ABSTRACT

DUE TO THE EXPANSION OF THE INTERNET AND ADVANCEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY, E-COMMERCE HAS BEEN FREQUENTLY AND WIDELY USED NOWADAYS. THE POPULARITY OF ONLINE SHOPPING CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AND BECOME INCREASINGLY COMMON, YET, THE CONCEPT OF IMPULSIVE BUYING HAS CONSISTENTLY DRAWN SIGNIFICANT ATTENTION OVER THE YEARS. IN ORDER TO FIT INTO THE CURRENT SHOPPING TREND, RECOGNIZING THE NEEDS AND WANTS OF ONLINE SHOPPERS AS WELL AS PROVIDING APPROPRIATE APPROACHES ARE ESSENTIAL TASKS FOR COMPANIES TO ACHIEVE. THE QUESTION OF HOW TO ATTRACT CONSUMERS TO MAKE PURCHASES HAS BEEN A CONCERN FOR A LONG TIME, AND IN FACT, IT IS NECESSARY TO EXPLORE CONSUMERS’ ONLINE PURCHASE DECISIONS IN RELATION TO THEIR IMPULSE BUYING BEHAVIOR. IN ACCORDANCE WITH CURRENT ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE, THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO INVESTIGATE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CONSUMERS' ONLINE IMPULSIVE BUYING BEHAVIOR BASED ON EXTERNAL STIMULI (SUCH AS SALES PROMOTIONS AND WEBSITES CHARACTERISTICS) AND THE ELEMENTS OF MARKETING MIX STRATEGY (PRODUCT, PRICE, PLACE, AND PROMOTION). ACCORDING TO THE ANALYSIS, THE PROMOTION STRATEGY HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE ON CONSUMERS’ DECISION TO MAKE AN ONLINE IMPULSIVE PURCHASE. THEREFORE, THE FINDINGS FROM THIS STUDY ARE BENEFICIAL FOR COMPANIES AND MARKETERS TO BUILD A FRAMEWORK IN ORDER TO DEVELOP SUITABLE AND EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES IN ORDER TO ENCOURAGE AND STIMULATE CONSUMERS' DESIRE FOR PURCHASES. FURTHERMORE, THE RESEARCH APPLIES THE QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY BY CONDUCTING SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WITH 11 CONSUMERS WHO HAVE PREVIOUSLY EXPERIENCED AN ONLINE IMPULSE BUYING