Exploring the psychological mechanisms from personalized advertisements to urge to buy impulsively on social media

How technical and situational cues affect impulse buying behavior in social commerce? Evidence from bored consumers

Introduction

With the rise of social media and web technologies, users are increasingly spending time on browsing and purchasing on social commerce, particularly during idle moments of casual scrolling. Social commerce applications with sophisticated social features and security measures may tend to attract a significant number of highly engaged users. The purpose of this study is to find out whether customers will be interested in the content posted on the applications and generate impulse consumption when they are bored.

Methods

Drawing on stimulus-organism-response framework, this paper explores how technical cues and situational cues affect impulse buying behavior in social commerce applications and the mediating impact of consumer-perceived values. Data were gathered from 395 respondents who frequently utilize and have shopping experience on social commerce applications. The PLS-SEM and fsQCA were applied to formulate and test the proposed hypotheses.

Results

The results of PLS-SEM reveal technical cues (ease of use, visual appeal and security) and situational cues (passing time and serendipity) positively influenced impulse buying. The results of fsQCA offer six solutions of different combinations of constructs which can lead to high impulse buying.

Discussion

These findings may extend existing research on impulse buying behavior and consumer psychology, offering valuable insights for marketers. They also point towards strategies for more effectively encouraging impulse purchase in digital retail environments, particularly among consumers who are browsing out of boredom.

A comprehensive study on factors influencing online impulse buying behavior: Evidence from Shopee video platform

The rapid expansion of online commerce has significantly altered consumer behavior, particularly among digitally-savvy Generation Z individuals. This research analyzes the influence of product presentation videos on online impulsive buying behaviors in this demographic, using the Shopee video platform as a case study. The study aims to investigate how various external factors, including time pressure (TP), quantity pressure (QP), economic benefits (EB), social influence (SI), visual (VS), and sound (SO), affect online impulse buying by mediating emotions of arousal (AR) and pleasure (PL). This study employed a quantitative approach, and data was collected through a Likert scale questionnaire using a non-probability sampling technique. PLS-SEM statistical analysis was utilized to assess the research model, exploring the interplay of these stimuli in shaping impulsive buying behavior on the Shopee platform, among 438 Vietnamese Generation Z. The study's results indicate significant impacts of all factors on arousal, while time pressure, quantity pressure, and economic benefits did not significantly influence pleasure. Notably, arousal and pleasure emerged as mediators shaping impulsive buying decisions among Generation Z. These findings indicate that strategic use of external factors can effectively trigger emotions, leading to impulsive buying among digital natives. This also offers valuable insights for marketers looking to enhance e-commerce strategies on platforms such as Shopee video. Marketers can trigger customers' impulsive buying by creating a sense of urgency (e.g. flash sales, limited quantities), useful online reviewing, and personalizing discounts. Additionally, using visual and sound strategies in a positive online experience can further enhance this behavior and shape preferences. This study's findings contribute to a deeper understanding of consumer behavior theories in the digital era, highlighting the intricate roles of arousal and pleasure in online impulse buying.

Exploring the Social and Systemic Influencing Factors of Mobile Short Video Applications on the Consumer Urge to Buy Impulsively

With the progress of digital and mobile technologies, mobile short video apps (MSAs) have been booming in recent years. These MSAs are expanding their role in social commerce, which has aroused scholar’s and practitioners’ attention. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response model,this study proposes an integrated model to examine the impact of social factors (perceived expertise, similarity, and familiarity) and systemic factors (personalization, serendipity, and visual appeal) on the formation of utilitarian value and flow experience, and their subsequent effects on impulsive buying. The results suggest that both social factors and systemic factors can influence utilitarian value and flow experience. Further, utilitarian value and flow experience can positively affect consumers’ impulse buying independently. The contributions of the study to both academia and practice are discussed.