Title: What Motivates Impulse Buying? | Psychology Today
Headings: What Motivates Impulse Buying?
Ian Zimmerman Ph.D.
What Motivates Impulse Buying?
Personality, pleasure, and product connections can all lead to impulse buys.

Content: The impulse buyer likes the product, and experiences pleasure at the thought of being able to purchase it immediately and go home with it. The impulse buyer can’t resist the urge to buy the product and does so, without considering whether it’s too expensive and/or frivolous. This inevitably leads to buyer’s remorse, paradoxically bringing unhappiness, the very feeling the impulse buyer wanted to stop experiencing. article continues after advertisement
Knowing what motivates impulse buying and whether these motivators are affecting you can help you spend less money on impulse. There is one caveat I’d like to mention, which is that everyone behaves impulsively now and then, and a certain (modest) level of impulse buying can be harmless. However, an excessive level of impulse buying can lead to debt and unhappiness, so it’s in your best interest to know the warning signs. If you find that you often spend money without really thinking about what you’re buying or why, and you fit the description of an impulse buyer, you may have an impulse buying tendency. If you get a sudden urge to buy something after you play around with it, or after realizing you can buy it immediately, or after thinking of a friend who owns it, you’re probably experiencing an impulse buying urge that came from a connection between you and the product. Ultimately, an easy way to tell if a purchase is impulsive is to ask, “Did I plan to buy this, or did I get the urge to buy it just now?” If you didn’t plan to buy it, you’re probably experiencing an impulse buying urge.