Abstract:

While the phenomenon of impulse buying has been the subject of many previous market research studies, the effectiveness of these studies has been limited by the ability of the methodologies to a) measure purchase patterns with the requisite degree of accuracy, and b) the degree to which purchase details can be linked to specific time and location data. This paper outlines a new methodology with the potential to provide data that overcomes these problems. The author provides examples of how this method can provide improved insights into the behaviour of consumers in these categories, and argues that in the future this methodology can form the basis of improving our overall ability to assess consumer behaviour in a wide variety of contexts. It is argued further that the kinds of data delivered by this form of research will lead naturally to marketers developing a more segmented approach and developing strategies that more clearly distinguish impulse buying from other purchase contexts.