Investigation_of_Individual_Differences_in_Impulse_Buying

Investigation of Individual Differences in Impulse Buying PS20092 *Supervisor: Ayana* Sato 07.05.08 Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of various individual differences on impulse buying behaviour. The individual differences being examined are regulatory focus, self-control, snacking habit and gender. A questionnaire was used to collect the relevant data for statistical analysis. It was found that analysis of neither regulatory focus nor gender displayed significant results. However it was found that self-control predicts a significant amount of variance in snacking habit, and that significant correlational relationships exist between impulse buying, snacking habit and self-control. The results have provided an interesting basis for further research. Introduction Previous research has highlighted potential gender differences in the realm of impulse buying. In a qualitative study by Dittmarand Drury (2000), the authors argue that a considerable motivation in impulse buying behaviour is buying items in order to improve self-image, and that women are more likely to invest in this belief than men. They uncovered an unexpected finding that the discrepancies between actual-self and ideal-self were much larger for female participants than male participants. This predicted propensity to ‘excessive’ impulse buying, and hence supports the proposal that women display more impulse buying tendencies than men. This notion will be further investigated in the present study, in terms of gender differences in impulse buying. Method Design Participants Materials The materials involved include the questionnaire, which had spaces to fill in demographics such as gender, age, course studied and amount of money spent each month after bills, rent and tuition fees. The questionnaire involved five different established scales. They were compiled in the appropriate order, as shown below, to avoid any order effects that may occur. The scales are as follows: Self-Report Habit Index – This index for measuring snacking tendencies was developed by Verplanken and Orbell (2003), and was used in the later study by Verplanken et al. on the role of impulse buying in unhealthy eating. The 12-item scale measures features of the concept of habit. These include lack of control and awareness, mental efficiency and perceived behavioural frequency. Responses to these items were recorded on a 7-point Likert scale Procedure Prior to conducting the study, ethical approval was obtained from the University of Bath ethical committee. The data was collected by approaching students outside the library at the University of Bath. Participants were asked to read and sign a consent form describing the nature of the study and assuring anonymity before completing the questionnaire. They recorded their responses on the questionnaires, which were completed without interruption for experimenters or peers. Results The descriptive statistics for the variables being investigated are shown in table 1. Table 1 Minimum, maximum, mean and SD for questionnaire variables Reliability The scales were tested to see how reliable they are. The scales for impulse buying, self-control and snacking habit each have an alpha of above the value that is generally accepted by psychologists: 0.7. Table 2 Reliability analysis_ of questionnaire variables_ The prevention focus scale has an alpha value below this, but promotion focus has an alpha value of 0.63, which is only marginally below the generally accepted value, hence was employed in the study. Hypothesis One Table 3 Independent t-test for high promotion/low promotion Hypothesis Two Impulse buying tendency and snacking tendency are significantly correlated with self-control. To identify any relationships between the key variables of impulse buying, snacking habit and self-control, a Pearson’s product-moment correlation was carried out as the data is normally distributed. As described in table 1, the mean value for impulse buying is 2.95 (SD 0.55), indicating that collectively participants displayed neither particularly high or low tendencies in this behaviour. Similarly, snacking habit and self-control revealed the same, with mean values of 3.76 (SD 1.40) and 2.82 (SD 0.62) respectively. Table 4 Significance of correlations between_ Impulse Buying, Snacking Habit and Self-Control_ As shown in table 4, there is a significant positive relationship between impulse buying and snacking habit, r=.284, p