Exploring the Drivers of Impulsive Buying Behavior: A Study on Paylater User in Jakarta with Positive Emotions as Mediator

Paylater is a fintech service feature that allows consumers to make purchases now and pay in installments later. While it offers flexibility in financial management, the use of paylater can lead to problems, such as encouraging impulsive, unplanned purchases and causing the accumulation of unpaid debts. This can be detrimental to companies, as unpaid debts can impact the financial health and sustainability of the paylater service providers. This study examines the influence of hedonism, sales promotions, and materialism on the impulsive buying behavior of paylater users in Jakarta, with positive emotions serving as a mediating variable. A total of 202 paylater users residing in Jakarta participated in this study, using a non-probability method with purposive sampling and a cross-sectional survey through the Google Forms platform. Data analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with the SmartPLS 4 software. The results of the study show that hedonism, sales promotions, and materialism have a positive influence on impulsive buying, with positive emotions playing a significant mediating role. The findings also indicate that, although sales promotions do not have a direct impact on impulsive buying, they influence impulsive buying indirectly through the mediation of positive emotions. This research highlights the importance of cultivating wise purchasing habits and managing impulsive behavior to prevent negative consequences, such as debt accumulation. The findings of this study can be applied by emphasizing the importance of implementing financial education strategies, strict credit selection, and the use of technology to address the issue of high non-performing loans (NPL) in paylater services.