Abstract:

Impulsive buying is a common phenomenon in daily life. It is also an important sub-field of consumer behavior research. There have been many valuable research findings on consumers’ impulsive buying in the context of consumer shopping alone. However, the research on impulsive buying behavior in the context of shopping with others is obviously insufficient. On the basis of "desire-willpower" model and the theories of emotional contagion and attribution, this paper tries to find out the internal decision-making mechanism of consumers’ impulsive buying behavior from two aspects of desire and willpower through the methods of interview, experiment and questionnaire. The conclusions would enrich the current research contents of impulsive buying behavior happening in the context of shopping with others. The findings would also provide theoretical suggestions for enterprises’ marketing practice, the management of personal impulsive buying behavior, and consumer education conducted by governments.

Key words: shopping with others, impulsive buying, self-control, emotional contagion theory, attribution theory