Abstract

To date, research on impulsive, compulsive and innovative retail shopping behaviour motivated by the desire to obtain emotional, social and identity-related benefits, has largely been limited to Europe (Germany), Canada and western developed economies (the UK and USA). This article provides an initial analysis of the prevalence of impulsive, compulsive and innovative shopping traits of consumers in the economic retail hub of South Africa. More precisely, the article explores the demographic diversity in the purchase and innovative traits of Gauteng consumers. Overall, the article reveals clear disparity in impulsive, compulsive and innovative shopping behaviour across selected demographic and socioeconomic consumer segments. From a practical perspective, the marketing segmentation approach applied in this study is ideally suited for retail segmentation and marketing strategy development and serves to identify key marketplace buying behaviours. For retail, insight into buying and innovative shopping behaviour is essential for building long-term relationships with consumers and to serve their specific needs within an extremely complex and competitive retail landscape.

Key words: Impulsive shopping, compulsive shopping, Mavenism, Oniomania,shopping addiction, retail therapy, recreational shopping, innovative shopping, behaviour.