Visual Merchandising, Hedonic Shopping Motivation, and Lack of Self-Control as Determinants of Impulsive Buying among Generation Z Consumers: Evidence from OH!Some Retail Stores in Medan

Abstract

The rapid expansion of modern lifestyle retail in Indonesia and the growing purchasing power of Generation Z have intensified the occurrence of impulsive buying behavior in offline retail settings, yet integrated empirical evidence that combines external store stimuli and internal psychological drivers in a single explanatory model for this generational segment remains limited. This study therefore aims to examine the effect of visual merchandising, hedonic shopping motivation, and lack of self-control on impulsive buying behavior among Generation Z consumers at the OH! Some retail store in Sun Plaza, Medan City, North Sumatra, Indonesia. A quantitative associative design with a cross-sectional approach was employed. Primary data were collected between June and September 2026 using a structured questionnaire distributed to 100 Generation Z respondents selected through non-probability accidental sampling, with inclusion criteria of (a) domicile in Medan City, (b) membership of Generation Z by year of birth, and (c) at least one in-store purchase at OH! Some Medan during the preceding six months. All constructs were measured with multi-item reflective indicators on a five-point Likert scale (10 indicators for visual merchandising, 8 for hedonic shopping motivation, 7 for lack of self-control, and 6 for impulsive buying). Data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4, following a two-stage measurement- and structural-model evaluation and bootstrapping with 5,000 sub-samples. The results indicate that visual merchandising (β = 0.280; p = 0.010), hedonic shopping motivation (β = 0.287; p = 0.001), and lack of self-control (β = 0.410; p < 0.001) each exert a positive and statistically significant effect on impulsive buying, with lack of self-control emerging as the strongest predictor. The three antecedents jointly explain 74.7% of the variance in impulsive buying (R² = 0.747). Theoretically, the study contributes to the consumer behavior and retail marketing literature by integrating one external stimulus and two internal psychological constructs within a single PLS-SEM model for a Generation Z lifestyle retail setting. Practically, the findings provide retail managers with guidance on how to balance visual merchandising and experiential design with responsible marketing practices that respect the self-regulatory limits of younger consumers. The findings should be interpreted in light of several limitations, including the cross-sectional design, a single-outlet sampling frame of 100 respondents, and reliance on self-reported data; future research is encouraged to extend the model with additional antecedents, multi-city and multi-format samples, and longitudinal or experimental designs.