Investigating Iranian female Muslim consumer impulse buying behaviour used as a form of retail therapy

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the nature of emotion, self-esteem and life satisfaction tendencies amongst Iranian Muslim consumers when making impulse purchases.Design/methodology/approach -Questionnaires were distributed amongst female Muslim participants at a shopping centre in Yazd, Iran -each of which were selected using cluster and random sampling methods. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling techniques, where LISREL software was used to measure the direct and indirect relationships between variables.Findings -Within the sample, there was a direct causal relationship between impulse buying tendencies, impulse buying behaviour and purchasing. Second, there was a negative relationship between self-esteem and life-satisfaction within impulse buying tendencies. Finally, a positive relationship exists between emotion and impulse buying tendencies, which elicits impulse buying behaviour culminating in purchases. Emotion drives these consumers towards dissonance-reducing behaviour, which mediates low self-esteem and life satisfaction -through consumerism as a form of retail therapy. Some of the items purchased on impulse, that fulfilled this role, were hijabs (headscarves) and mantos (a type of tunic/shirt-dress/coat common in Iran).Research limitations/implications -The hijab is worn by Muslim females across the globe. However, the manto is an item of clothing worn almost exclusively by Iranian females. Therefore, it is likely that Muslim females in different geographies may exhibit similar behavioural traits, but their consumption patterns would substitute this item with a different one, such as an abaya or jilbab, for example.Originality/value -Whilst the notion of retail therapy is widely understood, the novel contribution of this study lies in highlighting that the purchase of clothing such as hijabs and mantos by Iranian Muslim females is not just driven by rational and emotional decision-making seeking to fulfil religious obligations. There are cases where these religious artefacts are used to raise feelings of self-esteem and life satisfaction within the same individuals.

The Relationships Between Instagram Social Media Usage, Hedonic Shopping Motives and Financial Literacy on Impulse Buying

“…The results showed that there is a positive correlation to online impulse buying. Similar results were obtained by previous researchers (Bandyopadhyay, 2016;Mohan, Sivakumaran, & Sharma, 2013;Nayebzadeh & Jalaly, 2014), that impulse buying tendency positively affects impulse buying behavior. Chusniasari & Prijati (2015) found results that hedonic shopping has a significant and positive influence on impulse buying of Pointbreak Tunjungan Plaza Surabaya's customers.…”

The role of self-esteem, negative affect and normative influence in impulse buying

“…Findings from latest research also indicate the role of SE in impulse buying. Nayebzadeh and Jalaly (2014) posited that SE has a significant role in impulse buying and a negative relationship between SE and impulse buying is possible. A study by Amir et al (2014) revealed that SE and impulsivity are related to impulsive buying behavior.…”

Religiosity and Impulsive Buying Tendencies: A model and Empirical Application

“…Customers with the deep involvement of religiousness have interdependence and avoid experiencing new technology and products. Furthermore, results show that religious consumers are more satisfied with normal matters of life (Nayebzadeh & Jalaly, 2014).…”

“…The existing literature established that religiosity influences consumer evaluations about products and services (Mokhlis, 2009), pricing practices (Arli & Tjiptono, 2018;Battour, Ismail, Battor, & Awais, 2017) and promotions practices (Mansour & Diab, 2016) of marketers. Furthermore, significant relationship was found between religiosity and behavioral outcomes like status-seeking (Yeniaras & Akkemik, 2017), materialism (Agarwala et al, 2019) brand switching (Choi, 2010), risk aversion (Adhikari & Agrawal, 2016), impulsiveness (Musadik & Azmi, 2019), emotions and satisfaction (Nayebzadeh & Jalaly, 2014).…”