| Pradeep Kumar Shukla (Research Scholar) Department of Business Administration Awadhesh Pratap Singh University Rewa (MP) | Prof. Atul Pandey (Professor and Head) Department of Business Administration Awadhesh Pratap Singh University Rewa (MP) |
Abstract
With the quick growth of e-commerce platforms, online impulsive purchasing has grown more prevalent. However, the unplanned nature of these transactions sometimes results in psychological distress once the transaction is over. Customer happiness, return behavior, and repurchase intention are all significantly impacted by this discomfort, which is conceptualized in the marketing literature as post-purchase cognitive dissonance or buyer’s regret. The current research looks at the degree of post-purchase cognitive dissonance among impulsive internet shoppers and if it differs depending on important demographic factors including gender, income, employment, and marital status. Using a structured questionnaire, 400 respondents provided primary data, which was then analyzed using one-way ANOVA, independent samples t-tests, and descriptive statistics. With a mean dissonance score of 4.175 on a five-point scale, the results show that post-purchase regret is widespread among online impulsive shoppers. The degree of dissonance was shown to be strongly influenced by both gender and marital status, with married and female respondents expressing more regret than their single and male counterparts, respectively. Additionally, occupation was shown to be a major difference, with self-employed respondents having the lowest levels of dissonance and students the most. However, the degree of post-purchase cognitive dissonance was not much impacted by income. The study adds to the expanding corpus of research on post-purchase consumer psychology and provides useful recommendations for online merchants looking to reduce buyer’s regret and improve enduring client connections.