인지폐합수요(认知闭合需要), 심리건강화사회인소대충동구매적영향(心理健康和社会因素对冲动购买的影响)

The Impacts of Need for Cognitive Closure, Psychological Wellbeing, and Social Factors on Impulse Purchasing

  • Lee, Myong-Han (School of Management, Kyungpook National University) ;
  • Schellhase, Ralf (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt) ;
  • Koo, Dong-Mo (School of Management, Kyungpook National University) ;
  • Lee, Mi-Jeong (School of Management, Kyungpook National University)
  • 투고 : 2009.10.28
  • 심사 : 2009.12.10
  • 발행 : 2009.12.31

초록

冲动购买是指一个没有预先购物意向的立即购买. 以往对冲动购买的研究主要集中于和营销组合变量, 环境因素, 消费人口和特征相关的因素. 在以前的研究中, 营销组合变量如产品种类, 产品类型和氛围, 包括广告, 优惠券, 销售活动, 促销刺激销售点, 和媒体格式都已被用于评估产品信息. 有些作者还着重围绕消费者的情境因素. 如信用卡的使用, 时间, 产品运输性, 发现购物同伴的存在和数量对冲动购买/冲动趋势有积极的影响. 研究也已评估了个体特征的影响, 如年龄, 性别, 以及消费者的教育程度, 以及拥挤的感知, 刺激和接触的需要等因素对冲动购买的影响. 概括来说, 以前的研究发现所有的产品都可以被冲动地购买(Vohs and Faber, 2007), 即环境因素可以影响或至少促使冲动购买行为. 最近新的分销渠道的推出, 例如家庭购物渠道, 折扣店和网上商店, 这些24小时都营业的形式增加了冲动购买的可能性. 然而, 以前的文献重点关注情境和营销变量, 因此这些研究所考虑的消费者的主要特征仍然是缺乏的. 为了弥补这个缺陷, 本研究根据研究的第三个惯例并关注个体特质变量, 这些是很少被研究的. 更具体地来说, 本研究探索了冲动购买趋势对冲动购买行为是否有积极的影响, 并评估了消费者特点例如认知闭合需要(NFCC), 心理健康和人际敏感性是如何影响消费者冲动购买的趋势. 这项调查结果显示, 消费者的情感冲动, 对冲动购买行为产生积极的影响, 而认知冲动并没有对冲动购买行为的影响. 此外, 情感冲动购买倾向是被认知闭合需要的构成因素所推动的, 如果断和模糊不适; 心理健康, 如环境控制和生活的目标, 以及规范和信息的影响. 此外, 认知冲动倾向是被认知闭合需要的构成因素所驱动的决断, 模棱两可的不适和密切的态度, 心理健康和环境控制, 以及规范性和信息的影响. 本研究具有重要理论意义. 第一, 情感冲动对冲动购买行为有巨大影响. 以前的研究根据情感和流动理论提出, 低到中等程度的冲动是自我控制减少或自我监管机制失败所造成的. 本研究证实了上述观点. 二, 本研究通过确认冲动购买趋势可以看做是情感和认知两个维度的二维概念, 并说明冲动购买行为主要是由情感冲动解释, 而不是认知冲动. 第三, 目前的研究有新的概念, 如在本研究的模型中作为潜在影响因子的心理健康和认知闭合需要, 从而对现有的文献做出了贡献. 通过多维概念例如心理健康和认知闭合需要, 有关消费者信息过程的多个方面可以被评估. 第五, 本研究通过确定规范和信息这两个竞争路线扩展了现有的文献. 规范影响发生在个人符合别人的期望或提高他们的自我形象时. 而信息的影响发生在个人搜索来自他人知识信息和观察他人行为之后的推论. 本研究显示了这两个相互竞争的社会影响力的路线, 可以归因于不同影响力的来源. 目前的研究也有许多实际的启示. 首先, 它表明, 公司应该更多关注其首要的目标, 有情感冲动的消费者. 这一方面公司可以创造更振奋精神的购物环境. 二, 目前的结果表明, 认知闭合需要与认知方面的冲动有密切相关的. 这些人是被不经意的想法所驱动的, 而不是感觉或兴奋. 在购买点理性的广告会吸引这些客户. 第三, 容易受规范性影响的消费群是另一个潜在的目标市场. 零售商和制造商, 通过宣传其产品和/或可用于识别或符合愿望组在对他人的期望的产品服务. 但是, 作为一个细分市场, 零售商应避免目标消费群易受信息的影响. 这些人对有关购买的产品服务进行了广泛的信息搜索, 因此更详细, 长期理性的广告信息可以内化这些消费者的思想过程. 本文的结果有几个原因应慎重解释. 这项研究采用了数量较少的便利样本, 而且只调查了两个维度的行为. 为此, 今后的研究应包括更多样化特点和衡量行为的不同方面的样本. 未来的研究还应该调查与情感作用理论密切相关的个性特征. 在以后的研究中, 特征变量会是很另人感兴趣的领域, 如感觉的好奇, 人际敏感性的好奇心, 和气氛反应.

Impulse purchasing is defined as an immediate purchase with no pre-shopping intentions. Previous studies of impulse buying have focused primarily on factors linked to marketing mix variables, situational factors, and consumer demographics and traits. In previous studies, marketing mix variables such as product category, product type, and atmospheric factors including advertising, coupons, sales events, promotional stimuli at the point of sale, and media format have been used to evaluate product information. Some authors have also focused on situational factors surrounding the consumer. Factors such as the availability of credit card usage, time available, transportability of the products, and the presence and number of shopping companions were found to have a positive impact on impulse buying and/or impulse tendency. Research has also been conducted to evaluate the effects of individual characteristics such as the age, gender, and educational level of the consumer, as well as perceived crowding, stimulation, and the need for touch, on impulse purchasing. In summary, previous studies have found that all products can be purchased impulsively (Vohs and Faber, 2007), that situational factors affect and/or at least facilitate impulse purchasing behavior, and that various individual traits are closely linked to impulse buying. The recent introduction of new distribution channels such as home shopping channels, discount stores, and Internet stores that are open 24 hours a day increases the probability of impulse purchasing. However, previous literature has focused predominantly on situational and marketing variables and thus studies that consider critical consumer characteristics are still lacking. To fill this gap in the literature, the present study builds on this third tradition of research and focuses on individual trait variables, which have rarely been studied. More specifically, the current study investigates whether impulse buying tendency has a positive impact on impulse buying behavior, and evaluates how consumer characteristics such as the need for cognitive closure (NFCC), psychological wellbeing, and susceptibility to interpersonal influences affect the tendency of consumers towards impulse buying. The survey results reveal that while consumer affective impulsivity has a strong positive impact on impulse buying behavior, cognitive impulsivity has no impact on impulse buying behavior. Furthermore, affective impulse buying tendency is driven by sub-components of NFCC such as decisiveness and discomfort with ambiguity, psychological wellbeing constructs such as environmental control and purpose in life, and by normative and informational influences. In addition, cognitive impulse tendency is driven by sub-components of NFCC such as decisiveness, discomfort with ambiguity, and close-mindedness, and the psychological wellbeing constructs of environmental control, as well as normative and informational influences. The present study has significant theoretical implications. First, affective impulsivity has a strong impact on impulse purchase behavior. Previous studies based on affectivity and flow theories proposed that low to moderate levels of impulsivity are driven by reduced self-control or a failure of self-regulatory mechanisms. The present study confirms the above proposition. Second, the present study also contributes to the literature by confirming that impulse buying tendency can be viewed as a two-dimensional concept with both affective and cognitive dimensions, and illustrates that impulse purchase behavior is explained mainly by affective impulsivity, not by cognitive impulsivity. Third, the current study accommodates new constructs such as psychological wellbeing and NFCC as potential influencing factors in the research model, thereby contributing to the existing literature. Fourth, by incorporating multi-dimensional concepts such as psychological wellbeing and NFCC, more diverse aspects of consumer information processing can be evaluated. Fifth, the current study also extends the existing literature by confirming the two competing routes of normative and informational influences. Normative influence occurs when individuals conform to the expectations of others or to enhance his/her self-image. Whereas informational influence occurs when individuals search for information from knowledgeable others or making inferences based upon observations of the behavior of others. The present study shows that these two competing routes of social influence can be attributed to different sources of influence power. The current study also has many practical implications. First, it suggests that people with affective impulsivity may be primary targets to whom companies should pay closer attention. Cultivating a more amenable and mood-elevating shopping environment will appeal to this segment. Second, the present results demonstrate that NFCC is closely related to the cognitive dimension of impulsivity. These people are driven by careless thoughts, not by feelings or excitement. Rational advertising at the point of purchase will attract these customers. Third, people susceptible to normative influences are another potential target market. Retailers and manufacturers could appeal to this segment by advertising their products and/or services as products that can be used to identify with or conform to the expectations of others in the aspiration group. However, retailers should avoid targeting people susceptible to informational influences as a segment market. These people are engaged in an extensive information search relevant to their purchase, and therefore more elaborate, long-term rational advertising messages, which can be internalized into these consumers' thought processes, will appeal to this segment. The current findings should be interpreted with caution for several reasons. The study used a small convenience sample, and only investigated behavior in two dimensions. Accordingly, future studies should incorporate a sample with more diverse characteristics and measure different aspects of behavior. Future studies should also investigate personality traits closely related to affectivity theories. Trait variables such as sensory curiosity, interpersonal curiosity, and atmospheric responsiveness are interesting areas for future investigation.

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