Research of impulsive purchasing has a long history [9] and many literature views impulsive purchasing as an unplanned decision to purchase an item (or use a service) without any prior shopping plans [8] [10] [11]. The concept and how impulsive purchasing is defined as changed greatly over time and recently has been acknowledged as a complex phenomenon [2] [12] [13]. Generally, the concept means differently in theory for psychologist, consumer behaviour scientists and economics [2] [12] [13].

Although, the concept has gained more popularity in psychology and consumer behaviour studies there is considerably lack of consensus regarding the definition of impulsive purchasing behaviour [12] [13]. Rook [14] views impulsive purchasing to have occurred after a consumer makes a sudden purchase. Akram et al. [2] and Nanda [5] agreed with Rock [14] definition of “an unplanned purchasing decision(s) made prior to getting the product”. However, Akram et al. [2] and Nanda [5] definition emphasized on “urge to purchase” rather than a product (see [2] [3] [14] for more information). This study adopts the definitions of impulsive purchasing advanced by both Rock [14], Akram et al. [2] and Nanda [4].

Stern [15] categorised impulsive purchasing into four distinct types; namely the pure impulsive purchasing (i.e. a consumer disrupt a usual trend of shopping); reminder impulsive purchasing (i.e. a consumer is reminded of a purchasing need upon seeing the product on display), suggestion impulsive purchasing (occurring when a consumer after seeing a product, visualises it and makes a purchase later) and planned impulsive purchasing (i.e. when a consumer is prompted by a sales promotions or adverts and partially plans in advance).

Different researchers have provided several definition of consumer purchasing for over the years. However, we focus on consumer behaviour defined by Solomon et al. [16] as “the processes involved when individuals or groups select, use or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences for the sole purposes of satisfying the needs and desires”. According to Badgaiyan et al. [8], the psychology of impulsive purchasing can be largely explained by consumer behaviour models. This study explored many models and adapted Churchill and Peter [1] model of the consumer purchasing process of products and services. This is model is an important aspect of marketing and helps marketers to understand how and why consumers make their purchasing decisions.

Churchill and Peter [1] decision model is summarized into five steps as illustrated in Figure 1. The five established steps (as depicted in Figure 1) in the decision-making processes are namely; need recognition, information gathering, evaluation of alternatives, the purchase decision and the post purchase behaviour. The first stage of decision-making process involves need recognition. The need recognition can be classified by either internal stimulus (i.e. a basic need such as hunger) or external stimuli (i.e. advertisement). This stage occurs in most cases naturally or set by the marketer in which case the consumer recognises a change between the present and preferred state. Also, the “need recognition” may be classified into function need, social need and merely need for change (usually occurs when a consumer income level changes from say lower/middle income class to an upper income group or vice versa) [17].

At the second stage, the consumer gets information from multiple sources by engaging with reference group, reading product information from leaflets or on the internet and/or handling of the product itself. The time used in the search varies and mainly depends on the consumer drive to obtain information. Today consumers can obtain large volume of information from different commercial sources such as advertisement etc. about products brands. After information is collected, the consumer evaluates the various alternatives available and the evaluation process varies from consumer to consumer. Some consumers may take

little time or make no evaluation prior to making purchasing decision and this condition is termed impulse and intuition. Note that some shoppers engage in an extended problem solving process to prudently assess between the different brands available and considers substitutes during the selection process.

At the fourth stage, the shopper’s purchase decision is to purchase the most desired brand. For instance, to simplify purchasing decisions, the consumer may engage in “mental shortcuts” that may lead to rushed decisions especially when limited problem solving happens prior to making a choice. Examples of such mental shortcuts include and not limited to “higher price products mean higher quality” or “purchase the same brand as previous” to specific “purchase the same brand that my friend/relative purchased” which in many cases may be unfavourable to the consumer.

The last stage is post purchase behaviour. This is stage is occurring when the shopper had bought the product and then appraise his/her level of satisfaction. A feeling of disappointment suggests that expectations towards the product are not met. On the other hand, when the product meets expectations, the consumer feels satisfied and likely to make similar purchases in future.

The extent to which external factors impact on consumers purchasing behaviour to drives sales has been explored differently by different business rivals [17] [18] [19]. This suggests that more knowledge on how the various external factors when applied may assist business to utilise their resources in a more efficient and effective manner. There are numerous external factors explored in literature [20] - [27], however, this study focuses on in-store browsing, store layout, sales personnel, store-atmosphere, promotional events and reference groups.

In-store Browsing: In-store browsing is a component of impulsive purchasing process refers to consumers scanning items in shops for the purpose of obtaining information about products/services without any plan to buy or for the sake of curiosity. Researchers believe that it is in-store browsing that consumers are exposed to stimuli which creates the urge to purchase on impulse particularly when consumers spend more time browsing [20] [21] [22] believed that consumers who perform in-store browsing make unplanned buying because it is at this stage a consumer encounters desired products. Cho et al. [20] analysed the driving factors behind impulsive purchasing behaviour of consumers in Vietnam supermarkets and found that in-store browsing plays a vital role in setting off impulsive purchasing activity. Salman et al. [21] studied impulsive purchasing behaviour of sports enthusiast and their empirical results strongly support the claim that in-store browsing increases the urge for consumers to make impulse purchases.

In-store atmosphere: In-store atmosphere consists of different sensory elements such as the low or high luxury colours, noise level, light, layout, kind of music played, store scents, temperature in the store, and odour. Hussain & Ali [23] found that the scent in the store significantly influences a consumer urge to purchase from the store. In a similar study, Nishanov & Ahunjonov [24] established that a pleasant store aroma keeps consumers to stay longer in the shop which intend increases impulse purchases.

Spence et al. [25] showed that appropriate interior colours selection for a shop is the most predominant visual stimulus in store design that keeps consumers longer in the store. The longer a consumer stays around the higher the chance of engaging in impulse purchasing. This is consistent with Cho and Lee [26] study that pointed out that in-store atmosphere such as choice interior colours affects the impulse stimuli of consumers which increases impulsive purchasing behaviour in the USA. In Muruganantham and Bhakat [27] in-store atmosphere can significantly influence Iranian consumers to purchase impulsively. Similarly, Patil and Agadi [28], found that store atmosphere affect impulse purchasing behaviour. Graa et al. [29] show that in-store atmosphere such as odours plays significant role in increasing consumers to purchase impulsively. Mittal et al. [30] found that store atmosphere brings a positive feeling that creates an urge to make impulse purchase. The study hypothesis maybe formulated as follows:

In-store layout: A good store layout is designed in manner that creates convenience for consumers to view or scan through products in a given floor space. Thus a store layout refers to a well-organised sections and aisles where products arranged in such a way that improves shopping process and increases the prospects of impulsive purchasing [31]. Studies by both Pradhan [32] and Cho et al. [20] studies that found that store layout are among the factors that triggers impulse purchasing behaviour in consumers who patronise supermarkets in India and Vietnam respectively. This is consistent with findings of Muruganantham and Bhakat [27] that in-store layout is an important external factor that impacts impulsive purchasing behaviour in Iranian consumers.

Salespersons: Sales personnel are people whose work is to aid or sell items to customers who come into the store. When these sales personnel are trained well then they become an asset to the enterprise because they usually guide and help consumers in the process of purchasing. However, when sales personnel techniques create a negative picture then it impacts impulsive purchasing behaviour [33]. The sales personnel contact with the consumer is essential. The form of help offered to a consumer within the shop influence the customer willingness to purchase. Bessouh and Belkhir [34] examined the purchasing behaviour of Algerian shoppers and reported sale personnel shaped consumers’ willingness to make impulse purchase.

Mihic and Kursan [35] in assessing the relationship between impulsive purchasing factors and impulsive purchasing behaviour in different customer segments found that sales personnel mostly motivate consumers to make impulse purchasing. A review paper, Muruganantham and Bhakat [27] provided an in depth description on the topic of the view of different scholars over the last six decades and found that sales personnel are considered an important external factor that triggers consumers’ willingness to make impulse purchase.

Promotional activities: Sales promotion refers to a technique employed to induce shoppers into buying products or services [36]. This is usually done through products/services discounts and is found to have a direct effect on consumers’ behaviour to make impulse purchasing [37]. Muruganantham and Bhakat [27] found promotions as a positive external factor that stimulate impulsive purchasing behaviour among consumers. Mihic and Kursan [35] studied the relationship between factors of impulsive purchasing and impulsive purchasing behaviour and concluded that in-store promotional activities trigger consumers’ willingness to purchase items. Azim [36] found that promotional activities attract consumers to purchasing impulsive. Saraswat et al. [38] explained how promotional sales motivate consumers to engage in impulse purchasing among middle income earners.

Reference groups: A reference group refers to a different segment of group of people, for example relatives, friends, peers or religious groups with similar values. For example, in Pakistan, Bashir et al. [39] believed that reference groups have an important effect on impulsive purchasing behaviour. In Muruganantham and Bhakat [27] reference groups were included to the list of external factors that impact on impulsive purchasing behaviour.

Store environment: The store environment design gives consumers good feeling which is assumed to induce willingness to purchase when consumers stay much longer in the store [30]. Mittal [30] found that store environment brings a positive feeling that creates an urge to make impulse purchase. Bessouh and Belkhir [34] found that store environment increases the impulsive purchasing behaviour of Algerian youth consumers. Azim [36] reported store environment positively affect impulsive purchasing behaviour particularly consumers have an over-stimulating at the presence of a good dynamic store environment. Bessouh and Belkhir [34] found that store environmental stimuli positively impact on Algerian youth to make impulsive purchases.

The data was collected from 129 sampled participants using who shop at three shopping places in Accra and Kumasi using online survey. The study conducted a test of validity and reliability on the collected questionnaire and the following sub-sections presents results of the test. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) showed that the sampling used in the study is adequate (a value > 0.673) and the Bartletts test of sphericity tests showed the sample data is adequate for principle component analysis (sig value of 0.00) (see Table 2). The findings are consistent with previous studies. The next stage is to test for reliability and validity of the questionnaire as a research instrument. The results of reliability test for each research variable are shown in Table 3. From the table, all the research variable reported a Cronbach Alpha ≥ 0.60 and thus acceptable. The overall Cronbach’s Alpha was 0.63.

The results in Table 4 showed the validity test of the items (indicator) to its total value using Pearson Correlation Product Moment technique formula with IBM SPSS version 22.0 software. To make a decision, the study compared the significant (2-tailed) p-value of each item (statement) variable and if the p-value > 0.01 then the statement item is considered invalid and valid if the p-value < 0.01 then the statement item. The minimum correlation coefficient the study used is 0.30 and any value lower than this value is deemed unsatisfactory. Following recommendation of Kumar [40], the study removed statements items that were below 0.30 and statistically insignificant (p-value > 0.01). Items that below the threshold were dropped and only items that met the requirement were considered valid statement items.

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed), *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The results of the respondents’ demographic characteristics per the questionnaires collected are presented in Figure 3. The results for respondents’ gender revealed more male than female responded to the online survey (see Figure 3(a)). Respondents’ age categorization also showed that the youth (i.e. “18 - 24” and “25 - 34” years) formed the largest age groups that respondents (see Figure 3(b)). From Figure 3(c), nearly all respondents have received some form of formal education. All the participants used in this study were employed (Figure 3(d)). The results captured a heterogeneity mixture of respondents’ occupations ranges from banking and finance, entertainment industry, engineering professionals to health professional (Figure 3(d)). The respondents’ monthly income ranged <1000 (US$ 180) to >4000 (US$ 723) [exchange 1 US$ = 5.5 cedis] (see Figure 3(e)). Results for Marital status indicate more singles respondents than married and divorced respectively (Figure 3(f)).