IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joepsy/v58y2017icp60-76.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The compelling urge to misbehave: Do impulse purchases instigate unethical consumer behavior?

Author

Listed:
  • Bossuyt, Saar
  • Vermeir, Iris
  • Slabbinck, Hendrik
  • De Bock, Tine
  • Van Kenhove, Patrick

Abstract

The present research explores the relationship between impulse buying and unethical consumer behavior. This work is based on the surprising results of an unrelated study, during which we observed that participants shopping for impulse products were more likely to cheat to obtain a more expensive product than participants shopping for regular products. Based on these findings and building on previous research on the relationship between impulsiveness and delinquency, three studies were set up to test the impact of impulse buying on different forms of unethical consumer behavior. The results confirmed that consumers making an impulse purchase were more likely to behave unethically than consumers making a regular purchase. These findings illustrate there is a dark side to impulse buying for retailers.

Suggested Citation

  • Bossuyt, Saar & Vermeir, Iris & Slabbinck, Hendrik & De Bock, Tine & Van Kenhove, Patrick, 2017. "The compelling urge to misbehave: Do impulse purchases instigate unethical consumer behavior?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 60-76.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:58:y:2017:i:c:p:60-76
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2016.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487016301775
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.joep.2016.12.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lades, Leonhard K., 2014. "Impulsive consumption and reflexive thought: Nudging ethical consumer behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 114-128.
    2. Kathleen D. Vohs & Ronald J. Faber, 2007. "Spent Resources: Self-Regulatory Resource Availability Affects Impulse Buying," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 537-547, January.
    3. Yi, Sunghwan & Baumgartner, Hans, 2011. "Coping with guilt and shame in the impulse buying context," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 458-467, June.
    4. Rook, Dennis W & Fisher, Robert J, 1995. "Normative Influences on Impulsive Buying Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(3), pages 305-313, December.
    5. Azar, Ofer H. & Yosef, Shira & Bar-Eli, Michael, 2013. "Do customers return excessive change in a restaurant?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 219-226.
    6. Hoch, Stephen J & Loewenstein, George F, 1991. "Time-Inconsistent Preferences and Consumer Self-Control," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 17(4), pages 492-507, March.
    7. Derek Dalton & Marc Ortegren, 2011. "Gender Differences in Ethics Research: The Importance of Controlling for the Social Desirability Response Bias," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 73-93, September.
    8. Strutton, David & Vitell, Scott J. & Pelton, Lou E., 1994. "How consumers may justify inappropriate behavior in market settings: An application on the techniques of neutralization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 253-260, July.
    9. Cox, Dena & Cox, Anthony D & Moschis, George P, 1990. "When Consumer Behavior Goes Bad: An Investigation of Adolescent Shoplifting," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 17(2), pages 149-159, September.
    10. Rook, Dennis W, 1987. "The Buying Impulse," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(2), pages 189-199, September.
    11. Vince Mitchell & George Balabanis & Bodo Schlegelmilch & T. Cornwell, 2009. "Measuring Unethical Consumer Behavior Across Four Countries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 395-412, August.
    12. Fullerton, R. A. & Punj, G., 2004. "Repercussions of promoting an ideology of consumption: consumer misbehavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(11), pages 1239-1249, November.
    13. Kacen, Jacqueline J. & Hess, James D. & Walker, Doug, 2012. "Spontaneous selection: The influence of product and retailing factors on consumer impulse purchases," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 578-588.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Jing & Yu, Bo & Chen, Bintong & Liu, Zhuojun, 2023. "Lenient vs. stringent returns policies in the presence of fraudulent returns: The role of customers’ fairness perceptions," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    2. Chopdar, Prasanta Kr & Paul, Justin & Korfiatis, Nikolaos & Lytras, Miltiadis D., 2022. "Examining the role of consumer impulsiveness in multiple app usage behavior among mobile shoppers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 657-669.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ayadi, Nawel & Giraud, Magali & Gonzalez, Christine, 2013. "An investigation of consumers' self-control mechanisms when confronted with repeated purchase temptations: Evidence from online private sales," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 272-281.
    2. Amos, Clinton & Holmes, Gary R. & Keneson, William C., 2014. "A meta-analysis of consumer impulse buying," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 86-97.
    3. Orangzab & Imtiaz Hussain & Muhammad Sajjad, 2021. "Impact Of Online Promotional Techniques On Online Impulse Buying Behavior: Strategies And Innovations For Consumer Products Through Ocean Model," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Riyanto Efendi & Setyabudi Indartono & Sukidjo Sukidjo, 2019. "The Mediation of Economic Literacy on the Effect of Self Control on Impulsive Buying Behaviour Moderated by Peers," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(3), pages 98-104.
    5. Qiang Yan & Lingli Wang & Wenjing Chen & Junghoo Cho, 2016. "Study on the influencing factors of unplanned consumption in a large online promotion activity," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 453-477, December.
    6. Ying Wang & Jialing Pan & Yizhi Xu & Jianli Luo & Yongjiao Wu, 2022. "The Determinants of Impulsive Buying Behavior in Electronic Commerce," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.
    7. Supriya M. Kalla & A.P. Arora, 2011. "Impulse Buying," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 12(1), pages 145-157, February.
    8. Bandyopadhyay, Nirmalya & Sivakumaran, Bharadhwaj & Patro, Sanjay & Kumar, Ravi Shekhar, 2021. "Immediate or delayed! Whether various types of consumer sales promotions drive impulse buying?: An empirical investigation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Bas Verplanken & Ayana Sato, 2011. "The Psychology of Impulse Buying: An Integrative Self-Regulation Approach," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 197-210, June.
    10. Yinlong Zhang & L.J. Shrum, 2008. "The Influence of Self-Construal on Impulsive Consumption," Working Papers 0006, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    11. Marco Mandolfo, 2022. "Rein it in. Nudge-based interventions to cope with online impulse buying among young adults," Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE), vol. 6(S1), pages 59-66, July.
    12. Gopalkrishnan R. Iyer & Markus Blut & Sarah Hong Xiao & Dhruv Grewal, 2020. "Impulse buying: a meta-analytic review," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 384-404, May.
    13. Dewitte, Siegfried, 2013. "From willpower breakdown to the breakdown of the willpower model – The symmetry of self-control and impulsive behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 16-25.
    14. Shanahan, Kevin J. & Hyman, Michael R., 2010. "Motivators and enablers of SCOURing: A study of online piracy in the US and UK," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(9-10), pages 1095-1102, September.
    15. Dholakia, Utpal M. & Gopinath, Mahesh & Bagozzi, Richard P., 2005. "The role of desires in sequential impulsive choices," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 179-194, November.
    16. Yi Yong Lee & Chin Lay Gan, 0. "Applications of SOR and para-social interactions (PSI) towards impulse buying: the Malaysian perspective," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-14.
    17. Lührmann, Melanie & Serra-Garcia, Marta & Winter, Joachim, 2015. "Teaching teenagers in finance: Does it work?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 160-174.
    18. Mittal, Sheetal & Chawla, Deepak & Sondhi, Neena, 2016. "Segmentation of impulse buyers in an emerging market – An exploratory study," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 53-61.
    19. de Kervenoael, Ronan & Aykac, D. Selcen O. & Palmer, Mark, 2009. "Online social capital: Understanding e-impulse buying in practice," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 320-328.
    20. Sheetal Mittal & Neena Sondhi & Deepak Chawla, 2018. "Process of Impulse Buying: A Qualitative Exploration," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 19(1), pages 131-146, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer behavior; Impulse buying; Impulsiveness; Retailing; Unethical consumer behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:58:y:2017:i:c:p:60-76. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joep .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.