Modeling the significance of advertising values on online impulse buying behavior

Abstract Growth in online impulsive buying and digital advertising have drawn the attention of researchers in developed countries, but it is still in its early stages, especially in China. China is positioned to overtake the world as the nation with the highest volume of online purchases owing to a variety of growth-related variables, including impulsive purchases. Surprisingly, there is a deficiency in the holistic understanding of Chinese customers in different age groups regarding the links between advertising value and online impulsive buying behavior. Thus, to advance the line of research, this study intends to determine the connection between advertising value and online impulse buying behavior along with the indirect connection between the urge to buy impulsively and moderation of anxiety. To achieve this objective, data were obtained from 1422 online consumers. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. The results confirm that informativeness, credibility, creativity, entertainment, integration, and the urge to buy online significantly and consequently urge to buy online positively influence online impulsive buying among Chinese consumers. Surprisingly, this interaction was statistically insignificant. Furthermore, the proposed moderator, customer anxiety, also showed no moderating impact on the urge to buy online impulsively and online impulsive buying behavior. The mediation result suggests that urge to buy impulsively significantly mediates the relationship between informativeness, credibility, creativity, entertainment, and integration with online impulse buying behavior, except for interaction and online impulse buying behavior. These findings contribute theoretically by adding new information about Chinese motivational factors for impulsive buying. Empirically, it adds value to marketers, advertisers, and online retailers by considering informativeness, creativity, entertainment, integration, and the urge to buy online while communicating with Chinese consumers at all customer touch points.