Within a dynamic e-tail environment,web browsing is viewed as an
important part of the shopping experience. This study provides insight
for marketers into developing e-business strategies by understanding
impulse buying behavior in conjunction with browsing the web. The
study focuses on three attributes as perceived by Korean consumers:
variety of selection, price, and sensory attributes. The findings confirm
that product attributes are significantly related to web browsing and
e-impulse buying for apparel, with variety of selection and price
attributes on shopping websites playing an important role in web
browsing and e-impulse buying for apparel products. The results also
reinforce a broadened theory of impulse buying behavior (Baumeister,
2002; Beatty and Ferrell, 1998; Bellenger et al., 1978), which suggests
that web browsing is a key to influence online impulse buying for
apparel purchase from both utilitarian and hedonic perspectives.
In an online shopping context, variety of selection is a significant
driving factor in utilitarian web browsing, eventually discouraging
impulse buying decisions on the Internet. In other words, product
assortment in color, design, or price on the shopping websites
are more likely to increase web browsing for utilitarian purpose
(i.e., gathering information or comparison shopping), so consumers
are less likely to buy apparel on impulse while browsing the site. This
result implies that such goal-directed behavior (Novak et al., 2003)
facilitates better consumer choices through intensive browsing on the
Internet. Also, the variety of selection has a direct and negative effect
on e-impulse apparel buying, emphasizing more of a utilitarian focus
with a greater selection of products online. This finding implies that