Impulse Buying Behavior in E-Commerce: Factors Influencing Spontaneous Purchases in Online Retail Environments

The impact of impulse buying behaviour on online shopping has garnered considerable attention in the field of e-commerce. Through a review of pertinent literature, this study investigates the variables driving impulsive purchasing in digital contexts. Social impact, product presentation, price strategies, website design, and personal qualities are important components. Intuitive choices might be prompted by visually appealing and easily navigable websites. Product desirability is increased by clear, well-written descriptions and excellent photos. Pricing techniques like time-limited offers and discounts generate urgency, while social influence from reviews and ratings strengthens the purchase impulse. Personality qualities and emotional states have a major impact on an individual's propensity to impulsive purchasing. Online businesses can improve sales performance by creating methods to successfully harness impulse buying behaviour by knowing these aspects. This research adds to our knowledge of online impulse buying in e-commerce and offers suggestions for improving online retail tactics.


INTRODUCTION
In the realm of e-commerce, impulse buying refers to the act of making a sudden, impulsive purchase without prior forethought, driven by a variety of situational and psychological factors.This behaviour's theoretical foundation includes situational factors like time constraints and promotional offers, as well as psychological theories like the affective-associative model, which contends that emotions and associative learning are important.Personalized suggestions, social proof, and limited-time deals that engender a sense of urgency and exclusivity are some of the factors that impact impulse buying in online retail settings.Emotional cues, cognitive biases, decision-making processes, and the interaction of hedonic (pleasure-seeking) and utilitarian (practical) motives are psychological factors that contribute to impulsive buying.Technological innovations that customize shopping experiences to individual interests and habits, like social network integration, personalized marketing algorithms, and AI-driven recommendation systems, have had a substantial impact on impulse buying.With their ease of use, location-based marketing, and continuous connectivity, mobile devices further encourage impulsive purchases by facilitating customers' ability to shop whenever and wherever they choose.Cultural disparities also come into play since different cultures have distinct norms, beliefs, and attitudes toward internet shopping, which affect how customers behave when they make impulsive purchases.Shopping has been transformed by the rise of e-commerce platforms, which provide customers with ease of use, accessibility, and a wide selection of options.But this change has presented problems for retailers

(Factors Affecting Impulse Buying on Surya Kant Pal, 2019)
This study looks at the relationship between online impulsive buying behavior (OIBB) and website quality factors among 300 respondents from Islamabad and Rawalpindi.It also looks at how hedonic and utilitarian values function as mediators between gender and educational attainment.The modified scale from previous research showed that OIBB is highly impacted by system, information, and service quality.OIBB and website quality are mediated by both hedonic and utilitarian values.Future studies should look into additional factors like usability and how they affect OIBB in relation to various demographics including age, income, and profession.Firdaus Yuni Dharta, Hemi Prasetyo, Yosef Dema Influence of attitude on online impulse buying: perspective on marketing communication (Firdaus Yuni Dharta, 2024) This study focuses on the mediating effect of attitude while examining the relationship between online impulse purchases and marketing communication, government policy, and website quality.Using PLS-SEM for analysis and a survey of 250 enrolled students in West Java, the study discovers that all three variables have a direct impact on online impulse purchases.While attitude does not mitigate the effects of commercial communications or government policies, it does mitigate the influence of website quality on impulsive purchases.Muhammad Bilal Ahmad, Hafiz Fawad Ali, Maha Sabir Malik, Asad Afzal Humayun, Sana Ahmad.Factors Affecting Impulsive Buying Behavior with Mediating role of Positive Mood: An Empirical Study (Muhammad Bilal Ahmad1, 2021) Based on the S-O-R paradigm, this study looks at the relationship between impulse purchase and positive mood and individual differences.PLS-SEM analysis of data from 300 Lahore customers reveals that while self-esteem, enjoyment of shopping, and hedonism do not significantly influence impulse buying, pleasant mood, impulse buying inclination, and fashion participation do.Pleasure in shopping and the propensity to make impulsive purchases are wholly and partially mediated by positive mood.By adding personal attributes to the S-O-R model, the findings provide insights for marketers.

Allysha Tiffany Wiranata and Arga Hananto DO WEBSITE QUALITY, FASHION CONSCIOUSNESS, AND SALES PROMOTION INCREASE IMPULSE BUYING BEHAVIOR OF E-COMMERCE BUYERS? (Hananto, 2021)
With an emphasis on website quality, sales advertising, and fashion consciousness, this study investigates the variables influencing impulsive purchases made when shopping for clothing online.Multiple regression analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to examine a survey conducted online with 211 respondents.The findings indicate that while fashion consciousness and sales advertising have an impact on impulse purchase, website quality alone does not.But the quality of a website still matters since it works well with sales marketing to encourage impulsive purchases.

Miguel Jaller, Anmol Pahwa
Evaluating the environmental impacts of online shopping: A behavioral and transportation approach (Miguel Jaller, 2019) This study looks at how the growth of e-commerce has affected urban pollution and congestion as well as buying habits.The study examines online and in-store shopping behaviours using data from the 2016 American Time Use Survey, and it creates an econometric model to comprehend the elements that influence purchasing decisions.In Dallas and San Francisco, the model calculates environmental emissions and automobile kilometres travelled.It evaluates the impact of consolidation, basket size, and expedited deliveries on these variables as well.The results emphasize that in order to advance sustainability, urban freight networks must be managed.Abu Bashar, Shalini Singh and Vivek Kumar Pathak A bibliometric review of online impulse buying behaviour (Abu Bashar, 2020) Through an analysis of 482 articles from Scopus (2000-2020), this report offers a bibliometric assessment of studies on online impulse buying behaviour.It highlights three main areas of research: characteristics of online stores, modelling of impulse buying behaviour, and factors influencing online impulse purchases.The study identifies important writers, nations, associations, and important texts and makes recommendations for future research avenues.Researchers and practitioners can benefit from the practical insights provided by the findings.

Sara Narimanfar1 Peyman Ghafari Ashtiani A study on investigating the impact of website features on online impulse buying behaviour Web (Sara Narimanfar, 2022)
This research uses a survey of DigiKala users in Arak, Iran, to investigate how website elements affect online impulsive buying behaviour (OIBB).OIBB is highly influenced by visual appeal and service quality, according to data gathered via stratified sampling and statistical analysis.This study applies the SOR theory and the "People-Product-Place" marketing approach to livestreaming e-commerce in order to explore impulsive buying behaviour.Using SEM to analyse 437 survey responses in Amos, the findings indicate that perceived anchor qualities, immersion, and scarcity have a favourable influence on impulsive purchases.The "People-Product-Place" approach is essential, as participation acts as a mediator in the connection between these elements and impulsive purchasing.These insights support the post-COVID-19 economic rebound and assist advertisers increase the profitability of livestreaming ecommerce.

Mudassir Husnain Bushra Rehman Fauzia Syed Muhammad Waheed Akhtar Personal and In-store Factors Influencing Impulse Buying Behavior among Generation Y Consumers of Small cities (Mudassir Husnain, 2018)
This study looks at how in-store and personal factors affect Generation Y's impulsive purchases in small Pakistani cities. 422 respondents were surveyed using SPSS and AMOS, and the results show that in-store elements including store environment, sales promotions, and nice staff, as well as time availability and family influence, had a substantial impact on impulse buying.The availability of money has little bearing on impulsive purchases.The study offers suggestions for improving impulse buying behaviour for shop management.This research uses PLS-SEM in conjunction with the Theory of Mind and Stimulus-Organism-Response frameworks to examine the impact of gamification on impulsive buying behaviour in online shopping apps.After analysing 204 respondents' data, we discovered that while gamification generally has an impact on impulsive purchases, the impact of random prizes is little.The results indicate that gamification methods could be improved by e-commerce platforms, particularly for Generation Z customers who might modify their purchasing habits.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Identifying the multifaceted influences on impulse buying behavior in e-commerce to optimize marketing strategies and enhance consumer satisfaction.

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
1. To identify the demographic characteristics (such as age, gender, income level, etc.) of online shoppers prone to impulse buying behavior.2. To explore the psychological factors (such as emotional states, personality traits, etc.) influencing impulse buying behavior in e-commerce.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1. Research Design: A mixed-methods study that blends qualitative and quantitative analysis. Surveys
are used in the study to gather information about consumer behaviour and impulse purchases, and historical data is analysed to assess how different techniques affect patterns of purchase.2. Study Area: Concentrates on rural, suburban, and urban regions with substantial e-commerce activity.
The degree of online buying and the complexity of consumer behaviour patterns will determine which locations are chosen.looking at the association between how often people shop online and how often they make spontaneous purchases online.
• The table shows that there is a statistically significant association between these two variables.This is because the chi-square statistic (57.289) is significant (p-value < .000).In other words, the results are unlikely to be due to chance.• The table also shows that some of the expected counts are less than 5.This can be a problem with chisquare tests, so the results should be interpreted with caution.• The crosstab shows the number of people who fall into each category.For example, 3 people who shop online daily also make spontaneous purchases frequently.• The chi-square tests section shows the results of the chi-square test.The p-value is less than .000,which means that the results are statistically significant.• The footnotes section notes that some of the expected counts are less than 5.This can be a problem with chi-square tests, so the results should be interpreted with caution.shows that data was collected on occupation.• Income: The table shows that the most common income level in the study was under 3 lakhs (43.0%).

Data Analysis
• Male: 43.5% of respondents identified as male.
• Female: 43.5% of respondents identified as female.
• Other: 13% of respondents identified as a gender other than male or female.Since the slices for male and female are nearly identical in size, this pie chart suggests that the survey respondents were almost equally likely to be male or female.• Employed: 29.6% of respondents identified as employed.
• Self-employed: It is difficult to determine the exact percentage for self-employed respondents due to the way the slice is labelled in the pie chart.• Retired: 29.6% of respondents identified as retired.
• Housewife: 41.5% of respondents identified as housewives.Appealing products (39.5%), and the friend/family recommendations (46.6%), and free shipping (46.3%) also play a significant role.The likelihood of customers returning to an online retailer after making a spontaneous purchase.The largest segment (29.4%) indicates that nearly a third of respondents are very likely to return, while 26.5% are unlikely or very unlikely to return.This suggests that impulse purchases can lead to positive experiences for a significant portion of customers, but a focus on building trust and customer satisfaction is still important.

Figure 9: Devices Used
It shows that laptops are the most popular device for online shopping, accounting for 83.3% of respondents.This could be due to the larger screens and easier navigation compared to smartphones and tablets.Desktops account for only 9.5% and tablets and smartphones for a combined 7.2%.

Figure 10 : Social Media Influencial
It shows that social media advertisements are perceived as very influential in driving spontaneous purchases by 36.7% of respondents.A significant portion, 35.4%, however, find them to be not very influential.These findings suggest that social media advertising can be a successful tool to promote impulse purchases, but its effectiveness may vary depending on the audience.

FINDINGS
• The age group with the highest percentage of online impulse buyers is 22-35 years old, accounting for 60.8%.• Men are slightly more inclined to make impulsive online purchases, with 56.3% of them being impulse buyers compared to 43.7% of women.• A significant portion of impulse buyers have an income level below 3 lakhs, making up 43.0% of the total.• A positive emotional state has a significant impact on impulsive buying behaviour.
• The desire for pleasure in shopping directly and indirectly affects impulsive purchases through attitudes toward sales promotions.• Limited-time deals and discounts create a sense of urgency that drives impulsive purchases.
• Visually appealing and easily navigable websites significantly increase the likelihood of impulsive buying.• Social proof through reviews and ratings strengthens the impulse to purchase.

SUGGESTIONS
• Make a significant investment in a well-designed website with comprehensible product descriptions, polished photos, and easy-to-use navigation.Update the layout and visual content frequently to keep customers interested and encourage impulsive purchases.• To boost impulsive purchases, use flash sales, package offers, and temporary discounts.Use loyalty programs or customized discount codes to instil a sense of urgency and motivate quick sales.• To foster trust and sway prospective customers, prominently display customer testimonials, ratings, and reviews.Emphasize user-generated content on social media to offer genuine evidence of the enjoyment and quality of the product.• Comprehend the psychological and demographic characteristics of the intended audience in order to develop marketing techniques that work.Use email marketing for older customers and social media advertising for younger ones.To improve engagement and increase revenue, personalize initiatives based on customer data.

CONCLUSION
A combination of psychological characteristics, website design, marketing tactics, and demographic variables influence impulsive buying behaviour in e-commerce.This study emphasizes how crucial these components are in shaping customer behaviour.Inducing impulsive purchases is greatly aided by visually appealing websites that provide precise product descriptions, excellent photography, and clever pricing.Discounts and temporary sales are two types of promotions that work especially well at encouraging impulsive purchases.Additionally, by harnessing the power of other customers' opinions, social proof components like ratings and reviews greatly contribute to this behaviour.
According to the research, there is a significant relationship between the chance of making impulsive purchases and the frequency of internet shopping.Younger consumers-especially those between the ages of 22 and 35-are more prone to impulsive purchases due to a mix of their predisposition for online interactions and technological savvy.Additionally, because they have more disposable cash, people with higher income levels exhibit a stronger propensity toward impulsive purchasing.Gender disparities also show up, with men showing a little greater inclination toward impulsive purchases than women.For online businesses to effectively customize their marketing tactics, these demographic insights are essential.Personality traits and emotional states are psychological elements that have a substantial impact on impulsive buying behaviour.Positively charged consumers are more prone to act impulsively and seek for instant satisfaction.Extraversion and openness to new experiences are two personality qualities that are correlated with increased shopping impulsivity.Retailers can increase the possibility of impulse purchases by personalizing and personalizing their shopping experiences by understanding these psychological underpinnings.
Jengchung Victor Chena, Sirapattra Ruangsria , Quang-An Ha b and Andree E. Widjaja An experimental study of consumers' impulse buying behaviour in augmented reality mobile shopping apps (Jengchung Victor Chen, 2021) This study looks into how mobile shopping apps' augmented reality (AR) capabilities impact users' propensity for impulsive purchases.The study investigates the effects of AR variables (vividness, spatial accuracy, local presence) on features of impulse buying (arousal, perceived diagnostic, drive to buy) using the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Spatial Presence Theory.A 2X2 factorial design was used in a study involving 137 participants.The study goes into detail about the findings and their consequences.Natasha A. PRAWIRA, Sabrina O. SIHOMBING Antecedents of Online Impulse Buying Behavior: An Empirical Study in Indonesia (Natasha A. PRAWIRA, 2021) This study investigates the moderating effects of scarcity and serendipity on online impulse purchase, taking into account social, adventure, value, relaxation, and concept shopping.Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is used to survey 330 recent Shopee consumers in order to test 15 hypotheses and identify 8 significant correlations.The findings emphasize how crucial it is for e-commerce to comprehend client wants, contentment, and website quality.Rushna Hussain Memon, Abdul Ghafoor Kazi, Muhammad Yousif Zubedi, Adil Ansari Factors Affecting Impulse Purchase Behavior in Hyderabad -Marketing Perspective (Rushna Hussain Memon, 2022) With the purpose of assisting marketers, this study determines the variables influencing impulsive purchasing in Hyderabad supermarkets.Shop ambiance had a little, negligible impact on impulse buying, according to the study, which examined 174 surveys using regression, correlation, and t-tests.Sales advertising, store layout, and personal variables all significantly affect impulse buying.Stores in Hyderabad might better customize their strategy to increase impulse spending according to the findings.Other aspects like as income, credit card use, time, weather, and salespeople should be investigated in future studies.Abdul Ghafoor Kazi1, Aliz Ahmed Khokhar, Pir Abu Baker Qureshi, Farman Murtaza The Impact of Social Media on Impulse Buying Behaviour in Hyderabad Sindh Pakistan (Abdul Ghafoor Kazi1, 2019) This study looks at how social media affects Hyderabadi consumers' impulsive purchases.The study investigates the connections between social network marketing, trust, hedonic motivation, electronic word-of-mouth, and impulse buying using regression analysis.The findings indicate that social media has a big impact on impulsive purchases.The results indicate that social media should be used by online merchants to increase impulse buys.Muhammad Asyraf Hasima, Sallaudin Hassanb, Mohd Fikri Ishakc , Anis Abd Razak Factors Influencing Gen-Y in Malaysia to Purchase Impulsively: A Mediating Effect of Perceived Enjoyment (Muhammad Asyraf Hasima, 2020) This study looks into how advertising, perceived enjoyment, and online store surroundings affect impulsive purchases made online.Based on a PLS-SEM analysis of 407 respondents' data, the findings show that all three factors have a major influence on impulse purchases.The results offer insightful information on the significance of these factors in promoting online impulse buying to scholars and e-commerce merchants.Elvina Susanti Sihombing, Indra Budi and Qorib Munajat Factors affecting the urge of impulsive buying on social commerce Instagram (Elvina Susanti Sihombing, 2020) This study looks at what influences impulsive purchases on Instagram, a platform where online merchants can interact with customers through postings.The study finds five major factors-visual appeal, product diversity, price, information quality, and parasocial interaction-that influence impulsive purchases after using PLS-SEM to analyze data from 993 respondents.Retailers can use the information to improve sales on Instagram.Bing Chen, Lei Wang, Hassan Rasool and Jun Wang Research on the Impact of Marketing Strategy on Consumers' Impulsive Purchase Behavior in Livestreaming E-commerce (Bing Chen, 2022) Analysis of Impulsive Buying Behavior in Fashion Industry (Gandhi, 2020) This study looks at the fashion industry's use of impulsive buying, with particular attention on ecommerce's impact, post-purchase emotions, and influencing factors.The study concludes, using a crosssectional methodology and elementary statistics, that low pricing and the store environment are important factors in impulsive buying.Compared to women, men are more likely to make impulsive purchases; clothes and shoes are common examples of such purchases.E-commerce has had a good impact on impulsive purchasing, particularly when it comes to steep discounts.Mingwei Li, Qingjin Wang and Ying Cao Understanding Consumer Online Impulse Buying in Live Streaming E-Commerce: A Stimulus-Organism-Response Framework (Mingwei Li, 2022) This study uses the stimulus-organization-response paradigm to investigate the effect of social presence in live streaming on online impulsive purchase.Through pleasure and arousal, the social presence of the broadcaster and streamer both directly and indirectly increases impulse purchase, according to our analysis of 189 customers' data.On the other hand, enjoyment or arousal are not greatly impacted by the viewers' presence.Policymakers and live streaming providers might use these data to better understand how to control impulse purchases in digital spaces.Tran Thanh Tu; Nguyen Thi Hai Binh Impact of gamification on GenZ consumers' online impulse buying behavior intention: evidence from Shopee application in the Vietnamese market (Tu & Binh, 2020)

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Age It shows the age distribution of 294 survey respondents.The largest slice of the pie chart, representing 60.5% of respondents, is labeled 22-35 years old.This suggests that most respondents fall within this age group.Breakdown of the age distribution according to the pie chart: • Below 21: 11.2% • 22-35 years old: 60.5% • 36-45 years old: 15.6% • 46-60 years old: 6.1% • 60+ years old: 6.5%

Figure 3 :
Figure 3: Occupation "Occupation" which shows the distribution of survey responses on occupations.Student: 18.4% of respondents identified as students.

Figure 6 :
Figure 6: Online ShoppingThis pie chart suggests that online shopping is a frequent activity for a large portion of the respondents, with almost half (46.9%) shopping online weekly and nearly a third (29.6%) shopping daily.The largest slice of the pie chart, representing 63.9% of respondents, is labelled "Rural."This suggests that most of the respondents live in rural areas.The bar chart reveals limited time offers (52.4%) as the strongest influence on spontaneous purchases.Appealing products (39.5%), and the friend/family recommendations (46.6%), and free shipping (46.3%) also play a significant role.

•
AI-driven recommendation systems and personalized marketing algorithms enhance impulse buying by tailoring suggestions to individual interests and habits.• Continuous connectivity and location-based marketing on mobile devices further encourage impulsive purchases.• Different cultures have distinct norms, beliefs, and attitudes towards online shopping, impacting impulsive buying behaviours.• Hedonistic shopping motivation and sales promotions are significant factors during shopping festivals, influencing impulse purchases.• The quality of e-commerce websites significantly impacts online impulsive buying behaviour.• Social network marketing and electronic word-of-mouth have a substantial impact on impulsive purchases.• Gamification elements in online shopping apps influence impulsive buying, particularly among Generation Z customers.• The social presence of broadcasters and streamers in live streaming e-commerce enhances impulsive buying through pleasure and arousal.• The growth of e-commerce affects urban pollution and congestion, with purchasing behaviours influenced by delivery speed and order consolidation.
3. Data Gathering & Suggested Instruments: 4. Gathering Quantitative Data: 5. Surveys: Create a methodical questionnaire to collect information on consumer opinions and impulsive purchasing habits.6. Analysing Data and Applied Techniques: 7. Inferential Statistics: To ascertain the importance of correlations between impulsive purchase behaviour and influencing factors, employ statistical tests (such as t-tests).Regression Analysis: Use regression modelling to evaluate how different marketing tactics affect impulsive purchases Table No.2: Chi-Square Tests • The table is

Table No . 6: Income level
In this table the descriptive statistics of four variables: age, gender, occupation, and income.•Age: The table shows that the most common age group in the study was 22-35 years old (60.8%).The least common age group was 60+ years old (5.8%).• Gender: The table shows that there were slightly more males (56.3%) than females (43.7%) in the study.• Occupation: Unfortunately, the table doesn't show the different occupations that were reported.It only