A Study of Impulse Buying Behavior and Factors Influencing it with Reference to Beverage Products in Retail Stores

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to study impulse purchase of beverages across different formats of modern trade in two metropolitan cities to the West of India; Pune and Mumbai and to try to ascertain the factors that influence it.

Design Methodology/ approach - 93 customers in various retail outlets were observed, while shopping beverages and the observations were recorded in a tabular form. Shoppers were not informed about the presence of an observer and no interaction with the shopper was done in order to avoid any influence, while the consumer is shopping. The sample was limited to two cities in western India as they were similar in terms of demographic and cultural parameters and therefore the consumer behavior pattern was expected to be similar.

Findings- Age, Gender and the Time Taken to Purchase were found to have a significant impact on impulse purchases of customers, whereas number of people accompanying a Shopper showed no significant impact on impulse purchases with reference to beverage purchases.

Originality/value -The drivers of impulse purchase buying behavior in the beverage category can aid retailers to plan appropriate marketing strategy to enhance sales.