The influence of sales promotion on consumer purchase decision: an empirical study of customers in the retail market in China

Abstract

With the Chinese retail market booming, a great number of companies has tried to cater more customers through different promotional activities. Still, the exact impact of promotions on consumer behavior for Chinese retailers remains to be seen. This paper aims to assess the influence of sales promotion tools on the purchase decisions made by Chinese consumers in the retail industry, and also this paper tries to identify which sales promotional tool is more effective so that it can encourage purchases. The effects of price discounts, coupons, free samples, BOGO and insurance premiums on buying decisions of Chinese retail consumers were examined. The results show that all the independent variables have a positive and significant impact on purchasing decisions, while BOGO has the greatest impact on China's retail market.