LITERATURE REVIEW

RESEARCH QUESTION: How do discounts and bundle offers affect impulse buying in
consumers?
The literature review as a part of our induction to the depths of the topic have helped in testing
our pre-conceived notions about buying patterns in case of bundle offers and discounts and their
perceived value for the consumers. The secondary data has also brought out new perspectives in
terms of consumer mindset and factors which affect their decisions. Some new things were
discovered during the course, such as a direct relationship between internal factors such as mood,
state of mind, etc. while making purchases. External factors were also observed to be playing an
equally important role. The variables which came across as the major modifiers included

Perceived value of the product and of individual items in the bundle

Socio-economic and professional status
Internal factors during purchase

SOURCES:
1. The impact of Environmental Factors on Impulse Buying Behavior Using the Mehrabian
and Russells Framework. Leonardo Journal of Sciences, 14, (Amel GRAA, Maachou
DANI-ELKEBIR, Mohamed BENSAID, 2014).
Bundling leads to impulse buying, but there are many additional environmental factors which
influence the buying pattern of the customer such as time pressures, atmospheric factors, large
crowds, presence of others, etc. To have a better understanding of the consumer behaviour these
factors need to be taken into account.

2. Impact of Bundle Type, Price Framing and Familiarity on Purchase Intention for the
Bundle. ELSEVIER SCIENCE, 10, (Bari A. Harlam, Aradhna Krishna, Donald R. Lehman,
Carl Mela, 1995).
This article suggests that bundles composed of complementary products are more likely to be
consumed than bundles composed of similar products. We also learned that consumers are more
sensitive to a bundle price increase than to a bundle price decrease of equal amounts and the
purchasing decision is affected by how the bundling prices are presented to the consumers.
3. Better by the bundle? Retrieved from Harvard Business School, (Dina Gerdeman,2012).
It deals with many probing questions such as how are bundles viewed from the point of
customers or whether providing customers with bundles will lead to an increase or a
decrease in sales? It also deals with the various positive and negative effects of bundling.
4. Bundling for consumers?Understanding complementarity and its effect on consumers
preferences and satisfaction. Sweden:Umea School of Business, (Erika Knutsson, 2011).
Bundling has its own pros and cons. Some of the many advantages are risk reduction,
goods at a lower cost, etc. and at the same time some problems of over consumption and
getting unnecessary goods along with the useful goods. To overcome such issues it is
necessary to have a correct composition of bundles.
5. Pricing Practices: Their Effects on Consumer Behaviour and Welfare . mountain view
learning, 47, (Gorkan Ahmetoglu,Simon Fried, John Dawes and Adrian Furnham, 2010).
People do not always act rationally when provided with a number of choices, in contrast to what
is suggested by classical economists. The buying decisions are also influenced by frequency of
purchase and also the perceived price of the product. However the free items on the bundle
evoked mixed reactions, and are not always well received by the consumers.

6. Mohd. Rumzi Taushif, Manisha Gupta. (2013). A STUDY OF FACTORS AFFECTING

IMPULSE BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS AT MALLS (DELHI). ISSN, 5.

It has been found that consumer impulse buying is more dependent on the ease of accessibility of
the products. The consumer group belonging to the young professional category in metropolitan
cities tends to treat shopping as more of an entertainment experience rather than need based
activity. Also, they are swayed by emotions during a purchase which is fully leveraged by the
retail outlets by giving out bundle offers. Internal factors play an equally important role as
external stimuli for impulse buying.
7. Raghubir, Priya. (2004). Framing a price bundle: The case of "Buy/Get" Offers. Product and
Brand Management, 25.
Bundles can be perceived as providing free gifts along with the main products. Bundling can lead
to consumer drawing inferences about the product cost. If companies can recognize this and
accordingly design and promote the bundle, it might help them to find a way to include their
products in the consumers basket of goods.
8. Consumers' Expectations of savings from Bundles. ANZMAC, 5,(Roger M. Heeler and Adam
Nguyen, York University, 2003).
In the eyes of the customer, bundling usually infers as discount. In the absence of complete
information, bundling is perceived as savings. But for some consumers, it has a perception of
under consumption. Because they value a bundle at lower price, they tend not fully consume the
bundled products.

9. College Students Apparel Impulse Buying Behaviors in Relation to Visual Merchandising,

(Jiyeon Kim, 2003).
The result of the present study proves that there is a pivotal relationship between college
students impulse buying behaviors and two type of visual merchandising practices: instore form/mannequin display and promotional signage. This study also provides insights to
retailers about types of visual merchandising that can influence consumers impulse buying
behavior