Same Impulse, Different Trigger: A Conceptual Comparison of Offline and Online Impulse Buying Behaviour

Impulse buying has long been studied as a retail-floor phenomenon, but the shift of consumer purchasing to digital platforms has changed the mechanics of the behaviour itself. This paper offers a conceptual, literature-based comparison of the psychological triggers driving impulse buying in offline and online retail environments. Drawing on established typologies of impulse buying and recent empirical and review literature, the paper maps which triggers carried over from physical retail into digital retail, which were substantially transformed, and which are unique to the online environment. The paper concludes with a proposed comparative framework and directions for future empirical research.