68 The Urge to Splurge propositions, it is argued that mindfulness may function as a potential remedy for impulse buying (e.g., Rosenberg, 2004; Bahl et al., 2016). Rooted in Buddhist philosophy, mindfulness refers to a certain level of insight and consciousness (Hyland, 2014), presenting a marked departure from automatic behaviors (Brown & Ryan, 2003) such as impulse buying. In marketing and (consumer) psychology literature, mindfulness is broadly defined as ‘the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present’ (Brown & Ryan, 2003, p.822). Mindfulness consists of four dimensions: attention, awareness, present focus, and acceptance (e.g., Park & Dhandra, 2017; Dhandra, 2020). Although studies identified a negative correlation between trait mindfulness and general impulse buying tendencies or, rather, impulse buying trait ( e.g., Dhandra, 2020; Yiğit, 2020; Vihari et al., 2022), Friese and Hoffman (2016) present contrasting findings, suggesting that mindfulness positively correlates with impulsively acting upon one’s desire. People who experience high levels of state mindfulness are less likely to fight their desires and, consequently, are more likely to act upon their desires (e.g., making impulse purchases) than those with low levels of state mindfulness (Friese & Hoffman, 2016). This divergence within the literature underscores a degree of ambiguity regarding the potential of mindfulness concerning impulse buying. This study endeavors to gain clarity on this topic by exploring the relationship between mindfulness and impulse purchase urges and behaviors. There are three other reasons why it may be premature to conclusively assert that mindfulness negatively affects impulse buying: 1) most studies on mindfulness and impulse buying only study the relationship between trait mindfulness and impulse buying trait (i.e. the self-assessment of how impulsively one makes purchases in general) – and thus leave out impulse buying urges (i.e. the tendency of wanting to impulsively buy a specific item in that specific moment, e.g., Yiğit, 2020); 2) previous studies do not measure the effect of state mindfulness on impulse buying urge nor on actual impulse buying behavior; 3) most studies on this topic only use self-report measures (e.g., Dhandra, 2020; Vihari et al., 2022), which may lead to self-presentation bias (Paulhus & Vazire, 2007). These studies, therefore, can only suggest that mindfulness affects impulse buying. Considering the factors mentioned above, this study not only aims to replicate the previously observed relationship between trait mindfulness and impulse buying trait but also aims to add new knowledge to the existing body of literature by measuring 1) the relationship between trait mindfulness and impulse buying urges, and 2) the effect of state mindfulness on impulse buying urges and behavior.
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