Impulse purchases of groceries in France
and Sweden
Peter Hultén
Hull University Business School, Hull, UK and ESC Rennes School of Business, Rennes, France, and
Vladimir Vanyushyn
Umeå School of Business, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify similarities and differences with regard to factors affecting consumers’ impulse purchases of
groceries in France and Sweden.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by a random survey of 202 Swedish and 368 French households. MANCOVA is the principal
analytical technique.
Findings – The analysis indicates that, while Swedish shoppers make more impulse purchases, the French consumers appear to be more attentive to
special in-store displays and two-for-the-price-of-one offerings. Contrary to expectations, the impulse purchases of French and Swedish shoppers are
not predicted by gender.
Research limitations/implications – Further studies should incorporate situational variables such as outline of stores and supermarkets and the
specific country’s food culture, since these factors affect shoppers’ choices and shopping habits.
Practical implications – The findings help practitioners to understand how market-specific factors affect shoppers’ impulse purchases. These insights
are important in the light of the increased internationalization of the supermarket chains’ operations.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the current knowledge on consumers’ impulse purchase behavior by demonstrating that, although the
behavior as such is universal, there may be differences between countries with regard to the number of impulse purchases that shoppers make and how
they respond to special in-store displays and discount offerings.
Keywords France, Fresh foods, Impulse purchases, Sweden, Shopping
Paper type Research paper
the need to purchase toothpaste. In this article, we examine
such factors’ impact consumers’ impulse purchases of
groceries in France and Sweden.
The applied perspective on impulse purchases draws on
Stern (1962) and Wood (2005) who highlight the differences
between reminder impulse buying (in-store recollection of
needed items) and planned impulse buying (shopping for
price discounts). It is suggested that the reminder impulse
buying is particularly applicable on purchases of everyday
groceries since many consumers shop for groceries under time
pressure on their way home from work, and hence, experience
a need to reduce the amount of time for decision-making
when doing their shopping (Dhar and Nowlis, 1999; Rook
and Fisher, 1995). However, although the time for shopping
groceries is limited consumers tend to purchase more
products than those on the shopping list. The impulse
buying in focus of this paper is, therefore, neither a high
involvement behavior nor based on extensive analytic process
(e.g. Silvera et al., 2008).
Concerning consumers’ shopping lists, the supermarket
chains’ direct mail marketing with coupons and
announcements of discounts are distributed to households
to put certain items on the target consumers’ shopping lists.
In-store point-of-purchase displays then serve to trigger
recollection of items that are missing on the shopping lists
(Stern, 1962). To date, several studies verify the effect of such
in-store promotion on consumers’ impulse purchases
(Weinberg and Gottwald, 1982; Zhou and Wong, 2003;
Zhang et al., 2007). Instant coupons which consumers
encounter while in the grocery store may, for example,
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this article.
Introduction
Impulse purchases have for decades been considered a
significant form of consumer buying action (Cobb and Hoyer,
1986). Increased understanding of factors triggering such
purchases are, therefore, important since as many as nine out
of ten shoppers occasionally buy on impulse (e.g. Silvera et al.,
2008; Cobb and Hoyer, 1986). In fact, today nearly 70 per
cent of all purchasing decisions are made at the point of
purchase (Heilman et al., 2002), which make impulse
purchases account for a substantial volume of goods sold
across a broad range of product categories (Cobb and Hoyer,
1986; Rook and Fisher, 1995; Weinberg and Gottwald, 1982;
Zhou and Wong, 2003). A factor that contributes to the high
number of impulse purchases is that supermarkets are
designed to encourage such purchases (e.g. Zhang et al.,
2007). An impulse purchase of, for example, toothpaste might
be triggered by an announcement of two-for-the-price-of-one,
and/or an eye-catching display, which make consumers recall
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0736-3761.htm
Journal of Consumer Marketing
28/5 (2011) 376– 384
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0736-3761]
[DOI 10.1108/07363761111150026]
376
Impulse purchases of groceries in France and Sweden
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Peter Hultén and Vladimir Vanyushyn
Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2011 · 376 –384
increase sales of a brand by 35 per cent and increase
consumers’ shopping basket by 14 per cent (Heilman et al.,
2002).
Impulse buying behaviors are presumed to be universal in
nature (Mai et al., 2003; Rook, 1987). However, although the
impulse behavior as such may not deviate much between
countries, it is suggested that local market conditions as well
as social and cultural factors affect consumers’ propensity to
make such purchases (Mai et al., 2003; Rook, 1987;
Shamdasani and Rook, 1989). To date, research on impulse
buying has examined such behavior in settings that are
specific to one country, while only a few earlier studies have
compared consumers’ impulse buying in two countries. One
such example is the study of Kacen and Lee (2002), which
compares impulse buying behavior in individualist and
collectivist cultures. The individualist cultures were
represented by respondents from Australia and the USA.
The collectivist cultures were represented by respondents
from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. A conclusion
drawn by Kacen and Lee (2002) is that cultural factors
moderate impulse buying behavior. Particularly, their findings
indicate that Asian collectivist consumers engage in less
impulsive buying behavior than consumers from Australia and
the USA.
Following Kacen and Lee (2002) it is of interest to make a
cross-country comparison of how various marketing factors
affect impulse purchasing, and to identify the ones that exert
the strongest influence within the cultural contexts of two
countries in Western Europe. Specifically, this study analyzes
shoppers’ impulse purchases in the regions of two middlesized university towns in France and Sweden. A fundamental
assumption is that consumers’ behavior in connection with
grocery shopping in both countries is affected by each
country’s food culture and market structure. Also, an
assumption is that impulse purchases are universal, and
hence, that certain stimuli trigger shoppers’ purchases
regardless of cultural and market specific factors.
An explorative comparison of consumers’ impulse
purchases in France and Sweden is interesting since the
structure of the grocery market in the two countries differ.
The French cities have many small grocery shops, bakeries
and butcher shops while such shops are rare in Swedish cities.
Furthermore, the French cities have weekly markets, to which
the local farmers and fishermen bring their products. While
such markets have gained popularity in Sweden, their impact
on the overall grocery shopping is limited. Furthermore, the
“mall-like” shopping centers outside the Swedish cities have
moved the grocery shopping to the cities’ outskirts. The trend
of moving grocery shopping to shopping centers outside the
cities is also apparent in France. However, there are still many
grocery stores in the city centers.
Shoppers in both countries are bombarded with
commercials through various media channels. Also similar
are the supermarket chains’ promotional tools to increase the
number of impulse purchases that shoppers make in-store.
Thus, while there are differences between France and Sweden
with respect to the food culture and market structure, the
promotional approaches of the companies serving the grocery
sector are similar. Given such similarities, this study analyses
the impact that special offers such as two-for-the-price-ofone, discounted prices, and in-store displays have on
consumers’ impulse purchases. The identification of
differences and similarities with respect to impulse
purchases in the two countries is, therefore, a contribution
that this study sets out to make. These insights are important
because of the increased internationalization of the
supermarket chains’ operations. Academics and practitioners
with an interest in the factors affecting consumers’ impulse
purchases will find this paper interesting.
Conceptual background
The view on impulse purchases
A general trend, over the last decades, is that shopping has
developed into a major leisure and lifestyle activity, which
increase consumers’ exposure to a broad variety of products
(Bayley and Nancarrow, 1998). Today’s consumers are,
therefore, subject to stimuli in many forms and contexts.
Regardless of context the stimuli may trigger impulse
purchases; a behavior which is not preceded by planning
and analysis of actual needs (Silvera et al., 2008; Zhang et al.,
2007). Research on impulse buying behavior also suggest that
this buying behavior involves a sudden strong, and irresistible
urge to buy (Shoham and Brencic, 2003, Wood, 2005; Zhang
et al., 2007; Zhou and Wong, 2003). However, an interesting
fact is that impulse purchases are commonly described in a
“negative” light. This “negative” view is apparent in the
consumer behavior literature, which tends to describes
impulse buying as extraordinary and emotion-saturated acts
that consumers perform without regard to financial or other
consequences. The observations by Weinberg and Gottwald
(1982) confirm these viewpoints in suggesting that impulse
buyers exhibited greater feelings of amusement, delight and
joy without thinking about financial consequences. In line
with these arguments Donovan and Rossiter (1982) found
that pleasure is positively associated with overspending.
The “negative” view on impulse purchases is also apparent
in articles in popular press, which offer advice on how to avoid
such behavior (Wood, 2005). In this spirit Rook (1987)
suggests that impulse buying refers to buying that is
extraordinary, exiting, hedonically complex and compelled.
Thus, impulse buying occurs when a consumer experiences a
sudden, often powerful and persistent, urge to buy something
immediately (Rook, 1987). Also, the rapidity of the decision
process precludes thoughtful and deliberate consideration of
all information and alternatives (Kacen and Lee, 2002, Wood,
2005). Indeed, this view on impulse purchases stands in sharp
contrast with the retail and marketing literature where “instore” and “point-of-purchase” decisions are considered to be
universal, expected and encouraged (Wood, 2005). Also,
many retailers encourage impulse purchases by conveniently
locating impulse items (such as candy) near checkout
counters (Shoham and Brencic, 2003).
In this paper we analyze consumers’ impulse purchases of
groceries. This is routine shopping, which many consumers
perform on an everyday basis, and mostly without
experiencing excitement or hedonic motives. Sudden urges
may, therefore, not be the only reason why consumers make
impulse purchases. Thus, while there may be hedonic motives
behind some impulse purchases, the triggering factor may also
be as simple as recalling that spaghetti is missing at home
(e.g. Heilman et al., 2002). Furthermore, there may be a
shopping momentum effect, which makes further impulse
purchases more likely after the first impulse purchase has
been made (Dhar et al., 2007). Thus, the shopping
377
Impulse purchases of groceries in France and Sweden
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Peter Hultén and Vladimir Vanyushyn
Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2011 · 376 –384
momentum is an outcome which is propelled by the first
impulse purchase (Dhar et al., 2007).
Since impulse purchases concern consumers’ tendency to
buy spontaneously and unreflectively, high impulse buyers are
likely to have shopping lists that are “open” and receptive to
sudden unexpected buying ideas (Rook and Fisher, 1995). A
shopping list thus reflects the consumer’s planned purchases,
which may be a combination of written and mental notes
(Shoham and Brencic, 2003). Following the proposals of
Rook and Fisher (1995) and (Shoham and Brencic, 2003) it is
suggested that consumers with shopping lists also make
impulse purchases. Stern (1962) refers to such purchases as
“planned” impulse buying. According to Stern (1962), the
“planned” impulse buying occurs when the shopper enters the
store with some specific purchases in mind, but with the
expectation and intention to make other purchases, which are
dependent on the store’s special offers. As proposed of Stern
(1962) the deliberate “non-planning” is an integral part of
contemporary shopping. Thus, consumers do not slavishly
abide to their shopping lists, but modify them with respect to
the offers presented to them. It is suggested that consumers in
both France and Sweden make such modifications, and
hence, have integrated “planned” impulse purchases into their
shopping for groceries. With regard to planning Cobb and
Hoyer (1986) and Shoham and Brencic (2003) suggest that
planning as manifested in a shopping list reduce the number
of impulse purchases that shoppers make. Also, shoppers
commonly view planning as something “good” that reduce
the risk of spending money on what some members of the
household view as unnecessary products (Mai et al., 2003).
This view on planning is reinforced by media reports of
families who have been successful in reducing their
households’ costs by planning all kinds of purchases.
When discussing impulse purchases, Shoham and Brencic
(2003) suggest that gender and consumers’ tendency to buy
products not on shopping lists may serve to predict
compulsive tendencies among consumers. With regard to
gender and impulse purchases the study of Cobb and Hoyer
(1986) demonstrates that men make more impulse purchases
than women. According to Cobb and Hoyer (1986), the
reason why men make more impulse purchases than women is
because of women tend to plan more prior to their shopping.
Similarly Block and Morwitz (1999) found that traditional
roles with women in charge of the family’s shopping made
them know more about stores and products. The number of
purchased items that were included on their shopping list was,
therefore, higher than for men. Similar findings are reported
by Mai et al. (2003) in their study on impulse buying behavior
in the Vietnamese transitional economy. According to their
study, men reported a higher impulse buying tendency than
women who, on the other hand, shopped more frequently and
were used to plan all expenses to spend their families’ income
wisely. In other words, regardless of cultural context a
common view is that a shopping list reduces the amount of
money that a family spends on groceries. Consequently, the
first hypothesis is:
Promotional factors’ influence on shoppers’ impulse
purchases
As discussed in the previous section, earlier research on
consumers’ impulse purchases suggests that this shopping
behavior is more emotional than rational. This is also why this
shopping behavior tends to be perceived as “bad” (Rook,
1987). According to Rook (1987), the consumer is likely to feel
more out-of-control when buying impulsively than when
abiding to the shopping list. Earlier research, therefore,
supports the notion that the consumers’ emotional state
affects the propensity of making impulse purchases. Although
there is no doubt that emotions affect consumers’ propensity to
make impulse purchases this study makes no attempt to
analyze whether impulse purchases of groceries are dependent
on the consumers’ mental state. Instead this study focuses on
factors such as how discounted prices, special offerings and
special in-store display affect the shoppers’ impulse purchases.
With regard to such everyday stimuli there is a high
likelihood that consumers experience and evaluate them in
the grocery store or the local mall (Rook and Fisher, 1995).
When analyzing how shoppers react to such stimuli Dhar et al.
(2007) present interesting proposals on the drivers of impulse
purchases. According to their study, there are factors that
create a shopping “momentum” with certain purchases acting
like a switch that propels further impulse purchases. The
shopping momentum is thus a description of an action
oriented mindset that facilitates the consumer’s attainment of
shopping goals. A shopper who, for example, recalls that pasta
is missing at home may purchase pasta sauce and other
ingredients associated with the dinner that comes to the
shopper’s mind (e.g. Heilman et al., 2002).
Concerning the everyday stimuli Stern (1962) suggests that
impulse buying is related to the ease of buying. The likelihood
of impulse purchases is, therefore, greater when the
expenditure of money, time and physical and/or mental
effort is small (Stern, 1962). Also, the attraction of low price,
or in-store information about a bargain with a “three at the
price of two” offering might convert the specific item into an
impulse item. Thus, because price is a factor that affects
impulse purchases an item with an unexpectedly low price can
make shoppers feel that they are spending less than they
originally planned (Stern, 1962). According to Heilman et al.
(2002), such “unexpected” savings increase the number of
unplanned purchases made on a shopping trip. The increased
number of impulse purchases can then be explained by the
elevation of the shoppers’ mood that the perceived saving
brings (Heilman et al., 2002). In other words, low prices
reduce the shoppers’ sense of overspending, and hence, lower
their mental barrier against impulse purchases. It is suggested
that such effects are universal, and hence, trigger impulse
purchases among French as well as Swedish shoppers.
Accordingly, the following three hypotheses have been
formulated:
H2.
H3.
Shoppers with shopping lists in both countries make
fewer impulse purchases when shopping for groceries
than shoppers without such lists.
H1b. Male shoppers in France and Sweden make more
impulse purchases than women do.
H1.
H4.
378
Low discounted prices are equally effective in
triggering impulse purchases among shoppers in
France and Sweden.
Two-for-the-price-of-one offerings are equally effective
in triggering impulse purchases among shoppers in
France and Sweden.
Special in-store-displays are equally effective in
triggering impulse purchases among shoppers in
France and Sweden.
Impulse purchases of groceries in France and Sweden
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Peter Hultén and Vladimir Vanyushyn
Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2011 · 376 –384
Methodology
Swedish respondents, on the other hand, report impulse
purchases of candy, newspapers and magazines, clothes,
bread and soft drinks more often than their French
counterparts. A substantial number of French shoppers also
reported impulse purchases of wine and beer. Because such
products are not available in Swedish supermarkets they were
not included in the Swedish version of the questionnaire.
As shown in Table II, the products which the informants
purchased most frequently on impulse differ between the two
countries. The comparably high percentage of Swedish
shoppers who reported that they purchased candy on
impulse is likely to be a result of the Swedish supermarkets’
outline. Compared to the French supermarkets the Swedish
supermarkets have considerably more candy on display in the
sections close to the checkouts where the shoppers are waiting
with their shopping carts. An interesting finding is also that
the French shoppers make twice as many impulse purchases
of crackers and biscuits compared to shoppers in Sweden.
This difference cannot be explained by differences in the way
these products are displayed in the supermarkets. Neither is it
possible to identify any major differences in assortments. The
high percentage of French shoppers making impulse
purchases of crackers and biscuits may, therefore, be
explained by cultural factors. The high percentage of
French shoppers making impulse purchases of cheese can,
on the other hand, be explained by a wider assortment and
smaller packages compared to those available to Swedish
shoppers. Thus, it is likely that the small packages contribute
to the high percentage of impulse purchases by French
shoppers since they need to buy cheese more often than
shoppers in Sweden.
Sampling procedure
Data for the testing of the hypotheses have been collected in
two steps. The first step took place during the fall of 2007 and
included distribution of a questionnaire to randomly selected
households in Northern Sweden. In all, the data collection in
Sweden rendered 202 acceptably complete questionnaires.
The second step of the data collection took place in France
during the spring and fall of 2008. To make the questionnaire
fit the local context it was adjusted to fit French expressions
and tested on native speakers before it was distributed to
French households. In total, 368 French respondents
returned reasonably complete questionnaires.
The average age of the Swedish informants is 40.1 years
and 37.2 years for the French respondents. The Swedish
sample consists of 42 per cent men and 58 per cent women
and the French sample consists of 41 per cent men and 59 per
cent women. The reason why the French sample is larger than
the Swedish is because the first data collection sequence in
France rendered a sample with younger respondents and a
higher percentage of women than the Swedish sample. The
data collection in France, therefore, continued until the age
and gender distribution was comparable to the Swedish
sample. Table I illustrates the distribution in the sample by
country, gender and purchasing habits.
As shown in Table I, the majority of the informants
reported that they were responsible for purchasing groceries.
Among those who named their spouse or co-habitee as
responsible for purchasing groceries we find a fairly equal
distribution of females and males in both countries (Sweden:
13/14, France: 32/37). The average household size in the
sample is 2.65 persons for Sweden and 2.41 persons for
France.
The respondents’ annual income is measured in ten
thousand Euro brackets. This method was chosen on
recommendations by French colleagues to avoid having
French informants skipping this question because of finding it
too intrusive. The data obtained from this question indicate
that the average annual income of the Swedish informants was
between 30-40,000 Euros while the French respondents were
in the 20-30,000 Euro bracket.
The questionnaire included a section asking the respondents
to name the products that they recalled purchasing on
impulse. The data obtained from this question demonstrate
that French shoppers tend to make impulse purchases of
crackers and biscuits, cheese, make-up products and fruits.
Variables
Akin to the study of Kacen and Lee (2002) this research uses
single-item measures. Thus, while knowing about the
potential shortcomings of single-item measures we chose to
use them in this exploratory phase of our research. However,
due to the unique nature of impulse buying researchers often
Table II Products typically purchased on impulse
Product category
1. Candy
2. Crackers and biscuits
3. Newspapers and magazines
4. Cheese
5. Clothes
6. Hygiene products
7. Bread
8. Cured meats
9. Make-up products
10. Soft drinks
11. Flowers
12. Fruits
13. DVD movies
14. Peanuts and potato chips
15. CDs
Table I The respondents’ purchasing habits in the two countries
Who is primarily
responsible for
purchasing groceries
in your household?
I do it myself
My co-habitee
My wife/husband
My parents
My children
Other person
Total
Sweden
n 5 202
Female Male
90
6
7
13
0
1
117
57
8
6
7
1
6
85
France
n 5 368
Female Male
173
14
18
12
0
1
218
104
10
27
7
1
1
150
Total
424
38
58
39
2
9
570
379
Percentage of respondents
picking a product category
Sweden
Total
France
(n 5 368) (n 5 202) (n 5 570)
31
46
28
31
25
25
22
21
23
17
16
24
19
14
13
53
23
33
19
32
27
28
26
15
24
24
08
13
21
17
39
38
30
27
27
26
24
23
20
19
19
18
17
16
15
Impulse purchases of groceries in France and Sweden
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Peter Hultén and Vladimir Vanyushyn
Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2011 · 376 –384
rely on single-item self reports to measure this type of
behavior (Kacen and Lee, 2002; Rook and Fisher, 1995).
The variables tested in this research are measured
by employing seven-point Likert scales from 1 – “Never” to
7 – “Always”. Table I presents means and standard deviations
of the four dependent variables and an independent covariate
variable LIST, which illustrates the informants’ responses to
the question “Do you usually have a shopping list when you
go shopping?” The variable IMPULSE indicates their
responses to the question “How often do you make impulse
purchases when shopping for groceries?” The variable
DISCOUNT refers to the informants’ assessment of how
discounted prices affected their impulse purchases. The
variable “two for the price of one” (2FOR1) is another form
of discount, which is common in method to attract shoppers’
attention in both countries. The final independent variable
DISPLAY illustrates the respondents’ perception of how often
they made impulse purchases of products on special display
when shopping. Normality tests of the variables demonstrate
that they have sufficient variability and that they meet the
assumptions of normality.
The descriptive data reported in Table III illustrate that
Swedish shoppers use shopping lists more often than shoppers
in France. However, in spite of having shopping lists the
Swedish shoppers make more impulse purchases than
shoppers in France. As shown in Table III, discounts appear
to attract Swedish consumers while it is in-store display that
attracts the French shoppers. Furthermore it is of interest to
note that informants in both countries report equal scores
with regard to impulse purchases being triggered by bargain
offerings such as “two-for-the-price-of-one”.
Table IV The relationship between shopping lists and impulse
purchases in both countries
Variables
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
LIST
IMPULSE
DISCOUNT
2FOR1
DISPLAY
4.40
4.22
4.44
4.34
4.08
2.19
1.54
1.51
1.59
3.60
4.53
4.94
4.86
4.34
3.86
1.94
1.26
1.35
1.33
1.34
4.44
4.47
4.59
4.34
3.89
1
0.59 * *
0.39 * *
0.46 * *
1
0.60 * *
0.27 * *
1
0.26 * *
Table V ANCOVA results
Source
Model
Intercept
LIST
COUNTRY [C]
GENDER [G]
INCOME [I]
C *G
C *I
G *I
C *G *I
Table III Descriptive data on the variables in focus
Variables
1
20.10 *
0.02
20.02
20.04
4
makes fewer impulse purchases than one without such list.
Furthermore, it is of interest to note that there is no
relationship between discounts and impulse purchases. A
possible explanation as to why there is no such relationship is
that the shoppers may use information about discounts when
compiling their shopping lists. In other words, information
about discounts may put such items on their shopping lists.
We then continued using ANCOVA to examine the
relationship between the dependent variable frequency of
impulse buying IMPULSE, the degree of shopping preplanning LIST, and country of the respondent. Gender and
annual income are used as control variables that have been
shown to have a potential to influence impulse buying
(e.g. Block and Morowitz, 1999; Cobb and Hoyer, 1986; Mai
et al., 2003; Shoham and Brencic, 2003). The data meets the
assumption of equality of variances, Fð19; 489Þ ¼ 0:673,
p ¼ 0:85. The results of the ANCOVA are reported in the
Table V in which the last three columns illustrate the
parameter estimates and standard errors for continuous and
binary variables, and effect sizes respectively.
The model is significant overall, F ¼ 3:09, df ¼ 20,
p , 0:00, and accounts for 11.2 per cent in the variance of
the variable representing total impulse purchasing (adj.
R2 ¼ 0:112). The degree of pre-planning LIST, country and
income level are significant. Thus, the ANCOVA test
confirms the descriptive data reported in Table III by
providing statistically significant support for the observation
that Swedish shoppers tend to purchase on impulse more
frequently than French shoppers. Interestingly, the variable
representing gender turned out as not significant. Thus, there
Our first hypothesis suggested shoppers with shopping lists in
both countries make fewer impulse purchases when shopping
for groceries than shoppers without such lists. The testing of
H1, therefore, concerns the relationship between shopping
lists and the four variables representing impulse purchases.
This relationship was investigated using Pearson productmoment correlation coefficient. As reported in Table IV there
is a significant negative correlation between LIST and
IMPULSE, which demonstrates that the more impulse
purchases that shoppers report the lesser the likelihood of a
shopper having a shopping list when shopping for groceries.
As shown Table IV, there is support for accepting H1 since
there are negative relationships between having a shopping list
and three of the impulse purchase oriented variables. Thus, in
both countries it is likely that a consumer with a shopping list
Sweden
(n 5 202)
Mean
SD
1
Notes: *Significant at p , 0:05; * *significant at p , 0:01
Analysis and results
France
(n 5 368)
Mean
SD
LIST
IMPULSE
DISCOUNT
2FOR1
DISPLAY
Correlations
n 5 570
2
3
Both
countries
(n 5 570)
Mean SD
2.11
1.49
1.47
1.50
1.40
SS
df
F
p<
12.43
20
1
1
1
1
4
1
4
4
4
3.09
957.15
3.86
24.65
.99
2.92
1.18
1.63
.14
2.32
0.00
0.00
0.05
0.00
0.32
0.02
0.28
0.17
0.97
0.06
Note: Reference category: Sweden
380
B
S.E.
4.86
20.06
0.31
20.48
0.35
0.03
0.41
0.44
Partial h2
0.11
0.66
0.01
0.05
0.00
0.02
0.00
0.01
0.00
0.02
Impulse purchases of groceries in France and Sweden
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Peter Hultén and Vladimir Vanyushyn
Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2011 · 376 –384
is no support for accepting H1b, which suggested that male
shoppers in the two countries make more impulse purchases
than women.
We then used the MANCOVA model to examine the
aggregated effect of how shoppers react to products being
promoted according to the proposals presented in H2, H3 and
H4. Thus, rather than running multiple independent analyses
of variance, we consider the three impulse-promotion
combinations simultaneously since grocery shops and
supermarkets frequently use price cuts, display, and special
offer at the same time. In other words, there is bound to be a
high degree of co-variation between the three dependent
variables DISCOUNT, 2FOR1, and DISPLAY. Table VI
reports the multivariate test of significance, Wilk’s L, for the
independent variable country, gender, income, degree of
preplanning, and general frequency of impulse buying.
The results of the MANCOVA show that only COUNTRY
(L ¼ 0:97, p , 0:00) and IMPULSE (L ¼ 0:61, p , 0:00)
are significant in the multivariate test. The degree of
preplanning LIST turned out as not significant. Therefore,
this result is consistent with the previous model in illustrating
that country has an effect on the impulse buying pattern.
An examination of the country contrasts, reported in Table
VII, suggests that, when controlling for gender and income,
there is no difference between Swedish and French customers
in their impulse buying of products that are sold on discounts.
Thus, H2 is supported. An interesting finding is also that,
compared to Swedish shoppers, French consumers tend to
impulse purchase more products that are on display and are on
2-for-1 deals. In other words, H3 and H4 are not supported.
interactions. Unfortunately, we have no data to assess
whether this finding is a sign of a trend illustrating that
male shoppers are making less impulse purchases, or that
female shoppers are increasing their number of such
purchases.
In line with Zhou and Wong (2003), our findings suggest
that income is related to overall impulse shopping tendency as
measured in the variable IMPULSE. Thus, consistent with
their study, our findings demonstrate that low income
increases the likelihood of impulse purchases. However,
unlike Zhou and Wong (2003) the results reported in this
study illustrate that income is unrelated to promotioninduced purchases. A possible explanation as to why no such
patterns can be identified is that income is measured on
individual level and not on household level. The household
income of the respondents in the sample is thus likely to be
higher than the individual informant’s income. Therefore, our
findings neither disconfirm nor support studies suggesting
that there is an inverse relationship between socio-economic
status and impulse buying (e.g. Roberts and Martinez, 1997).
Our testing of H1 demonstrates that having a shopping list
is negatively associated with overall impulse purchasing.
Thus, our findings confirm earlier recommendations
suggesting that if impulse buying is perceived as a problem
then having a shopping list is a remedy. However, although
our results support Stern’s (1962) original proposition, the
relationship between having a shopping list and impulse
buying is relatively weak (r ¼ 20:10). The weak relationship
can partly be explained by the fact that a shopping list also
includes a mental list (Heilman et al., 2002). The selfreported assessment of whether an item which the informant
purchased was on the shopping list should, therefore, be
treated with caution since it is difficult to distinguish between
a list on paper and one in the shopper’s mind. Furthermore,
as Rook (1987) notes, remembering that one needs a gallon of
milk or toilet paper may not be perceived as impulse
purchases. Thus, recalling the need to purchase such items
actually makes up for forgetting to put them on the shopping
list.
With regard to shopping lists Rook (1987) makes an
interesting suggestion when arguing that impulse purchase
estimates can be made although a product is on the shopping
list. According to Rook (1987), it is possible to make such
assessments since a shopper may purchase brands within a
product category on impulse. Although our findings can not
verify the proposals of Rook (1987) the self-reported
frequency of impulse purchasing, if decomposed into buying
products on price, display, and deal, produces a pattern which
makes sense in the light of Rook’s (1987) suggestions. Thus,
although, the degree of pre-planning (LIST) did not affect the
propensity to buy promoted items there is a high likelihood
that a shopper with a list that, for example, says “ice cream”
picks the ice cream brand which is promoted in the store.
Thus, at the same time as this shopper follows the shopping
list, he or she choose between brands on display and picks one
on impulse. In other words, the pre-planning does not exclude
the possibility of in-store choices made on impulse, which
may lead to a shift in the shopper’s mind-set that increase the
likelihood of more impulse purchases (Dhar et al., 2007).
Interestingly, our findings demonstrate that the individual
informant’s overall propensity to buy on impulse (IMPULSE)
is related to his or her susceptibleness to all forms of in-store
promotions. In accordance with Zhou and Wong (2003) our
Discussion and implications
This explorative study demonstrates several interesting
findings. One such finding is that the impulse purchases of
French and Swedish shoppers are not predicted by gender.
Thus, contrary to Block and Morowitz (1999), Cobb and
Hoyer (1986), and Shoham and Brencic (2003), our findings
from testing H1b indicate that gender is not a significant
predictor of impulsive buying, even in full-factorial
Table VI MANCOVA results: tests of no overall effect
Effect
Intercept
COUNTRY
GENDER
INCOME
LIST
IMPULSE
Wilk’s L
F
Num df
Den df
p<
Partial h2
0.84
0.97
1.00
0.99
0.99
0.61
3.13
4.96
0.53
0.57
1.97
105.97
3
3
3
12
3
3
488.00
488.00
488.00
1291.42
488.00
488.00
0.00
0.00
0.66
0.86
0.12
0.00
0.16
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.01
0.39
Note: Only main effects are reported
Table VII Country contrasts
DISCOUNT
2FOR1
DISPLAY
Contrast SS
df
Mean Sq.
F
Sig.
Partial h2
0.52
1.79
18.02
1
1
1.79
18.02
0.37
5.65
12.14
0.54
0.02
0.00
0.00
0.01
0.02
Note: Reference category: Sweden
381
Impulse purchases of groceries in France and Sweden
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Peter Hultén and Vladimir Vanyushyn
Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2011 · 376 –384
References
findings suggest that in-store promotion is an effective
promotion tool which has a direct impact on consumers’
behavior. Furthermore, consistent with earlier research, the
results reported in this paper indicate that the more impulse
purchases in general, the higher the likelihood of purchases of
the promoted items. In other words, the shopping momentum
effect discussed by Dhar et al. (2007) is a factor that affected
the French and Swedish shoppers in our sample.
Our findings from testing H2 indicate that although Swedes
made more unplanned purchases generally, there are no
differences between shoppers in the two countries when it
comes to impulse buying and their reaction to products that
are sold on discounts. Thus, H2 was supported. Our testing
of H3 and H4, on the other hand, suggest that, compared to
Swedish consumers, the shoppers from France tend to
impulse purchase more products that are on display and are
on “two-for-the-price-of-one” deals. In other words, there
was no support to uphold H2 and H3.
In conclusion the observed differences in impulse shopping
behavior can be traced to both culture and typical assortment
of products carried by a store. The assortment can, in turn,
have an influence on the preferred promotional tools. Thus,
when seeking to explaining differences as well as similarities
between French and Swedish shoppers’ impulse purchases it
is necessary to assess the promotional tools fit with the overall
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Limitations and future research
The findings reported in this study are in accordance with
Kacen and Lee (2002) who suggest that there are many
aspects of a country’s culture that interact with shoppers’
impulsiveness. Also, the relatively moderate differences in the
impulse purchase behavior between French and Swedish
shoppers confirm earlier research suggesting that impulse
purchase behavior is universal. Nevertheless, the results from
this study need to be interpreted with caution. The need for
caution is evident because impulse buying is psychologically
complex (Rook, 1987), and hence, might have a different
meaning to different people. Furthermore, since there are so
many factors that affect a grocery shopper in-store, it may be
very difficult for the individual informant to single out the
specific factors that trigger an impulse purchase. It is
suggested that a way to handle these complexities is to take
a step back and examine the influence from factors other than
those that are present in-store. Thus, at the same time as
earlier research has proved that in-store promotion is the very
powerful in influencing consumers’ impulse purchases
(e.g. Zhou and Wong, 2003) an interesting avenue for
future research is to analyze the interplay between TV
commercials, direct mail marketing and in-store offerings on
consumers’ purchases in general and impulse purchases in
particular. Also, while knowing that impulse purchases are a
universal phenomenon, it is of interest to continue to analyze
country specific traits, which can be identified through crosscountry comparisons. A future research direction is, therefore,
to analyze how impulse purchases of groceries are affected by
situational variables such as outline of stores and
supermarkets and how a country’s food culture affects
shoppers’ choices and shopping habits.
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Impulse purchases of groceries in France and Sweden
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Peter Hultén and Vladimir Vanyushyn
Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2011 · 376 –384
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Zhou, L. and Wong, A. (2003), “Consumer impulse buying
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purchases not intended at the outset. It is additionally
proposed that this sense of actually saving money reduces any
“mental barrier” against impromptu purchases. The initial
impulse buy serves to create momentum that can trigger
further unplanned purchases subsequent to the original one.
Gender is another factor believed to influence the tendency
to buy on impulse. According to certain studies, men are
more prone than women to shop on impulse because women
are likelier to plan their shopping needs beforehand. This
difference is explained by the fact that women have most
responsibility for family shopping and have greater knowledge
about stores and products. Scholars believe that this pattern
might be consistent across different cultures.
Impulse buying could become likelier when conditions make
buying easier. More specifically, the possibility increases when
the cost in terms of “money, time and physical and/or mental
effort” is lower. Evidence suggests that impulse buying
behavior may essentially be a universal trait. Notwithstanding
this, opinion persists that social and cultural factors and
different market conditions might also influence the likelihood
of such purchase being made. An earlier study compared
impulse buying within different cultures and found the
behavior less prevalent among collectivist Asian consumers
than those within countries seen as individualistic in nature.
Hultén and Vanyushyn investigate the above factors in study
comparing impulse buying tendencies among consumers in
Sweden and France. They report certain differences between
the “food culture and market structure” of the two nations.
However, there are similarities in the ways that companies
serving the grocery sector market their products to consumers.
A questionnaire for the study was distributed in two stages to
subjects in the respective countries. A sample of 202 was
obtained in Northern Sweden and 368 in France, and a
comparable age and gender distribution was obtained.
Respondents were asked to indicate which products they had
bought on impulse. Swedish shoppers reported impromptu
purchase of candy, newspapers and magazines, clothes, bread
and soft drinks. Crackers and biscuits, cheese, make-up
products and fruits were products most bought impulsively by
French consumers. That Swedish supermarkets typically
display candy near to the checkouts was assumed to be a
major reason for the impulse buying of this product. The
influence of cultural factors was deemed possible in the case of
crackers and biscuits, as product displays were similar in both
countries’ supermarkets. The greater unplanned buying of
cheese in France was assumed to be explained by the larger
variety on offer and smaller packaging used.
Other findings included:
.
Impulse buying appears more frequent among Swedish
shoppers than among French shoppers.
.
Consumers in France and Sweden make fewer impulse
grocery purchases when using a shopping list.
.
In-store displays and two-for-one offers are more likely to
trigger impulse purchase behavior among French
shoppers than among their Swedish counterparts.
.
The impact of low discounted prices on impulse buying is
the same for both French and Swedish shoppers.
About the authors
Peter Hultén is an Associate Professor of Marketing at ESCRennes School of Business, France and Senior Lecturer of
Marketing at Hull University Business School. His research is
within the fields of consumer and B2B marketing, lobbying
and international business with focus on the markets in
Eastern Europe. Peter Hultén is the corresponding author
and can be contacted at: [email protected]
Vladimir Vanyushyn is a Lecturer at Umeå School of
Business, Umeå University, Sweden. His research is within
consumer behavior, internationalization, and emerging
markets.
Executive summary and implications for
managers and executives
This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives
a rapid appreciation of the content of this article. Those with a
particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in
toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the
research undertaken and its results to get the full benefits of the
material present.
For several decades, researchers have recognized the shopping
activity that is impulse buying. Surveys reveal that a high
percentage of purchase decisions are made at the time of
purchase and that impulse buying occurs across a diverse
range of product categories. Through various displays and
promotions, supermarkets encourage this form of behavior.
Absent from impulse buying behavior is prior analysis and
deliberate consideration of actual needs. It is also said to be
driven by sudden urges that are hard to resist. There is a
common perception that impulse buying is an emotional
rather than a rational act which is regarded as negative
because it occurs without thought to any financial or other
consequences. Engagement in such behavior can trigger
feelings of excitement and delight.
Many analysts point out differences between those who
plan their shopping trip beforehand and those who behave
more spontaneously on arrival at the store. Individuals who
plan in advance will often make a shopping list and have
specific purchases in mind when they make their store visit.
But they might also be prepared to buy additional items that
are on special offer. Various scholars point out that planning is
viewed favorably because it lowers the possibility of giving in
to temptation and buying things that are not essential. A
significant bonus from this is the possibility of reducing
household expenditure.
The more spontaneous shopper is likelier to respond to instore activities that remind them of products they think are
needed at home. Several investigations have pointed to the
significance of promotional factors like low price or two for
the price of one deals in relation to impulse purchases. One
explanation forwarded for this is that consumers believe that
such offers enable them to spend less than planned and that
these perceived “savings” allow them to make further
In the latter case, it was found that no relationship exists
between discounts and unplanned purchases. One idea
forwarded is that consumers are aware of discounts
beforehand and may already include discounted items on
their shopping list.
383
Impulse purchases of groceries in France and Sweden
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Peter Hultén and Vladimir Vanyushyn
Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2011 · 376 –384
The study likewise suggested that gender is not a significant
predictor of impulse buying. Whether this shows that men are
making less impulse purchases or that women are making
more is not clear. Income’s effect on impulse buying was also
noted with some indication that this behavior is more
probable among those with less money.
A weak relationship exists between having a shopping list
and impulse buying tendency. The authors propose that
shoppers may also have a mental list of items, making it more
difficult to determine if certain purchases can be classified as
impulse buys. This issue is further clouded by previous
research claims that items included on a pre-determined list
can still become unplanned purchases if the shopper selects a
particular brand on impulse. Possible in-store influence is
noted here.
The overall conclusion by Hultén and Vanyushyn is that
differences in impulse buying activity can be explained by
cultural factors, range of product variety offered within a store
and the impact of promotional measures. At the same time, the
degree of similarity between French and Swedish shoppers also
supports claims that impulse buying is universal. The authors
do, however, suggest that additional research might explore the
role of other factors such as the interplay between different
marketing channels like direct mail, TV commercials and instore promotions. Further analysis of country-specific
characteristics is also recommended, along with some
consideration of different situational variables.
(A précis of the article “Impulse purchases of groceries in France
and Sweden”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)
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