Orientation: Experiential settings are becoming more popular to differentiate conventional brick-and-mortar retailing which now faces fierce competition from multiple other retail platforms.Research purpose: The study aims to identify and explain the internal driving forces that positively predict consumers’ impulsive behaviour in experiential retail settings.Research design, approach and method: This quantitative investigation entailed a retrospective assessment of consumers’ experiences at diverse experiential retailers. An electronic survey approach enabled the collection of 402 usable questionnaires based on a purposive sampling technique whereby a heterogeneous sample of consumers 18 years and above who have visited one of the identified experiential retailers were recruited. Stepwise regression analyses were conducted to test the hypothesised relationships between the independent and dependent variables.Main findings: Results suggest that consumers’ mood and emotions, adventure, gratification and social shopping motives as well as their desire for recreation are conducive to certain impulsive behavioural outcomes, namely irresistible desire creation, impulsive purchases and impulsive participation. A significant finding is that impulsive actions are not necessarily preceded by an irresistible urge. However, the urge to act on impulse is regarded a separate impulsive behavioural outcome.Practical/managerial implications: Impulsive behaviour should be regarded as a valuable outcome in terms of an understanding of consumers’ behaviour in experiential retail contexts. Not only does it offer retailers competitive advantage possibilities but it also constitutes more satisfying experiences for consumers.Contribution/value-add: A theoretical contribution is made in terms of an integration of literature on experiential retail and impulsive behaviour.

Consumers are constantly seeking out new and memorable experiences. This study empirically examines how external factors, such as the characteristics of innovation (relative advantage, trialability, observability, low complexity, compatibility) and exterior store design, and internal factors (positive mood, hedonic motivations, consumer innovativeness) aff ect young consumers’ impulse intention toward visiting pop-up stores in the South African context. Survey data was collected from a convenient sample of 461 students from two universities in South Africa via a self-administered questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis revealed that (a) external factors related to the characteristics of innovation (i.e., compatibility and low complexity), (b) exterior store design, and (c) the internal factor, consumer innovativeness, had a signifi cant influence on consumers’ impulse intentions to visit pop-up shops. The study examined pop-up retail through the lens of impulse behaviour in an emerging market. The study contributes to the understanding of factors influencing the success of pop-up stores in emerging markets. In particular, the understanding of the factors that lead to impulse intentions towards pop-up retail, which has been overlooked in research.

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