Abstract:

Because of its popularity, impulsive buying has received substantial attention from both academic and business field. A common view about the nature of impulsive buying is that consumers give up long-term benefits in the sake of short-term gratification. Construal Level Theory suggests that when consumers evaluate the purchase from long-term perspective, they exert greater self-control whereas the studies on hyperopia regret indicate that they will be more indulgent in the same situation. Based on self-construal theory, this study proposes that consumers with different self-construal stress different goals when they evaluate the purchase from long-term perspective, which leads to different choice. The study further investigates the mechanism of the impact of self-construal on impulsive consumption.

Key words: Impulsive buying, Self-construal, Construal level, Impulsivity