Impulsive Buying Behaviour on BNPL Services

Abstract: Title A quantitative study on the buying behaviour of Generation Z Keywords: Consumer credit, BNPL, consumer behaviour, generation Z, impulsive buying Background: The Buy now, pay later service has been developing rapidly in recent years and is being regarded as one of the fastest-growing modes of digital payments. There is an increasing number of online retailers and platforms partnering with payment solutions companies to offer an easy, seamless checkout experience for their customers. Despite this, there is little research being done on the relationship between BNPL and consumer behaviour. Aim: The aim of this study is to provide a further understanding of how consumers make purchase decisions on BNPL platforms by focusing on the younger generation. Additionally, the aim was to understand how marketers and companies that offer BNPL services could make use of the outcome of the study. To achieve the aims, a thorough theory and literature review was conducted, and a questionnaire was created based on the findings. More specifically, this study aims to answer the following research questions: How do BNPL services impact the impulsive buying behaviour of Generation Z? Methodology: A quantitative approach was used to analyse the data collected, along with three hypotheses formulated in this thesis. A survey (n=99) was conducted online. The responses were then analysed using SPSS, continuing with hypotheses testing with the combined questions. Theoretical perspective: Impulsive buying theory served as the main framework in this thesis, BNPL and Generation Z was also discussed in the theoretical review to provide a holistic overview of this topic. Conclusion: Three of our proposed hypotheses were rejected, as they are not statistically significant. H1 did not support the hypothesis of Gen Z is more impulsive when buying on BNPL than non-Gen Z. While H2 and H3, show that neither external nor internal factors prove to have a statistically significant effect that would affect Gen Z more than non-Gen Z. We concluded that the age range of generations for which BNPL services are available is gradually converging, resulting in impulsive purchases by both Gen Z and non-Gen Z for BNPL services. Furthermore, both internal and external stimuli can be generated by BNPL services and by consumers themselves, and ultimately generate impulsive buying behaviour.