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IJQSS
13,3
456
Received 11 September 2020
Revised 28 April 2021
Accepted 19 July 2021
International Journal of Quality
and Service Sciences
Vol. 13 No. 3, 2021
pp. 456-470
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1756-669X
DOI 10.1108/IJQSS-09-2020-0141
The effects of cruise attributes
on impulse buying behavior: the
mediating role of impulsive
buying tendency
Jookyung Kwon
Smart Tourism Education Platform, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, and
Jiseon Ahn
Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to examine the effects of cruise attributes on impulse buying of service customers
through impulsive buying tendency. Specifically, this study investigates whether service attributes (variety of selection
and price) influence the impulsive buying behavior of customers by stimulating their impulsive buying tendency.
Design/methodology/approach – Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was used to test
the hypothesis using a sample of 143 cruise customers. Mediating analysis was conducted to examine
whether customer personal traits (impulsivity) mediated the relationship between service attributes and
impulsive buying behavior.
Findings – The findings showed that price attributions had a significant positive direct impact on
impulsive buying tendency and behavior, while a variety of selections had a significant direct effect on
impulse buying behavior. The results revealed a significant mediating role of impulsive buying tendency in
the relationship between price attributions and impulse buying.
Originality/value – Although studies on the decision-making style of service customers have been widely
discussed, a limited number of studies has examined customers’ impulsive buying behavior in the service sector.
Considering the importance of impulsive purchasing as a valuable marketing tool, the results of this study can help
service providers and researchers enhance their knowledge of the mechanism of impulse buying behavior.
Keywords Service attributes, Variety of selection, Price attributes, Impulsive buying tendency,
Impulse buying, Cruises, Behavior, Service, Tourism
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Studies on the decision-making styles of customers have been conducted to attract
customers, increase the effectiveness of marketing stimuli and predict post-purchase
behavior (Gursoy, 2019). Customers generally make rational and rule-based decisions by
considering various aspects of consumption (e.g. benefit, value and risk). However, they
often engage in irrational consumption behaviors, such as impulse buying (Chang and Chen,
2019). Impulsive buying refers to unplanned or spontaneous purchases as the result of
exposure to a stimulus (Rook and Fisher, 1995). In the service context, understanding
customers’ impulsive purchasing behaviors is important because the practice is pervasive
and can increase seller profit (Ahn and Kwon, 2020). Approximately 90% of American
This work was supported in part by a grant funded by Hanyang University in the Republic of Korea
(HY-202100000000757).
customers acknowledge that they impulse purchase products or services due to internal or Impulse
external stimuli (Amos et al., 2014). buying
The concept of impulse buying has been studied in marketing and consumer behavior
literature (Fenton-O’Creevy et al., 2018; Hausman, 2000; Iyer et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2010).
behavior
The results of previous studies showed that pertinent point-of-sale attributions, such as
packaging, display, attractiveness, pricing, variety and promotion signage, significantly
encouraged customers to indulge in impulse buying (Khachatryan et al., 2018; Nenkov and
Scott, 2014). Many studies have concluded that factors, such as marketing attributes, are 457
often the primary reasons for impulse buying (Xiao and Nicholson, 2013). In addition,
customers are likely to engage in impulsive consumption when they are influenced by
internal stimuli. In this vein, one of the individual traits that are strongly related to impulse
buying is impulsive buying tendency (Badgaiyan and Verma, 2014).
In the service industry, cruise travel, which is one of the preferred travel styles among
vacationers, shows several distinctive characteristics that trigger customers to buy
impulsively (Han and Hyun, 2019). Unlike other service industries (e.g. lodging, restaurants
and airlines), cruise lines provide an unusual experience by integrating various parts of the
service sectors including accommodation, dining, transportation, entertainment and travel
(Ayvaz-Cavdaroglu et al., 2019). In addition, cruise lines offer restricted consumption
situations to customers (Tao and Kim, 2019). Such characteristics of a cruise line experience
provide chances for customers to activate their impulsive buying tendency, which is the
degree to which customers tend to make immediate, unexpected and careless consumption
decisions (Jones et al., 2003). Such a trait tends to be activated under hedonic rather than
utilitarian situations (Chung et al., 2017). For instance, cruise customers are more likely to
demonstrate impulsive buying tendencies than airline customers because cruise travel is
perceived as hedonic, while airline travel is regarded as utilitarian (Micu et al., 2019).
Although cruises provide several characteristics that trigger customers to impulse buy,
previous studies on impulsive buying in the hospitality and tourism industries have been
focused on airline, restaurant and festival customers rather than cruise customers (Ahn
et al., 2020). Therefore, the authors of this study focused on cruise-related attributes and
their impacts on the impulse buying of customers based on the stimulus-organism-response
(S-O-R) framework. The S-O-R framework explains the mediating role of internal organisms
in the relationship between external stimuli and response (Djafarova and Bowes, 2021). In
this study, the authors assumed that cruise attributes (e.g. stimulus) triggered the impulsive
buying tendency, which resulted in the customer impulse buying behavior (i.e. response).
More specifically, the current study has the following purposes:

to investigate the impacts of cruise attributes on impulsive buying tendency,

to explore the impacts of impulsive buying tendency on impulse behavior and

to examine the mediating role of impulsive buying tendency in the relationship
between cruise attributes and impulse behavior.

This study offers useful viewpoints or new research perspectives for understanding
situational and personal factors that drive the impulse behavior of customers. Practically,
the findings of the current study provide a way to manage the impulse buying behavior of
cruise passengers by focusing on influential attributes.

2. Literature review
2.1 Cruise customer behavior
Studies on the decision-making processes of cruise customers have been actively conducted
and discussed in service literature over the past few years as the cruise industry has become
IJQSS one of the fastest-growing businesses (Ahn and Back, 2019; Han et al., 2018; Chua et al., 2019;
13,3 Liu et al., 2016). Researchers have found significant effects of perceived safety, trust,
switching costs, anticipated emotions and norms on the behavioral intention of cruise
travelers (Han et al., 2018; Han et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2016). Therefore, understanding the
effects of service attributes (e.g. variety of selection and price) on customer impulse buying
behavior is important.
458 Unlike other service industries (e.g. hotels, restaurants and airlines), the cruise industry is
considered a unique category because of its distinguished characteristics (Ahn and Back,
2019). Cruise customers are likely to experience various activities such as casinos, onshore/
offshore trips, shopping, restaurants and entertainment in the cruise environment (Tao and
Kim, 2019). In addition, cruise customers are often exposed to external point-of-sale
marketing attributes (i.e. displays, pricing and promotions) during their cruise trip.
According to the impulse buying literature, unusual and restricted environments increase
the impulsive buying tendency of customers to indulge in unplanned spending without
careful consideration (Iyer et al., 2019). In the cruise industry, various cues of product and
service attributes, such as sensory, affective, intellectual and behavioral elements, can
facilitate the unplanned buying tendency of customers (Khachatryan et al., 2018). While
staying on cruise ships, customers might encounter special offers and distinguished
excursion/incursion activities, which could trigger an immediate purchase. In previous
studies, researchers have suggested an impact of cruise attributes on encouraging the
purchase intentions of customers (Park et al., 2012; Then and Delong, 1999; Taylor and
Cosenza, 2000; Ward and Lee, 2000). Thus, the present study suggests that powerful and
convincing marketing attributes trigger individuals to immediately purchase unexpected
products or services, resulting in impulse buying.

2.2 The effects of service attributes on impulsive buying tendency

Product- or service-specific attributes in a service setting encourage customers to engage in
information-searching behavior (physically or online), which can often lead to impulse
buying (Park et al., 2012). The impacts of attributes on impulsive buying vary by interest
and product category (Bellenger et al., 1978; Lim and Hong, 2004; Park and Kim, 2008). For
instance, visual attractiveness or effective pricing strategies increase the desire of customers
to immediately purchase unneeded products or services (Khachatryan et al., 2018). Such
consumption styles occur on the basis of hedonic rather than utilitarian motivations (Chung
et al., 2017; Park et al., 2012). Previous studies have examined the impacts of the
environment, such as display, smell and sound, on customer impulsive buying. For instance,
Hultén and Vanyushyn (2011) found that in-store displays influence customer impulsive
buying. Various cues of service attributes can positively influence a customer’s impulsive
buying tendency. Parsad et al. (2017) found that the shopping environment influences a
customer’s impulsive buying tendency in a retail setting. In this study, customers’ perceived
service attributes (i.e. variety of selection and price attributes) led to impulsive consumption
behavior through an impulsive buying tendency.
2.2.1 The effects of variety of selection. The presenting service attributes in the service
industry are critical factors that influence the purchase decisions of customers because service
customers cannot try before they purchase (Kotler et al., 2017). Therefore, service providers
must present the key factors of service attributes to enhance customer satisfaction and
patronization behavior (Dahlgaard-Park et al., 2015; Thaichon et al., 2014). Variety of selection
is one of the crucial attributes that is highly correlated with impulse buying tendency (Iyer
et al., 2019). Hiemstra et al. (2019) explained that variety of selection has a strong correlation
with personal traits, such as impulsive buying tendency, which has a strong correlation with
other tendencies, such as the tendency to seek variety (Sharma et al., 2010). Variety of selection Impulse
and impulsive buying tendency are positively related to hedonic purpose activities (Shirk, buying
2016; Park et al., 2012). Park et al. (2012) corroborated that customers are likely to be attracted
by a high variety of selection, which leads to impulsive buying. Therefore, in the cruise
behavior
industry, a variety of selections can increase the impulsive buying tendency of cruise
customers. Accordingly, the current study proposed the following hypothesis:

H1. Variety of selection has a significant positive effect on customer impulsive buying 459
tendency.
Researchers in previous studies have found that variety of selection is highly related to
impulse buying (Chan et al., 2017; Park et al., 2012). Park et al. (2012) confirmed the
significant effects of a variety of selections on impulse buying within an online setting. The
results of Xiao and Nicholson (2013) revealed that variety of selection was a significant
external trigger of impulse buying. Chan et al. (2017) also stated the significant direct
relationship between a variety of selections and impulse buying. Shirk (2016) highlighted
the significant direct effects of a variety of selections on impulse buying in the online retail
industry. In addition, their results showed that variety of selection was positively related to
hedonic purpose activities. In other words, cruise passengers are likely to encounter a
diverse selection of products and services because they are involved in a restricted hedonic
service environment. Thus, variety of selection enhances the hedonic purpose of
consumption of individuals, which is highly correlated with impulse buying. On the basis of
the literature review, the current study proposed the following hypothesis:

H2. Variety of selection has a significant positive effect on customer impulse buying
behavior.
2.2.2 The effects of price attribution. Price has been determined to be a key decision
attribute in rational purchases and impulse buying (Chang and Chen, 2019; Gendall et al.,
2006). As a marketing factor, price is the only attribute to be constantly considered by
customers in different contexts and settings (Khachatryan et al., 2018). The price comprises
positive and negative effects in predicting customer behavior because the satisfaction and
behavior of customers depend on how individuals perceive the price of products (Park et al.,
2012; Zhang et al., 2010). Perceived price is significantly related to individual traits, such as
personality and tendency (Wieseke et al., 2016). Many researchers in the impulse buying
literature have examined the effects of pricing strategies on impulse buying (Chen and
Wang, 2016; Chung et al., 2017). Price promotions trigger irrational decision-making of
individuals through a significant relation to impulsiveness (Yan et al., 2017). Price reduction
promotions are more highly related to the impulse buying tendency of customers than are
price discount promotions (Chen and Wang, 2016). Chang et al. (2019) found that external
stimuli, such as the price at the point of sale, are highly related to impulsiveness. Thus, the
following hypothesis was formulated:

H3. Price attribution has a significant positive influence on customer impulsive buying
tendency.
Price also influences impulse buying (Yue and Razak, 2018). In other words, when customers
perceive that a product or service is a good price, they are more likely to make an unplanned
purchase. Low prices provide a sense of savings to customers (Chen and Wang, 2016). Yue
and Razak (2018) found a significant direct effect of price on impulse buying among
shoppers. Furthermore, customers are more likely to make unplanned purchases when the
IJQSS products are discounted or when they perceive the price as reasonable or cheap (Blut et al.,
13,3 2019). For example, price discounts in dollars have a greater effect on unplanned buying
than do percentages off because individuals think that dollars off have greater benefits than
percentages (Chen and Wang, 2016). Hedonic customers are more likely to be price-sensitive
and engage in impulse buying (Park et al., 2012). In this vein, perceived price is a critical
element among cruise vacationers because hedonic customers are more likely to be price-
460 sensitive (Jin et al., 2003). Given that cruise customers perceive fares as expensive (Chua
et al., 2019), the perceived price of products and services at the point of sale can have a
significant influence on individual impulse buying behavior. Based on the literature, the
current study developed the following hypothesis:

H4. Price attribution has a significant positive influence on customer impulse buying
behavior.

2.3 Mediating role of impulsive buying tendency

In the literature, impulsive buying tendency is one of the most significant personal traits
that positively influence impulse buying (Iyer et al., 2019; Xiao and Nicholson, 2013; Blut
et al., 2019). According to Amos et al. (2014), the antecedents of impulse buying behavior are
categorized into three factors: sociodemographic, situational and dispositional. First,
sociodemographic aspects, such as age, gender, income and ethnicity, are highly related to
impulse buying. For instance, age is negatively related to impulse buying (Iyer et al., 2019)
and men have a higher tendency to engage in impulse buying than do women. Second,
situational factors are defined as external (e.g. marketing) and affective (e.g. moods) stimuli,
social factors (presence of others) and restrictions (e.g. financial or time) that commonly
influence customers during point-of-sale moments. Marketing attributes, which are
controlled by companies, have a direct impact on impulse buying behavior (Dholakia, 2000;
Kacen et al., 2012; Sharma et al., 2010; Amos et al., 2014). Finally, dispositional factors are
psychological variables, such as trait and tendency, which differ by person. For
instance, Chung et al. (2017) found that impulsive buying tendency has a significant effect
on impulse buying behavior in the online shopping context. Dispositional factors
consistently influence the decision-making style of individuals (Mowen and Minor, 2006).
Many researchers have determined that impulsive buying tendency is positively related
to impulse buying behavior (Chen and Wang, 2016; Zhang et al., 2018). Saad and Metawie
(2015) stated that impulsivity is highly associated with impulse buying in the offline
shopping context. Chung et al. (2017) confirmed the significant positive effects of impulsive
buying tendency on impulse buying through hedonic value in the online shopping context.
Chen and Wang (2016) corroborated the significant direct effects of impulsive buying
tendency on impulse buying behavior. Zhang et al. (2018) confirmed that individuals with a
high tendency of impulsiveness are more likely to engage in impulse buying in the online
shopping context. Liu et al. (2013) examined the effects of website cues on impulse buying
through personality traits in the online shopping setting. Thus, on the basis of the literature
review, the current study proposed the following hypothesis:

H5. Impulsive buying tendency mediates the relationship between cruise attributes and
impulse buying.
Figure 1 shows the proposed model in the current study including the mediating role of
impulsive buying tendency in the relationship between service-related attributes and
impulsive buying behavior.
3. Methods Impulse
3.1 Sample buying
The research model was tested using data collected from the USA. In this study, the sample
was customers who have participated in a cruise within the past year. The researchers
behavior
designed the survey and distributed the questionnaire via an online survey platform. Using
an online survey based on Amazon Mechanical Turk, the researchers collected data from
cruise customers. Beginning with screening questions such as, “Have you taken a cruise
during the past 12 months? How many times did you use a cruise line for your vacation 461
during the past 12 months? What was the name of the cruise line that you recently used?”
Respondents who answered all screening questions were included for analysis. Incomplete
responses were excluded from the analysis. The data was collected in July 2019, resulting in
143 usable questionnaires for the final empirical test. Table 1 shows the detailed descriptive
characteristics. A total of 59.4% were males. More than half of the respondents were
between the ages of 19 and 29 (75.5%). They varied widely in terms of education, with a
university degree (44.1%), college degree (28.7%) and postgraduate degree (16.8%).

3.2 Measurements
The research adapted measures from previous studies (Beatty and Ferrell, 1998; Park et al.,
2012; Rook and Fisher, 1995; Weun et al., 1998) for four constructs used in the conceptual
model, which included a variety of selection (e.g. This cruise line deals offers a variety of
services) and price attributes (e.g. This cruise line carries products and services with
reasonable prices). Although some researchers have misused measurements of impulsive
buying tendency as a substitute for impulsive buying behavior, the two are distinguished as
separate (Sun and Wu, 2011). Thus, this study measured impulsive buying tendency (e.g. I
often buy things without thinking) and impulsive buying behavior (e.g. When I stayed on
this cruise line, I experienced several sudden urges to buy things) using different items. All
the measurement scales were seven-point Likert scales (Table 2).

3.3 Results
Partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS was used for
hypothesis testing. PLS-SEM is a useful multivariate method because PLS considers the
relationships among all variables at the same time and does not require multivariate
normality (Ringle et al., 2005). Internal consistency was ensured with Cronbach’s alpha

Variety of
selection

Impulsive Impulsive
buying buying
tendency behavior

Figure 1.
Price attribute
Framework and
constructs
IJQSS Characteristics Frequency (percentage)
13,3
Gender
Male 85 (59.4%)
Female 58 (40.6%)
Age
462 19–29 108 (75.5%)
30–39 21 (14.7%)
40–49 7 (4.9%)
50–59 3 (2.8%)
Over 60 3 (2.1%)
Education
Highschool 15 (10.5%)
College degree 41 (28.7%)
University degree 63 (44.1%)
Postgraduate degree 24 (16.8%)
Income (US$)
Less than 30,000 30 (21.0%)
30,001–40,000 22 (15.4%)
40,001–50,000 34 (23.8%)
Table 1. 50,001–60,000 27 (18.9%)
Sample 60,001–70,000 19 (13.3%)
characteristics Over 70,001 11 (7.7%)

Constructs and items Factor loading

Variety of selection
This cruise brand deals with a variety of services 0.89
This cruise brand has wide assortment of products and services with different prices 0.80
This cruise brand deals with a variety of products 0.82
Price attribute
This cruise brand carries products and services with reasonable prices 0.79
Discounted prices are very cheap in this cruise brand 0.88
The price of products and service in this cruise brand is economical 0.89
Impulsive buying tendency
I often buy things without thinking 0.85
Sometimes I feel like buying things on the spur-of-the-moment 0.81
“Buy now, think about it later,” describes me 0.86
I have bought things I had not intended to purchase 0.79
I make unplanned purchases 0.86
Impulse buying behavior
When I stayed at this cruise brand, I experienced a number of sudden urges to buy
things 0.90
Table 2.
When I stayed at this cruise brand, I saw a number of things I wanted to buy even
Constructs and factor though they were no on my shopping list 0.88
loading When I stayed at this cruise brand, I felt a sudden urge to buy something 0.91
factors are all above 0.70, indicating high internal consistency (Nunnally, 1978). The Impulse
composite reliabilities of the four constructs all exceeded 0.70, suggesting that the measured buying
items had adequate reliability. Table 3 shows that all average variance extracted (AVEs)
were above 0.50, indicating convergent validity. Discriminant validity was tested because
behavior
the square root of the AVE of each construct exceeded the coefficients between the
measurement and the other constructs (Fornell and Larker, 1981). Overall, these results
showed that the study measurement items possessed adequate reliability and validity
(Table 3). Harman’s one-factor test was used to test the common method bias (Podsakoff
463
et al., 2003). A single factor did not emerge from principal component factor analysis, which
indicated no common method bias (Pentina et al., 2013). Despite the benefits of PLS-SEM, it
has shortcomings in terms of model fit. In this study, model fit was examined using R2,
which is an indicator of how well the proposed model fits the data (Hulland, 1999). As
Tenenhaus et al. (2005) suggested, R2 exceeded the cut-off value of 0.36 (e.g. R2 for impulsive
buying behavior = 0.52).
According to the results, the positive effects of a variety of selections on customer
impulsive buying tendency were not significant ( b = 0.11, t = 1.46), rejecting H1. The
results supported H2 and showed a significant positive effect of a variety of selections on
impulsive buying behavior ( b = 0.25, t = 3.29). A positive relationship also existed between
price attribute and impulsive buying tendency ( b = 0.67, t = 9.97), supporting H3. The price
attribute of cruise line influence on impulsive buying behavior was positive ( b = 0.27, t =
2.77), supporting H4. Impulsive buying tendency positively and significantly influenced
impulsive buying behavior ( b = 0.43, t = 4.21), supporting H5. To examine whether the
effects of cruise service attributes on impulsive buying behavior are explained well through
impulsive buying tendency, a bootstrapping approach was used with 5,000 resampling
procedures. The results extracted from PROCESS macro software showed that the indirect
effects of price attribute on impulsive buying behavior with the presence of impulsive
buying tendency as a mediating factor were significant at p < 0.05, where the lower-level
confidence level (LLCL) was 0.15 and the upper-level confidence level (ULCL) was 0.41

Variable Mean SD Cronbach’s alpha CR AVE 1 2 3 4

1. Variety of selection 5.55 0.92 0.78 0.79 0.71 0.84

2. Price attribute 5.66 0.85 0.81 0.82 0.72 0.44 0.85
3. Impulsive buying tendency 5.13 1.26 0.89 0.89 0.69 0.40 0.71 0.83
4. Impulse buying behavior 5.14 1.38 0.88 0.88 0.81 0.54 0.69 0.73 0.90
Table 3.
Notes: The diagonal is the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE); SD = standard deviation; Descriptive statistics
CR = composite reliability of study variables

Path Coefficient (t-value)

H1. Variety of selection ! impulsive buying tendency 0.11ns (1.46)

H2. Variety of selection ! impulse buying behavior 0.25**(3.29)
H3. Price attribute ! impulsive buying tendency 0.67***(9.97)
H4. Price attribute ! impulse buying behavior 0.27**(2.77)
H5. Impulsive buying tendency ! impulse buying behavior 0.43***(4.21) Table 4.
Results of the
Notes: ns = not significant, ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.05 structural model
IJQSS (Table 4). The indirect effects were significantly different from 0. However, the indirect path
13,3 from a variety of selections to impulsive buying behavior was not significant because 0 was
between the LLCL (0.01) and ULCL (0.14).

4. Discussion and conclusions

Given the importance of impulsive behavior in the customer purchase decision-making
464 process, research on impulsive consumption behavior in the service context has been
actively investigated (Ahn et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2019). Service providers and researchers
have attempted to study the impulsive responses of customers to enhance the
understanding of their decision-making. For instance, Morrin and Chebat (2005) suggested
that atmosphere, such as background music and ambient scent, can influence customer
impulsive buying behavior in the retail service context. Despite the significant contribution
of revenue management to the results of impulse buying of customers (Chang and Chen,
2019), studies on impulsive purchases are limited in the service setting. Thus, the current
study examined the effects of cruise attributes on impulsive buying tendency and behavior
and on the mediating role of impulsive buying tendency in the relationship between service
attributes and impulse buying behavior.
The research findings suggest that customer impulsive buying behavior can be
enhanced by product and service-related factors, such as variety, assortment and price.
Similar to the results of Park et al. (2012) in examining the positive and significant impacts
of a variety of selection and price attributes on impulsive buying behavior in the online
shopping context, variety of products, services and prices were influential in unplanned
purchase behavior in the service setting. In addition, customers’ perceived reasonable and
economical prices of service products and services could increase their impulsive purchases
by enhancing their impulsive buying tendency. As suggested in a previous study (Parsad
et al., 2017), the impacts of the shopping environment on impulsive buying tendency were
found in the cruise service context. However, the variety of selections did not directly
influence customer tendency. Thus, this research highlighted the role of product-related
attributes in the formation of both customer’s impulsive traits and unplanned purchase
behavior. Finally, the tendency of impulsive consumption could mediate the influence of
price attributes on impulsive buying behavior. This result indicated that customers’
distinctive personal tendencies would increase the effects of the price attribute on impulsive
buying. Thus, this study provides an understanding of why and how customers experience
their impulsive buying tendencies and engage in impulse behavior in a service context.

4.1 Theoretical implications

Recently, the concept of impulse buying has attracted increasing scholarly attention across
various disciplines (Ahn et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2019; Morrin and Chebat, 2005). However,

Boot indirect Confidence

Path effect (t-value) interval

Table 5. Variety of selection ! impulsive buying tendency ! impulsive

Indirect effects model buying behavior 0.05ns(1.20) 0.01 to 0.14
predicting customer’s Price attribute ! impulsive buying tendency ! impulsive
buying behavior 0.29***(4.19) 0.15 to 0.41
impulsive buying
behavior Notes: ns = not significant, ***p < 0.001
little has been done to understand the impulsive buying behavior of customers in the service Impulse
setting. The results of the current study contributed to the existing service literature in three buying
ways. First, the findings of this study provided an understanding of the decision-making
process of impulse buying behavior and found results consistent with those of previous
behavior
impulsive buying studies (Koufaris, 2002; Liu et al., 2013; Parboteeah et al., 2009; Ward and
Lee, 2000). The authors of this study empirically investigated the impulse buying of cruise
customers, consolidated product- and service-related attributes into a classification
framework and examined its impact on the impulsive buying behavior of customers. The 465
results showed that variety of selection and price influenced the tendency of customers for
impulsiveness, which resulted in impulsive buying behavior. Considering the particular and
context-specific attributes that triggered the impulsive buying behavior of customers
(Morrin and Chebat, 2005), the results of this study were meaningful for exploring the
relevant cues and their effects in a service setting.
Second, the results of the current study demonstrate the significant positive direct
impacts of price attributes on impulsive buying tendency and impulse behavior. Unlike the
online-shopping setting (Park et al., 2012), the results of the current study highlighted the
significant direct effects of price attribution on impulse buying among cruise customers. In
addition, the variety of selections did not have any significant effects on impulse buying on
cruise trips, but it had a significant negative effect on impulse buying in an online-shopping
setting. As previous researchers have suggested (Chung et al., 2017; Khachatryan et al.,
2018), the results of the current study showed that the effects of external attributes on
impulse buying behavior differ depending on industry settings and context. The current
study extended the impulse buying literature by examining the varying role of a variety of
selections and prices on customers’ impulsive buying behavior. In a cruise setting, the only
price had a significant effect on impulse buying, whereas the variety of selection did not.
Based on previous studies, which suggested a relationship between price and hedonic
consumption (Jin et al., 2003), these findings indicated that customers emphasize hedonic
value when they travel on cruises.
Third, the results of this study emphasized the role of impulsive buying tendency on
impulse buying behavior. Most of the previous studies have focused on customer impulsive
buying and not on impulsive buying tendency (Parsad et al., 2017; Prashar et al., 2015). In
this study, customers’ internal traits of impulsive response were found to be critical factors
that led to action outcomes. Within the cruise setting, customers with a high degree of
impulse tendency, which triggers unintended, immediate and unreflective purchases, tended
to make impulsive purchase decisions. The characteristics of customers were responsive to
impulse buying, such as affective status. This study found the mediating impact of the
impulsive buying tendency of customers. More specifically, in a cruise experience that
provides a hedonic aspect, customers are more likely to engage in impulse buying because
price attributions activate their individual traits (impulsive buying tendency) when they
perceive that the prices of products or services are cheap and reasonable. Wells et al. (2011)
suggested that, within the cruise setting, the state of mind of customers is influenced by the
environment (e.g. cruise environment). Thus, the findings of this study emphasize the effects
of individual-psychological factors in impulsive buying mechanisms.

4.2 Practical implications

The results of this study provide practical guidelines for service companies. In particular,
for cruise service providers who target impulsive customers, the results of this study
indicate that point-of-sale communication strategies should be capitalized to trigger target
customers. Information and sources that cruise customers obtain at the point of sale are
IJQSS important for drawing the attention of customers because such information and sources can
13,3 generate impulse buying. For instance, in terms of pricing strategies, cruise companies can
encourage the impulse buying of customers by highlighting products or services as “cheap”
or “economical.” Cruise service providers can pair multiple attributes to encourage impulse
buying of customers. For instance, souvenir shops could pair “multiple choices” and “cheap”
to trigger impulsive customers.
466 The direct effects of a variety of selections on impulsive buying behavior affirm that
companies must develop various products and services as one of the point-of-sale
communication strategies. Given the characteristics of the cruise industry, a variety of
products and services is a key factor that influences the purchasing behavior of customers.
Furthermore, the significant direct effects of price on impulse buying show that a company
must meet an acceptable price range. In other words, cruise customers are likely to buy
products or services with careful consideration when companies provide them at reasonable
prices. Thus, the challenge for service providers is to decide which resources are dedicated
to the evaluation of services and prices for customers.
The results of this study also clearly indicated that the impulsive buying tendency of
customers could have a positive effect on impulsive buying behavior. This finding implies
that cruise companies must monitor the degree of the impulsiveness of their customers.
Considering the impact of a variety of selection and prices, companies with different service
offerings will attract customers with high impulsiveness. Thus, specialty cruise companies
(e.g. family-oriented and gaming-focused) can decide to dedicate additional resources to
determine which types of products and services stimulate its customers. Creating and
managing the profiles of customers using customer relationship management can help to
understand a relative degree of impulsiveness for customers. To do so, cruise companies can
use pricing strategies for point-of-sale products and services.

5. Limitations and future research

Although the results of the current study suggest critical theoretical and practical
implications in the service industry, several limitations emerged. First, the current study
used only general impulsive buying tendency. Given that impulsive buying tendency has
multiple aspects, such as cognitive, emotional and functional (Gonzalez-Hernandez et al.,
2019), future research could apply the three types of impulsiveness and investigate the
effects of attributes on each type. Second, in terms of context, the current study measured
the impulsive buying behavior of cruise customers. Given that impulsive buying studies
have not been conducted widely in the service industry, future studies should conduct
research in different contexts, such as with gambling.

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Corresponding author
Jiseon Ahn can be contacted at: anji.yaongc@gmail.com

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