95 Chapter 5 increase of impulse purchases can be disadvantageous for consumers (e.g., Yi & Baumgartner, 2011; Nanda & Banjeree, 202) and the environment (Boersma, 2020). The opposite also applies. Insights into decreasing impulse buying may benefit consumers and the environment but can present disadvantages for (socially responsible) retailers. Hence, researchers in the field of impulse buying are challenged to carefully weigh the potential benefits and risks of their work, seeking to maximize the positive societal impact while remaining cognizant of the potential unintended consequences. Limitations and directions for future research As previously discussed, this dissertation has the potential to add value in multiple ways: to the scientific body of knowledge on impulse buying, for practitioners in retail, marketing, and advertising, and to society. However, this research also contains some critical limitations. First, the unnatural usage of the studied media cues presents a limitation. Although we performed a total of four field experiments, which increased the external validity of the outcomes, we actively invited people to engage with the media cues (phygital, CSR advertising, and mediated mindfulness cues). This means that people who would normally not interact with a store window screen, attentively read an advertisement, or watch a mindfulness instruction video, were included in our studies. It can be argued that such forced exposure may have led to amplified effects or, to the contrary, to attenuated effects. Amplified effects of using a sample that (partially) would not engage with the studied media cues can be substantiated by novelty and attention. Previous studies have shown that the novelty of (e.g., Moes & Van Vliet, 2017), or attention to (e.g., Goodrich, 2011) a media cue can drive persuasive outcomes. This possibility of amplified effects in our studies must be considered. However, it is also possible that forced exposure may have led to attenuated effects, since this may lead to feelings of reactance (e.g., Edwards, Li, & Lee, 2002). For future studies, it would, therefore, be interesting to control for forced exposure, making it possible to discover if the media cues have different effects on people who interact with them naturally as opposed to those who are recruited to interact with them. A second limitation concerns the measurement of impulse buying. Two of the three empirical chapters of the present dissertation aimed to add value to the literature on impulse buying by attempting to measure actual impulse buying behavior. We asked participants in the experimental studies to make a choice. They could receive the credits for their participation, as they normally would, or they could use these credits as a means of payment to purchase the exposed product. It was explained to the participants that, in the case of the latter, they would not receive the credits but the product instead. Since they could choose to buy the exposed products with their otherwise earned credits, actual buying behavior was measured. However, it may be claimed that the behavior was not truly impulsive. Taking the definition of impulse buying behavior into account (e.g., Rook, 1987), measurements should focus on 1) to what extent a consumer experiences a strong sudden urge to buy, and 2) if the purchase was unplanned. Concerning the former, it is possible to ask consumers about their buying urges and desires, as we did in Chapters 2 and 3. However, making someone aware of their urges by
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