Impulsive purchasing in grocery shopping: Do the shopping companions matter?

National Culture and Culinary Exploration: Japan Evidence of Heterogenous Moderating Roles of Social Facilitation

“…The presence of companions can prompt impulse consumption ( Yim et al, 2014 ), and thus travel companions may prompt tourists to try unfamiliar or risky cuisines. Moreover, previous studies have identified that higher exposure to social stimulus in the marketing environment leads to an increase in the likelihood of impulse consumption ( Clauzel et al, 2019 ; Chen et al, 2021 ; Katakam et al, 2021 ). Bevelander et al (2011) uncover that the peers induced willingness to try unfamiliar cuisines.…”

Shopping companions in retail environments: A view from different perspectives

“…From a theoretical perspective, the paper moves beyond the widely adopted behavioristic design of research studies of shopping companions by adopting the full S-O-R paradigm, paying closer attention to organism-related factors, and thus, how shoppers process the influence of companions. There is some published research that does consider mediating factors in the cause-and-effect relationship between the presence of a companion and a shopper's behavior: for instance the type of value perceived by shoppers (Gui et al, 2021) or their personal character traits (Chen et al, 2021;Mangleburg et al, 2004). However, in considering adult shoppers and their companions, very little attention has been paid to shoppers' emotions as a mediating factor in the relationship between companion influence and shopper behavior.…”

“…In the specific case of shopping in clothing stores, a close relationship with a companion further amplifies that effect, particularly with friends rather than parents as the influencers . The opposite effect was found in the case of grocery shopping, where family members and friends as companions can (1992); Woodside and Sims (1976); Zhuang et al (2006) prevent unplanned purchases (Chomvilailuk & Butcher, 2014) with family members having the strongest impact (Chen et al, 2021). It has further been found that a companion of the opposite gender increases the likelihood of impulsive purchases (Cheng et al, 2013).…”

“…The act of shopping or visiting retail environments as part of recreational activities ('window shopping') involves a variety of environmental factors that collectively build the overall retail shopping experience for the shopper. Social interactions have always been an important part of the shopping environment (Chen et al, 2021;Rosenbaum et al, 2017;Tauber, 1972) while other, non-social aspects (such as those at 1) and 2) below) are related to the immediate shopping environment. All factors together form a conglomeration of influences that shoppers pick up consciously or subliminally.…”

“…Concerning intention to buy, the influence of spouses or parents outweighs that of other family members, such as children, or of friends (Chen et al, 2021). The strength of the relationship between shopper and companion correlates strongly with the role assigned by the former to the latter .…”