Impact of COVID‐19 on consumers' impulse buying behavior of fitness products: A moderated mediation model

Abstract

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, consumers are found to be more impulsive to purchase fitness products online. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate a moderated mediation model of consumers' perception of COVID‐19 and impulse buying behavior through fear moderated by income. A total of 608 responses were collected from consumers in the United States, and this study employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) to examine the hypothesized relationships in the research model. The results showed that the perception of COVID‐19 had a positive influence on fear, which in turn led to impulse buying behavior of fitness products. Moreover, consumers' income levels negatively moderated the positive relationship between fear and impulse buying behavior. The findings contribute to a better understanding of consumers' behavior and offer practical implications that enable marketers and retailers to predict consumers' behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic.