Honors College Theses

Publication Date

2017

Major

Marketing (BBA)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Luther Trey Denton

Abstract

This paper looks at the relationships between alcohol consumption and the impulse buying behaviors of college students. The first section of the study looks at what categories of products are most commonly purchased whilst each student is under the influence of alcohol. The criteria for classing something as an impulse purchase in this section is that you can’t have previously planned on buying the product, and/or you end up spending more than you initially intended, whilst you are under the influence. We found that food, more alcohol, and gifts for others were the top three categories in this section. The next section is comprised of 18 questions which have a possible answer range of 1 through 7. These are used to see how strongly each respondent agrees with each statement made about their behaviors surrounding alcohol and impulsive behaviors. Lastly, the number of drinks that the respondent consumes on average during a week, and also during a night out with friends, is recorded, along with whether they are an active member of a Fraternity or Sorority. The study found that heavy drinkers report more problems of impulsive overspending.

After analyzing and discussing the results of the questions, and the possible relationships between drinking and impulse buying, the paper then looks at possible managerial implications of the information, and the limitations of this study, as well as ideas for future research.

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