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Lucy’s research is investigating consumers’ attitudes towards Valentine’s Day. She is particularly invested in finding out about consumer buying behaviors on special occasions, and to what extent emotions and feelings for partners influence impulse buying behaviors. Having looked at the literature and identified publications on consumer buying decisions, Lucy has set herself a research question of ‘How do emotions and feelings affect impulse buying behavior of consumers?’ Lucy is interested in understanding the emotions and feelings behind the commercial interactions. She has made it clear to her supervisor that she is not interested in how much people spend, how often they shop, or how many times they make purchases, even though she understands that these are also interrelated with the research question.

• What would be the ideal research philosophy to adopt in order to investigate the topic?
• What would be the ideal research approach to adopt in order to research the topic?
• What would be the ideal research strategy(ies) to adopt in order to investigate the topic?
• Could Lucy consider an experimental research design for her study? How could she use experimental research?