Why do Consumers Regret Using Paylater Services? The Influence of Impulsive Buying and Unplanned Buying

Authors

  • Gemala Aulia Putri Politeknik Negeri Jakarta
  • Tetty Rimenda Politeknik Negeri Jakarta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35870/ijmsit.v6i2.8028

Keywords:

Impulsive Buying, Paylater, Post-Purchase Regret, Unplanned Buying

Abstract

Adoption of PayLater or BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) services in Indonesia has expanded sharply, reaching 79.92 million financing contracts, as recorded by the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) in 2023. Paylater is a financial technology (FinTech) that lets consumers obtain goods or services immediately while deferring payment through installments. Based on the increasing use of PayLater services, consumers have been found to experience post-purchase regret after using PayLater services. The younger generation has a higher tendency to experience post-purchase regret after using PayLater services, especially individuals which shows a tendency towards impulsive buying and unplanned buying. This study examines how impulsive buying and unplanned buying on post-purchase regret among PayLater users. Using a quantitative design with purposive sampling, data were collected from 140 respondents through an online questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS version 4. The findings show that both impulsive buying and unplanned buying exert a significant, positive influence on post-purchase regret among PayLater users. This finding provides an overview of paylater users that arise due to spontaneous and unplanned purchasing behavior facilitated by the convenience of paylater which then creates post-purchase regret.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

  • Gemala Aulia Putri, Politeknik Negeri Jakarta

    Accounting Department, Politeknik Negeri Jakarta, Depok City, West Java Province Depok City, West Java Province, Indonesia

  • Tetty Rimenda, Politeknik Negeri Jakarta

    Accounting Department, Politeknik Negeri Jakarta, Depok City, West Java Province Depok City, West Java Province, Indonesia

References

Abdallrahman, M., & Darwish, N. A. (2024). Mediating role of regret feelings in the relationship between consumer expectations, emotions and willingness to buy. Rajagiri Management Journal, 18(4), 323–336. https://doi.org/10.1108/RAMJ-12-2023-0329

Abed, S. S., & Alkadi, R. S. (2024). Sustainable Development through Fintech: Understanding the Adoption of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Applications by Generation Z in Saudi Arabia. Sustainability, 16(15), 6368. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156368

Adianti, & Purnomo. (2025). Pengaruh Literasi Keuangan dan Kemudahan Penggunaan Terhadap Minat Menggunakan Aplikasi Paylater dengan Disonansi Kognitif sebagai Variabel Moderasi Pada Mahasiswa. Jurnal Kajian Ilmu Manajemen, 5(4), 318–329. https://doi.org/10.21107/jkim.v5i4.33291

Aprillia, A. N., & Rimenda, T. (2022). Pengaruh Habit Dan Trust Dalam Minat Menggunakan ShopeePay Pada Pembelanjaan Online (Studi Kasus Pada Aplikasi Shopee). Account, 9(2), 1670–1678. https://doi.org/10.32722/account.v9i2.4870

Ashby, R., Sharifi, S., Yao, J., & Ang, L. (2025). The influence of the buy-now-pay-later payment mode on consumer spending decisions. Journal of Retailing, 101(1), 103–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2025.01.003

Ayu, Partha Cokorda Gede Govinda, & Purba Ida Bagus Gde Indra Wedhana. (2025). The Psychology Of Paylater: How Marketing Strategies Shape The Illusion Of Financial Capability Among Indonesian Consumers. Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 168(12), 3-11.

Barman, R. (2024). Emotional Intelligence and its impact on Impulse Buying and Post Purchase Regret among Young Working Adults. www.ijcrt.org

Barta, S., Gurrea, R., & Flavián, C. (2023). Consequences of consumer regret with online shopping. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 73, 103332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103332

Bcom, V., Kalai Lakshmi, T. R., & Professor, A. (2022). A Study on The Impact of Cognitive Dissonance on Usage of White Sugar (Vol. 7). www.ijnrd.org

Beikverdi, L., Sipilä, J., & Tarkiainen, A. (2024). Post‐purchase effects of impulse buying: A review and research agenda. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 23(3), 1512–1527. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2287

Bilal Ali, A., Bilal Saeed, M., Hisham Ul Hassan, K., Butt, A., ur Rehman, K., & Manzur, A. (n.d.). Center for Management Science Research an Unplanned Buying Behaviour of Customer: an Interpretive Study on Financial Institutions Insurance Services in Pakistan. 3, 2025. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16668846

Dadra, R., Sonavane, A., Bachwani, S., & Behera, C. K. (2024). Beyond credit cards: A TEP perspective on buy-now-pay-later adoption. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 34(4), 459–484. https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2024.2391282

Dankwah, J. B., Kwakwa, P. A., & Ibrahim Nnindini, S. (2024). Why did I buy this? Examining the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism, celebrity endorsement and post-purchase regret. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2381865

Dawson, M. G., Deer, R., & Boguslawski, S. (2025). Cognitive dissonance in programming education: A qualitative exploration of the impact of generative AI on application-directed learning. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 19, 100724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100724

Dehaan, E., Kim, J., Lourie, B., & Zhu, C. (2024). Buy Now Pay (Pain?) Later. Management Science, 70(8), 5586–5598. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.03266

Ghozali, & Kusumadewi. (2023). Partial Least Squares Konsep, Teknik dan Aplikasi Menggunakan Program SmartPLS 4.0 Untuk Penelitian Empiris: vii (Ed.1). Yoga Pratama.

Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson. (2019). Multivariate Data Analysis. In Cengage Learning EMEA (Vol. 8, pp. 95–120). Annabel Ainscow. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119409137.ch4

Hair, J. F. ., Hult, G. T. M. ., Ringle, C. M. ., & Sarstedt, Marko. (2017). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage.

Haque, A., Rupa, R. A., Faisal-E-Alam, Md., Akter, Most. S., & Sultana, N. (2026). From Click to Regret: Investigating Impulsive Buying and Post-Purchase Cognitive Dissonance Through the S-O-R Lens. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 21(3), 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer21030090

Hegawan, C. I. P., Faustine, T. M., Wijayanti, S., & Manaf, P. A. (2023). Exploring the influence of perceived usefulness and value of PayLater/BNPL on satisfaction, impulsive buying, and post-purchase intention. International Journal of Emerging Trends in Social Sciences, 15(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.55217/103.v15i1.667

Ittaqullah. (2026). Analysis of PayLater Services Impacts on Impulsive Buying Behavior of Online Marketplace Consumers in Kendari. In Indonesian Annual Conference Series (Vol. 5, pp. 195-201).

Juita, V., Pujani, V., Rahim, R., & Rahayu, R. (2024). Dataset on online impulsive buying behavior of buy now pay later users and non-buy now pay later users in Indonesia using the stimulus-organism-response model. Data in Brief, 54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2024.110500

Kumar, A., Salo, J., & Bezawada, R. (2024). The effects of buy now, pay later (BNPL) on customers’ online purchase behavior. Journal of Retailing, 100(4), 602–617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2024.09.004

Kumari, N., Mishra, N., & Srivastava, P. (2024). Impulse Buying Trap and Post-Purchase Regret In Helath Insurance; The Role OF Social Media and Online Reviews. Journal of Content, Community and Communication, 21, 130–148. https://doi.org/10.31620/JCCC.12.24/10

Laurinda, C., Pangaribuan, C., & Thaib, D. (2024). Unraveling The Factors Influencing Impulsive Buying Behavior Among Gen Z Using Shopee Paylater: A Quantitative Anaylsis. Asian Journal of Social and Humanities, 2(12), 2963–2982. https://doi.org/10.59888/ajosh.v2i12.411

Li, B., Hu, M., Chen, X., & Lei, Y. (2021). The Moderating Role of Anticipated Regret and Product Involvement on Online Impulsive Buying Behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.732459

Lin, C.-T., Chen, C.-W., Wang, S.-J., & Lin, C.-C. (2023). The influence of impulse buying toward consumer loyalty in online shopping: a regulatory focus theory perspective. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 14(11), 14611–14621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-018-0935-8

Lubis, A. N., Lumbanraja, P., & Hasibuan, B. K. (2022). Evaluation on e-marketing exposure practice to minimize the customers’ online shopping purchase regret. Cogent Business & Management, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.2016039

Mandolfo, M., & Lamberti, L. (2021). Past, Present, and Future of Impulse Buying Research Methods: A Systematic Literature Review. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.687404

Marjerison, R. K., Hu, J., & Wang, H. (2022). The Effect of Time-Limited Promotion on E-Consumers’ Public Self-Consciousness and Purchase Behavior. Sustainability, 14(23), 16087. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316087

Melo, L. E. A. de, Sinval, J., & Isler, C. A. (2025). Prospective avenues in travel behavior research supported by the cognitive dissonance theory: A scoping review. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 109, 501–519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2024.12.022

Morozova, N., & Vlaev, I. (2024). The urge to splurge: Differentiating unplanned and impulse purchases. International Journal of Market Research, 66(5), 519–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853241229671

Nusir, O. M., Wel, C. A. C., Hamid, S. N. A., Al-Zoubi, L., & Al-Adwan, A. S. (2026). The Psychology of BNPL: A Systematic Review of Impulsive Buying and Post-Purchase Regret (2018–2025). Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 21(2), 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer21020043

Qureshi, F. H., Sokić, K., & Khawaja, S. (2025). Impulsive Buying Tendencies and Personality: Cognitive and Affective Aspects. Psychiatry International, 6(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint6010005

Rasool, M. S., & Sajjad, Dr. N. N. A. (2025). Investigating the Impact of Algorithmic Ad Personalization on Unplanned Buying through Customer Engagement. Journal of Law & Social Studies, 7(4), 274–288. https://doi.org/10.52279/jlss.07.04.274288

Sarwar, M. A., Awang, Z., Habib, M. D., Nasir, J., & Hussain, M. (2022). Why did I buy this? Purchase regret and repeat purchase intentions: A model and empirical application. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2357

Simamora, B. (2022). Skala Likert, Bias Penggunaan dan Jalan Keluarnya. Jurnal Manajemen, 12(1), 84–93. https://doi.org/10.46806/jman.v12i1.978

Son, J., & Yoon, H. J. (2024). Revisiting a Popular Retailing Strategy in a New Retail Context: The Backfiring Effects of Creating a Perception of Scarcity. Journal of Distribution Science, 21(12), 59–69. https://doi.org/10.15722/jds.22.12.202412.59

Suatan, A. T., & Irwansyah, I. (2021). Studi Review Sistematis: Aplikasi Teori Disonansi Kognitif dan Upaya Reduksinya pada Perokok Remaja. Jurnal Lensa Mutiara Komunikasi, 5(1), 72–82. https://doi.org/10.51544/jlmk.v5i1.1556

Zhang, J., Jiang, N., Turner, J. J., & Pahlevan-Sharif, S. (2022). The Impact of Scarcity on Consumers’ Impulse Buying Based on the S-O-R Theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.792419

Downloads

Published

2026-08-31

How to Cite

Putri, G. A., & Rimenda, T. (2026). Why do Consumers Regret Using Paylater Services? The Influence of Impulsive Buying and Unplanned Buying. International Journal of Management Science and Information Technology, 6(2), 2200-2208. https://doi.org/10.35870/ijmsit.v6i2.8028

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.