“Spur” and “Temper” Interventions in Impulse Buying
(A2026-134358)

AUTHORS

Ava Huijuan Yu, The University of Western Australia; Pei Yu Chien, Institute of Technology Management, National Tsing Hua University

ABSTRACT

The fashion industry’s severe environmental footprint, driven by impulse buying fuelled by promotions, poses a strategic dilemma: boosting short-term sales may undermine long-term brand commitment. While the promotion–impulse buying link is established, its consequences for brand commitment remain unclear. Addressing this gap, this paper investigates how retailer interventions, that either “spur” (trigger intuition) or “temper” (trigger reasoning), moderate these relationships. We test the mediating role of impulse buying and the moderating role of interventions in the fast-fashion context through two controlled experiments: study 1 (n=168) and study 2 (n=697). Preliminary results indicate that impulse buying mediates the promotion–brand commitment link, and that intervention significantly moderates the promotion–impulse buying relationship. The research offers actionable insights for designing retail environments that balance short-term sales with long-term brand commitment.