Impact of Multi-Sensory Branding Experience on Consumer Impulsive Buying Tendency and the Mediating Effect of Browsing Behavior within the Store in Modern Trade Outlets in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Multi-sensory marketing creates an impact on the human senses and has greater importance in designing retail environments to be experiential oriented where it affects consumer perception, judgement and behavior. This article aims to analyze how multi-sensory branding experience impacts on consumer impulsive buying tendency in modern trade outlets in Sri Lanka and how browsing behavior within the store mediates this relationship. Based on a review of literature, this study develops an integrative conceptual framework, and it was tested using the data collected from 384 shoppers by adopting a simple random sampling method. The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between variables and there is a significant impact between visual, olfactory and auditory cues towards impulsive buying tendency and the results further indicates that browsing behavior mediates the relationship between multi-sensory cues and impulsive buying tendency. The relevant contribution that emerged from this study is applicable for all the self-servicing modern trade outlets in Sri Lanka by offering significant managerial implications.