Would you Snap up the Deal?: A Study of Consumer Behaviour under Flash Sales

Abstract

Flash sales refer to an emerging e-commerce practice in which a firm offers one or more products/service at a substantial discount within limited time. Macro-economic environment (residential areas), demographic (age, income and occupation) and ad media decision may collectively affect purchase behaviour on flash-sale websites. This study investigates the unique characteristics of consumer behaviour under flash sales in developing countries, based on large-scale survey data from a major flash-sale website in China. We find that purchase behaviour differs substantially across regions and, within each region, purchase propensity is moderated by income. Regional marketing strategy is therefore of great importance. Contrary to our expectations, flash-sale websites are less likely to attract impulse purchase. Rather, consumers who make more purchases exhibit higher levels of cautiousness. TV commercials and social media are currently the major ad media, yet shopping engines and search engines should not be overlooked.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Atsmon

, Dixit

, and Wu

. (2001) Tapping China's luxury-goods market. McKinsey Quarterly. April–May 2011. Available online at http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/tapping_chinas_luxury-goods_market (accessed 26 October 2015).

Beatty

S.E.

, & Ferrell

M.E.

(1998). Impulse buying: modeling its precursors. Journal of Retailing, 74, 2, pp. 169–191.

Bellenger

D.N.

, Robertson

D.H.

, & Hirschman

E.C.

(1978). Impulse buying varies by product. Journal of Advertising Research, 18, 6, pp. 15–18.

Berthon

, Pitt

L.F.

, & Watson

. (1996). The World Wide Web as an advertising medium: toward an understanding of conversion efficiency. Journal of Advertising Research, 36, 1, pp. 43–54.

BIA/Kelsey (2011) Consumer spending on deal-a-day offers likely to reach $3.9b in US by 2015. Available online at: http://www.biakelsey.com/Company/Press-Releases/110303-Consumer-Spending-on-Deala-Day-Offers-Likely-to-Reach-$3.9B-in-U.S.-by-2015.asp (accessed 15 October 2011).

BIA/Kelsey (2012) BIA/Kelsey's US local media forecast (2011-2016). Available online at: http://www.biakelsey.com/Research-and-Forecasts/Forecasts/ (accessed 13 November 2012).

Cobb

C.J.

, & Hoyer

W.D.

(1986). Planned versus impulse purchase behavior. Journal of Retailing, 62, 4, pp. 384–409.

Covario (2012) Paid search growth marches on. Available online at: http://www.covario.com/insights/reports/download-paid-search-growth-marches-on/ (accessed 10 September 2012).

Dawson

, & Kim

. (2009). External and internal trigger cues of impulse buying online. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 3, 1, pp. 20–34.

10.

Dholakia

U.M.

(2011) How businesses fare with daily deals: a multi-site analysis of Groupon, LivingSocial, OpenTable, Travelzoo, and BuyWithMe Promotions. Working paper. Houston, TX: Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University.

11.

Dholakia

U.M.

, & Tsabar

. (2011) A startup's experience with running a Groupon promotion. Working paper. Houston, TX: Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University.

12.

Eysenck

S.B.G.

, Pearson

P.R.

, Easting

, & Allsopp

J.F.

(1985). Age norms for impulsiveness, venturesomeness and empathy in adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 5, pp. 613–619.

13.

Folkes

V.S.

, & Kiesler

. (1991) Social cognition: consumers' inferences about the self and others, in Robertson

T.S.

, & Kassarjian

H.H.

(eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 281–315.

14.

Frost & Sullivan (2012) VipShop Holdings Limited. Available online at: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1529192/000119312512067702/d211818df1.htm (accessed 19 November 2012).

15.

Goldstein

D.G.

, & Gigerenzer

. (2002). Models of ecological rationality: the recognition heuristic. Psychological Review, 109, 1, pp. 75–90.

16.

Grewal

, & Baker

. (1994). Do retail store environmental factors affect consumers' price acceptability? An empirical examination. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 11, 2, pp. 107–115.

17.

. (2008). Online advertising research in advertising journals: a review. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 30, 1, pp. 31–48.

18.

Kacen

J.J.

, & Lee

J.A.

(2002). The influence of culture on consumer impulsive buying behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 12, 2, pp. 163–176.

19.

Kimelfeld

Y.M.

, & Watt

J.H.

(2001). The pragmatic value of online transactional advertising: a predictor of purchase intention. Journal of Marketing Communications, 7, 3, pp. 137–157.

20.

Lawton

M.P.

, Kleban

M.H.

, Rajagopal

, & Dean

. (1992). Dimensions of affective experience in three age groups. Psychology and Aging, 7, 2, pp. 171–184.

21.

Logue

A.W.

, & Chavarro

. (1992). Self-control and impulsiveness in preschool children. The Psychological Record, 42, 2, pp. 189–204.

22.

McConatha

J.T.

, Lightner

, & Deaner

S.L.

(1994). Culture, age, and gender as variables in the expression of emotions. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 9, 3, pp. 481–488.

23.

Pagani

, & Mirabello

. (2011). The influence of personal and social-interactive engagement in social TV web sites. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 16, 2, pp. 41–67.

24.

Piron

. (1991). Defining impulse purchasing. Advances in Consumer Research, 18, 1, pp. 509–514.

25.

Rawlings

, Boldero

, & Wiseman

. (1995). The interaction of age with impulsiveness and venturesomeness in the prediction of adolescent sexual behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 1, pp. 117–120.

26.

Rook

D.W.

(1987). The buying impulse. Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 2, pp. 189–199.

27.

Spies

, Hesse

, & Loesch

. (1997). Store atmosphere, mood and purchasing behavior. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 14, 1, pp. 1–17.

28.

Stern

. (1962). The significance of impulse buying today. Journal of Marketing, 26, 2, pp. 59–62.

29.

Sundar

S.S.

, & Kim

. (2005). Interactivity and persuasion: influencing attitude with information and involvement. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 5, 2, pp. 5–18.

30.

Thaler

. (1985). Mental accounting and consumer choice. Marketing Science, 4, 3, pp. 199–215.

31.

Thaler

. (1999). Mental accounting matters. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 12, 3, pp. 183–206.

32.

Weun

, Michael

A.J.

, & Sharon

E.B.

(1998). Development and validation of the impulse buying tendency scale. Psychological Reports, 82, 3c, pp. 1123–1133.

33.

Wood

. (1998). Socio-economic status, delay of gratification, and impulse buying. Journal of Economic Psychology, 19, 3, pp. 295–320.

34.

Youn

, & Faber

R.J.

(2000). Impulse buying: its relation to personality traits and cues, in Hoch, S.J. & Meyer, R.J. (eds) Advances in Consumer Research, 27, pp. 179–185.