Dark Triad traits, materialism, and buy now, pay later (BNPL)

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services are a new form of financing option that has become popular among Gen Z consumers. However, there is a very limited understanding of the associations among Dark Triad personality traits, materialism, and BNPL usage intentions. Hence, this study aims to examine whether Dark Triad personality traits and materialism are associated with BNPL usage intentions. Gen Z consumers were surveyed to confirm the proposed relationships. The results demonstrate that, of the three Dark Triad traits, only narcissism has a significant association with materialism. However, psychopathy and Machiavellianism do not have a significant association with materialism. Materialism was found to have a significant association with BNPL usage intentions. This study is the first to investigate factors influencing Gen Z consumers' BNPL usage intentions from a personality perspective using the Dark Triad framework.