A meta-analysis of consumer impulse buying

•A meta-analysis of the impulse buying literature is conducted and includes 63 articles.•The effects of 17 antecedents of impulse buying are examined.•The prominence of impulse buying tendency/trait is confirmed.•Substantive and methodological moderators of impulse buying are examined.

This study provides a meta-analysis of the impulse buying literature and examines common antecedents for impulse buying behavior. An exploration of the impulse buying literature results in the establishment of three overarching constructs used as independent variables: dispositional, situational, and sociodemographic variables. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to assess which variables are shown to have the strongest effect on impulse buying and suggest that the dispositional/situational interaction variables have the strongest relationship with impulse buying followed by dispositional, situational, and sociodemographic main effects, respectively. Specific dispositional, situational, and sociodemographic constructs are explored further along with moderating effects. Implications of the findings are discussed.