Understanding Online Impulse Buying Behavior in So

This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been
fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2993671, IEEE Access
Date of publication xxxx 00, 0000, date of current version xxxx 00, 0000.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.DOI
Understanding online impulse buying

behavior in social commerce: A
systematic literature review
SAMAH ABDELSALAM1,2 , NAOMIE SALIM2 , ROSE ALINDA ALIAS3 AND OMAYMA
HUSAIN.1,2
1
Department of Information Systems, School of Computing, Universiti Teknologi, Johor Bahru 81310, Malaysia
2
Department of Computing Sciences, Faculty of Mathematical Sciences, Khartoum University, Khartoum 11115, Sudan
3
Department of Information Systems, Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi, Johor Bahru 81310, Malaysia
Corresponding author: Samah Abdelsalm (sama7_279@yahoo.com) and Naomie Salim (naomie@utm.my)
ABSTRACT In the past few years, online impulse purchase has garnered attention from researchers
in various fields, especially noted in the relatively new field of social commerce (S-commerce). This
interactive envronment is a full of impulse buying stimulators. However, no previous studies have been
conducted to evaluate the status of the research about online impulse buying behavior (IBB) in S-
commerce. Hence, the authors reviewed studies published between 2005 and 2019, to gain an insight into
IBB. The authors used an input-moderator-mediator-output model for identifying and classifying factors
that influence consumer’s online IBB in S-commerce. The authors adopted a review protocol that involved
two stages (i.e., automatic and manual), and identified 68 studies that addressed online IBB, of which 24
studies focused on IBB in S-commerce. The systematic review results indicated that survey-based studies
(83%) and experiment methods (17%) were prevalent in online IBB in S-commerce. The authors also
noted that a majority of existing studies adopted stimulus-organism-response. In this study, the factors that
influence online IBB in S-commerce were classified, and a causal-chain framework for online impulse
buying was developed. Finally, the authors made recommendations for future research in this field.
INDEX TERMS Unplanned buying, S-commerce, Social interaction, Systematic review
I. INTRODUCTION Social interaction also helps companies to get feedback

The rapid development of online web-based technologies from customers to develop new products and services and
has significantly improved social media tools and concepts, encourage customers to spread positive word of mouth
which in turn has led to the development of novel techniques [4]. In term of collaboration, S-commerce provides a col-
that influence E-commerce processes [1]. Furthermore, the laborative environment that enables users to create their
field of E-commerce has also undergone a massive evolution content and share it with others by employing SNS as
leading to the emergence of a novel phenomenon known a collaboration tool [5], which in turn contributes to the
as Social commerce (S-commerce). S-commerce makes growth of co-creation activities [4]. Regarding the commu-
use of social media and enables consumers to share their nity, S-commerce provides a platform for people to connect
knowledge regarding the products and their online shopping with friends, conduct online social networking activities,
experience to help them make better purchase decisions [2]. and send product recommendations or discounts to friends
S-commerce has four unique characteristics that distinguish [6]. S-commerce strengthens the community power of con-
it from other commercial contexts: interactivity, collabora- sumers based on an information network that helps them
tion, community, and social aspects. in their purchasing decisions and satisfies their needs and
wants [6]. With respect to social aspects, S-commerce is
Interactivity: S-commerce enables social interaction be- built on different types of social media and focuses on social
tween firms, as well as among customers. This intercon- media-supported commercial activities [7]. Social media
nectivity among customers allows them to have access to enables the development of social support that leads to
the information provided through social interaction [3].
VOLUME 4, 2016 1
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
better purchasing decisions in a networked user environment online IBB in S-commerce. Furthermore, to date, effort has
[8]. Thus, customers feel a sense of social presence in S- not been made to consolidate IBB knowledge into the field
commerce sites [9]. These characteristics of S-commerce of S-commerce. This field of study will be very important to
offer enterprises novel opportunities for improving their the business community and society in general [19]. Hence,
customer relations, developing better marketing strategies, this study aims to review online IBB in the S-commerce
increasing their sales, and improving their economic growth context, focusing on the methodological aspects, relevant
[8]. Therefore, understanding consumer behavior in this theories, factors that influence online IBB, and gaps that
interactive environment has become a cornerstone for E- need further work. The authors used a systematic review
retailers, enabling them to strengthen their competitiveness approach to systematically collect, analyze, and synthesize
and to increase their profits [3]. the current studies on online IBB in the S-commerce context
S-commerce can be differentiated from E-commerce in to provide the state-of-art in this topic. To establish the main
terms of business goals, customer connection, and system aim of the study, the following objectives were established:
interaction [10]. As S-commerce is a relatively new phe-
• To provide an overview of research methods that have
nomenon, it dose not has definite classification. However,
been used to study online IBB in the context of S-
previous research has provided several classifications for the
commerce.
types of S-commerce. Zhan and Benyoucef [11] classified
• To provide an understanding of the different theoretical
two types of S-commerce: (1) social network-based sites
perspectives that have been used to study online IBB
that integrate commercial features to allow transactions
in the context of S-commerce.
and advertisements, (2) traditional E-commerce based sites
• To identify and classify the factors that influence online
that add social tools to facilitate social interaction and
IBB in the context of S- commerce.
sharing. Whilst Hu et al. [12] classified three types S-
• To highlight the research gaps and suggest future work
commerce : (1) social network-based sites, (2) traditional
on the online IBB in the context of S-commerce.
E-commerce based sites, and (3) group shopping websites in
which customers form online social groups based on similar By achieving these objectives, this study can help aca-
interests and needs, and make purchases in order to gain demics and practitioners to better understand the causal-
price advantages. Previous work conducted by Busalim et chain framework of the factors that stimulate online IBB
al. [4] showed that user behavior is the most studied theme in the S-commerce context, theoretical foundation and
in literature because it is essential for both business and methodological approaches of studying the online IBB in
academia to understand the different behaviors of users in S-commerce and its current state of research. The study
this newly emerged business model [13]. This research also also helps to recognize the areas where more investigation
focuses on the theme of user behavior, particularly impulse is needed. It also enables businesses and marketers to for-
buying behavior(IBB). mulate strategies to strengthen competitiveness and increase
Social interaction in the field of S-commerce has led profits. Furthermore, it provides S-commerce designers and
to different consumer experiences in comparison to con- developers the insights to implement social media features
ventional E-commerce, which has further helped in the on S-commerce sites to enhance their business. To explain
parallel development of IBB [14], [15]. A large portion of the results concisely and clearly, the authors systematically
S-commerce revenue is accountable to IBB due to the char- reviewed the papers based on the guidelines described by
acteristics of S-commerce [16]. However, despite the short- Kitchenham and Charters [20]. The authors conducted this
term economic importance of IBB, it has a negative influ- systematic review using a strict sequence and well-defined
ence on both consumers and businesses. The consequences methodical steps, based on a proper protocol. This tech-
of IBB on consumers include the perception of guilt, re- nique included specific steps, i.e., developing the research
gret, financial strain, and strain on personal relationships protocol, describing the inclusion and exclusion criteria
[17]. These negative effects lead to complaints, customers and assessing the article quality based on specific criteria,
switching to alternatives, negative word of mouth (WOM), data synthesis, extraction and data analysis. This review
and product returns, which in turn, harm and damage the synthesized, collected and analyzed 68 studies related to
business [18]. Therefore, it is critical for S-commerce sites online IBB published in the period between 2005 and 2019.
to understand the consumer IBB and the factors that trigger The authors analyzed primarily peer-reviewed academic
it in order to adjust their business strategies accordingly and journals along with conference proceedings as their data
hence achieve their profitable marketing values in today’s source, since their results were considered to be valid and
digital business environment in the long term. relevant to both business and academic fields.
As S-commerce is a novel phenomenon, its understanding
is still limited and scattered [4]. Due to S-commerce is a
II. BACKGROUND
newly emerging area with insufficient empirical evidence,
IBB has not been well studied in this field. Therefore This section provides an overview of S-commerce and IBB
practitioners, information systems communities, and users phenomenon.
of S-commerce need to understand the factors that can affect
2 VOLUME 4, 2016
A. SOCIAL COMMERCE DEFINITION been developed [37]. These platforms placed more emphasis
Researchers used various definitions for describing S- on the social aspects rather than the products or services.
commerce as it encompasses multiple fields, including so- In contrast, conventional E-commerce focuses on maxi-
ciology, computer science, marketing, and psychology [10], mizing efficiency with strategies for sophisticated searches,
[21]. S-commerce is defined as a new business model of E- one-click buying, specification-driven virtual catalogs, and
commerce, which makes use of Web 2.0 technologies and recommendations based on consumers’ past shopping be-
social media to support social-related exchange activities havior [38]. Customers usually interact with E-commerce
[13]. platforms individually and independently from other cus-
Researchers proposed a variety of definitions based on tomers [39]. E-commerce, in its classical form, provides
the main elements of S-commerce, hence, there is no one-way browsing, where information from customers is
single generic definition. The authors used the four elements rarely (if ever) sent back to businesses or other customers
proposed by Han et al. [13] to analyze the concept of S- [39]. S-commerce on the other hand uses social media
comerce. Several definitions were selected from literature features and provides facilities to enable users’ interactions
and classified based on these elements. It was found re- and participation [23]. This combination of social and com-
searchers who used only two elements in their definitions mercials activities catches consumers’ eyes. When users surf
focused on either commercial activities and social media on social networking websites, they are exposed to a volume
[22], [23], or commercial and social activities [24]–[26]. of information from vendors, news, friends, celebrities, or
Researchers who identified social commerce with three experts, which induces them to purchase products impul-
elements concentrated either on commercial activities, so- sively [40]. Under these circumstances, impulse buying is
cial media, and social activities [27]–[29], or commercial unavoidable [40], and most of the users’ buying behavior
activities, social media, and Web 2.0 [30], [31]. There on S-commerce platforms can be viewed as IBB [14].
were eesearchers who used all four elements to define Owing to this combination of social media and commercial
S-commerce [2], [13]. It can be concluded that social activities, the factors that trigger impulse buying may differ
commerce consists of four elements, namely, social media, from other contexts. As a consequence of this phenomenon,
commercial activities, social activities, and Web2.0. Key el- online IBB has increased extremely, and a significant portion
ements that should be used in the social commerce definition of S-commerce revenue is attributed to impulse buying
are social media and commercial activities, compared to [16]. Thus, businesses need to understand the factors that
the other two elements, social activities and Web2.0, which influence consumer IBB in this interactive environment.
are not used frequently to define S-commerce. The use Impulse buying is defined by Stern [41] as a compelling,
of “social media” in a social commerce definition implies unplanned, and a hedonically complicated purchase-related
social activities and Web2.0 as social media enables social behavior displayed by consumers. There are several types
interactions and the use of social media depends on Web2.0 of impulse purchases, which include reminder, pure, sug-
technologies. This may explain why some researchers do gestive, and planned impulse purchases [41]. Pure impulse
not mention these elements explicitly. This study adopts the purchase is defined as the unplanned purchase, which occurs
definition of S-commerce as described by Han et al. [13] when an individual is exposed to a specific stimulus. This
where it is as a new business model of E-commerce, which type of purchase does not involve any prior planning and
makes use of Web 2.0 technologies and social media to also includes a novelty purchase that defies the usual buying
support social-related exchange activities. pattern. Reminder impulse purchase refers to the purchase
made by the consumer when s/he has viewed the product
B. IMPULSE BUYING BEHAVIOR or other similar cues. The consumer does not plan the
Many shoppers’ purchases are unplanned, sudden, initiated purchase after s/he recalls an earlier experience or if the
on the spot, associated with a strong desire, feelings of plea- home stock has run out of the product. In direct contrast
sure, and excitement. It was estimated that about $4 billion to this reminder impulse purchase, the suggestive impulse
is spent annually in an impulsive manner [32] which shows purchase occurs when the consumer observes a strong need
that the economic importance of impulsive buying is well to buy a specific product after viewing it for the first time.
established [33]. IBB initially occured in retail shops [34], Here, the individual has not displayed any prior desire or
[35], then the advent of the internet age, and the proliferation knowledge regarding the product before s/he has viewed it
of E-commerce led to the emergence of online IBB [14]. [41].
Researchers claimed that the online shopping environment On the other hand, the planned impulse purchase happens
is more conducive to IBB than its offline counterpart [36] when the consumer does not plan the purchase but aims
since the online shopping environment frees consumers from to take advantage of the promotion. The consumer visits
constraints such as inconvenient store locations, limited a shopping site with a shopping list, but only intends to
operating hours, and social pressure from staff and other purchase the products based on the promotions or coupons
consumers [19]. Moreover, due to advanced developments offered. Thus, the consumer visits a shopping site with no
in Web 2.0, the popularity of social media, and the growth of prior knowledge about the product or with any intention to
social networking sites, many S-commerce platforms have buy, but s/he buys the product if lucrative deals are offered
VOLUME 4, 2016 3
(i.e., free accessories, low price, etc.). Similar characteristics buying involves all the buying decisions with a lack of
displayed by the various types of impulse purchases refer to advanced planning and may not be due to strong buying-
the unplanned nature of the IBB, wherein the consumer buys related feelings or an urgent desire to buy something [83]–
the product impulsively after being exposed to a stimulus [85]. Thus, impulse shopping is unplanned; however, not all
[42]. unplanned buying is considered to be impulse buying [86].
Although previous researches studied IBB and defined it Unlike unplanned buying, a planned purchase is a buying
from various perspectives, there is still no clear and generic behavior with the intention to buy a specific product, where
definition. Table 1 shows these definitions and the main the intention is made prior to entering the shop [70]. In this
elements of each definition. Simply, impulse buying has type of buying, the consumer uses an amount of information
been defined as an unplanned purchase [43], and researchers and a greater length of time in the buying decision process,
distinguish it from an unplanned purchase. The previous and this is not accompanied by emotion [63]. Therefore, it is
works used different aspects to define IBB: (1) Intention a reflective purchase wherein the consumer thinks carefully
and planning for the purchase; if the consumer planned about the consequences of the purchase.
and intended to make a purchase before entering the shop,
(2) time to make a purchase decision; if the individual III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
consumes time to make a purchase decision or decides The authors used the systematic review approach to address
suddenly and on the spot, (3) if the purchase is accompanied all the research objectives. Scholars conducted either tradi-
by strong feelings, (4) reflections of purchase consequences, tional systematic review [97] [98] or multilayer systematic
(5) thoughtful purchase; if the consumer thought about the review [99] to provide insights into a particular topic. A
need for the purchase and the other available alternatives, (6) systematic review is defined as the process which evaluates,
if the purchase decision is a result of or reaction to stimuli. identifies, and interprets all the available studies related
Several researchers used one or more of these aspects to to the research objectives/questions, the topic of interest,
describe IBB, while others used all of them [44]. As can and the study area. A systematic review summarizes the
be observed from Table 1, most of the definitions focused evidence describing the advantages and the disadvantages
on intention and planning for the purchase, followed by of a particular method, highlighting the existing research
a time of making a purchase decision, and the emotions gaps, which would help in proposing further areas of re-
accompanying the purchase. It can also be concluded that search and providing a deeper understanding of the novel
further investigation of the IBB concept is needed to give phenomenon [20]. This study followed Kitchenham and
a clear, comprehensive, and generic definition of impulse Charters [20] guidelines, which stated that a systematic
buying. In this study, the authors define IBB as: “unplanned, review consists of three major stages, i.e., review planning,
unintended, rapid, without thought, decided on the spot, conducting the review, and reporting the review. Every stage
accompanied with a strong urge to buy immediately, un- includes specific activities such as (i) Identifying research
reflective and is a result of stimuli.” objectives/questions; (ii) Formulation of a review protocol;
Although some researchers considered impulse buying (iii) Identifying the inclusion and the exclusion criteria; (iv)
to be similar to unplanned buying behavior, IBB displays Describing the search strategy process; (v) Studies selection
the unique characteristics that distinguish it from other process; (vi) Determining the quality of the data; and (vii)
types of purchases, namely unplanned, unintended, rapid Applying the data extraction and data synthesis processes.
decision/on the spot, hedonic, thoughtless, unreflective, and The following sections describe every stage in further detail.
as a response to stimuli. Table 2 highlights the character-
istics of IBB based on the above definitions and previous A. REVIEW PROTOCOL
works in IBB and explains each of these characteristics. A review protocol was seen by authors to be an essential step
Stern [41] classified the types of consumer buying behavior in the systematic review performance, which specifies the
into planned, unplanned, and impulse buying behavior. In processes used for conducting the systematic review. This
a planned purchase, the consumers spend a lot of time review protocol improves the review accuracy and decreases
and seek information related to the product [68] since the researcher bias [100]. This review protocol identified the
they intend to purchase the product. This process involves review background, the research objectives/questions, search
rational decision-making [14], [69]–[72]. On the other hand, strategy, quality assessment, the data extraction, and data
impulse buying is a more irrational activity compared to syntheses and defined the criteria for the study selection
planned buying, wherein the consumer has no intention [20]. In sections I and II, the authors have described the
or knowledge regarding the product they are buying [16], various research objectives and the background of IBB. Fig.
[73]–[75]. The decision-making process is rapid, and the 1 presents this review protocol.
decision is made in a short amount of time [75]–[77]. This
purchasing behavior occurs when the consumer is feeling B. INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA
a strong, sudden and an irresistible desire to buy some The authors defined the inclusion and exclusion criteria to
product immediately, without reflecting on the consequences ensure only sole relevant papers were included in the review.
of the purchase [69], [78]–[82]. In direct contrast, unplanned This review focused only on understanding consumer IBB
4 VOLUME 4, 2016
Table 1. Impulse buying definitions
Elements
Definition Reference
IAP TMP FL RP TP ROI
D C
It is a consumer’s unplanned purchase X [43], [45]
It is a sudden, compelling, hedonically
complex purchasing behavior without careful
X X X [46], [47]
consideration of all information and choice
alternatives.
It is an unplanned decision to buy some
product, made spontaneously and instantly, X X [48]–[50]
in a retail store.
It is an unplanned, hedonic purchase that
X X [41], [51]
follows a sudden urge.
A purchase occurs when people experience
an urge to buy a product without thoughtful
X X [52]
consideration of why and for what reason
one needs the product.
It is a sudden, unreflective, and unintended
purchase after experiencing internal and X X X [53]
external stimuli.
An unplanned purchase, the result of
exposure to a stimulus, and decided X X X [54]–[56]
on-the-spot.
A sudden and immediate purchase, with no
pre-shopping intention either to buy the
X X [57]
specific product category or to fulfill a
specific buying task.
An unplanned, sudden, and powerful
temptation/urge to buy in response to
internal and external stimuli, where a
consumer makes a rapid decision to gratify X X X X X X [44]
his/her desire as an immediate self-reward,
without analyzing the real need and financial
consequences of the purchase.
An act of purchase when a consumer
experiences a sudden, often powerful, and
persistent urge to buy something
immediately, wherein there is no prior need X X X [42], [58]–[62]
or intent to buy either the specific brand or
even the product category before to entering
the store.
An unplanned purchase characterized by
rapid decision-making and subjective bias in X X X [63], [64]
favor of immediate possession.
It is a purchase without careful consideration
of potential outcomes of the purchase,
X X [65]
resulting from the immediate representation
of the stimulus object.
As occurring, “when a consumer experiences
a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge X X [66], [67]
to buy something immediately.”
VOLUME 4, 2016 5
Table 2. Impulse buying characteristics
Characteristic Meaning Reference

Unplanned purchase is made without a [18], [41], [43],
prior plan to purchase. [44], [48]–[51],
[54]–[56], [63],
[69], [79]
Unintended Purchase is made without [53], [57]–[61]
prior intention to purchase.
Rapid Purchase is decided on the [16], [18], [44],
purchase spotn is rapid and dose not [48]–[50],
decision/ on consume time. [53]–[57], [63],
spot [69], [79]
Hedonic The consumer feels a sudden [41], [44], [46],
and strong urge to buy [51], [52],
something immediately. [58]–[61], [66],
[79], [80], [84],
[87]
Thoughtless The consumer does not think [44], [46], [52],
purchase about the actual needs of [56], [80], [81],
purchase and other [85], [88]–[90]
alternatives.
Unreflective The buying decision is [3], [44], [65],
instantaneous, and the [69], [76], [82],
consumer does not take into [91]–[95]
consideration the
consequences of this
impulsive buying such as
unnecessary spending
Result of The buying decision is made [44], [53]–[56],
stimuli in the shop when the [65], [80], [96]
individual exposed to stimuli.
Table 3. Inclusion and exclusion criteria Figure 1. Review protocol
Inclusion Criteria Exclusion Criteria

Full-text Paper Uncompleted study
Paper is written in English Paper not written in English
Paper in the study domain Paper not related to the domain
include many online databases. Thus, the authors select
Papers within the specified Duplicated studies and papers many online databases which are published in different
period 2005-2019 not in the specified period types of academic journals, including Science Direct, Wiley,
Springer Link, Scopus, AIS e-Library, ACM, IEEE Explore,
Taylor and the Web of Science. The authors selected these
in the S-commerce context. For that, the authors considered databases, as they were believed to be the most relevant,
journal articles and conference proceedings published in with the highest impact factor. Furthermore, some journals
the English language between 2005 and 2019. The reasons and conferences (MISQ, ISR, ICIS, WISE, CIST, JMR,
for selecting this time duration were two-fold. First, this and JCR) in different disciplines were searched to ensure
review offered a deeper understanding of online impulse no paper was missed. To conduct the automatic search,
purchasing behavior. Second, social commerce was first the authors identified some specific keywords based on
introduced by Yahoo in 2005 and quickly became a means the research questions included in the review. The major
for adding value to commercial services, and in 2006, the keywords included: unplanned buying, online impulse buy-
term ‘S-commerce’ first appeared in some studies [13]. ing, E-impulse buying, social electronic commerce, social
Hence the authors systematically collected, analyzed, and commerce and social E-commerce. These keywords were
synthesized the studies conducted in the last 15 years and combined using logical operators (AND /OR). Specifically,
only included the studies which addressed the online IBB the expression (impulse buying OR unplanned buying Or E-
of the consumers. Table 3 presents all the criteria included impulse buying AND social commerce OR social electronic
in this review. commerce OR social E-commerce OR social media) was
used as a search expression in the search field. After deriving
C. SEARCH STRATEGY the data from the various data sources, the authors conducted
In this study, the search strategy included two major phases, a manual search. For this, the authors applied the backward
i.e., manual and automatic. As described in Fig.1, the au- and forward search process for determining the citations
thors used an automated search process for determining the of all selected studies. They also used the Google Scholar
primary studies related to online impulse buying behavior. search engine as a forward search process to find the studies
Webster and Watson [101] stated that the search process that were previously cited in the primary studies. A manual
must not be limited to a particular set of journals, but must search ensured the completeness and comprehensiveness of
6 VOLUME 4, 2016
this review [101]. Thereafter, the authors used EndNote, a

reference management tool, for maintaining the results of
all searches and eliminating the duplicates.
D. STUDY SELECTION PROCESS

After the authors explored the aforementioned search en-
gines, they conducted the study selection for identifying the
studies related to all research questions. They used specific
keywords and identified 420 studies using an automatic
search process. Then, a manual search was used for the ref-
erence section of every study to determine any of the miss-
ing papers. One hundred ten studies were found. All studies Figure 2. Temporal view of primary studies
were merged, and the duplicated studies were eliminated
with the help of a Microsoft Excel worksheet, which left
407 studies. Thereafter, they applied the inclusion/exclusion <5. On conducting the QA, seven studies were found to not
criteria on the title, abstract, and the conclusion of every satisfy the criteria and hence were excluded from the final
paper, and selected 75 studies. Studies that did not show list of papers.
a clear relation to the review topic were excluded, as per
the recommendations of Kitchenham and Charters [20].
F. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS
The authors also carried out full-text scanning for all the
remaining papers using the exclusion criteria. They applied Here, the authors designed a specific data extraction form
the necessary quality assessment criteria and eliminated for accurately recording all information, wherein they read
a further seven studies. Finally, a list of 68 studies was all the papers and extracted the relevant data using End-
considered as the final list of the primary studies, with 24 Note and the MS Excel spreadsheets. They established
studies out of 68 used to achieve the main four objectives the following columns in the spreadsheets: Study ID is a
of the present paper whereas the remaining studies that unique identity for the paper; Title; Author list; Year of
addressed IBB in E-commerce were selected and included publication; Publishing source (e.g. conference proceeding,
in the review to help the authors deeply analyze the concept journal, book chapter); Theories applied, Methodology; and
of IBB, identify its main characteristics and differentiate it Research context where the study has been conducted. All
from other types of buying behaviors. These primary studies the factors were selected according to the objectives and the
are mentioned in Appendix A of the supplementary material. research questions.
E. QUALITY ASSESSMENT (QA) 1) PUBLICATION SOURCE OVERVIEW

The QA helped in determining the general quality of all A majority of the papers were published in reliable journals
the selected studies [20]. The QA criteria were based on with a high impact factor, or in conference proceedings,
the quality instruments, such as the checklist of all factors which further increases the significance of this review. The
or questions that had to be applied to every study. Here, authors used primary studies for ensuring higher quality
the authors developed five QA criteria for assessing the and providing accurate information with regards to online
quality of every study, which were as follows: QA1: Are IBB. The publication sources were distributed as follows:
all the topics addressed in the research paper related to 53 studies were journal articles; conference proceedings
online impulse buying? QA2: Is the research methodology included ten papers, while 5 of the studies were conference
explained in the review? QA3: Does the paper describe the papers.
data collection method? QA4: Does the paper present the
data analysis steps? QA5: Does the research paper explain
2) TEMPORAL VIEW OF PUBLICATION
the context clearly?
The authors used these five QA criteria for assessing the The authors selected the papers published between 2005 and
75 studies to determine the credibility of all selected studies. 2019. Fig. 2 presents the distribution of all studies, based
The quality of the paper was further assessed by scoring on their publication timeline. As shown in Fig. 2, there has
each QA criteria, where the scores ranged between high, been a gradual increase in the number of IBB-related papers
medium, or low, based on their loading scores as described between 2008 and 2016. The highest number of papers
in [102], [103]. If the study satisfied a criterion, it scored 2, were noted in 2016, i.e., 16 studies. In the period between
if it partially satisfied the criterion, it was given a score of 1, 2007 and 2016, many studies in E-commerce addressed IBB.
while it was scored 0 if it did not satisfy the criterion. The After that, and in the period between 2016 and 2019, social
paper quality was believed to be high if it could score value commerce has been well recognized, and researchers have
of ≥ 6, while it was considered to be medium if it scored given more attention to these platforms to study IBB.
5, and was considered to be of lower quality if it scored
VOLUME 4, 2016 7
3) RESEARCH METHODS OF ONLINE IMPULSE BUYING that addressed online impulse buying in S-commerce either
STUDIES used users of a particular S-commerce site as their samples
This section presents the research methods used for analyz- [73], [107] or used university student samples [36]. Previous
ing the primary studies related to online IBB. A majority studies have suggested that the use of student samples was
of the studies (46) in an online context (E-commerce and appropriate because young people are the dominant group
S-commerce) were survey-based, while 17 studies were of online consumers [19]. Furthermore, different sampling
experimental. Only one study used an interview method, techniques were used by these studies, such as convenience,
and two studies were conducted using mixed methods. random, quota, and purposive sampling. Purposive sampling
Furthermore, all the reviews (two) analyzed in the literature was the most used sampling technique (see Table 4). Addi-
addressed the customer’s online IBB in the context of E- tionally, various product categories were tested in previous
commerce. None of the reviews studied the S-commerce works, where apparel was the most used product category
context. Since S-commerce differs from E-commerce and [108], [109], followed by restaurant coupons [73]. Many
generally depends on the social interaction amongst the studies did not specify the type of product. Thus there
customers [4], there is a need to address the consumer’s is sufficient empirical evidence that online impulse buying
online buying behavior in this context. The authors believed happens irrespective of product type, where once the study
that this was the first review that analyzed the consumer’s respondents were exposed to internal and external stimuli,
online buying behavior in the field of social commerce. they were motivated to buy impulsively.
IV. RESULTS C. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF ONLINE IMPULSE

In this section, the authors analyze, discuss, and present the BUYING BEHAVIOR IN S-COMMERCE
results of reviewing the previous studies of online IBB in To understand a consumer’s online IBB in the S-commerce
S-commerce systematically. The research methods, product context, psychological theories and social related theories
categories, research context, theoretical foundation, and the have been adopted in these studies. The theoretical foun-
factors that trigger impulse buying behavior in S-commerce dations for these studies include : latent state-trait theory,
have been discussed. heuristic information processing (HIP), observational learn-
ing, process theory, social influence theory, social network
A. ONLINE IMPULSE BUYING RESEARCH METHODS IN paradigm, uses and gratification theory, stimulus-organism-
S-COMMERCE CONTEXT response framework, parasocial interaction (PSI) theory,
Out of the 68 studies that were analyzed, 24 studies ad- social capital theory, flow theory, self-determination theory,
dressed online IBB in the S-commerce context. After inves- signaling theory, theory of Web usage, social impact theory
tigating these 24 studies, the authors found that the survey and trust transference theory. The majority of the previous
was the most popular research method, used by 83% of the researches (10 studies) used the stimulus-organism-response
papers, while 17% of studies applied the experiment method. framework in their studies to understand how the stimulating
These two methods were used to understand the different cues perceived from the environment trigger one’s internal
types of stimuli that trigger consumers’ impulse buying evaluation, which subsequently leads to one of the impulse
responses. Previous researches used experimental studies to buying responses (urge to buy impulsively, and impulse
examine the influence of website features in online impulse buying).
buying. For instance, Hostle et al. [104] studied how the
use of recommendation agents in S-commerce sites affects D. FACTORS INFLUENCING ONLINE IBB IN
a consumer’s impulse buying. Such experimental settings S-COMMERCE CONTEXT
enable scholars to understand the influence of particular After conducting an in-depth analysis of the selected 24
features of a website on online impulse buying. Moreover, studies, the authors conceptualized a causal-chain frame-
the study of the effects of consumers’ characteristics, per- work for determining the various factors which influenced
ceptions, attitudes, and intentions in impulse buying depends the consumer’s online IBB and their interrelationships in an
on survey data. The use of surveys allowed researchers S-commerce context. This adopted framework was based on
to explore the influence of the unobservable constructs. the input-moderator–mediator-output model, described by
For example, Leong et al. [105] examined the effect of Mohammed et al. [118] and consisted of antecedents (as
personality traits in the consumer’s impulse buying behavior. inputs), mediators, moderators, and outcomes (as outputs).
The antecedents included the input variables or factors
B. ONLINE IMPULSIVE PRODUCT CATEGORIES, which led to the output, i.e., a cause-effect relationship
RESEARCH CONTEXT POPULATION, AND SAMPLING between the inputs and the outputs, which were eluci-
As shown in Table 4, a majority of the identified studies dated by all mediators, wherein the moderators affected the
that addressed online impulse buying in the context of S- strength or the direction of this relationship [119]. Tables
commerce were conducted in Asia, in particular, China, such 7, 6, and 5 describe all the adopted factors, which were
as the study conducted by Xi et al. [106]. Only one study further grouped into the respective categories as antecedents,
was conducted in the United States [104]. Previous studies moderators, mediators, and outcomes. For the analysis of the
8 VOLUME 4, 2016
Table 4. Online impulse buying product categories, research context, and sampling
Targeted
Age SC type Sampling Product category Context Ref
participant
technique
_ WeChat, QQ, Sina Wei Purposive _ China [81]
_ Group buying Random Smartphones Taiwan [15]
_ Sina Weibo Website Purposive - China [106]
_ Group buying Purposive Digital cameras, restaurant coupons, _ [110]
performance coupons, CD/DVD, sport
equipment, furniture, office supplies,
household item, cosmetic, clothes, travel
Users of SC Sites
vouchers
_ Group buying Purposive _ China [111]
(ju.taobao.com,
dianping.com, meituan.com)
18-elder Facebook Purposive Fashion Apparel _ [77]
15-64 Facebook Purposive Apparel Malaysia [112]
15-64 Facebook Purposive _ Malaysia [105]
_ Group buying Purposive Restaurants coupons _ [37]
(Groupon.com)
_ _ _ Cosmetics, mobile phones, computers _ [113]
_ Mogujie.com Purposive _ China [112]
_ Group buying Purposive _ China [114]
(ju.taobao.com,
dianping.com, meituan.com)
_ social commerce sites in Quota Restaurant products and services Korea [73]
South Korea
_ Facebook Purposive _ Taiwan [40]
_ Facebook Purposive Food Taiwan [115]
_ WeChat Random _ China [66]
_ WeChat, Sina Weibo and Convenience _ China [107]
QQ
_ Instagram Purposive _ Indonesia [116]
_ sojump.com Purposive Apparel and accessory products China [117]
_ Facebook Purposive Apparel Malaysia [109]
University student
_ _ Convenience _ China and [88]

Pakistan
_ Group buying Convenience _ China [36]
_ _ Random Movie films United [104]
state
_ YouTube vlogs Purposive Apparel _ [108]
factors that affected online IBB, the authors investigated the For example, Liu et al. [36] investigated the perceived ease-
outcome of this framework, which focused on two types of of-use. On the other hand, the marketing category consists
IBB (impulse buying and their desire to buy impulsively). of the various marketing cues used by the marketers for
Researchers have a different focus; therefore, the same attracting the consumers of S-commerce for purchasing a
factors appearing in different literature may be revealed product [19]. For instance, Farivar and Yuan [37] studied the
in different positions in the framework. For instance, the effect of scarcity on the consumer’s online IBB. Chan et al.
factor of “impulsiveness” was used as a mediator [36], or [19] described the consumer characteristics as the inherent
an antecedent [73], while Zhang et al. [114] used it as the factors of the consumers, which were associated with their
moderator. propensity, while the social-related factors included all other
All factors that affect online IBB in an S-commerce factors related to the social interactions between consumers,
context were classified as per the classification approach which affected the consumer’s buying response. Fig. 3
proposed by Chan et al. [19] for studying online IBB in an shows the causal-chain framework of online impulse buying
E-commerce context. This classification included website- in social commerce. All the different aspects of Figure 3
related factors, situational or social factors, marketing fac- have been illustrated in the following subsections.
tors, and consumer/individual characteristics. Here, the au-
thors classified every factor based on the opinions expressed 1) ANTECEDENTS
by the authors of the original studies or based on the defini- An antecedent refers to a cue or stimulus which precedes the
tion of the factor if the author’s opinion was unclear. Chan behavioral outcome and forms the input of this causal-chain
et al. [19] described the website-related factors as the visible framework [119]. All studies showed that the antecedents
or audible website cues, which included the design features which affected the consumer’s online IBB in an S-commerce
of the presentations of the websites. These were used by context belong to one of four categories, i.e., social-related
several researchers [14], [36], who assessed the effect of the factors, website-related factors, consumer characteristics,
website’s visual appeal. This also included the consumer’s and marketing-associated factors. The category of website-
beliefs or perceptions regarding the S-commerce websites. related factors was the most studied among other categories;
VOLUME 4, 2016 9
ness, extraversion, openness, neuroticism, and consci-

entiousness) on online IBB, as shown in Table 5.
4) MARKETING-RELATED FACTORS
The existing researches paid little attention to this
category. As presented in Table 5, only product avail-
ability, scarcity, vicarious expression, and aesthetic
appeal were used as antecedents for analyzing online
IBB in an S-commerce context.
2) MODERATORS
A moderator refers to a factor or research variable which
affects the strength and/or direction of the relationship
between all independent and dependent variables [119]. As
shown in Table 6, the moderators that were used in previous
studies were related to marketing-related factors, consumer
characteristics, and website-related factors. No social-related
factors have been used as moderators in existing studies.
1) MARKETING-RELATED FACTORS
Figure 3. Causal-chain framework for online impulse buying in social
commerce Various researchers studied how marketing factors
affected the strength and the direction of the rela-
tionships between the antecedents and their subse-
19 factors have been examined in previous works. As shown quent online IBB. Scarcity was the most investigated
in Table 5, information quality and visual appeal were the marketing-related factor [73], [110], as it has a sig-
most significant website-related factors that were found to nificant moderation effect on consumer’s online IBB.
influence IBB. Refer to Table 6 for an outline of the remaining
factors.
1) SOCIAL-RELATED FACTORS
2) CONSUMER CHARACTERISTICS
Several studies examined the effect of the social-
A majority of the previous researchers that investi-
related factors as the antecedents. For example, schol-
gated the moderation role in their studies used this cat-
ars in [15] [37] investigated the effect of the number
egory. These studies analyzed the effect of consumer
of “likes” on online IBB. Furthermore, Electronic
characteristics on the strength of the relationships
Word of Mouth (eWOM) and brand-related user-
between the antecedents and the online IBB. For
generated content were used interchangeably in the
example, Akram et al. [81] used the hedonic shopping
literature, where they were also assessed in the form
features (such as relaxation shopping, social shopping,
of antecedents [77] [88]. As shown in Table 5, the
adventure shopping, value shopping or idea shopping)
number of “likes”, similarity, social presence, and
as moderators. The most important factor that was
eWOM were the most studied factors in this category.
found to play a significant moderation role on IBB
The other social-related factors are described in Table
was impulsiveness [15], [37], [114].
5.
3) WEBSITE-RELATED FACTORS
2) WEBSITE-RELATED FACTORS
As seen in Table 6, serendipity is the sole Website-
Various website-related factors are used as antecedents
related factor that was used as a moderator in earlier
for determining their effect on online IBB. The ma-
studies of online impulse buying in S-commerce [73].
jority of the previous researches focused on website-
related factors in their studies. One of the most
important factors was visual appeal [36] [14]. Li et 3) MEDIATORS
al. [113] studied the effect of website navigational Mediators refer to factors or variables which describe the
characteristics on online IBB. Table 5 presents the cause-effect relationship between the antecedents and the
other website-related factors investigated in online outcomes (for example, online IBB) [119]. As shown in
impulse buying literature. Table 7, most of the mediators examined in the previous
3) CONSUMER CHARACTERISTICS works belong to the consumer characteristics category. In
In this category, eight out of twenty-four earlier stud- contrast, only one study investigated the role of a website-
ies used consumer characteristics as antecedents for related factor and marketing factor as a mediator [104].
analyzing their effect on the consumer’s online IBB 1) SOCIAL-RELATED FACTORS
in the S-commerce context. For example, Leong et al. Some social factors, like the social influence (infor-
[112] investigated the effect of five antecedents, which mational or normative) and the social support (infor-
referred to different personality traits (i.e., agreeable- mational or emotional), have been used as mediators
10 VOLUME 4, 2016
Table 5. Factors adopted as antecedents Table 6. Factors adopted as moderators
Antecedents Reference Frequency Moderator Reference Frequency

a) Social Related Factors a) Marketing related factors
• Number of “likes” [15], [37] 2 • Scarcity [73], [110] 2
• Social presence [110], [117] 2 • Product type [113] 1
• Review quality and [111] 1 • Sales promotion [107] 1
source credibility b) Consumer characteristics
• Observational learning [111] 1 • Big five personality traits [88] 1
• Similarity [66] [14] 12 • Hedonic shopping [81] 1
• Expertise [14] 1 features
• Likeability [14] 1 [15], [37],
• Impulsiveness 3
• Online review’s hedonic [114] 1 [114]
and Utilitarian value • Absorption [37] 1
• Electronic word-of- [77], [88] 2 • Experience [105] 1
mouth (eWOM) • Income [112] 1
• Social capital [40] 1 c) Website related factors
• Closeness [109] 1 • Serendipity [73] 1
• Familiarity [109] 1
b) Website related factors
[15], [66],
• Information quality 3 characteristics as a mediator. Most of the studies [40],
[117]
• Personalization [106] 1 [105], [112], [114] used the urge to buy impulsively as
• Social interaction [106] 1 a mediator, which affects the consumer’s IBB. Table
• Tempo music [110] 1
• Navigational [113] 1 7 describes other consumer characteristics (pleasure,
characteristics arousal, and urgency), used as a mediator.
• Entertainment [108], [113] 2 3) MARKETING RELATED FACTORS
• Information fit-to-task [14] 1
[14], [36], As shown in Table 7, product promotion effectiveness
• Visual appeal 3
[116] was the only marketing factor used as a mediator
• Website ease of use [36] 1 [104].
• Subject Involvement [40] 1
• Vividness [40] 1 4) WEBSITE RELATED FACTORS
• Previous Purchases [37] 1 Similar to marketing factors, product search effective-
• Serendipity [81] 1 ness was the only website factor used as a mediator
• Informativeness [108], [113] 2
• Recommendation agent [104] 1 [104].
• Website personality [107] 1
• Advertisement content [116] 1
• Production quality [108] 1 4) Outcomes
• Creativity [108] 1 Outcomes refer to the expected result behavior caused by
c) Consumer characteristics
• Big five personality traits [105] 1
the antecedents, due to the mediators and moderators [119].
• Impulsiveness [73] 1 These outcomes include the dependent variables of the
• Trustworthiness [106], [109] 2 consumer’s online impulse buying. There are two main
• Expertise [106] 1
• Browsing [112] 1
types of impulse buying responses, namely, urge to buy
• Harmonious Passion [115] 1 impulsively (UBI) and actual impulse buying [112]. These
• Obsessive Passion [115] 1 are adopted by many researchers as an outcome variable
• Usage intensity [81] 1
• Social and physical [108] 1
for studying online IBB in the S-commerce context. IBB
attractiveness occurs when the consumers experience a UBI and consider
• Homophily [108] 1 it necessary to buy the product. On the other hand, it is not
• Hedonic and utilitarian [109] 1
motivation
necessary that consumers actually purchase the product if
• Urgency [109] 1 they encounter a strong UBI [112], and therefore, UBI and
d) Marketing related factors the actual impulsive buying are considered to be different
• Scarcity [37], [81] 2
• Product availability [36], [116] 2
concepts. Previous studies either focused on UBI [14], [15],
• Vicarious expression [66] 1 [36], [37], [73], [111] or actual impulsive buying [14],
• Aesthetic appeal [66] 1 [88], [109], [110]. Few studies considered both the impulse
buying responses [40], [105], [112], [114], wherein the UBI
was a mediator, and the outcome referred to the actual
in earlier S-commerce studies that investigated the impulsive buying. Some other studies focused on the user’s
causality between the input and the outcome (i.e., impulse buying tendencies [77], [113]. Table 8 presents
online IBB) [106]. In Table 7, it can be noticed that these factors in detail.
parasocial interaction was the most used mediator in
previous literature [106], [108]. V. DISCUSSION AND FUTURE WORK
2) CONSUMER CHARACTERISTICS Based on the analysis of the systematic review work, the
Many studies examined the role played by consumer authors outline some areas for future research that may
VOLUME 4, 2016 11
Table 7. Factors adopted as mediators fields including sociology, computer science, marketing, and
psychology [13], there is a need to update the concept of S-
Mediator Reference Frequency
a) Social Related Factors
commerce based on the new developments in technologies,
• Social support [106] 1 and to provide a broader domain to include all the sciences
• Social influence [106] 1 that contribute to it. Future researches should give a clear
• Peer Communication [40] 1
• Parasocial interaction [106], [108] 2
definition of S-commerce considering these questions to
b) Consumer characteristics clarify the concept of S-commerce.
• Arousal [77], [110] 2 Additionally, online impulse buying increased signifi-
• Pleasure [77], [110] 2
• Positive affect [107], [111] 2
cantly in the online context due to the appearance of S-
• Negative affect [107] 1 commerce. In this paper, the authors synthesized previous
[40], [105], studies of online impulse buying and analyzed various
• Urge to buy impulsively [109], [112], 5
[114]
definitions of impulse buying. The authors showed that
• Urgency [105] 1 these earlier studies defined impulse buying from different
• Impulse buying tendency [14], [36] 2 angles: intention and planning for the purchase, time to
• Shopping [73], [117] 2
value(utilitarian, hedonic
make a purchase decision, feelings, reflections of purchase
value) consequences, thoughtful purchase, and the reaction to stim-
• Instant gratification [36] 1 uli. Since there is still a lack of a standard definition of
• Normative evaluation [36] 1
[14], [108],
the impulse buying concept [4], other research questions
• Perceived usefulness 3 that need to be investigated in future research are “What
[116]
[14], [108], is the standard definition of impulse buying?” “What are
• Perceived enjoyment 3
[116]
• Satisfaction [104] 1
the main components of each different type of impulse
• Affective trust [66] 1 purchase (reminder, pure, suggestive, and planned impulse
• Cognitive trust [66] 1 purchases)?” Answers to these questions will provide a
• Product affection [66] 1
• Impulsiveness [116] 1
greater understanding of and insights into the impulse
c) Marketing related factors buying concept.
• Product promotion [104] 1 This study also consolidated and summarized the findings
effectiveness
d) Website related factors
of the previous studies that addressed online IBB in the
• Product search [104] 1 context of S-commerce. The authors found that most of the
effectiveness existing studies of online IBB used survey and experimental
methods. These two methods have methodological shortages
Table 8. Outcomes which influence the results of the study. For example, in
controlled settings, the experimental designs may cause the
Outcomes Reference Frequency
individual to interpret, perceive, and react upon what he/she
Urge to buy [14], [15], [36], [37], [73], 9
impulsively [108], [111], [116], [117] believes the experimenters are looking for [50]. As for sur-
Impulse buying [40], [66], [81], [88], 13 vey defects, participants may respond to the questionnaire
[104]–[107], [109], [110], in a socially desirable manner and underreport the level
[112], [114], [115]
Impulse buying [77], [113] 2 or occurrence of their online IBB. Since the survey and
tendency experiment methods are insufficient to capture the actual
IBB, future studies could use mixed methods or tribulations
method or a neurophysiological approach to provide more
yield interesting insights into the field, but have not yet been rigorous and objective measurements of online IBB and
covered or which need more investigation. Furthermore, the accurate results.
authors provide a novel research agenda (see Table 9) to Furthermore, the majority of the previous works have
include promising questions for future work derived from been conducted in Asia, particularly in China. Previous re-
our analysis of the previous researches. searches showed that culture influences consumer purchases
In this systematic review, diverse definitions of social [120]. Since people in this region shared the same culture,
commerce from academic publications have been collected replicating these studies in a different context may produce a
and analyzed. After analyzing these definitions, it has been different, new, accurate, and deeply intuitive understanding
found that previous studies defined the S-commerce con- of impulse buying.
cept by focusing on different perspectives: social media, Moreover, regarding the theoretical foundation of the pre-
commercial activities, social activities, and Web2.0. De- vious works, the majority of the studies adopted stimulus-
spite several efforts having been made to conceptualize the organism-response as their underlying framework to study
definition of S-commerce, there is no generic and clear online IBB. Although online impulse buying attracted the
definition of S-commerce. What are the main elements of attention of scholars in S-commerce, the theoretical foun-
social commerce? Since S-commerce evolved rapidly and dation of online IBB research is still in its infancy and
comprises newer technologies and encompasses multiple scattered. Developing new theories in this area of study is
12 VOLUME 4, 2016
considered as one of the challenging issues for information Table 9. Research agenda
systems research [4]. Thus, additional research efforts are

Systematic Questions
needed to investigate the causes of online IBB theoretically review
and empirically to enrich our understanding of such behavior Social commerce • What is the standard definition of
and expand this area of study. Furthermore, after analyzing definition S-commerce?
• What are the main elements of
the factors that influence online IBB in S-commerce, it has S-commerce considering new technologies?
been noticed that previous studies focused on either the Impulse buying • What is the standard definition of
urge to buy impulsively or actual impulse buying, which are definition impulse buying?
• What are the main components of each
different concepts. An individual tends to buy impulsively if different type of impulse purchase
he/she experiences an urge to buy. However, the consumer (reminder, pure, suggestive, and planned
may or may not purchase the product if he/she experiences impulse purchases)?
Diverse research • What are the impacts of using mixed
a strong UBI [112]. methods and methods or triangulation or
On the other hand, one of the main features of impulse research context neurophysiological approaches on impulse
buying is a strong emotion that accompanies it. Thus it buying studies results?
• What is the impact of replicating the
is necessary to use UBI to study actual impulse buying. previous studies in a different context
Therefore, the authors recommend that both UBI and actual other than Asia?
impulse buying should be considered when studying IBB to Theoretical • What are other theories from different
considerations disciplines are valid to better explain and
provide precious and real results regarding impulse buying. understand online impulse buying in social
Moreover, most of the studies used website-related factors commerce in IS?
as antecedents of IBB, and little attention was given to Impulse buying • Is the urge to buy impulsively
responses significantly different from actual impulse
marketing and social-related factors. Impulse buying has buying?
been studied for decades in marketing research; therefore, it • If the future researches replicate the
is important to examine the influence of different marketing existing studies by considering both UBI
and IBB, will the results differ?
factors on online IBB in S-commerce. The main focus of S- Social interaction • What other social-related factors in
commerce is the social aspect, which differentiates it from S-commerce contribute significantly to
other contexts [4]. S-commerce enables social interaction online impulse buying?
Moderation and • What other Website and marketing
among consumers; thus, the social-related factors play a meditation roles factors in S-commerce play important roles
significant role in consumer behavior in this interactive of Website and as moderation and mediation in online
platform. The authors suggest that future research puts more marketing factors impulse buying?
emphasis on marketing such as warranty and advertising
and social-related factors (e.g., social enhancement and
maintaining interpersonal connectivity). The authors also adopted a few theories for studying online IBB, wherein
recommend that more investigation of the moderation and the S-O-R framework was the most popular. In addition,
mediation roles of the website and marketing factors on the authors also classified all the factors that affected
impulse buying is needed to give a comprehensive under- online IBB into four different categories, i.e., website-
standing of online IBB. Table 9 presents a research agenda. related, marketing-related, consumer characteristics, and so-
cial factors, and provided a Causal-Chain framework for
VI. CONCLUSIONS this behavior. Finally, the authors proposed a future research
Impulse buying has significantly appeared in S-commerce agenda on online IBB, which could be very helpful to both
and it attracted the attention of scholars. In this study, the academicians and practitioners in the fields of S-commerce
authors used a systematic review approach to: (1) provide and IBB.
an overview of online IBB research methods in the context This study helps researchers to deeply understand the
of S-commerce, (2) understand the theoretical foundation online IBB concept and the main characteristics of IBB that
of online IBB in S-commerce, (3) identify and classify enable them to differentiate it from other types of buying
the factors that influence impulse buying behavior in the behaviors. It also provides a causal chain framework to
context of S-commerce, and (4) highlight research gaps and allow these researchers to identify and understand the factors
future work. Additionally, the authors analyzed different that trigger IBB in S-commerce and the current state of
definitions of the S-commerce concept and defined its key the IBB research in S-commerce. Furthermore, this paper
elements. They also offered a clear perspective with regards proposed an agenda for future research to enable senior
to the consumer’s online IBB and identified the major and junior researchers to recognize those areas where more
differences between the impulse buying behavior, unplanned investigations are needed. Since S-commerce is still a novel
or planned (rational) buying. Moreover, they presented the concept, the results described in this review could act as
main characteristics of impulse buying. the foundation for future research, and help them identify
Literature analysis revealed that survey-based (83%) and several novel research questions, and obtain an overview
experiment method-based studies (17%) were prevalent of the existing research for positioning their work. Addi-
in online IBB researches. Furthermore, some researchers tionally, this review is helpful for business and marketers;
VOLUME 4, 2016 13
by proposing a causal chain framework of the factors that [16] L. Wu, K.-W. Chen, and M.-L. Chiu, “Defining key drivers of online
trigger IBB in S-commerce, the business and marketers impulse purchasing: A perspective of both impulse shoppers and system
users,” International Journal of Information Management, vol. 36, no. 3,
can make use of this list of factors and formulate their pp. 284–296, 2016.
business and marketing strategies based on it to strengthen [17] C.-C. Chang and A.-H. Tseng, “The post-purchase communication
their competitiveness and increase profits. This study also strategies for supporting online impulse buying,” Computers in Human
Behavior, vol. 39, pp. 393–403, 2014.
provides S-commerce designers and developers insights to [18] S. H. Lim, S. Lee, and D. J. Kim, “Is online consumersâ impulsive
implement social media features in S-commerce Sites based buying beneficial for e-commerce companies? an empirical investigation
on the list of the factors that trigger the online IBB in S- of online consumersâ past impulsive buying behaviors,” Information
Systems Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 85–100, 2017.
commerce to enhance their business. [19] T. K. Chan, C. M. Cheung, and Z. W. Lee, “The state of online
impulse-buying research: A literature analysis,” Information &
Management, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 204–217, 2017.
VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
[20] B. Kitchenham and S. Charters, “Guidelines for performing systematic
This research supported by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia literature reviews in software engineering,” 2007.
research grant (Q.J130000.2528.18H56). Samah Abdelsalm [21] J. C. Mendoza-Tello, H. Mora, F. A. Pujol-López, and M. D. Lytras,
“Social commerce as a driver to enhance trust and intention to use
thanks Ministry of Higher Education, Sudan, and University cryptocurrencies for electronic payments,” IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp.
of Khartoum, Faculty of Mathematical Science, Sudan, 50 737–50 751, 2018.
for sponsoring Samah Abdelsalam in her PhD Program at [22] R. G. Curty and P. Zhang, “Social commerce: Looking back and
forward,” Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. and Technology, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 1–10, 2011.
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SAMAH ABDELSALAM received the B.Sc. and

M.Sc. degree in information technology from
Khartoum University, Faculty of mathematical
sciences, Sudan. She is currently pursuing the
Ph.D. degree in information systems with the
School of Computing, Faculty of Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She is a Lecturer
with the computer sciences Department, Faculty
of Mathematical Sciences, Khartoum University,
Sudan. Her current research interests include In-
formation Systems, Social Commerce, and E-commerce.
NAOMIE SALIM received the B.Sc. degree in

computer science from the Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia, the M.Sc. degree in computer science
from the University of Western Michigan, and
the Ph.D. degree in information studies from the
University of Sheffield. She is currently a Pro-
fessor with the Faculty of Engineering, School of
Computing, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, where
she is the Deputy Dean (research and innovation)
of the Faculty of Engineering. She has authored
over 100 journals and conference papers since the inception of her research
career. Her main research interests include text mining, machine learning,
information retrieval, cheminformatics, and natural language processing.
ROSE ALINDA ALIAS received the B.Sc. degree

in computer science from University of Miami,
Coral Gables, Florida, USA, the M.Sc. degree
in Computer Information Systems from Univer-
sity of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, and
the Ph.D. degree in Information Systems from
University of Salford, United Kingdom. She is
currently a Professor with Azman Hashim In-
ternational Business School (AHIBS), Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia. Her main research interests
include Knowledge Management, Information Systems Strategy Planning,
and Information Systems Quality.
OMAYMA HUSAIN received the B.Sc. and

M.Sc. degree in information technology from
Khartoum University, Faculty of mathematical
sciences, Sudan. She is currently pursuing the
Ph.D. degree in information systems with the
School of Computing, Faculty of Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She is a Lecturer
with the computer sciences Department, Faculty
of Mathematical Sciences, Khartoum University,
Sudan. Her current research interests include In-
formation Systems, information retrieval, and Expert Systems.
VOLUME 4, 2016 19

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Understanding online impulse buying

INDEX TERMS Unplanned buying, S-commerce, Social interaction, Systematic review

I. INTRODUCTION Social interaction also helps companies to get feedback

Table 1. Impulse buying definitions

Table 2. Impulse buying characteristics

Characteristic Meaning Reference

Table 3. Inclusion and exclusion criteria Figure 1. Review protocol

Inclusion Criteria Exclusion Criteria

this review [101]. Thereafter, the authors used EndNote, a

D. STUDY SELECTION PROCESS

E. QUALITY ASSESSMENT (QA) 1) PUBLICATION SOURCE OVERVIEW

IV. RESULTS C. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF ONLINE IMPULSE

_ _ Convenience _ China and [88]

ness, extraversion, openness, neuroticism, and consci-

Table 5. Factors adopted as antecedents Table 6. Factors adopted as moderators

Antecedents Reference Frequency Moderator Reference Frequency

systems research [4]. Thus, additional research efforts are

S16 Hostler, R. E., Yoon, V. Y., Guo, Z., Guimaraes, T.,

SAMAH ABDELSALAM received the B.Sc. and

NAOMIE SALIM received the B.Sc. degree in

ROSE ALINDA ALIAS received the B.Sc. degree

OMAYMA HUSAIN received the B.Sc. and

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