Digital Engagement and Social Influence in Impulse Buying – A Conceptual Review

Abstract

The rapid growth of digital technologies and e-commerce have transformed the consumer purchasing behaviour by creating huge interactive and most personalized shopping environments. Digital engagement through social networking sites, electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM), personalized advertising, influencer marketing and social commerce has significantly increased consumers exposure to impulse buying opportunities. This conceptual paper reviews the existing literature to examine the factors influencing impulse buying and it explores how social influence shapes consumers purchase decisions in digital environment. The review identifies the key determinants of impulse buying which includes hedonic motivation, price promotions, e-WOM and digital engagement while emphasizing how social influence can reinforce the spontaneous purchase decisions. The paper further discusses ethical challenges associated with digital marketing practises, such as hidden influencer promotions, privacy concerns, lack of transparency and excessive use of consumer data. Unlike previous studies that primarily examine individual determinants of impulse buying, this study integrates digital engagement factors, social influence mechanisms and the ethical considerations into a conceptual perspective. It contributes by identifying current gaps, provides directions for subsequent empirical studies also provides the importance of ethical digital engagement approaches which maintains marketing effectiveness with protecting consumer welfare. The findings of the paper provide useful insights for researchers and marketers seeking to develop responsible and sustainable digital marketing practices.