MICOM analysis of gender differences in Parasocial Interaction and Impulse Buying Behavior

Abstract

Corporates and online consumers, irrespective of their gender, are increasingly focusing on social commerce with the rapid growth of social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram and media platforms such as YouTube. It is a common understanding that online shoppers these days are influenced by the celebrity/expert opinions or reviews given by other users on these platforms. It is interesting to know the response of men and women to such opinions. Few studies specifically explore these differences in impulse buying behavior. The main focus of this study is to explore gender differences in the relationship between para social interaction (PSI) and impulsive buying behavior on social commerce platforms in a sample taken from Punjab and Chandigarh in India. Additionally, we explore two key perspectives: the impact of an urge to buy and Impulse buying tendencies on actual impulse buying behavior. Each perspective looks at how gender influences buying behavior in different ways. MICOM analysis, as provided under PLS-SEM, is used to do the analysis. Results showed that gender acts as a moderator for impulse buying behavior. Female PSI has shown a greater impact on actual impulse buying behavior as compared to males. Perceived usefulness (PU) has a greater impact on perceived entertainment (PE) compared to females, and finally, for females, the urge to buy impulsively (UBI) leads to more impulse buying behavior compared to males.