Clicking the boredom away – Exploring impulse fashion buying behavior online

Abstract

This paper presents a Swedish case study focusing on online shopping and impulse purchases of fashion. The paper contributes by bringing new light on the bored-state-of-mind's importance in impulse shopping, and provides insights for further research to examine the topic on a greater scale. Results reveal that young consumers’ impulse purchases of fashion items online are often motivated by boredom, and described in two dimensions: 1) Consumers are often responding to triggers that can break monotony and 2) Boredom occurs in a contextualized totality. When consumers are bored they are easily triggered by stimulus like price, easy access, and free delivery, and it is perceived as easy to click the boredom away. It is suggested that retailers choose a strategy based on customer value and satisfaction, as there is a lot to win by stepping away from price competition and instead satisfy customers by providing an opportunity to become less bored.