"Impulse Buying Behavior and Convenience Products: An Empirical research in theFMCG industry of KarachiBy*************** i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACTThe aim of study was to identify and investigate factors that affect consumer?s impulsebuying behaviour. Industry selected for analysis is fast moving consumer goods orFMCG industry and market selected for study is Karachi in Pakistan. Quantitativeresearch design was selected for study where data is collected through surveyquestionnaire from 250 respondents that are consumers of FMCG products in Karachi.Data from respondents is analysed through SPSS for purpose of hypotheses testing and toidentify impact of placement, packaging, discounts and visual merchandising, which allare factors of impulse buying behaviour, on consumer?s impulse buying behaviour inFMCG industry of Karachi. Results show that all factors affects impulse buyingbehaviour of consumers significantly in FMCG industry of Karachi. It is furthermorerecommended for companies to focus on these four variables in their product to increasetheir sales and revenues. iii TABLE OF CONTENTSS.NO DESCRIPTION PAGENO.1.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………….... ii2.ABSTRACT…………………………………............................. iii3.LIST OF TABLES………………………………….................... vi4.LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………….. viiChapter 1: Introduction………………………………………… 011.1 Overview……………………………………………..... 011.2 Problem Statement……………………………………. 011.3 Back ground of the Study………………………………. 025. 1.3.1 Objective of the Study……………………………. 031.3.2 Significance of the Study………………………… 031.4 Outline of the study…………………………………….. 041.5 Definitions……………………………………………… 04Chapter 2: Literature Review……………………………………. 066. 2.1 Research Hypotheses…………………………………… 18Chapter 3: Research Methodology……………………………… 193.1 Method of Data Collection…………………………… 193.2 Sources of Information…………………………………. 197. 3.3 Sampling Technique and Procedures....………………... 203.4 Sample Size…...……….……………………………….. 203.5 Instrument of Data Collection…………………………. 20iv 3.6 Statistical Test Used.…………………………………… 203.7 Research Model………………………………………… 21Chapter 4: Results 228.4.1 Findings and Interpretation of Results…………………. 224.2 Research Hypotheses Summary……………………… 27Chapter 5: Discussions, Conclusion, Policy Implications and Future Research ………………………………………………… 285.1 Discussion...……………………………………………. 289. 5.2 Conclusion………….…………………………………... 305.3 Implications and Recommendations…………………… 305.4 Future Implications…………………………………….. 3110.References……………………………………………………… 3211.Appendix „A? – Questionnaire………………………………… 38 v LIST OF TABLESS.NO TablePAGENO.Table 1 Model Summary…………...……………………………… 25Table 2 ANOVA Table…………………………….......................... 26Table 3 Coefficients Table…..…………………………………….. 27 vi LIST OF FIGURESS.NO TablePAGENO.Figure 1 Gender…………...………………………………………… 23Figure 2 Age……………………………............................................ 24Figure 3 Income…………..…..…………………………………….. 24vii Impulse Buying Behaviour and Convenience Products1Chapter 1: Introduction1.1 Overview Over the years, the concept of impulse buying has emerged as an important factorin the domain of consumer behavior. Many researchers have attempted to provide a clearand better definition of impulse buying behavior of consumers (Karbasivar, and Yarahmadi, 2011). According to Bayley and Nancarrow (1998) impulse buying isdefined as consumer?s compelling, unplanned, sudden and complex buying behaviorwhich the consumer encounters to fulfill their hedonic needs. This unplanned hedonicbehavior is linked with pleasure which is entirely opposite to the utilitarian behavior inwhich the consumers are concerned with the economic value and functional benefits ofthe products during the purchase. Sirhindi, (2010) further added that Impulsive buyingbehavior refers consumer?s unplanned purchase of a particular commodity even withoutthe product evaluation. As a result, sometimes, the consumers have to encounter negativeconsequences resulting from post-purchase evaluation. During this process, there arevarious internal and external factors that affect consumer?s impulse buying behavior. 1.2 Problem statementThe present study is concerned with identifying the critical factors thatsignificantly affects impulsive buying behavior of consumers for the purchase of FMCGproducts in Karachi. For this study, the statement of the problem is as follows:“To studythe factors of impulsive buying behavior of consumers for the purchase of FMCGproducts in Karachi”. Impulse Buying Behaviour and Convenience Products21.3Back ground of the studyNowadays, it is the desire of almost every individual to acquire the quality goodsin order to enhance their living standards, which opens up an opportunity for the martsand retailers to improve their sales by carefully considering the impulsive buyingbehavior of consumers. Most of the retailers have understood the critical importance ofimpulsive buying and using it a focal point of purchasing (Sandy and Minjeong, 2009).Retailers are making continuous efforts to persuade the consumers to add certain productsto their shopping carts even if they do not have plan to make purchase. Differentstrategies have been designed by the marketers to encourage impulsive buying behaviorof consumers such as sales promotions, and other promotional tools to communicate withtheir consumers at the point of purchase. The increasing impulsive buying behavior of consumers is also affected in a positivemanner by the increase in income and credit availability to the consumers at the shoppingplaces. According to Ahmad, (2011), Impulsive buying is considered to be an importantconcept in order to understand consumer behavior. With this emerging trend, the retailsector has begun to grow at a rapid pace. Michael et al, (2010), have argued that theextent of involvement also varies when a consumer is likely to make impulsive purchaseas opposed to the general buying. In the context of Impulsive buying, the level ofinvolvement is relatively lower as the consumer does not usually plan to make purchase.The impulsive purchases are likely to happen when the consumer considers a certainproduct as appropriate for consumption. There are certain factors that affect the impulsivebuying behavior of the consumers which includes the store environment, personality Impulse Buying Behaviour and Convenience Products3traits, promotional approaches, income levels and many more, which the retailers aresupposed to consider in boosting their sales. 1.3.1Objective of the study The objectives of the study are as follows:? To understand the consumer behavior in the context of impulse buying.? To examine the significance of impulsive buying behavior for the FMCGindustry.? To study the factors affecting impulsive buying behavior of consumers forpurchasing FMCG products in Karachi.? To provide necessary recommendations to enhance the impulsive buyingbehavior of consumers to purchase FMCG products. 1.3.2Significance of the studyImpulse buying or an unplanned purchase behavior is among those of themarketing concepts which need to be considered carefully. Most of the retailers and storeowners consider it to be an efficient way of shopping as when an individual is in thestore, only then realistic evaluations can be made about the purchase of goods andservices. However, according to some retailers, there is no such thing as impulsivebuying (Saad, and Metawie, 2015). Hence, this study aims to shed light upon the growingimportance of impulsive buying by presenting certain factors which directly affectsconsumer?s intention to make purchase of goods.Impulse Buying Behaviour and Convenience Products4Additionally, it is also evident from the previous studies that individual?s decision topurchase goods is influenced by the personality traits, store environment and other certainfactors (Saad, and Metawie, 2015). Therefore, in this study, the important factors that aredirectly linked to the impulsive buying behavior are discussed by presenting critical aswell as supporting arguments to meet the aims of the present study. Hence, the findingsof the study could help the retailers to consider those factors to improve their profits.1.4Outline of the Study The study entails five sections. The first chapter includes the brief overviewconcerning the research topic, statement of the problem, and main objectives of the study.In the second chapter, the literature review is presented to describe in detail the factors ofcompulsive buying behavior of consumers. The third chapter encompasses themethodological fundamentals used for data collection for further analysis. Findingsgenerated through Correlation and regression will be discussed in the fourth chapter. Inthe fifth chapter, certain recommendation, future implications, and conclusion areprovided as an attempt for future researches. 1.5 Definitionsa) Impulsive buying The term „Impulse buying? refers to the powerful urge that arises within theconsumers to involve in the purchase process with little or no deliberation (Kollat, andWillett,1969)b) Consumer Buying Behavior Impulse Buying Behaviour and Convenience Products5 The term „Consumer Buying Behavior? is defined as the buying process of theconsumer. There are certain characteristics that influence the individual?s decision topurchase goods (Rani, 2014).c) FMCG Industry FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods), are also known as CPG (ConsumerPackaged Goods), are the products produced and sold at a lower cost. The FMCGindustry is composed of the group of companies involved in activities such as foodproduction, packaged goods etc (Kunc, 2005)"