
of pleasure in the shopping environment are positively related to
impulse purchase behavior.

Rook and Fisher (1995) Self -identity and impulse

buying behavior and finding are Men reported more personal
(independent) identity reasons for their purchases whereas
women reported more social (rational) identify reasons.

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 Beatty and Ferrell (1998) Impulse purchasing
tendency as a consumer personality trait and finding of this
studies is Consumer’s positive moods was associated with the
urge to buy impulsively.
Wood (1998) Influence of age on impulse buying
behavior this studies finding is impulse buying increase slightly
between the 18-39 years of age and declined thereafter
Kacen and Lee (2002) Moderating influence of
culture on Consumer’s impulse buying behavior this study also
highlights Individual cultural difference factors systematically
influence Impulsive purchasing behavior.

Jones et al.(2003) Extends the notion of impulse

buying tendency from a general personality tendency to a more
product-specific variable this studies finding are Product –Specific
conceptualization of the impulse buying behavior was a better
predictor of actual Impulse purchasing behavior.

A study published in the June 2008 issue of the Journal

of Consumer Research suggests that consumers are more
susceptible to making impulsive purchases for one brand over
another if they are distracted while shopping. In the study, Central
Michigan University Psychology professor Bryan Gibson surveyed
college students by measuring their preference for a variety of soft
drinks, including Coke and Pepsi. Results of Gibson's study found
that implicit attitudes, or those that people may not be conscious of
and able to verbally express, predicted product choice only when
participants were presented with a cognitive task, suggesting that
implicit product attitudes may play a greater role in product choice
when the consumer is distracted or making an impulse purchase.

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Theoretical Background

Literature provides two explanation of the

impulse buying behavior (Abratt and Goodey,1990), namely
exposure to in-store stimuli and customer commitment. The
exposure to in-store stimuli states that in- stimuli produces
impulse purchase simply because it acts as a reminder of the
shopping needs. According to kollat and Willett (1969), in-store
stimuli assist in making purchase decisions and offer consumers
new ways of satisfying needs.
Customer commitment hypothesis maintains
that impulse buying is in part attributable to incomplete measure
of purchase plans (Kollat and Willett,1969; and Abratt and
Goodey,1990)concluded in a study of 600 supermarkets that
some unplanned purchase were probably a result of exposure to
in-store stimuli. Other unplanned purchases are actually not
unplanned at all, but are caused by the way in which the
behavior is usually measured. If this is accepted, then the results
of various studies measuring unplanned purchase, using the
interviewing technique referred by Kollat and Willet(1967)would
be inflated to the degree to which the unplanned purchases
made are not a result of exposure to in-store stimuli. In other
words, the customer-commitment hypothesis explains that these
stimuli play a vital role in reminding the consumer that certain
products were (Subconsciously) planned and should be
purchased.

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 However, the two explanations support the
role of in-store stimuli in impulse buying. Therefore, we consider
that buying in-store stimuli influence impulse buying.

Data Analysis:
Table 1: Descriptive statistics of Respondent Characteristics

Attribute Item Frequen Percentage

Measured cy %
Small 10 25
Medium 15 37.5
Store Size
Big 15 37.5
20-29 12 30
30-39 20 50
Age
>=40 8 20
Male 25 62.5
Female 15 37.5
Gender
<1Lakh 3 7.5
1-3 Lakh 15 37.5
Annual Income
3-5 Lakh 5 12.5
Not 17 44.5
Answered
Student 6 15
Housewife 12 30
Employed 16 40
Profession Self- 2 7.5
employed
other 2 7.5
Purchase <1= time 16 40
Frequency
2-3 time 16 40
4-5 time 4 10

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 >5 time 4 10
Alone 14 35
Family 13 32.5
Accompanied
Friends 13 32.5
with Married 35 87.5
Marital status Unmarried 15 12.5

Product 15 37.5
display
Product 16 40
Price
Large 7 17.5
In-store
Variety
stimuli(Yes) Store 1 2.5
Ambience
Need of 1 2.5
the Hour
Apparel 2 5
Furniture 2 5
\home 1 2.5
Appliances
Electronic 1 2.5
Departmental s
Unplanned Toiletries 6 15
Cosmetics 9 22.5
Purchases Sporting 1 2.5
Goods
Groceries 1 2.5
Toys 2 5
Fruits & 6 16
Vegetable
s
Footwear 9 22.5

Total 40 100%

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Table 2 Influence of the Type of Stimuli on impulse purchase
Across Various Store Sizes.

Store Size Tot

In-Store al
Sma Mediu Bi
Stimuli
ll m g
Product 2 3 10 15
Display
product Price 6 4 6 16
Large 1 2 4 7
variety
Store 0 0 1 1
Ambiences
Need of the 0 1 0 1
hour
Total 9 10 21 40

We analyzed the in-store stimuli

across various store size. The results are shown in Table 3. Table
3 shows that the product price is the greatest stimulant of
impulse purchase for small-sized stores. For big stores, the
product display and the product price influence customer impulse
purchase In other words, in-store stimuli of impulse purchase
vary across store size.

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Table 3 Type of the Item Purchase on Impulse Across Various
Store Sizes.

Departments Store Size Tota

Sma Mediu Bi
l
ll m g
Toiletries 3 2 1 6
Footwear 2 3 4 9
Cosmetics 3 4 2 9
Fruits & 2 1 3 6
Vegetables
Total 10 10 10 30

From table 1, we found that toiletries,

footwear, cosmetics and fruits and vegetables were the most
frequent items purchased on impulse. Therefore, we analyze only
these four categories across various store sizes. The results are
shown in Table.3 Toiletries and cosmetics formed the largest
categories of impulse purchases from small sized stores.
Footwear contributed the largest category of impulse purchases
from big-sized stores.

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Table 5 Demographics of Largest Impulse Purchase Categories

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 Demographics Toiletrie Footwe Cosmeti Fruits &
s ar cs Vegetable
Female 3 4 4 2
Male 3 5 5 4
Gender
<20 2 4 1 0
20-29 1 2 3 0
Age
30-30 2 2 4 2
>=40 1 1 1 4

Student 1 1 2 1
Housewife 1 3 0 2
Professio
Employed 2 1 3 2
n Self 1 2 4 0
Empl
oyed
Other 1 2 0 1
Married 5 6 6 5
Unmarrie 2 3 3 1
Marital
d
Status
Purchase <=1 1 3 3 2
Frequen
cy
2-3 Times 2 2 2 2
4-5Times 2 2 2 2
>5 Times 0 2 2 0
Alone 2 3 5 2
Accompanied Friends 2 4 2 3
with
Family 2 3 2 1

Total Unplanned 06 09 09 06

Analyzed the demographics of these four

categories of impulse purchases as shown in table 5 the
unplanned purchases were made by females, except for

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cosmetics and fruits and vegetables category where males made
most of the purchases. males made most of the unplanned
purchase in cosmetics when they visited the store alone. most of
these males were married and above 30 years and most of the
unplanned purchase took place among the married people.
however, when males were accompanied with their friends, they
purchased fruits and vegetables. most of the unplanned purchase
were made by service class people.

Finding

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1) Most of the impulse buyers (37.5%) belong to middle class
with an annual income ranging from one to three lakh per
annum.
2) Most of the respondents were employed, married males in
the age group of 30-39 years.
3) Students hardly purchase on impulse.

4) Groceries and electronics attracted least unplanned

purchases.
5) Fruits and Vegetables, Cosmetics, Footwear and toiletries
contributed the maximum to impulse purchase in terms of
volume.
6) Incidence of impulse buying was common among the initial
buyers as compared to the frequent shoppers.
7) The product price is the greatest stimulant of impulse
purchase for small-sized stores. For big stores, the product
display and the product price influence customer impulse
purchase and medium-sized stores ,need of the hour influences
customers to purchase on impulse.
8) The females who made unplanned purchases were mostly
housewives, usually above 30 years. the unplanned purchases
took place when these females were accompanied with their
family or were alone.
9) Surprisingly, males made most of the unplanned purchases
in cosmetics when they visited the store alone. Most of these
males were married and above 30 years and most of the
unplanned purchases took place among the married people.
when males were accompanied with their friends, they
purchased fruits and vegetables.

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Suggestions:-
1) High impulse purchase items (fruits and Vegetables,
cosmetics, footwear, toiletries, etc.,) that need to be displayed to
the customer at places where they attract maximum attention of
the customers (such as near billing point, or at the shelf level
equal to the eye of the customer).On the other hand, the low
impulse purchase items can be stored as lower shelf levels as
compared to impulse purchase items).

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Conclusion

In this study, we attempted to extent the findings of

previous study by analyzing impulse purchase across various
store sizes. Surprisingly, the impulse purchases contribute more
to total sales in medium-sized retail stores rather then big-sized
retail stores .Need of the hour was the main factor that
contributed to impulse purchase in medium-sized retail stores,
while product display and product prices were the major in-store
stimuli in large stores. For small-sized stores, product price was
the main factor that attracted impulse purchases. Also ,the
product categories that attracted impulse purchases were
different in different stores. One of the reasons for such a result
could be that the customers perceive big retail stores to the
costlier than small stores. Moreover, there is hardly any
difference in prices of a big retailer and a medium-sized retailer
thereby inhibiting customers to purchase from a big retailer. And
the convenience obtained in a big-sized retail store is available in
a medium-sized store also. As consumers mostly go to these
stores for purchasing groceries, big-sized retailers do not pose
any special advantage over small-sized retailers. For products
apart from groceries, even big-retailers do not keep as much
variety as a specialized small-or-medium-sized store.

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References

1.Abratt R and Goodey S D (1990), “Unplanned Buying and In

Store Stimuli in Supermarkets”, Managerial and decision
Econimics,Vol.11,No.2 pp.111-121

2. Betty S E and Ferrel M E (1998), “Impulse Buying: Modeling Its

Precursors”, journal of retailing Vol.74,no.2.pp 169-191

3. Bellenger D N Robertson D H and Hirschman E C (1978),

“Impulse Buying Varies by product”, Journal of Advertising
Research,Vol.18,pp.15-18

4.Hoyer W D and Maclnnis D J (1997),Consumer Behavior,

Houghton Mifflin.

5.Kacen J T and Lee J A (2002),”The Influence of culture on

customer Impulsive Buying Behaviour”, journal of consumer
psychology,Vol.12 No.2,pp. 163-176

6.Freud.s (1956) “Formulation on the two principles of mental

Funtioning” in the standard Edition of the complete psychological
works of Sigmund & A.freud, eds, London

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 Topic:- Impact of Store Size on Impulse
purchase

Index

1) Introduction

2) Objectives of the Study

3) Research Methology

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4) Literature Review

5) Analysis & Findings

6) Conclusions

7) Bibliography

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