Cultural orientation and impulse buying behavior among Gen-Z: a survey-based analysis

The University of the Punjab’s Gen-Z students live on a media-saturated campus, allowing them to find, purchase and use products almost instantly. Amid this surge in the popularity of digitally mediated consumption, the current thesis explores the role of underlying cultural values that contribute to impulse buying behavior among Gen-Z in Pakistan. Based on the six cultural dimensions provided by Hofstede as the theoretical frame, the research collected data through survey of 320 undergraduate students at FIMS. The assessment of cultural orientation was done using the CVSCALE and indulgence scale by Heydari et al. (2021), whereas impulse buying tendencies were assessed using the Rook & Fisher trait scale. Quantitative, cross-sectional design has been utilized, and findings indicate that indulgence is the most significant positive predictor of impulse buying whereas long-term orientation and uncertainty avoidance negatively predict impulse buying. Contrary to societal expectations, male students were significantly more impulsive than their female counterparts. Mapping cultural blueprinting into daily consumption gives this particular research a rare empirical contribution. It has practical implications in financial literacy initiatives, culturally targeted marketing and digital consumer behavior policymaking in the developing economies.