Telematics and Informatics xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Telematics and Informatics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tele

What drives impulse buying behaviors in a mobile auction? The

perspective of the Stimulus-Organism-Response model
⁎
Chia-Chen Chen , Jun-You Yao
Department of Management Information Systems, National Chung Hsing University, No. 250, Kuo Kuang Rd., Taichung City 402, Taiwan, ROC

AR TI CLE I NF O AB S T R A CT

Keywords: The prevalence of smart devices and wireless networks has steered online traders toward mobile
Mobile auction devices, which has promoted the rapid development of auction platforms in the mobile com-
Stimulus-Organism-Response merce market. Past studies have shown that about 40% of all online expenditures are impulse
Websites architectural quality of websites purchases, and that this proportion may have increased as mobile commerce has become more
Promotional campaigns
prevalent. However, only a few researchers have used the context of mobile auctions to explore
Impulse buying
the impulsive buying behaviors of consumers. Therefore, our study selects the mobile auction
platform to explore how situational factors affect impulsive buying behavior. We integrate the S-
O-R model, impulsivity traits and other external variables to establish our research model and
hypotheses. Our results show that the personality factors of an impulsive buying tendency,
normative evaluation, and positive affect are key determinants of impulse buying, while ubi-
quity, ease of use, information exchange, discounted price, and scarcity are important precursors.
In addition, gender and platform categorizations are also used to classify the sample to determine
the differences between groups defined by these classifications. Our results are useful to both
researchers and mobile auction operators.

1. Introduction

In this era of accelerated growth in e-commerce, the expansion of mobile networks has been changing marketing patterns and
consumer behaviors. Mobile devices allow operators to provide consumers with the fun of shopping and to offer them app-only
promotional campaigns at any time. Thus, consumers can shop wherever and whenever they desire, giving rise to impulse buying as
well as mobile shopping behaviors that cause consumers to buy more frequently and to purchase more. According to the PwC’s “Total
Retail Survey 2017,” online shopping via computer is declining steadily as mobile shopping increases (PwC, 2017). Reportedly, 47%
of shoppers around the world have owned or intend to own a wearable device, and 37% of shoppers have completed a health and
beauty purchase via a mobile channel. MasterCard’s 2017 survey of mobile shopping behavior showed that more than half of
Taiwanese consumers (51.2%) had shopped on their mobile devices over the past 3 months, and that the growth of mobile shopping
in Taiwan was the largest in the Chinese-speaking community. The most frequently downloaded apps are Yahoo Shopping (27.1%)
and Shopee (21.5%). This shows that mobile auctions provide consumers with more channels for doing businesses with others. With a
few simple clicks, anyone can bid against other consumers, and the emotions derived therefrom can be considered as a feature of the
auction platform (Lee et al., 2009; Stafford et al., 2006) to which consumers prone to impulse buying are easily drawn (To et al.,
2007).
Past studies and surveys have indicated that external environmental factors affect the personal traits and emotional status of

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: emily@nchu.edu.tw (C.-C. Chen), g104029038@nchu.edu.tw (J.-Y. Yao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2018.02.007
Received 26 December 2017; Received in revised form 16 February 2018; Accepted 26 February 2018
0736-5853/ © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Please cite this article as: Chen, C.-C., Telematics and Informatics (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2018.02.007
C.-C. Chen, J.-Y. Yao Telematics and Informatics xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

consumers. Consumers assess their impulse buying behaviors based on these factors, thus resulting in their behaviors being affected
by environmental factors (Verhagen and van Dolen, 2011; Liu et al., 2013). In addition to the environmental factors of online
platforms, various kinds of marketing stimuli within the consumption environment (e.g., discounts, hunger marketing strategies, and
all kinds of incentives) are all significant factors that can induce impulse buying behaviors (Campbell and Diamond, 1990; Dawson
and Kim, 2009). Therefore, based on past studies, this study focuses on environmental factors and promotions to explore how
environmental stimuli affect impulse buying behaviors. We adopt the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model to investigate the
effects of external environmental factors. The S-O-R model conceptualizes consumers’ responses to consumption environments, al-
lowing researchers to better understand the complicated process behind consumers’ responses and decisions (Verhagen and van
Dolen, 2011; Liu et al., 2013).
Although the booming e-commerce market has given rise to impulse buying, few studies have explored impulse buying via mobile
devices. Hence, academic and managerial interest has increased in regard to the factors that promote impulse buying among con-
sumers in e-commerce environments. This study applies the structures of past studies on impulse buying behaviors to online shopping
environments in the context of mobile auctions. We also combine the features of the mobile shopping environment and promotional
strategies to examine how environmental stimuli and consumers’ personal factors influence impulse buying behaviors. This study
focuses on consumers who have used mobile auctions, and addresses the following questions regarding consumers’ impulse buying
behaviors:

• Do the environmental factors of mobile auctions markedly influence consumers’ positive affect?
• Do promotional campaigns for mobile auctions markedly influence consumers’ normative assessment and positive affect?
• Does an inclination toward impulse buying behaviors markedly influence the consumer’s normative assessment and positive
affect?
• Does an inclination toward impulse buying behaviors, normative assessment, and positive effect markedly influence the con-
sumer’s impulse buying behaviors?

2. Literature review & hypotheses

2.1. Mobile auctions

With the popularity of smart devices and mobile networks, the number of people surfing the Internet on mobile devices has also
been on the rise. Online transactions have started to shift from personal computers to mobile devices, and as the number of mobile-
commerce users gradually exceeds that of e-commerce users, mobile-commerce becomes mainstream. This has created a large
number of mobile-commerce markets. To take advantage of this trend, many online auctions have started to set up mobile-commerce
applications, giving rise to C2C mobile auctions.
In their proposed structure for building mobile platforms, Liu and Pham (2016) adopted the 4 key factors for success in mobile-
commerce operation suggested by Xu and Gutiérrez (2006). Widely used in studies regarding mobile-commerce (Tojib and Tsarenko,
2012), these factors are: (1) convenience, (2) ubiquity, (3) ease of use, and (4) trust.
In recent years, as mobile-commerce has matured in Taiwan, many new mobile-commerce operators have begun to provide fast
and easy transaction services to consumers with Internet-connected mobile devices. Therefore, many users have shifted from tra-
ditional online shopping websites to mobile auctions. To get a share of the market, many operators have also entered the fray to
expand their sales channels. Often, at the beginning of operations, no slotting fees or transaction fees were charged, so floods of users
were drawn to such platforms. However, once operation patterns were set up and their platforms were operating stably, mobile-
commerce operators started charging sellers transaction fees as a source of income. These signs show that mobile-commerce has
become an important development direction for future e-commerce. Auction operations of this kind have been referred to as tra-
ditional online auctions. In contrast, the term “native mobile auction” refers to an operation in which the operator bypassed the
process of setting up a traditional website and introduced a mobile app to the market directly.

2.2. Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model

The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model was proposed by Mehrabian and Russell (1974) in the early days of the en-
vironmental psychology field. Many studies have used it to interpret impulse buying behaviors. The S-O-R model includes three
aspects: the environment or stimulus (S) that triggers consumer behaviors and responses, the organism (O) that responds, and the
actual response (R). This model aims to integrate individual responses to explain people’s perceptions and emotions regarding
external stimuli, and the positive or negative behaviors that are generated subsequently. Adopting the S-O-R model in studying
consumer behaviors helps differentiate environmental stimuli and consumers’ internal and external behaviors.
With online shopping on the rise, the S-O-R model has become the most commonly used basis for researching online impulse
buying. Many studies have also applied this model to explore how the properties of online shopping websites affect consumer
behaviors. Eroglu et al. (2001) were the first to apply environmental psychology to study online consumer behaviors. They showed
that the stimulus factors and the ambience of online stores affect the emotional and cognitive status of consumers, thereby triggering
consumer behaviors. Manganari et al. (2009) also showed that consumers’ perceptions of online stores evoke emotions and affect
their behaviors. Therefore, the higher the quality of the environment provided by the online store, the more online consumer
behaviors can be triggered. Jones et al. (2003), Kim and Lennon (2012) and Ariningsih et al. (2016) proved that specific

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environmental features, such as specific items or manipulations of scenarios, can help predict consumers’ actual impulse buying
behaviors more effectively. Huang (2016) adopted the S-O-R model, social capital, and flow theory to investigate impulse buying in
social commerce. The results showed that the opinions of peers affect and influence consumers' impulsive desires. Chan et al. (2017)
made a survey of studies on online impulse buying behavior over the last decade and found that the S-O-R framework was the most
popular theoretical approach. Hence, this study selects impulse buying behaviors as the behavioral results in its exploration of
consumers’ impulse buying behaviors in mobile auctions.

2.3. Website architectural quality

Recent studies on impulse buying have been based, primarily, on the architectural quality of the websites (Verhagen and van
Dolen, 2011; Liu et al., 2013; Berbegal-Mirabent et al., 2016), and have developed models and structures that fit the scenarios of
those studies. Therefore, this study adopts the theory of website architectural quality in its exploration of impulse buying. Kim et al.
(2002) proposed three standards for website architectural quality which are closely related to customer satisfaction:

(1) Structural Firmness refers to the internal stability and external security of a website, which can be measured by system stability
and accessibility. These are the keys to the operation of websites and relate to the most fundamental needs of online buyers (Kim
et al., 2002; Valacich et al., 2007).
(2) Functional Convenience refers to how the website collects information and processes orders, including website usability and ease
of navigation, which are important design principles for helping consumers complete anticipated activities (Verhagen and van
Dolen, 2011).
(3) Representational Delight refers to how a website can provide consumers with a pleasant, entertaining shopping experience
(Huang, 2003). This includes the system interface, which connects the human and the machine; and the communication interface,
which allows users to communicate with each other via the system (Berbegal-Mirabent et al., 2016).

Verhagen and van Dolen (2011) divided trust in online stores into two categories: functional convenience and representational
delight. Functional convenience is divided into product attractiveness and website ease of use. Representational delight is divided
into enjoyment and website exchange. The purpose of their study was to examine how these two kinds of trust influence consumers’
impulse buying behaviors online. The results showed that these aspects of quality trigger a positive affect in the consumer and lead to
impulse buying behaviors. Therefore, this research structure has garnered significant attention among researchers studying impulse
buying and has become the basis for relevant studies.
Thanks to the ubiquity of e-commerce, consumers can receive and send information and conduct electronic transactions on
shopping platforms anytime and anywhere, instantly (Clarke, 2008). Many scholars have explored the influence of this fundamental
property (ubiquity) on consumer behaviors (Clarke, 2008; Tojib and Tsarenko, 2012). Ubiquity ensures convenience, and not only
shatters limitations on mobility but also enriches users’ experience through instant application services (Lee, 2007; Tojib and
Tsarenko, 2012). Tojib and Tsarenko (2012) studied mobile services, and noted that the ubiquity of the service induces a positive
affect in the consumer. In their study on willingness to use social media, Jung and Chung (2015) also noted that ubiquity affects
consumers’ cognitive pleasure.
Ease of use is another important aspect of e-service quality. Impulse buying behavior is affected by the ease with which the system
can be operated and purchases can be made. Mobile commerce operators should provide consumers with properly designed interfaces
which take little effort to learn or use, allowing users to easily find the information they want and conduct transactions (Hung, 2008;
Lin and Lo, 2016). Lin and Lo (2016) found that the ease of use of shopping environments markedly impacts the consumer’s positive
affect (e.g., a pleasant feeling). Therefore, the more user-friendly the interface, the more likely are customers to feel pleased.
In e-commerce environments, consumers cannot “get a feel for” the items in which they are interested as they can in brick-and-
mortar stores. Therefore, the exchange of information is an important interaction between users and shop owners. The concept of
information exchange includes information search, information provision, and shared events (Burnett, 2000). In addition to the
acquisition or provision of the target information, such an exchange strengthens the interaction between users, buyers and sellers
(Berbegal-Mirabent et al., 2016). Exchanged information can improve shop owners’ understanding of their own products and of other
users, while increasing the likelihood that the consumer will be affected by other users, follow others’ suggestions and exhibit impulse
buying behaviors (Adjei et al., 2010). Private message and comment functions provided by auction platforms allow users to send
information and communicate with sellers and other consumers instantly, which affects their emotions (Novak et al., 2000). Although
these functions do not facilitate consumers’ shopping goals directly, they boost consumers’ emotions. Therefore, the exchange of
information is considered an important factor in promoting consumption during the purchase process (Verhagen and van Dolen,
2011; Berbegal-Mirabent et al., 2016).
Past researchers have used the S-O-R model to prove that the design of e-commerce websites affects consumers’ emotions and
leads to different behaviors, thus influencing the quantity of product purchased and the amount spent at the store (Eroglu et al., 2001;
Verhagen and van Dolen, 2011). In this study, structural firmness is represented by the feature of ubiquity; functional convenience is
represented by ease of use; and representational delight is represented by information exchange. Based on the above literature, this
study explores the relationship between emotion and the platform’s architectural quality. Thus, we hypothesize as follows.

H1: The “ubiquity” of mobile auctions positively impacts consumers’ “positive affect.”
H2: The “ease of use” of mobile auctions positively impacts consumers’ “positive affect.”

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H3: The “information exchange” of mobile auctions positively impacts consumers’ “positive affect.”

2.4. Promotional campaigns

According to the consumption impulse formation and enhancement (CIFE) model proposed by Dholakia (2000), the marketing
stimuli in consumption environments increase the likelihood that consumers will exhibit impulse buying behaviors. The greater the
discount, or the more convincing the sales personnel and experts sound, the more likely consumers will be to purchase on impulse
(Park and Noh, 2012; Kim and Johnson, 2016). Unexpected promotions and limitations on the purchase of certain items are two
factors that render consumers unable to resist the desire to shop, which eventually results in a purchase (Nusair et al., 2010;
Aggarwal, Jun, and Huh, 2011).
Therefore, this study adopts Campbell and Diamond’s (1990) method for categorizing promotional incentives. Promotional tools
are categorized into “price promotion” and “non-price promotion.” In regard to the price promotion strategy, this study selects “price
promotion” as defined in Nusair et al. (2010). For non-price promotion, this study uses the promotion incentive that stresses
“scarcity” and “value” (Parker and Lehmann, 2011; Song et al., 2015). These two strategies are considered as marketing stimuli in
consumption environments to determine whether promotions affect consumers’ impulse buying behaviors in mobile auctions.
Among the factors that induce impulse buying behaviors in consumers, lowering the spending amount is the most important.
Discounted price refers to the promotional strategy in which store owners lower the retail cost of certain items in order to attract
consumers. The discounted price creates shifts in consumers’ emotions, such that consumers who think they can benefit feel pleased,
and this increase their positive aspect causes them to actually spend more (Park and Noh, 2012; Song et al., 2015). This kind of
instant economic stimulus induces consumers to change their standards of reference for the prices of products, and this change affects
their willingness to make a purchase (Nusair et al., 2010). In other words, consumers give positive feedback and yield to impulse
buying when offered discount prices on products.
Shop owners often limit the supply of their products or their promotion periods in hopes of pressuring consumers and reducing the
time spent on hesitation. The purpose is to increase the sense of urgency and encourage the mindset of buying discounted items while
triggering consumers’ intentions to purchase products (Vaidyanathan and Aggarwal, 2003). Scarcity is a strategic limitation of the
supply, time, or other purchase conditions of a product, conveying a message to consumers that the possibility of buying that product
is low (Aggarwal et al., 2011). This limited supply of resources is a relatively strong stimulus in that the intended message pressures
consumers into accelerating their decision-making process, eventually leading them to make a purchase. Lin and Lin (2013) found
that promotional messages on digital media indicating that the supply of products is limited or only available within certain time
limits can trigger a strong positive affect in consumers. Song et al. (2015) study on impulse buying on social commercial platforms
indicated that messages regarding both scarcity and product discounts pique consumers’ interest. For consumers, this promotion
strategy affects the attractiveness of the product. When demand is greater than supply, consumers believe that the product is popular
and selling well, which promotes changes in their normative assessment and leads to an immediate purchase (Parker and Lehmann,
2011).
Based on the above literature, this study proposes the four following hypotheses regarding the relationships between discount and
scarcity, and normative assessment and positive affect.

H4. “Discount” positively affects consumers’ “normative assessment” regarding mobile auctions.
H5. “Discount” positively affects consumers’ “positive affect” regarding mobile auctions.
H6. “Scarcity” positively affects consumers’ “normative assessment” regarding mobile auctions.
H7. “Scarcity” positively affects consumers’ “positive affect” regarding mobile auctions.

2.5. Impulse buying

The concept of impulse buying can be traced back to a study by Applebaum (1951), who thought that consumers receive stimuli at
stores, and that purchasing behavior is a subsequent response. The idea belongs to the “stimulus-response” relationship con-
ceptualized in early psychology studies. Applebaum also defined impulse buying as “an unplanned purchase made under stimulus.”
Parboteeah et al. (2009) considered impulse buying to be a behavior exhibited following an interaction between a users and a
website. There are two features in this process: (1) consumers feel a sudden and urgent desire or impulse to make a purchase online,
and (2) consumers are eventually induced to make the purchase online. Liu et al. (2013) considered impulse buying to be an
unconsidered, hasty decision made by consumers after receiving a strong and irresistible stimulus from their current shopping
environment.
Past literature has shown that different scholars have different perspectives on impulse buying based on differences in their
research backgrounds and purposes. However, most studies have drawn a parallel between impulse buying and unplanned buying.
Based on past studies, this study defines impulse buying as follows: “After receiving external stimuli in shopping scenarios, consumers
exhibit a strong emotional response which prompts them to unscrupulously, irrationally, willingly, and instantly purchase products
they did not plan to purchase.”
Shopping scenarios play an important role in triggering an impulse purchase. The scenario must trigger a strong emotional
response that induces the consumer to decide immediately to make the purchase. The personal traits of consumers also affect whether
these external stimuli trigger impulse buying behaviors. Dholakia’s (2000) study found that consumers are affected by emotions and
impulses before making an impulse purchase. Consumers who feel positive accept a higher level of risk when shopping. Consumers’

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character traits, inclinations and values also induce them to make a positive impression or judgment regarding impulse buying (Mittal
et al., 2018). Chih et al. (2012) considered impulse buying, normative assessment, and positive affect as personal characteristics and
traits of consumers. Their results showed that these personal factors affect each other: when consumers have a strong inclination to
buy on impulse, they have a more positive normative assessment regarding impulse buying, and are more likely to have a positive
affect in this regard. In addition, these personal factors all markedly prompt consumers to make an impulse purchase. Thus, any
increase in the degree of these personal factors (i.e., the inclination to buy on impulse, a positive normative assessment regarding
impulse buying, and a positive affect) increases the likelihood that the consumer will make an impulse purchase (Liu et al., 2013).
Based on the above literature, this study examines the relationships between consumers’ personal factors and the impact of these
factors on impulse buying. Thus, we hypothesize as follows.

H8. The “inclination toward impulse buying” positively affects consumers’ “normative assessment” regarding mobile auctions.
H9. “Normative assessment” positively affects consumers’ “positive affect” regarding mobile auctions.
H10. The “inclination toward impulse buying” positively affects consumers’ “impulse buying behaviors” in mobile auctions.
H11. “Normative assessment” positively affects consumers’ “impulse buying behaviors” in mobile auctions.
H12. “Positive affect” positively affects consumers’ “impulse buying behaviors” in mobile auctions.

3. Research method

3.1. Research model

This study examines consumers’ impulse buying behaviors in mobile auctions. Based on the S-O-R model and the e-commerce
requirement structure, this study develops its own model which combines promotional campaigns and the inclination toward impulse
buying, normative assessment, positive affect, and other internal variables pertaining to consumers. We employ three aspects of the e-
commerce requirement structure: ubiquity, ease of use, and information exchange. For promotional campaigns, we consider dis-
counted price and scarcity as the marketing stimuli. The research structure is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Research Structure.

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Table 1
Definition of the constructs.

Construct Definition Reference

Ubiquity The mobile auction is accessible “anywhere” and “anytime” at the point of need, Clarke (2008), Tojib and Tsarenko
(UB) without limitation. (2012)
Ease of use How easy it is to navigate the online store Verhagen and van Dolen (2011), Liu
(EOU) et al. (2013)
Information exchange Interaction behavior including activities that are expressly aimed at gathering, sharing, Verhagen and van Dolen (2011),
(IE) or otherwise using information Berbegal-Mirabent et al. (2016)
Discounted price A price that is more favorable than usual Hsu et al. (2006), Wells et al. (2011)
(DP)
Scarcity A method of expressing messages to customers by limiting the item’s quantity and/or Aggarwal et al. (2011), Prebensen et al.
(SC) time of availability, which increases the value and attractiveness of that product or (2016)
service
Impulsive buying Contains both the tendencies to (1) experience spontaneous and sudden urges to make Liu et al. (2013), Mittal et al. (2018)
tendency on-the-spot purchases, and (2) act on these felt urges with little [conscious] deliberation
(IBT) or evaluation of the consequences
Normative Evaluation A consumer's judgment about the appropriateness of making an impulsive purchase in a Liu et al. (2013), Mittal et al. (2018)
(NE) particular buying situation
Positive affect The extent to which a person feels enthusiastic, excited and inspired Verhagen and van Dolen (2011), Chih
(PA) et al. (2012)
Impulse buying behavior The state of desire that is experienced upon encountering an object in the environment Liu et al. (2013), Kim and Johnson
(IB) (2016)

3.2. Research design

Based on the research structure, we divided the questionnaire into nine categories for data collection. We used a five point Likert
scale to quantify the responses to our survey. Respondents answered the questions by indicating a number from 1 to 5 (1 = totally
disagree, 5 = totally agree). The formal questions of the questionnaire and references are shown in the Appendix, and the operative
definitions of the research constructs are compiled in Table 1. The questionnaire items for each construct were designed based on
several references. The items for ubiquity (UB) were based on Kim et al. (2009). The items for ease of use (EOU) were based on
Verhagen and van Dolen (2011) and Liu et al. (2013). The items for information exchange (IE) were based on Wang and Chiang
(2009) and Adjei et al. (2010). The items for discounted price (DP) were based on Shim and Altmann (2016) and Tang et al. (2016).
The items for scarcity (SC) were based on Wu et al. (2011) and Chang et al. (2014). The items for impulsive buying tendency (IBT)
were based on Verplanken and Herabadi (2001) and Badgaiyan and Verma (2014). The items for normative evaluation (NE) were
based on Liu et al. (2013). The items for positive affect (PA) were based on Verhagen and van Dolen (2011) and Liu et al. (2013).
Lastly, the items for impulse buying behavior (IB) were based on Verhagen and van Dolen (2011).

3.3. Descriptive statistical analysis

This study investigates consumers’ impulse buying behaviors in mobile auctions. The questionnaires were distributed in May and
June of 2017 via discussion boards relevant to e-commerce and online shopping. The main distribution channel was the PTT bulletin
board system. The respondents are those who had exhibited consumption patterns relevant to our survey. A total of 452 samples were
collected. After we discarded 51 invalid or randomly answered questionnaires, 401 valid ones remained.
The statistical results in Table 2 show that the 173 males and 228 females accounted for roughly 42% and 58% of the sample,
respectively. The largest portion of respondents (74%) were 21–30 years of age. Around 73.8% of the respondents had a monthly
income of less than $800 (USD). This study categorizes mobile auctions into traditional online auctions and native mobile auctions.
Traditional online auctions include Yahoo Shopping and Ruten, which operate mainly on their websites and have launched exclusive
mobile apps to keep up with the trend of mobile shopping. Native mobile auctions include Shopee and Carousell, whose owners
bypassed the process of setting up websites and launched apps directly into the market. The survey results show that around 60% of
the respondents had shopped on Shopee, around 40% had used the Yahoo Shopping app, and around 30% had used the Carousell and
Shopee apps.

4. Data analysis and results

This study used AMOS 21 and SPSS 22 software to verify the proposed model and hypotheses via structural equation modeling
(SEM). We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test reliability and validity before inspecting the hypotheses. Factor analysis
was used to ensure reliability and discriminant validity by reducing the number of items in each dimension.

4.1. Reliability & validity analysis

This study adopted Cronbach’s α to perform reliability analysis. Based on the standards suggested in past studies, Cronbach’s α

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Table 2
Demographic characteristics of respondents.

Measure Items Frequency Percent

Gender Male 173 42%

Female 228 58%

Age Under 20 years old 27 6.7%

21–30 years old 298 74.8%
31–40 years old 66 16.5%
41–50 years old 6 1%
Over 51 years old 4 1%

Monthly Disposable Income (USD) Under $300 192 47.9%

$300-$800 104 25.9%
$800-$1600 90 22.4%
Over $1600 15 3.8%

Experience Using Mobile Auction Platforms Shopee 236 58.9%

Carousel 118 29.4%
Yahoo Shopping APP 176 43.9%
Ruten APP 143 35.7%
Other 7 1.7%

must be larger than 0.7 to ensure that the survey questions exhibit an adequate level of reliability (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). In
addition, this study performed validity analysis using three indicators: factor loading, composite reliability (CR) and average variance
extracted (AVE). According to Fornell and Larcker (1981), and Hair et al. (2010), the factor loading of each item must exceed 0.5, the
CR of all items must exceed 0.6, and the AVE of all items must exceed 0.5. The results are shown in Table 3.
Discriminant validity was used to measure the relevance between factors. Correlation coefficients of all factors must be larger than
that of other factors (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). As shown in Table 4, the square root of the AVE of all factors are all larger than that
of the correlation coefficients with other factors, showing that this questionnaire has acceptable discriminant validity.

4.2. Goodness-of-fit analysis

Goodness-of-fit is used to determine whether the overall research model matches with the theory patterns. Past scholars have
proposed various indicators for measurement and standards for follow-up studies to examine the appropriateness of the research
model from different angles. The detailed data of each indicator in this study are shown in Table 5.

4.3. Results of research hypothesis testing

Fig. 2 is the structural equation model of “A Study on Impulse Buying Behaviors in Mobile Auctions.”
Based on the research model of this study of impulse buying behaviors in mobile auctions, the analysis results are as follows. We
found that ubiquity (β = 0.271, p < 0.01), ease of use (β = 0.264, p < 0.001), information exchange (β = 0.219, p < 0.01),
discounted price (β = 0.217, p < 0.01) and scarcity (β = 0.259, p < 0.001) all have an effect on consumers’ positive affect.
However, we found no support for the hypothesis proposing that discounted price affects consumers’ normative assessment
(β = −0.221, p < 0.01). Scarcity (β = 0.268, p < 0.01) markedly affects consumers’ normative assessment. The inclination toward
impulse buying (β = 0.157, p < 0.01) also markedly affects consumers’ normative assessment. However, we found no support for
the hypothesis proposing that normative assessment enhances consumers’ positive affect (β = 0.110, p > 0.05). Lastly, the in-
clination toward impulse buying (β = 0.560, p < 0.001), normative assessment (β = 0.154, p < 0.01) and positive affect
(β = 0.268, p < 0.001) were all found to affect consumers’ impulse buying behaviors.

4.4. Findings of research hypothesis testing analysis

The results show that 10 of the 12 hypotheses proposed by this study are valid, and 2 are invalid. The results of our hypothesis
testing analysis are detailed, below.

(1) The influence of website architectural quality on positive affect

Jung and Chung (2015) proved that the ubiquity of the consumption environment triggers consumers’ positive affect. In contrast,
no positive affect is triggered when the ubiquitous services fail to satisfy consumers. The results show that when the consumption
environment provides services unlimited by time and space, consumers can search for information and make transactions ac-
cording to their needs. Hence, they can effectively manage their time and get pleasure from the services (Tojib and Tsarenko,
2012). Lin and Lo (2016) proved that an increase in the ease of use of the shopping platforms increases the likelihood that
consumers will exhibit a positive affect. Ethier et al. (2006), Hung (2008), and Sohn and Lee (2017) noted that when consumers
can effortlessly search for information and make transactions, they have pleasant feelings and a positive affect, thereby increasing

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Table 3
Results of Reliability and Validity Analysis.

Constructs & Item Factor Loading Cronbach’s α CR AVE

Ubiquity UB1 0.803 0.730 0.8018 0.5058

(UB) UB2 0.750
UB3 0.668
UB4 0.607

Ease of use EOU1 0.716 0.852 0.8133 0.5256

(EOU) EOU2 0.847
EOU3 0.772
EOU4 0.642

Information exchange IE1 0.656 0.868 0.8050 0.5091

(IE) IE2 0.714
IE3 0.791
IE4 0.681

Discounted price DP1 0.712 0.768 0.7674 0.5246

(DP) DP2 0.787
DP3 0.671

Scarcity SC1 0.699 0.844 0.8556 0.5439

(SC) SC2 0.833
SC3 0.726
SC4 0.768
SC5 0.675

Impulsive buying tendency IBT1 0.796 0.831 0.8055 0.5817

(IBT) IBT2 0.802
IBT3 0.668

Normative Evaluation NE1 0.788 0.870 0.8997 0.6433

(NE) NE2 0.744
NE3 0.863
NE4 0.748
NE5 0.875

Positive affect PA1 0.801 0.920 0.8888 0.6154

(PA) PA2 0.809
PA3 0.759
PA4 0.808
PA5 0.742

Impulse buying behavior (IB) IB1 0.711 0.850 0.8557 0.5439

IB2 0.842
IB3 0.699
IB4 0.707
IB5 0.717

Table 4
Analysis of discriminant validity.

UB EOU IE DP SC IBT NE PA IB

UB 0.711
EOU 0.367 0.724
IE 0.447 0.584 0.713
DP 0.314 0.398 0.471 0.724
SC 0.106 0.217 0.319 0.388 0.737
IBT 0.105 0.179 0.131 0.171 0.347 0.762
NE 0.002 0.098 0.012 0.025 0.175 0.196 0.802
PA 0.373 0.500 0.517 0.458 0.371 0.339 0.047 0.784
IB 0.138 0.185 0.169 0.215 0.403 0.596 0.257 0.393 0.737

the possibility that they will exhibit impulse buying behaviors. Adjei et al. (2010), and Haq and Abbasi (2016) mentioned that the
interactive functions of online platforms can lower risk and increase interest for consumers, while providing pleasant feelings.
The results of this study agree with theirs, indicating that while providing interactive functions to consumers, mobile auctions
allow consumers to communicate and exchange with other users, building connections and trust. After being stimulated by other
users, consumers perform buying behaviors, accordingly.
(2) The influence of discounted prices and scarcity on normative assessment
Consumers may have different judgments for the same product under different consumption circumstances, which affects their

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Table 5
Test of Model-Fit.

Indexes Suggest Actual Result Reference

Absolute fit measures χ /df

2
<3 2.100 Satisfied Hair et al. (2010)
GFI > 0.8 0.848 Satisfied Bagozzi and Yi (1988)
AGFI > 0.8 0.824 Satisfied Bagozzi and Yi (1988)
RMSEA < 0.08 0.064 Satisfied Hair et al. (2010)

Incremental fit Measures IFI > 0.9 0.912 Satisfied Bagozzi and Yi (1988); Hair et al. (2010)
NNFI > 0.9 0.903 Satisfied
CFI > 0.9 0.912 Satisfied

Parsimonious fit measures PNFI > 0.5 0.769 Satisfied Mulaik et al. (1989); Hair et al. (2010)
PGFI > 0.5 0.732 Satisfied

Fig. 2. Results of Path Analysis for Research Model. Note: path coefficient is the estimated value: *p < 0.05, **
p < 0.001, ***
p < 0.001.

final decisions (Mittal et al., 2018). When consumers find a store and its design of the promotional campaign to be attractive and
distinctive, they have a positive normative assessment toward the store and the campaign (Parker and Lehmann, 2011). Our
results show that the larger the discount, the less positive consumers feel about impulse buying online. This is caused by the
public’s impression regarding online shopping. Most consumers think they have a higher chance of getting cheap, defective
products online. Therefore, even if they are attracted by the discount, they avoid making such purchases. Hultén and Vanyushyn
(2014) proved that promotional campaigns affect consumers’ assessments and have a significant effect on the impulse buying
tendency. Pawar et al. (2016) found that sales promotion campaigns were aimed at making a psychological and emotional impact
on target consumers. Their research proved the significant implications of promotional campaigns and their impact on impulse
buying in a retail context. Our results show that when the promotion offers a limited supply of products within certain time limits,
consumers think the promoted products are enormously popular and selling extremely well. Therefore, they exhibit impulse
buying behaviors.
(3) The influence of discounted prices and scarcity on positive affect
Our results show that the stronger the feeling consumers have toward discounted prices, the more likely they are to exhibit a
positive affect. Because consumers get unexpected savings from discounted prices in consumption environments, they have a
strong preference for discounted prices (Park et al., 2012; Özer and Zheng, 2016), which can make them feel pleased, satisfied
and positive. Song et al. (2015) study on social community commerce and impulse buying behaviors found that information
regarding scarcity affects consumers’ enjoyment. Cook and Yurchisin (2017) also noted that scarcity increases the consumer’s
perception of the value of a product, thereby encouraging the purchase of that product. A positive affects is also triggered, further
increasing the possibility of impulse buying (Adamet al., 2015).
(4) The influence of the inclination toward impulse buying on normative assessment and positive affect
In their study on the relationship between group buying websites and impulse buying behaviors, Liu et al. (2013) found that an
inclination toward impulse buying affects consumers’ normative assessment. Chih et al. (2012) noted that a stronger inclination

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toward impulse buying increases the likelihood that the consumer will view impulse buying as a reasonable and proper con-
sumption behavior.
Chih et al. (2012) and Liu et al. (2013) proved that consumers’ normative assessment influences their positive affect. Our results
show that when consumers have positive feedback regarding impulse buying, they may not exhibit a positive affect. This is
because, in contrast to the travel and group buying websites studied by Chih et al. (2012) and Liu et al. (2013), the main service
provided by mobile auctions is the provision of a transaction platform: a consumption environment of which the public is often
suspicious. Consumers must exercise more rational thinking, and therefore exhibit no positive affect.
(5) The influence of the inclination toward impulse buying, normative assessment, and positive affect on impulse buying behaviors
The studies of Wells et al. (2011) and Chih et al. (2012) proved that the personality traits of consumers lead to more impulse
buying online. Our results show that consumers who have a stronger inclination toward impulse buying exhibit more impulse
buying behaviors, supporting the concept that the inclination toward impulse buying is a critical factor in determining online
impulse buying behavior. Liu et al. (2013) and Mittal et al. (2018) proved that normative assessment directly influences impulse
buying behavior. Our results agree with past conclusions: consumers who feel positive about the appropriateness of impulse
buying are more likely to exhibit impulse buying behaviors. Verhagen and van Dolen (2011), Chih et al. (2012), Haq and Abbasi
(2016), and Sohn and Lee (2017) proved that the more positive consumers feel, the more likely they are to exhibit impulse buying
behaviors. This proves that emotion is one of key variables affecting impulse buying behaviors.

4.5. Results of comparison between native mobile auctions and traditional online auctions

Since most new mobile auctions bypass the establishment of a website and launch their apps directly, and traditional mobile
auctions also launch mobile apps to keep up with the trend, this study categories, analyzes and compares different types of mobile
auctions. In the descriptive statistics of this study, Shopee, Carousell, and other similar platforms are categorized as “native mobile
auctions,” while Yahoo Shopping and Ruten are categorized as “traditional online auctions.” We make these distinctions to observe
whether different types of mobile auctions have different impacts on consumers’ impulse buying behaviors. Figs. 3 and 4 are the
results of the path analysis for native mobile auctions and traditional online auctions.
By comparing consumers who use native mobile auctions with those using traditional online auctions, we find that scarcity is the
main factor affecting consumers’ normative assessment regarding native mobile auctions. The main reason for this is that the op-
erators of native mobile auctions often use discounts as a promotional strategy in order to attract a greater number of users. Overly
frequent promotions may not induce consumers to believe that shopping is a proper behavior, leading to unremarkable results.
Path analysis of the group of consumers using traditional online auctions shows that ubiquity and ease of use do not impact the
positive affect of such consumers. This is most likely because users of traditional online auctions have become accustomed to tra-
ditional website interfaces. When these online auctions extend their reach to the mobile commerce market, they embed the mobile-
phone version of their websites in their apps, leading consumers to feel that their mobile shopping experience is of poorer quality
(e.g., slower browsing speed and an awkward user interface), which does not trigger a positive affect. In addition, discounted prices

Fig. 3. Results of Path Analysis for Consumers of Native Mobile Auctions.

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Fig. 4. Results of Path Analysis for Consumers of Traditional Online Auctions.

and the inclination toward impulse buying have no effect on consumers’ normative assessment. This is caused by the public’s per-
ception of online shopping. Consumers tend to believe that products sold in online auctions are mostly defective and cheap. Even if
they are attracted by the discounted prices, consumers are concerned about problems that may arise from online shopping. Therefore,
consumers’ normative assessment may stop them from performing impulse buying behaviors (Kumar and Feldman, 1998; Mittal
et al., 2018). Dittmar and Drury (2000) noted that scenario stimuli can be expressed more easily than personal factors, allowing for
easier recognition. Therefore, compared with scarcity and discounted prices, the inclination toward impulse buying has less of an
impact on consumers’ normative assessment. As such, there is no direct correlation between the inclination toward impulse buying
and normative assessment.

5. Conclusions

5.1. Research contributions

This study is based on the S-O-R model and the e-commerce requirement structure. The concepts of promotional campaign and
consumers’ internal variables are incorporated into the model to facilitation the examination of the relationship between mobile
auctions and impulse buying behaviors. Conclusions are drawn and suggestions are made as follows:

(1) Significance of quality for mobile auctions

Past studies on impulse buying behaviors have proven that consumers’ attitudes toward online transaction environments affect
whether they exhibit impulse buying behaviors (Verhagen and van Dolen, 2011; Liu et al., 2013). Consumers’ cognitive as-
sessment and the triggering of emotions, on the other hand, are determined by shopping scenarios and ambiance. According to
the results, consumers have strong feelings regarding the ubiquity, ease of use, and information exchange of mobile auctions.
Therefore, operators should continue to enhance such advantageous functions and ensure the integrity of their platforms. They
should devote more resources to design in order to build a consumption environment that provides instant services, is user-
friendly and allows buyers and sellers to communicate and exchange information with each other. Helping consumers achieve
their shopping goals more quickly also makes the shopping experience more pleasant (Eroglu et al., 2001), thereby encouraging
consumers to increase their impulse buying behavior.
(2) Operation and control of promotional campaigns
As promotional campaigns become an important factor affecting consumers’ impulse buying behaviors, operators should
strengthen the management and control of the marketing process, using proper marketing strategies to minimize the negative
impact of sales campaigns. Raghubir and Corfman (1999) found that promotional campaigns can negatively affect store owners
because consumers might think discounted prices are related to product quality. When the discount is too large, consumers
become less willing to make a purchase. Also, holding promotional campaigns too frequently diminishes their attractiveness.
Consumers become skeptical of product quality, and operators run the risk of losing business (Bell et al., 1999). Therefore,

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operators organizing promotional campaigns should pay attention to consumers’ feedback, and adjust their promotional stra-
tegies, accordingly. Different strategies should be devised for different groups of consumers.
(3) Environmental factors for building consumers’ positive affect
Positive affect is a key factor in prompting consumers’ impulse buying behaviors, which are also affected by environments and
promotional campaigns. It has again been proven that consumption environments and promotion campaigns have an impact on
consumers’ positive affect, which subsequently influences their impulse buying behaviors (Verhagen and van Dolen, 2011; Tojib
and Tsarenko, 2012). Through their design and promotional campaigns, mobile auctions provide consumers with a pleasant
shopping experience, while triggering a positive affect (Stafford et al., 2006). Therefore, mobile shopping operators should value
consumers’ evaluations of the shopping environments and promotional campaigns, which will help them improve the quality of
their platforms, design relevant promotional strategies, enhance consumers’ shopping experience, and increase profits.

5.2. Research limitations and future studies

Our research model includes important factors that affect consumers, and many of these factors are of interest to researchers
studying impulse buying behaviors. Further exploration is needed to determine the full extent to which these factors change con-
sumers’ impulse buying behaviors. Additional environmental factors can also be explored in future studies. Also, different con-
sumption environments might lead to different behaviors, depending on variations in transaction forms, product types, and other
factors. Therefore, different scenarios or multiple products can be used for analysis in order to better understand impulse buying
behaviors online. Our study’s subjects were young, from 21 to 30 years of age. We recommend that future studies should sample
different age groups, or consider age as a mediating factor in order to ensure the representativeness of the research subjects.

Appendix A. Questionnaire items

• Ubiquity (UB)
UB1: The mobile auction can fulfill my access needs quickly.
UB2: The mobile auction provides me with optimal information that is contextually relevant to me, based upon where I am.
UB3: I can access the mobile auction “anywhere” and “anytime” at the point of need.
UB4: It is convenient to purchase via the mobile auction using a smartphone.
• Ease of use (EOU)
EOU1: It is easy for me to become skillful at operating the mobile auction.
EOU2: It is easy for me to operate the shopping process on the mobile auction.
EOU3: It is easy for me to search and retrieve information from the mobile auction.
EOU4: I can navigate the mobile auction quickly.
• Information exchange (IE)
IE1: I can search for the information I need.
IE2: The mobile auction provides a buyer/seller with a two-way communication channel.
IE3: The mobile auction provides a section for users to write their stories, opinions, or other information.
IE4: I can find reputation-based information on the mobile auction.
• Discounted price (DP)
DP1: I buy things because they are sold at a discounted price rather than because I need them.
DP2: I buy more things because of discounts.
DP3: I enjoy searching for discounts on mobile auctions.
• Scarcity (SC)
SC1: I worried about limited time.
SC2: I am concerned about limited quantity.
SC3: I become anxious when I see a “sold out” sign.
SC4: I feel that the limited edition of a product will cause many people to buy.
SC5: I think that the current supply of a limited product is small.
• Impulsive buying tendency (IBT)
IBT1: I buy things without thinking about consequences.
IBT2: I am a person who makes unplanned purchases.
IBT3: I often want to buy things when I see something nice.
• Normative Evaluation (NE)
I think that impulsive buying behavior for the limited time specials on the mobile auction platform is:
NE1: Wrong (1) ←→ Right (5)
NE2: Crazy (1) ←→ Rational (5)
NE3: Stupid (1) ←→ Smart (5)
NE4: Unacceptable (1) ←→ Acceptable (5)
NE5: Childish (1) ←→ Mature (5)
• Positive affect (PA)
PA1: I feel pleased during the mobile auction.

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PA2: The mobile auction brings me gratification.

PA3: I feel excited during the mobile auction.
PA4: I feel happy during the mobile auction.
PA5: Overall, shopping in a mobile auction brings me enjoyment.
• Impulse buying behavior (IB)
IB1: When I use a mobile auction, I buy things that I had not intended to purchase.
IB2: I can’t resist buying merchandise if I really like it.
IB3: If I see a discount price, I tend to buy on impulse.
IB4: I buy things according to how I feel at the moment.
IB5: I spent more money to buy the merchandise than I expected.

Appendix B. Supplementary data

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2018.02.
007.

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