Social Media Opinion Leaders’ Self-Presentation and Youth Tourism Impulse Buying: A Mediated SOR Analysis

This study pioneers the application of impression management theory to tourism impulse buying, identifying four novel self-presentation attributes. Data were collected from an online and an offline survey of 345 Chinese university students. Using SPSS22.0 and AMOS21.0 statistical software, this paper analyses the pre-survey and formal survey data through descriptive statistics, reliability and validity tests, correlation analysis and structural equation model testing, and the calculation results verify the validity of the research hypotheses and models proposed in this paper. The results reveal that the four self-presentation attributes, professionalism, interactivity, homophily, and entertainment, positively influence young people’s impulsive buying tendency. Among them, the influence of professionalism exceeds the other three attributes, and its impact on perceived value exceeds the impact on flow experience. Interactivity had a greater impact on the flow experience, outpacing the other three attributes. Homogeneity had a slightly stronger effect on perceived value than on flow experience. Entertainment has more of an impact on perceived value than the other three attributes. Moreover, flow experience and perceived value significantly affect impulsive buying and mediate these relationships. Also, perceived value has a greater impact on impulse buying than flow experience. These findings clarify the psychological mechanisms and pathways underpinning young people’s impulsive buying tendency, emphasizing their impulsive, highly visual, and immediate nature, as well as their dependence on digital technology. The study also offers strategies to guide young consumers toward more rational purchase decisions.