The Impact of Buy-Now-Pay-Later use frequency on Social Media Shopping, Luxury Consumption and Consumer Indebtedness

This study explores the impact of BNPL usage on social media purchasing, luxury consumption, and debt accumulation. 7,371 respondents participated in this study, and 7,248 reported their BNPL usage. The results indicate that the frequency of BNPL usage is positively related to the use of the buy now button on social media, luxury consumption, and indebtedness. Results indicate that all three dependent variables are significantly predicted by BNPL use. Both direct and indirect effects were observed, indicating BNPL's role in impulsive online consumption and consumer debt accumulation. These results underscore the need for further study on the topic. Although significant relationships were found, moderate effect sizes indicate that more work needs to be done to identify other ways that BNPL availability impacts consumers' purchasing patterns and the long-term impacts of those behaviors.