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Online impulsive purchasing is growing exponentially, and website-related factors play a substantial role in this phenomenon. This study provides a comprehensive and integrative framework encompassing a variety of website-related factors influencing impulsive purchase behaviour.

The study is a systematic literature review, which includes literature search from two prominent databases. This article consolidates the results of 60 relevant research papers, and thematic analysis is performed on various website-related aspects classified into five research topics.

The different website qualities have been classified into broad themes and their role in online impulse buying has been explored. The antecedents, moderators, mediators, and outcomes are portrayed in an integrated research framework. Possible research gaps have been identified, and a future research agenda has been proposed, representing potential research areas.

As we have included only studies published in the English language, this review may be limited by language bias. Relevant research published in other languages might have been excluded.

This literature review may provide management insights to marketers and practitioners managing online retail websites. To sustain an online business in the long term, it is critical for online retailers to have a thorough understanding of all conceivable website stimuli and develop them in a way that compels consumers to make impulsive purchases.

This study represents an original contribution to the realm of systematic literature reviews. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first SLR that elaborately delineates the influence of website-related factors on online impulse buying behaviour.

Social commerce has brought about a significant transformation in consumer experience due to diverse factors. As a result, users often find themselves prone to impulsive buying behaviour when exposed to such an environment. Prior research was limited to demonstrating the expanding influence of celebrities on social media and the linkage between social engagement and impulse buying context. Furthermore, the impulse buying tendency of consumers on social media in the context of celebrity posts has yet to be validated. This paper aims to assess the influence of consumer awareness, consumer trust and observational learning on the latent state-trait (LST) theory regarding celebrity posts on impulse buying tendencies.

The empirical research builds on a sample survey involving 750 students from the “Big Four” economics universities in Hanoi. The proposed model was analysed using a partial least squares structural equation modelling technique.

The authors find that consumer trust and observational learning from celebrity’ posts positively affect impulse buying tendency. Yet celebrity influence awareness directly impacts trust in celebrity’ posts rather than directly impacting impulse buying tendency. Perceiving the importance of interactive and authentic posts by a celebrity in influencing consumers’ purchase behaviour on social media, this research offers valuable insights for stakeholders in the digital celebrity sphere of communication and marketing.

Perceiving the importance of interactive and authentic posts by a celebrity in influencing consumers’ purchase behaviour on social media, this research offers valuable insights for stakeholders in the digital celebrity sphere of communication and marketing.

From a theoretical perspective, this expands the applicability of the LST theory in social commerce to promote impulse buying tendencies. Second, this contributes to the literature on the emerging phenomenon of social media celebrities, as existing literature does not clarify their influence on impulse buying behaviour. Third, this research applies the concept of observational learning in online shopping through key features of social media platforms, namely, likes, shares and comments, to investigate their influence on the impulse buying tendency of consumers. Concerning managerial implications, the authors propose practical recommendations for practitioners, particularly those involved or interested in the commercial services industry and social media marketing (namely, celebrities and partner companies).

Despite the extensive stimulus–organism–response (SOR) literature, little attention has been paid to the role of marketing activity as a key environmental stimulus, and there is a dearth of research examining the interplay between emotions and cognition on consumer behaviour, as well as the sequential effects of emotions on cognition. To address these gaps, this study aims to develop a revised SOR model by incorporating Kahneman’s fast and slow thinking theory to investigate the impulse buying of affordable luxury fashion (ALF).

The authors use outlet stores at Bicester village (BV) in England as the research context for ALF shopping. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse a survey sample of 633 consumers with a BV shopping experience.

The authors find that impulse buying of ALF arises from the interplay of emotional and cognitive factors, as well as a sequential and dual process involving in-store stimuli affecting on-site emotion and in-store browsing.

This study reveals that brand connection has a significant and negative influence on the relationship between on-site emotion and in-store browsing, advancing the SOR paradigm and reflecting the interactive effect of human emotion and reasoning on the impulse buying of ALF items.

Insights into consumers’ impulse buying offer practical implications for luxury brand management, specifically for ALF outlet retailers and store managers.

The results suggest a robust sequential effect of on-site emotion towards in-store browsing on impulse buying, providing updated empirical support for Kahneman’s theory of System 1 and System 2 thinking.

This paper aims to investigate how online consumer reviews (OCRs), countdowns and self-control affect consumers' online impulse buying behavior in online group buying (OGB) and uncover the relationship between these factors.

Based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework, this research examines the effects of OCRs, countdowns and self-control on users' impulse purchases. First, the influence of emotions on impulse purchases in group purchasing is investigated. In addition, this study innovatively applies stress-coping theory to group buying research, with countdowns exerting temporal pressure on consumers and OCRs viewed as social pressure, to investigate in depth how countdowns and OCRs affect users' impulse purchase behavior. Finally, this study also surveys the moderating role of users' self-control in the impulse purchase process.

The results show that the perceived value of OCRs and positive emotions (PE) were positively correlated with impulsiveness (IMP) and the urge to buy impulsively (UBI), while negative emotions (NE) were negatively correlated with IMP. Countdowns (CD) had a positive effect on UBI. Self-control can indirectly affect users' impulse buying by negatively moderating the relationship between PE and UBI, PE and IMP and CD and UBI.

The research results can help group buying platforms and related participants understand the factors influencing users' impulse purchases in OGB and facilitate them to better design strategies to increase product sales.

With the rapid growth of the Internet and the wide acceptance of e-commerce, online impulse buying is rising; however, the consumer motivation to buy impulsively within the digital setting calls for continuous exploration. Through the lens of cognitive appraisal theory, the authors aim to explore the relevance of web quality factors (cognitive processes) and hedonism (emotional response) for online impulse buying in the cross-cultural context of India and Croatia. The study also attempts to investigate the varying effects of sales promotion and payment options (cognitive processes) on the relationship between hedonism and online impulse buying.

The researchers in the present study have adapted the refined eTailQ scale along with factors like hedonism, sales promotion and payment options determining impulse buying—the measurement instrument comprised of a highly structured questionnaire covering consumers' attitudes and opinions regarding the explored concepts. A total of 526 responses were generated in the data collection process, wherein 264 were from India and 262 were from Croatia.

The results reveal that not all web quality determinants affect impulse buying similarly. Web informativeness significantly, but negatively, impacts impulse buying only regarding Croatian consumers, while customer service influences impulse buying in the Indian market. Web layout and privacy do not influence impulse buying. However, besides hedonism's direct impact on impulse buying in both countries, the results show that the influences of web layout and privacy on impulse buying are mediated via hedonism. Given the varying effects, this study shows that, unlike the payment options, only sales promotion represents a significant moderator that enhances the relationship between hedonism and impulse buying in both countries.

This study utilises cognitive appraisal theory to compare the effects in two countries through cognitive appraisals, emotional responses, and situational factors for explaining online impulse buying behaviour. The study also offers practical managerial implications.

This paper aims to examine consumers' cognitive processes and motivations for making impulse purchases of new products.

A total of 157 consumer surveys were collected and these were analyzed using structural equations modeling.

There are two major findings: new product knowledge and consumer desire for excitement and esteem promote impulse buying intention and behavior.

The paper is among the first to determine how impulse purchases of new products differ from impulse purchases of other types of products. In doing so, the paper builds on the substantial body of work surrounding impulse purchases.

Integrating the two‐system (reflective vs. impulsive) model and the “stimulus‐organism‐response” framework, the purpose of this paper is to construct and empirically test a model that examines online impulse buying as a phenomenon triggered by system design factors.

A laboratory experimental design with a 2×2 full factorial design involving 151 undergraduate students was used to validate the effects of system design stimuli on online impulse buying. Interactivity and vividness, two design factors, were manipulated and a fictitious VCD movie store was created, with four storefronts representing each combination of treatments.

A compelling and sociable virtual experience as conceptualized with telepresence and social presence has a significant effect on buying impulses over and above traditional marketing/product stimuli. Such virtual experience can be created through the usage of interactive and vivid website features. Furthermore, cognition positively moderates the relationship between buying impulse and the actual purchasing behavior.

The findings provide valuable guidance in website design that can stimulate online impulse buying. The results also indicate the importance of providing cognitive intervention at the purchasing stage.

A significant extension of the “stimulus‐organism‐response” framework is to introduce presence as the system stimulus that captures the overall virtual experience and to specify the associated design features; i.e. interactivity and vividness. By incorporating the two‐system model, this study offers a theoretical underpinning of the role of cognitive processing in impulse buying.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the external cues on apparel web sites that encourage impulse buying.

Focus group interviews were first conducted to identify potential external cues on apparel web sites. The findings from the focus group interviews were then used to create an appropriate coding guide. A content analysis of 60 apparel web sites was then conducted to assess the extent to which external trigger cues of impulse buying are available on apparel web sites.

From the focus group interviews, four mutually exclusive thematic categories, consisting of 20 external trigger cues of impulse buying, were identified; sales, promotions, ideas, and suggestions. A content analysis of these external impulse buying cues was presented. A correlation analysis indicated a positive relationship between retailers' web sales and the amount of external cues present on their web sites.

The findings from the study suggest that the amount of external trigger cues of impulse buying may be a factor that affects a retailer's profitable success by encouraging online impulse purchases. Not so successful online retailers therefore should consider offering more external impulse trigger cues (e.g. sales, promotions, purchase ideas, and suggested items) on their web sites to increase potential impulse purchases.

A coding guide developed in the study can be used by online apparel retailers to assess their marketing strategies. For consumers, the findings of the study inform consumers of factors that may encourage impulse purchases.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how matching an ad’s empty space color specifically to that of the advertised product’s color (instead of leaving it white) impacts consumers’ product buying impulse. It tests two competing hypotheses, where the salience explanation proposes a positive effect of empty space–product color matching on product buying impulse, while the contrast account predicts an opposite effect.

Data was gathered from US-based MTurk panelists under three experimentally designed studies. The proposed effects were tested across multiple product categories, colors and online advertising formats. Qualitative responses from experienced marketing executives were also assessed for managerial insights.

Across all studies, findings reveal that using a product-colored (vs white) empty space in an ad increases consumers’ product buying impulse, favoring the salience rather the contrast explanation. Increased ad salience owing to an enhanced exposure to product color (an important sensory aspect), in turn improving the product’s hedonic appeal work as serial processes explaining this effect.

This research is not only the first to investigate the effects of using colored empty space (where limited prior research has only focused on white empty space), but also the first to study its impact on impulse buying intentions. Counter to prior advertising research which suggests using greater contrast by using white empty space to achieve positive effects, this research empirically tests and finds that using a product-colored empty ad space instead has a positive impact on product buying impulse.

This paper aims to explore the process by which four store environment (music, light, employee, and layout) and two individual characteristics (shopping enjoyment tendency (SET) and impulse buying tendency (IBT)) influence impulse buying behavior through positive and negative affect, and urge to buy impulsively.

The data were obtained using a structured questionnaire from 733 respondents in a mall survey conducted in Chennai, South India.

In the structural model tested with AMOS, the authors found that store environment drove impulse buying (IB) through positive affect and urge. Results also showed that the personality variables (SET and IBT) influenced IB through positive affect and urge. This paper did not find support for the relationship between negative affect and urge.

Theoretically, the authors add to the list of antecedents of impulse buying, and to the outcomes of store environment. From a managerial viewpoint, the authors suggest that retail managers invest in improving the store environment to increase the level of impulse buying in their stores. Specifically, they need to focus on enhancing friendliness of store employees, playing appropriate music, designing proper layouts and having well-lit stores to encourage impulse buying.

Prior research studied the elements of the store independently and also its long-term impact. To the best of the authors' knowledge, their research is the first to study the impact of store environment (in conjunction with trait variables) on impulse buying.