Discretionary unplanned buying in consumer society

This paper addresses a disjunction between consumer behaviour discourse about ‘impulse buying’ and the reality of shopper behaviour in contemporary marketing and retail environments, by revising the concept of unplanned buying. ‘Discretionary unplanned buying’ is distinguished from impulse buying and is argued to be part of the core meaning of a ‘consumer society’. Consumers buy goods and services with discretionary income intentionally, but without prior planning. It is suggested that such purchases account for a significant portion of the excitement and the ‘hedonic’ satisfaction that consumers receive from their consumption purchases, both in the present day and historically. Consumer experiences as well as the historical development of retail places and consumer society are considered. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.