Several researchers suggest that female shoppers often make more impulse purchase
when compared to male shoppers (Tifferet and Herstein, 2012). One of the main
reasons for this phenomenon is the fact that impulse purchase is related to hedonic
shopping behaviors. Female shoppers as mentioned earlier tend to adopt more of a
hedonic shopping behavior rather than male shoppers which make them more
vulnerable to making an impulse purchase (Wolin and Korgaonkar, 2003). The
second reason for this phenomenon involves the relationship between impulse
purchases and negative emotions of the shoppers (Silvera et al., 2008). Researchers
believe that shopper often conducts an impulse purchase in order to improve their
emotional conditions (Verplanken et al., 2005). Since women are said to suffer from
more negative emotions such as anxiety and depression (Feingold, 1994; Wade et al.,
2002) they are said to be vulnerable to making an impulse purchase.
The third reason which supports this argument indicates that shoppers who has
greater requirements to touch a product prior to purchase is more likely to conduct an
impulse purchase (Peck and Childers, 2006). Strong evidences suggest that female
shoppers requires more need to touch and analyze the product prior to purchase when
compared to male shoppers (Workman, 2010). Female shoppers also tend to be more
inclined to their sensory cues by seeing, touching and feeling the products which
they are exposed (Tifferet and Herstein, 2012) which makes them more likely to
conduct an impulse purchase. This particular reason is commonly applied to
shopping of clothes since it appeals to the sensory cues of the shopper as well as
there is a higher need for touch especially for women shoppers who are more
particular and concerned in what they wear rather than male shoppers who often
view clothes as a basic necessity.
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