Objective: Planning, set-shifting, and inhibition are processes that come into play in people’s decisionmaking behavior in their daily lives and are components of executive functions.
Methods: We investigated whether individual differences in these cognitive abilities could explain impulsive buying using a comprehensive and verified battery of objective performance measures of executive functions. This research also looks into the role of gender in moderation. The following tests were administered respectively: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test to measure participants’ set-shifting and problem-solving skills, Stroop Test TBAG Form to measure inhibition, Tower of London Test to measure planning and inhibition. Besides, Impulse Buying Scale was implemented to measure the impulsive buying. The dataset was analyzed through the structural equation model with bootstrap technique by using AMOS 23.0 program.
Results: According to results of SEM, planning (β = .37; P = .00, 95% CI [.074, .655]) was significant in directly to predict impulsive buying tendency; however, importance of set- shifting and inhibition were not significant. According to analysis results, the model was indicated goodness of fit [X2 (22, n = 67) = 24.477, P = .32; x2/df = 1.11; RMSEA = .04; GFI = .92; AGFI = .84; CFI = .99; NFI = .91].
Conclusion: This study is one of few studies examining the relationship between executive functions and impulsive buying, which partially overlaps with the relevant findings in the literature and provides them with new perspectives. In the light of the results obtained, the impulsive buying appearing suddenly without planning in the shopping environment is higher in individuals who have low problem-solving skills, fail in spending planning, and cannot resist the distractors caused by the environment.
Cite this article as: Arican H, Kafadar H. The relationship between executive functions and impulsive buying: A structural equation model. Neuropsychiatr Invest. 2022;60(3):64-71.