The influence of visual merchandising on consumer impulse buying behaviour in hypermarkets with the mediating role of consumer self-control / Norshahniza Sahari

Hypermarkets nowadays are experiencing fierce competition, not only amongst themselves, but from various retail stores. Some consumers do not have product or brand intentions in mind when they enter the hypermarket, whilst others change their minds after entering the store. 50 to 70 per cent of all purchase decisions are made at the point of purchase (POP) in the store that make impulse buying behaviour is vital. Impulse buying is presumed to be universal, but it may differ in the hypermarket context and yet little is known about the phenomenon in Malaysian hypermarkets. Eventhough impulse buying behaviour has been studied extensively in retailing, the powerful influence of impulse behaviour on consumer buying is still underexplored in the context of hypermarkets in Malaysia. Visual Merchandising (VM) helps to improve the desirability of products to attract consumers, while product manufacturers use VM to combat against a variety of competitor products in hypermarkets. The goal of this dissertation is to understand and support practitioners’ effort as they spend large amount of money on antecedents of impulse buying behaviour like retail environment and marketing stimuli to gain return on investment (ROI). Although impulse buying is a common, its potentially problematic behaviour can leave consumers with feelings of regret. As psychology was predominant in marketing and retailing to encourage the needs recognition and purchase decision of a product, self-control is believed to give an impact to the buying behaviour. Moreover, there are lack of clarity in the current literature on the relationship between consumer self-control and impulse buying. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, the current study investigates VM and Consumer Impulse Buying Behaviour (CIBB) as the Stimulus and Response to examine the mediating effect of Consumer Self-Control (CSC). A survey questionnaire was used to collect data involving 265 respondents to understand better the views and opinions of consumers’ shopping in hypermarkets. A purposive sampling technique approach were used to study the behaviours of consumers who visited these hypermarkets. Twenty-one hypotheses (21) were developed as part of the quantitative approach testing the model. The data once collected were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed that Cleanliness, Product Packaging, In-store Digital Media, Point-of-Purchase (POP) Display and the Height of Shelves significantly influenced CIBB at hypermarkets and leading to higher retail sales. The study also found that CSC negatively related but significantly influenced CIBB that in line with other previous studies. Interestingly, the Important-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) identified POP Display is the most important dimension for establishing impulse buying that valued by consumers but the highest performance belongs to Store Display. Therefore, this mismatch between consumers’ interest and retailers-manufacturers’ efforts of VM need to be shifted and reallocated focus. The results support the validity of the S– O–R model in the context of impulse-buying behaviour in hypermarkets and show a significant positive effect of two dimensions of VM (POP Materials and Product Packaging). Taken together, this study takes consumers perspective by shedding light on the importance of VM in influencing impulse buying behaviour, identifying opportunities for practitioners to engage in more VM contemporary practices, and providing VM recommendations that help hypermarket retailers and product manufacturers in achieving their primary objective.