WHY CONSUMERS MAKE IMPULSIVE PURCHASES ON QUICK COMMERCE APPS: AN INVESTIGATION OF FOMO, UI TRIGGERS, AND INSTANT GRATIFICATION USING THE SOR FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Quick commerce (q-commerce), represented by companies like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart, has revolutionized consumer buying habits in India, all in a short span of time. These platforms do deliveries in 10 to 30 minutes, creating a new retail space in which more and more purchases are planned than impulsive. In the present study, authors want to look into the psychological and platform level reasons which rise the impulse buying and willingness to pay more for convenience among the consumers of urban India. This research uses Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theory created by Mehrabian and Russell (1974), which considers that trigger factors of FOMO and UI, such as countdown timers, low stock alerts, one click checkout and push notifications, are stimuli. The organism-level construct is of instant gratification, the psychological impact of having a need met in moments due to the organism. The behavioral responses considered include impulse buying and willingness to pay for convenience. A Google Forms questionnaire was used to gather primary data from 138 respondents who were aged between 18 and 40 years in the urban area on a five-point Likert scale. The sample was mostly made up of people between the ages of 23-27 (63%), which falls in the age range of millennials and Gen Z, the primary quick commerce user base. Most respondents came from Tier 1 cities (84.1%) and used these apps 2-3 times a week (56.5%). Multiple Regression Analysis (OLS) was used in the analysis. Scores for each construct were derived by means of a mean of all the items on a Likert scale and bivariate relationships and multicollinearity were evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis before running regression. Two regression models were analysed: - Model 1 with Impulse Buying as the dependent variable and FOMO, UI Triggers and Instant Gratification as the independent variables; and - Model 2 with Willingness to Pay as the dependent variable and FOMO, UI Triggers and Instant Gratification as the independent variables. To check for the presence of the problematic multicollinearity, variance inflation factor (VIF) was calculated. Based on the mean scores and the significant level, the key findings were: Instant Gratification (mean = 4.10, SD = 0.82) is the most strongly endorsed construct and is the most significant predictor of both Impulse Buying (β = 0.381, p < 0.001) and Willingness to Pay (β = 0.428, p < 0.001). UI Triggers (β = 0.214, p < 0.01) and FOMO (β = 0.178, p < 0.05) also significantly predict Impulse Buying. The regression models explain 48.7% of variance in Impulse Buying (R² = 0.487, F = 42.86, p < 0.001) and 41.2% of variance in Willingness to Pay (R² = 0.412, F = 31.47, p < 0.001). The hypotheses above were all accepted at a 5% significance level. The study also adds to the theory by presenting an empirical validation of SOR framework under the unique context of quick commerce in an emerging market through regression based methodology. In practical terms the results will provide a blueprint for platform designers, FMCG brands and D2C marketers aiming to tap into the brain in an ethical and impactful way. The study also points to key ethical concerns, such as the use of dark patterns and consumer autonomy, both in the context of industry practices and regulatory action.