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Running Head: COLLEGE STUDENTS, EMPLOYED WORKERS, IMPULSIVE

BUYING

Online Impulsive Buying Behavior of Consumers

Arnelyn P. Atad

Jirylle D. Lopez

Yean R. Marquez

Madeleine B. Ramos
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Abstract

This study aims to determine if there is a significant difference of online

impulsive buying behavior between students and employees. The data were

gathered through an online survey questionnaire about the online impulsive

buying behavior from students and employees. Based on the results of the

study, the following findings were revealed that the result of a T-test for the

independent means showed that we failed to reject the null hypothesis which is

there is no significant difference between the online impulsive buying behavior

of students and online impulsive buying behavior of workers. Based on the

conclusions, the following were hereby recommended like future research can

consider the generations of students and generation of workers to better see if

there is a difference between the two groups.

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INTRODUCTION

Impulsive buying is an unplanned purchase of customers for goods and

services. Nowadays, the internet had become the main source of information

and it is being used widely in daily life. Internet is a powerful source it is used

by the organizations for competitive advantage. The consumers’ possibility to

buy impulsively is suggested to increase further because they are convinced of

online shopping. As observed during this pandemic, many have gone through

online selling and online buying, the fact that it is more convenient now,

because of the reason that people are being ordered by the government to stay

at home to protect their selves from the Covid-19 virus. Mobile applications

such as Shopee, Lazada, or even on social media platforms, are some apps

where we can visit to shop online to buy our needed products, branded or not.

Sometimes, we have visited these apps just because they offer promos that we

are waiting for.

The researchers prompt to conduct this study since it is timely and

another reason is that, we have an interest in this study that we can relate

ourselves because we are also purchasing things online.

Generally, this study seeks to find if there is a difference in online

impulsive buying behavior between consumers. In addition, this study might

help the consumers to think rationally when they buy impulsively things online

and to avoid spending much money in buying unnecessary things that cannot

be used. Other than that, it can be used as a reference for the future

researchers in conducting related studies.

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Review of Related Literature

There are number of factors which influence the online impulsive buying

behavior of the consumers. This study examines the factors affecting the online

buying behavior of the consumers. Factor analysis was used to reveal the

results. Personal behavior, situation at the time of purchase, promotion, ethical

issues has impact on the online impulsive buying of the consumers. The

results of the study will be helpful to the online firms which want to increase

the online impulse buying behavior of the consumers (Kumar 2018). The

marketers have always shown keen interest in the consumers. They try to

understand the way the consumers think, feel and how they choose from the

different alternatives available to them for example the product, brand how and

to what extent the consumers are influenced by the peer groups, family,

salesperson etc. Through the knowledge of consumer behavior. The advanced

technology has increased the impulse purchases amongst the consumers.

Impulsive buying behavior can be defined as the sudden desire of the

consumer to make unplanned purchase after seeing the product. It is the trait

of the personality which is more irrational, involves acting without much

thinking and quick cognitive decisions (Barrat 1993). Impulsivity is that part of

individual difference which is related to the biological bases of personality. It is

the state which involves non directional component of alertness and no specific

psychological activation (Anderson and Revelle 1994). Impulsive buying is

immediate desire to purchase something. As compared to the other

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approaches of decision-making impulsive buying is reactive and emotional

(Rook 1987). Impulsive buying was redefined as "when a consumer

experiences a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something

immediately". In addition, according to Habib (2018). Impulsive buying in

online setting has become an epidemic as it represents a noteworthy proportion

of online shopping. Impulsive buying behaviors with upcoming avenues for

future research are under the constant considerations of academicians and

practitioners. Despite abundant research on impulsive buying behavior in

online context, research scholars demand for further research and empirical

evidences for better understanding of the phenomenon. It is therefore worthy

question to examine impulsive buying behaviors in online setting. This study

seeks to model and empirically examine cognitive aspects as a precursor of

emotional aspects that ultimately lead towards impulsive buying actions. This

study used cognitive emotion theory and emotion-action tendency to model

impulsive buying behavior in online context. Specifically, this study seeks to

examine key cognitive aspect (ease of use, in formativeness, perceived risk and

perceived trust) and emotional aspects (pleasantness and arousal) on impulsive

buying actions (web browsing and urge to buy impulsively). According to the

study of Johansson and Persson (2019) entitled “Impulsive buying behavior

online among generation X and Y” showed that there was no difference between

the generation’ impulse buying tendency. Findings from open-ended questions

showed that Gen X often are affected by advertising, Gen Y are more affected

by influencers. Sales and special offers influenced both generations. And the
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limitation of this study is the vast majority of the respondents were women,

since this does not represent the full population, this may have influenced the

result and may have given the study a more feminine point of view so the

outcome no difference.

Research question

Is there a statistical difference between the online impulsive buying

behaviors of consumers?

Hypotheses

H1: There is significant difference between the online impulsive buying

behaviors of consumers.

Ho: There is no significant difference between the online impulsive buying

behaviors of consumers.

METHOD

This part provides an outline design of the study particularly the

description of the participant’s profile, sampling, data gathering procedure and

statistical treatment of the data.

Participants

With the total number of 60 female heterosexuals’ participants

experienced buying through online that came from La Union and Ilocos Sur to

comprise the final sample, 30 of them are students that are enrolled as a 2nd-
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year college regardless of their age. And another 30 employees in private and

government sectors that has been working for 1 to 5 years regardless of their

age.

Procedure

In gathering the data, the first thing that the researchers did was sending

a private message through messenger to their respective participants asking

them if they experience buying products online and if they are willing to

participate in answering the survey questionnaire. Out of the sixty (60) of the

target respondents that been sent a private message, fifty-six (56) of them

experienced to buy products online and agreed to participate, thirty (30) from

students and twenty-six (26) from workers. After that, the researchers sent the

link of their Google form survey questionnaire. The participants are given 1 to

2 days to answer and submit their responses.

To complete for the comprised sixty (60) sample size of this study the

other four (4) lacking respondents was being surveyed through face-to-face.

One of the researchers conducted a face-to-face survey in their neighbor who

is working and experience to buy products online. The survey to all of the four

(4) respondents lasted only for one (1) hour.

After all the respondents (who responded through the Google form online

survey) submitted their answers, the researchers summarized all the data

collected together with the data that collected in the face-to-face survey that

needed in data analysis.

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Measures

The researchers utilized online survey questionnaire as a tool in obtaining

the required data and reliable information from the target respondents. The

questionnaire is composed of 15 items were in the first 10 in the questionnaire

was adopted to the research of Kumar regarding about the factors influencing

their perception towards online impulsive buying, some of the questions were

not included because it does not have connection to our study which is finding

if there is a significant difference of online impulsive buying behavior of

consumers, some of its questions are about owning a credit card, peer groups,

free trial internet fraud and many more. The last 5 questions were constructed

by the researchers, such as buying products with a discount, buying

something trend, purchasing because of its visual attraction and price and

lastly, if they purchase worth 1000 pesos are the questions that were added by

the researchers that will help us finding if there is a difference of online

impulsive buying behavior of the consumers. The questionnaire will be scored

through a Likert scale of (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) neither agree nor

disagree, (4) agree, and (5) strongly agree. The mean of the response per

respondents were used in analyzing the data, the researchers computed for the

mean of online impulsive buying behavior of each respondents, to get it first,

the researchers add all the answers of respondents and dividing it by the total

number of items which is 15. The highest possible score is 5 (Strongly Agree)

and 1(Strongly Disagree) will be the lowest possible score.

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Data Analysis

This t-test inferential study entitled “Online Impulsive Buying Behavior

of Consumers” utilizes an Independent Samples T-test. That is comparing the

means of impulsive online buying behavior of students and impulsive online

buying behavior of employees. PSPP is used to analyze the data that gathered.

RESULTS
Table 1.

Students Workers

Mean 3.29 3.33

Sample Size 30

Degrees of Freedom 58.00

Standard Deviation .68 .48

The result of showed that we failed to reject the null hypothesis. The T-
test for the independent means showed that there is no statistically significant
difference between the online impulsive buying behavior of consumers t (58.00)
= -.24, p =.812, r= 0.03.

Students online impulsive buying behavior (M=3.29, SD=.68) had no

significant difference to online impulsive buying behavior of workers (M=3.33,
SD= .48). The mean of the online impulsive buying behavior of students and
employees fall under the Likert scale of neither agree and disagree. (See table 1
to see the descriptive statistics)
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This might be the case why there’s no difference in the online impulsive
buying of students and workers because their gender is the same.
DISCUSSION
This research aimed to examine if there is a difference between the

online impulsive buying behaviors of consumers. We hypothesized that there is

no significant difference between the online impulsive buying behavior of

students and online impulsive buying behavior of workers. Results showed that

we failed to reject the null hypothesis which is there is no significant difference

between the online impulsive buying behavior of students and online impulsive

buying behavior of workers. Furthermore, this was supported by the study of

Johansson and Persson (2019) entitled “Impulsive buying behavior online

among generation X and Y” showed that there was no difference between the

generation’ impulse buying tendency. Findings from open-ended questions

showed that Gen X often are affected by advertising, Gen Y is more affected by

influencers. Sales and special offers influenced both generations.

Implication of the study

This study contributes to knowledge for marketers to learn more about

the factors that affect the impulsive buying behavior of consumers in online

environment. In addition, this study will serve as a reference and guidelines for

future researchers in conducting some related studies.

Limitations and Future Recommendations

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While this research has valuable contributions, this study has some

notable limitations that should be considered before generalizing the findings.

First is the sample size of the study was small, therefore a large sample size

should be used to generalize the results for a larger group. Second, the

independent variables used in this study was the consumers, which has a two

levels, namely the students and workers, but in this study we did not consider

their generation factor to see if it can affect our result so for the future

researchers they could consider the generations of students and generation of

workers to better see if there is a difference between the two groups. Lastly,

future research can also consider some other variables, for instance, factors

affecting the impulsive buying behaviors of consumers to examine if there is a

difference on impulsive buying behavior of different groups and to provide new

information about impulsive buying behaviors.

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REFERENCES

Habib, M.D. & Qayyum, A. (2018). Cognitive Emotion Theory and Emotion-

Action Tendency in Online Impulsive Buying Behavior

Kaur A. & Kumar, S.K. (2018, July). Understanding Online Impulsive Buying

Behavior of Students

Johansson, M. & Persson, E. (2019, May).A Quantitative Study of Impulsive

Buying Behavior Online among Generation X and Y

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APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE

November 16, 2020

Dear Respondent,

We, BS Psychology 2 students of Saint Louis College, are currently conducting

a research entitled “Online Impulsive Buying Behavior of Consumers” which
is a requirement in our course, Psychological Statistics. For the success of this
objective we are humbly requesting you to spare a little time of yours to answer
the questions below.

Please answer each item as accurately as possible. The data collected will be
kept confidentially and will be used purely for academic purposes. Please read
carefully and mark your answer for every question sincerely. The questionnaire
takes around 10 minutes to complete. Your participation is very much
appreciated.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

God bless!

Respectfully yours,

The Researchers

ARNELYN P. ATAD JIRYLLE D. LOPEZ

MADELEINE B. RAMOS YEAN R. MARQUE

Noted by:

NELLA BRENDA P. ESPINUEVA Instructor

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MR. JOSE J. PANGNGAY Program Head, Psychology

ONLINE IMPULSIVE BUYING BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS

The following are statement about impulsive buying behavior. Indicate how the

following statements are applicable in you by putting a check (/) on the

provided scale.

1- Strongly Disagree 4- Agree

2- Disagree 5- Strongly
3- Neither Agree nor Disagree
QUESTIONS 1 2 3 4 5
1. I spend more than I thought I’ll be spending in
online shopping
2. I purchase products that I didn’t plan to buy.
3. I think after making the purchases
4. I see something I want; I buy it
5. I purchase according to feeling
6. I purchase products from online without
thinking on the consequences of getting broke
financially for the following days.
7. I purchase more when there is a promo of ‘Buy
One Get One’
8. I can’t pass up a good sale.
9. I have a great pleasure in online shopping.
10. I buy products with good promotional scheme.
11. I often buy products with discount
12. If I see something new or trend, I buy it right
away.
13. I purchase because of the visual attraction.
14. I look for the price before purchasing.
15. I tried to purchase things online worth 1000
pesos.
APPENDIX
PSPP COMPUTATION
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Curriculum Vitae
ATAD, Arnelyn P.
E-mail: arnelynatad@gmail.com
Contact Number: 09451875050

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Address: Oaig Daya, Candon City, Ilocos Sur
Age: 19 years old
Sex: Female
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Tertiary
Name of School: Saint Louis College
Program: Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Address of School: Carlatan, City of San Fernando, La Union
Senior High School
Name of School: Sta. Lucia Academy
Strand: General Academic Strand
Address of School: Barangobong, Sta. Lucia, Ilocos Sur
Year of Graduation: 2018-2019
Junior High School
Name of School: Sta. Lucia Academy
Address of School: Barangobong, Sta. Lucia, Ilocos Sur
Year of Completion: 2016-2017
Elementary
Name of School: Candon South Central School
Address of School: San Isidro, Candon City, Ilocos Sur
Year of Graduation: 2012-2013
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Curriculum Vitae
LOPEZ, Jirylle D.
E-mail: jiryllelopez@gmail.com
Contact Number: 09275831489

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Address: Cantoria #3, Luna, La Union
Age: 19 years old
Sex: Female
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROOUND
Tertiary
Name of School: Saint Louis College
Program: Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Address of School: Carlatan, City of San Fernando, La Union
Senior High School

Name of School: CICOSAT Colleges

Strand: Technical Vocational Livelihood

Address of School: Lingsat, City of San Fernando, La Union
Year of Graduation: 2018-2019
Junior High School
Name of School: Canbarbusuy National High School
Address of School: Cantoria #1, Luna, La Union
Year of Completion: 2016-2017
Elementary
Name of School: Cantoria Central School
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Address of School: Cantoria #2, Luna, La Union

Year of Graduation: 2012-2013
Curriculum Vitae
MARQUEZ, Yean Xyzra R.
E-mail: yeanxyz123@gmail.com
Contact Number: 09451531799

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Address: Las-ud, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur
Sex: Female
Age: 20 years old
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Tertiary
Name of School: Saint Louis College
Program: Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Address of School: Carlatan, City of San Fernando, La Union
Senior High School
Name of School: Laboratory High School, Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College
Strand: Humanities and Social Science
Address of School: Quirino, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur
Year of Graduation: 2018-2019
Junior High School
Name of School: Laboratory High School, Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College
Address of School: Quirino, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur
Year of Graduation: 2016-2017
Elementary
Name of School: Las-ud Elementary School
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Address of School: Las-ud, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur

Year of Graduation: 2012-2013
Curriculum Vitae
RAMOS, Madeleine Twinkle B.
E-mail: madeleineborromeo6@gmail.com
Contact Number: 09959846709

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Address: PNR Compound,Central East, Bauang, La Union
Sex: Female
Age: 19 years old
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Tertiary
Name of School: Saint Louis College
Program: Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Address of School: Carlatan, City of San Fernando, La Union
Senior High School
Name of School: Union Christian College
Strand: Humanities and Social Science
Address of School: Widdoes St., Brgy II, City of San Fernando, La Union
Year of Graduation: 2018-2019
Junior High School
Name of school: Sacred Heart School (Junior High)
Address of School: Nera Street, Barangay Central East, Bauang, La Union
Year of Completion: 2016-2017
Elementary
Name of School: Bauang North Central School
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Address of School: Rebellos Street, Barangay Central East, Bauang, La Union

Year of Graduation: 2012-2013