Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to identify the factors influencing consumer purchasing
decision of impulse ice cream in the Western Province. The research investigates the
relationship between brand prestige, trust in manufacturer, sensorial quality attributes, social
status and nutritional quality and information, and the customer purchasing decision of
impulse ice cream. An initial conceptualization was developed from reviewing the literature
and then the conceptualization was tested with primary quantitative survey data collected
from 100 respondents from different areas in the Western Province. Descriptive statistics and
correlation analysis were used to test the key hypotheses derived from literature review. The
findings indicated that consumer purchase decisions of impulse ice cream are influenced by
brand prestige, trust in manufacturer, sensorial quality attributes, social status and nutritional
quality & information. However, the significance of the relationship is different from one
another. The research is conducted in the Western Province region. Hence, future research
could extend these findings to other areas of Sri Lanka to generalization. Further, research
can be carried out through data collection from those who actually participated in relation to
test the factors that are concerned with bulk ice cream purchasing decision. This research and
the claims made are limited to the ice cream industry. The key implications will help the ice
cream manufacturers to support their marketing campaigns in Sri Lanka.