Impulse Buying Tendency Scale

What it measures

Measures the dispositional tendency to buy impulsively — to experience sudden, often powerful urges to purchase something immediately, without deliberation. Captures both the spontaneous urge and a relative disregard for consequences. One of the most widely used measures in impulse buying research.

Response format

Likert (1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

• I often buy things spontaneously.
• 'Just do it' describes the way I buy things.
• I often buy things without thinking.
• 'I see it, I buy it' describes me.
• 'Buy now, think about it later' describes me.
• Sometimes I feel like buying things on the spur of the moment.
• I buy things according to how I feel at the moment.
• I carefully plan most of my purchases. (R)
• Sometimes I am a bit reckless about what I buy.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

(R)=reverse-scored. Freely available — widely reproduced in the marketing literature. Often used alongside state measures of urge-to-buy in in-store and online shopping research. Related to but distinct from the BIS-11 (general impulsivity) — the IBT is purchase-specific.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Rook, D.W., & Fisher, R.J. (1995). Normative influences on impulsive buying behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 22(3), 305–313.

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